Soup!

Lots and lots of soup!  We now have a small chest freezer to store our delicious homemade food.  Our regular freezer is no longer over-stuffed and spewing food out when the door is open.  So, we got busy last weekend making one of our favorites - tomato soup.  We picked two full bags of plum tomatoes and came home to start the process.  We are really pleased with this year's batch.  It's the right everything - consistency, taste, and quantity.

We ended up with 16 containers - a new record!

Hiking in Hamburg, PA

We had fun hiking with friends in Hamburg, PA near Hawk Mountain the other weekend.  It was Daisy's first time going on a long hike and she did so well.  We can't wait to get back out there this autumn to enjoy the cooler air and changing colors.

Daisy looking at the beautiful landscape below

Julie with Bela enjoying the view at The Pulpit

Banana Cupcakes With Nutella Buttercreme Icing

Bananas!  I went bananas for this recipe (http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Banana-Cake-II/Detail.aspx).  It's so moist and flavorful without being too sweet.  In fact, I could have just eaten the cake by itself and have been completely satisfied.  A truly wonderful cake... if you like bananas.  The nutella buttercreme icing on the other hand didn't turn out as I had hoped it would.  I tried modifying the recipe with no luck.    I used this recipe, but the search is still on for a better version: http://www.foodnetwork.co.uk/recipes/nutella-buttercream-icing-ru313044.html

Doggie Photo Shoot

Our friend's dog, Maggie, is the most lovable, photogenic dog.  She's a perfect subject to photograph, too, because she hardly moves and when she does, it's not very fast.

Summer Catch Up and Fondue Friday

Summer has been treating us well (with the exception of a few ungodly heat waves).  We've spent a lot of time outside: taking creek walks, introducing Daisy to the water both at the creek and the river, having lots and lots of braai's, and hanging out with friends.

Fondue Friday - an evening of fondue with neighbors.  It was fun to sit back and chat while waiting for our meat to cook.

Queen in the Car

Carter has been so into Queen (the band) lately.  He sang aloud in the car this weekend while listening to their tunes on the ipod.  He's in the middle of singing a Queen hit in the picture below.  And the other one was taken outside of a family fun center.  It was sort of fun... the ads were way better than the place itself, but Tom and Carter enjoyed a game of laser tag and we all got a kick out of the bumper cars.

Paint Job

We've wanted to paint our kitchen/dining room wall since we moved in last Thanksgiving, but never had a chance to until now.  We chose a slate blue color that looks great at all times of the day.  Although, it looks more blue than slate blue in the picture.  A little splash of color has really done wonders for our place!!