ripe for the picking

The weekend came and went, and was a blur. Ryan and I had a fun little getaway Saturday night, which included Niagara Falls (Canada), yummy food, a bit of walking hand in hand, and gorgeous, unseasonably warm weather.

Sunday morning, we picked up the kids and headed to Hurd Orchards. We've been apple picking there every fall for years, and it seems like every year lately there is a new spouse or baby (well, maybe because there really is!). Sunday was HOT. It was at least 80 degrees when we were in the orchard. I wasn't happy with the lighting, picture-wise (way too bright!) and we were all sweaty. Plus we didn't have a ton of time, since Meghan, Adam, Ryan, the kids, and I all needed to head back to MA in the early afternoon. Despite those few less than ideal circumstances, we had a fun time and carried on our tradition. My brother was even able to come home for a week so he and Shaina joined us. So glad. Perhaps there will be another spouse and/or baby added to the pictures next year?

my sister thought she was just so funny wearing her "catelope" (or whatever the heck it is) shirt!

it's that time of year again

I am over the moon excited to head home this weekend for a(nother) whirlwind trip. Ryan and I will be leaving the kids with my parents on Saturday night for a little overnight getaway to celebrate our 7(!) year anniversary (which is actually Sunday). Then, on Sunday we will be making our annual family trek to the apple orchard with my family to pick apples/eat apples/spend the majority of the time taking pictures rather than picking apples. It's a tradition I look forward to every year. The only bummer about this year is that my sweet baby brother will be absent, for he moved to AZ a few weeks ago. I'm so excited for Mac's first apple picking adventure (out of the womb) and Brynlee keeps telling me about how she is going to eat all the apples.

2010: Are you serious with that puffy face and larger than life belly?! I can't believe how much of a baby B still is here.

After we pick apples, we usually head back to our house, eat white chicken chili and apple crisp, and generally snuggle up and enjoy the rest of our fall tradition day. However, this year we have to jump back in the car and immediately head back to MA so Ryan can get back to work on Monday morning. Boo. I thought I'd at least share the white chicken chili recipe (again, since I shared it a few years ago here) and link up with Raechel as she is collecting slow cooker recipes today. Stay tuned for lots and lots of apple picking pictures, as per usual. :)


White Chicken Chili
serves 6 (I double it for my family and use my big crockpot)

Ingredients:
-1 48 oz can great northern beans, rinsed & drained
-2-3 C cooked chicken (I use 1 whole shredded rotissere chicken, it makes exactly 3 cups)
-1 C chopped onion
-2 garlic cloves, minced
-2 tsp ground cumin
-1/2 tsp dried oregano, crushed
-1/2 tsp salt
-3 raw carrots, sliced
-3 1/2 C chicken broth

optional but completely necessary
-shredded monterey jack cheese
-broken tortilla chips
-sour cream

1. In a 3 1/2 or 4 quart slow cooker, stir drained beans, chicken, onion, carrots, spices, and broth all together
2. Cover and cook on low 8-10 hours or on high 4-5 hours
3. Top with cheese, chips, and sour cream if desired.

happy new year

Rather than wallow in how sad and regretful I am that I have been so negligent of my blog, I'm going to vow to be better at it this year... I want to record our everything from our family milestones to my little projects and small victories (yesterday my big project was unloading the dishwasher, I guess that's how it's going to be with a crawling baby). Here are some pictures from the past two months... I keep up so well on facebook and I want to do the same here!


*annual apple picking adventure with my family, Amy's shower, Florida trip with my parents for our 5th wedding anniversary and my parents' 30th, Thanksgiving, trip to Missouri to visit my grandma (4 generation pic), Christmas, visit from Kerry and Lukie*


Brynlee is 9 months old today! She is waving, clapping, high-fiving, crawling, standing with support, pulling up on things, feeding herself, eating small cooked vegs and Cherrios, loving her kitty (and Daddy, Grammie, Poppy, Nana and Papa!), trying to steal my phone at all times, and wanting to cuddle with her Momma. She is so happy and giggly, but definitely has a feisty, stubborn streak in her... the doctor told me at 3 months that I would probably have my hands full with this little diva as she grew, and boy was she right on! I like to think that her sassiness now will turn into confidence and a strong personality as an adult. She truly is my dream come true and I couldn't love being her mommy more.

how do you like them apples

We had our annual family apple picking outing a few weekends ago. It was really nice out and we didn't skimp on the pictures, as usual. Enjoy.

Tradition

Today Ryan, my family, and I had our annual apple-picking adventure. We look so forward to this every year. We've been going every fall since I was in high school, maybe even before that. We were lucky today; it was hailing as we drove to the orchard, and the sun came out just as we got out of the car. :) We always take tons of pictures and today was no different...


I thought I'd start with some pics from years prior...

2004, just days after we got married... awwwww























2005, I thought this one was funny
















2006, def my favorite pic from last year



















2007... (my bro took a bunch of these... kudos to him)

















We also celebrated my daddy's birthday today (it was yesterday)! I made white chicken chili and apple crisp.... major yum. Since I didn't participate in the blog recipe exchange when it was first suggested, I thought I'd post the recipes for BOTH to make up for my slacker-dom... the chili was especially good, it was more brothy and like soup than chili, but it was so freakin delicious.... seriously, I might go heat some more up now....


White Chicken Chili
serves 6 (I doubled it for my family of 7, and had to use my big crockpot)

Ingredients:
-1 48 oz can great northern beans, rinsed & drained
-2-3 C cooked chicken (I used 1 whole rotissere chicken, it made exactly 3 cups)
-1 C chopped onion
-2 garlic cloves, minced
-2 tsp ground cumin
-1/2 tsp dried oregano, crushed
-1/2 tsp salt
-3 raw carrots, sliced
-3 1/2 C chicken broth
optional
-shredded monterey jack cheese
-broken tortilla chips
-sour cream

1. In a 3 1/2 or 4 quart slow cooker, stir drained beans, chicken, onion, carrots, spices, and broth all together
2. Cover and cook on low 8-10 hours or on high 4-5 hours
3. Top with cheese, chips, and sour cream if desired.

IT WAS AMAZING! Seriously. So easy, too.


Check out the apple crisp recipe here... it was delish and all of the credit goes to Martha, hehe (too lazy to type the whole thing out when I can just link it)!


Such a fun day! Now how about re-heating that chili while we watch game 4...