Happy Fall

Well, I finally got a fall header up. I will be honest...this header is probably draft number 10. I started several, but they never did look just right. I decided what the heck, and went with this one. It took me just about forever to put the leaves on the tree so I didn't want my time spent to be in vain! We have had beautiful weather here, considering that it is officially fall...79 degrees yesterday and in the mid 70s today. Tomorrow is another story though- it is supposed to drop to the mid 40s! eek! Here is to the fall weather! I am ready for it!

Hope

'Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believeing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost' - Romans 15:13

Pictures of Portland (but mostly of Noah)

Noah and I have been traveling fools for the past two weeks. September 11th-12th I went with my Mom, sister-in-law's Megan and Cami and my Grandma Oakey to Boise to attend Time Out for Women. It's a small LDS women's conference that is sponsored by Deseret Book. We had such a great time, and the messages were so uplifting. I have pictures, but forgot to load them...so they will have to come later.

After our fun weekend in Boise (frozen yogurt included, yum!), Noah and I flew to Portland to spend another week and a half with Andy's family. We had so much fun with Gramps, Nana and Aunt Kenzie. MacKenzie and I kept ourselves busy mod podging and making yummy desserts....chocolate silk Pie, carrot cake (in honor of Grandpa Stockhoffs B-day) as well as a yummy chocolate truffle cheesecake. I think we were all sick of desserts by the time the week was through. Stacie, MacKenzie and I also had some fun nights watching Dancing with the Stars, Biggest Loser and any other entertaining show we could find. We really had so much fun and miss them already. Here are some fun pictures (mostly of Noah mind you)...to document our trip.

Here is Gary with the yummy carrot cake we made him. Delish!

Some random ones of Noah...of course I think he is so cute.

Nana bought Noah this cute OSU onesie...obviously he is born to be a college football fan!

Kenzie, Noah and I testing out the chocolate silk pie. Please note that the chocolate all over Noah's face was for effect only. You will notice how focused he is on us eating the pie though, I am sure he could have finished the pan in one lick!

Dessert number two: Chocolate Truffle Cheesecake!

Kenzie and I thought it would be funny to tape Noah's nose up like a pig. I know, it was mean. This picture fully describes how Noah felt about it.

Noah's first Popsicle...can you tell he enjoyed it?

And Lastly, a little QT with Aunt Kenzie and Nana

WHOO. Finished! I know that was a picture overload...but I hope you had as much fun looking at them as I had taking them!

Things to Come...

For those of you who check our blog (and I am not quite sure how many of you there are), I apologize for my lack of love the last week (or almost two). Noah and I have been traveling and I haven't been able to get my pictures to upload...so you can all expect a BIG post tomorrow with pictures galore! We are still in Oregon and head home tomorrow. We have had such a great time with Andy's parents and Aunt Mackenzie and will be sad to say goodbye. One thing we have to look forward to is Christmas, when Andy will be home on his R&R. So we look forward to coming back then!

Anyway, check back tomorrow evening and I will have some gem's for you. Until then!

Caught!

This morning I caught Noah doing this!

Seriously? I don't know if I am ready for that!!

State Fair

Yesterday we decided to take Noah to the Eastern Idaho State Fair. My family has been going to the Fair since before I can even remember. It had been about 7 years since I had been myself, and not one thing has changed - aside from the fact that they had a frozen yogurt stand this year (yes, I was very excited). I am not a lover of Fair food, but I do love walking through the booths and looking at all the crafts. My mom even submitted a quilt this year and won a ribbon. She is so talented!

Anyway, here are a couple of pictures from Noah's first time at the Fair. I would have taken more, but when we got there and I got my camera out to start clicking away...I realized that I had left my SD card at home! Ugh. We ended up making a quick trip to Walgreen's to grab one. I hate it when that happens! (Please excuse our greasiness in advance, it was a humid day...or at least that's what I am using as my excuse!)

I had to humor myself and get a caricature drawn of Noah. I don't think it looks like him, but we thought we would send it to Andy...just for fun!

Chex Mix of Champions

This recipe has been passed down from my Grandma Oakey and is a snacking favorite. I made some today to send to Andy in a package and thought I would share the recipe! Enjoy!

1/2 (18oz) Box of Golden Grahams
1/2 box of Corn or Rice Chex (or 1/4 box of each)
2 cups shaved coconut
Small package of sliced almonds

Mix:
1 cup white corn syrup
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup butter or margarine

Bring to a boil and boil for 2 minutes. Pour over cereal mixture and stir until covered. Let cool and enjoy- I know I will!

Happy Birthday Ikle Michael!

My 3 year old nephew Aleks, in attempts to say 'Uncle Michael', calls my brother Ikle Michael (pronounced: eye-kull Michael)...and today we celebrated Ikle Michael's 22nd birthday! I was in charge of dessert, and kindly told Mike that was all he was getting from the Stockhoffs...aside from a few loves from Noah. We had a wonderful night...dutch oven sweet and sour chicken, bowtie pasta salad, green salad and of course...chocolate filled, chocolate cupcakes. Heck, I felt like it was my birthday! Happy Birthday Mike, we sure love you!!