Fall Fest | Part 2

 As a fall fest weekend  (part 1 here) finale, following Sunday church, we met up with friends & headed westward to Sauvi Island's Kruger Farms. We did the usual corn maze and perfect pumpkin search- both of which were successful. Andrew even met his goal of finding the ugliest (yet still round and un-molded) pumpkin in the entire patch. The food items stood out in my book- the buttered, roasted corn, apple pie, wood-oven pizza... mmmmmhhh, so good! A tough second place stand-out were the many green little frogs in the patch and the impressive frog catcher that Christine & Jon's little Sam turns out to be (from Apartment 46).  After the patch, we arrived back home to a sweet potato veggie chile and warm apple cider waiting for us in the crock pot. Truth be told, I've gained at least 2 pounds this weekend... oh boy.

I'm not a huge fan of carving pumpkins, but have a few ideas up my sleeve as alternatives. Do you have any favorite pumpkin activities?

Fall Fest Weekend | Part 1

 To kick off Fall Fest weekend, we headed out to the boonies for some apple picking (Bell's Orchard). You'd think that this would be a popular fall weekend attraction; but thanks to the heavy rain, we had the place all to ourselves. Quite literally. It was perfect. Thanks to the rain, I also got very few photos.

Muddy boots, Costco Pizza, & 40 pounds of apples later, we had ourselves an apple pie making party. 

Andrew, Brandon, Sam- Med School buddies 

'Twas a great start to the weekend! 

Saturday called for football, food, and lounging. What else could our tired med student hubbies ask for? Catherine and I worked away in the kitchen and the boys enjoyed being couch potatoes.

Catherine had the house perfectly decorated for a fall football day. She even made some delicious sweet tea in perfect southern style. Yum. Can't get enough sweet tea.

The following treats were made and devoured (click on link for recipe):  

Bloomin' Onion Cheese Bread

Bacon-Wrapped Water chesnuts

BBQ Chicken potato skins 

Chesse-Chile Queso 

This was just half of the full fall fest weekend. More to come!

Fall filled weekend

It's not only a fall filled weekend, but a rain filled weekend as well- in true Oregon fashion. The rain won't stop us! Thankful for this fall fest with dear friends and even more thankful for my best friend to enjoy every minute with. Yahoo for study-free & work-free weekends! Maybe he'll even wear his new flannel shirts without too much convincing; that would be a bonus.

Apple orchards, pumpkin patches, football, & feasts... watch out, here we come!

J Fam | Family Portraits

 This family is picture perfect. Almost too perfect. Thanks for letting me take photos of your beautiful family and for capturing one of the last days of summer- we sure got lucky on that one.

Some of these photos already previewed here, but now you can see the rest (or at least a preview of the rest). Aren't they a beautiful fam?!?