Decoration time!!!!!!

We Love to decorate for the different seasons, and Fall is my favorite season. A few days ago I pulled out our boxes of fall decoration and this is what happened!!! Pumpkins, leaves, wonderful colors, apples. Oh I love this season!!! 

 

~Sarah

Fall has arrived

It is that time of year.  Fall has arrived and thus our garden is on the decline.  I believe that this is the best, most productive garden we have ever had.  And the strange thing is ~ this garden is on post.  It is a 15-20 minute drive to get there.  So I can't figure it out.  When I have had a garden in my own back yard I have totally neglected it.  This one I have to make a relatively large time commitment to make it happen and I do it!!!  I can't figure it out.

Becca and I went out yesterday and here is what is left.  The tomatoes are still producing.  The one plant that did the best was a yellow pear.  It is still loaded.  And Zach planted 5 different pepper plants and they are still producing.  And the okra.................still going and going and going...........  But when we went out the other day that was the first time that I had seen any bugs that were a problem.  The habanero pepper plant was stripped almost bare and the okra has been eaten, a lot!

~~~Kathy~~~~

Back to DC

I got to spend a week in DC hearing great speakers, learning how to run campaigns, and seeing DC.

By the end of the week we (all 80 of us) were pros at riding the metro.

This is the group that I spent the most time with.  There were fourteen in my small group.

 This is a picture of the inside of the rotunda from when we toured the capitol.

 This is a picture from Arlington.

This is during the changing of the guard for the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

After the changing of the guard we were surprised because the Russian Minister of Defense came out (with a lot of pomp and circumstance) and placed a wreath on the tomb!

 

During the week they had us run mock presidential elections and I was the campaign manager. It was crazy and fun and they never gave us enough time to do everything. This was my campaign team after the presidential debate.

 

This is the last morning before everybody left while we were playing a game.

-Zach

Someone is 18 today!

We have another 18 year old in the house today!  We celebrated at lunch time today since Josh will be working at dinner time tonight and Becca has acro class tonight.  We finished lunch with some blueberry/blackberry crisp with vanilla ice cream.  Sadly, Kevin was not here to celebrate with us.  He is in Poland again!  But Josh pointed out that it is now tradition that Kevin miss 18th birthdays since he was in Iraq for Josh's 18th!  

I don't know how this post will look since Blogspot has changed the format.  Hope it is OK to look at!

~~~Kathy~~~~

Birthday Girl!

Today our baby girl turns 12 !!!! Hard to believe.

At noon today Kevin left again for Poland. Since he wouldn't be here for our usual Birthday Dinner, we celebrated with a birthday breakfast. Zach was missing though, since he is in Washington DC. He did call just as we sat down to breakfast and sang Happy Birthday to her. He had the other 14 students from his small group sing too! Quite a wake up on your birthday. He had to get off right after that as they were getting onto the Metro!
Here she is waiting for breakfast to be served!Josh checking out the bike. She was VERY excited since it is the first Brand new bike she has had. :)The aftermath!

~~~Kathy~~~~

Highschool Football

Last night we went to the Leavenworth High School football game. I think it was the first game that I have been to since I left high school. We enjoyed watching a couple of players that we know. And the weather was PERFECT for the event! :) The score...... well it wasn't pretty. :)
~~~Kathy~~~~~

Traveling kid

Zach is in Washington DC. He flew out this morning at 6AM. Went there for a civics camp that lasts until Monday. I guess they had some time for sight seeing today before it starts tomorrow. He was able to see the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.He also said that they saw the Russian Minister of Defense lay a wreath there!
The above is where they are staying for the week.

On another note, the girls and I got home today from Joplin where we helped my parents get some stuff ready for a garage sale. Got to see 2 siblings too!This is my sister. We found the tag off of her 1st car ~ a Pinto! Look at that price!

~~Kathy~~~

Pepper harvest

Zach picked out 4 different kinds of peppers to grow this year in his part of the garden. There are 4 of them in the picture above. We made a batch of pepper jelly a couple of weeks ago. Today we made a new batch. I wouldn't touch the stuff, but others in my family seems to LOVE it and it has gone over very well the 2 different times I have served it to others. We pour it over a block of cream cheese and serve it with crackers. If you look closely you can see the different color of some of them. The batch that we made today had more purple peppers in it so it was a bit darker.
I have added the recipe below in case any of you want to try making it. Have a great day!

Habanero Jelly

· 3 ORANGE bell peppers, large, fleshy (any color ~ even purple)
· 5-10 chilies habaneros, seeded and de-veined (leave seeds in if heat is desired)
· 1 1/2 C. vinegar, white, distilled
· 7 C. sugar
· 1 pkg liquid fruit pectin (Certo or equivalent)

1. Remove stems, seeds, and membranes from bell peppers. Remove stems from habaneros (and seeds too, if you want to take the trouble, but if you do you run the risk of removing membranes, too, which will reduce hotness of the end product).
2. Put bell peppers, habaneros, and the vinegar in a blender and process until smooth.
3. Combine pepper-vinegar puree and all the sugar in a non-corrosive pan.
4. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer, and cook for 20 minutes. Remove from heat and strain through metal strainer into another pan. While staining make sure to get all liquid from the residue. Add pectin and bring to a full rolling boil while stirring. Boil about one minute, remove from heat and ladle into sterile jars.
5. Can.
Yield: 6 to 7 half-pint jars.

~~Kathy~~~~~

sweets

A while back we had Kevin's new class over for a "get to know each other" kind of thing. One of his students is a photographer and he just sent these photos that he had taken.

~~Kathy~~~~

God's Beauty

THE heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament shows His handiwork. Psalm 19:1

~~~Kathy~~~~

Stuff

Hi all ~ here are a few things from our little corner of the world.

Here is our chandelier from the dining room. A month or two back I decided that I was tired of the shiny brass look. Just had to mention it to my sweet hubby and this is what he did. Took it down with the help our our oldest daughter: He then took it out back and hung it from one of the pine trees:

Sprayed it down with a few coats of paint:
And here is the finished product. Sorry it is a blurry photo, took it with my phone on a cloudy day!Becca enjoying Bree. She can be such a sweet dog, but boy oh boy, watch out. She can turn on a dime and we just can't figure her out. Sure wish that we knew what would set her off. We need a visit from the dog whisperer!!!!

Bree tortures the rabbit by sitting and staring at her! Poor little Rose. So far she has not had a heart attack from the dog's unwanted attentions.
Off to a picnic tonight!

~~Kathy~~~~~