happy thanksgiving + helpful holiday links

We’re in a frenzy around here getting ready for the holidays!  We head to my sister’s house on odd years.

The picture below is from 2005.  The sweatshirt Cole is wearing is in Simon’s suitcase this time…sigh.

In between packing the car, I’ve been bookmarking links and pinning pictures like crazy, so here are a couple I think are MOST helpful.

Getting ready for a big holiday dinner?

Heidi at 101 Cookbooks listed her favorite past Thanksgiving dishes.  They all look so yum to me!

Getting ready for Advent?

Here are 20 handmade Advent calendars!  The Christmas season will be upon us quickly when we finish up our turkey and dressing.  Ready or not, here it comes!

Hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

tara

Somehow in the busy, busy, busy of the fall, I neglected to mention here on the blog that through a whirlwind of emails, phone calls, conversations and prayers, the Chino House added another member to our family for the school year.

Vitara (we call her Tara, for short) came to us at the end of August from Indonesia.

This past weekend was her homecoming dance at eStem High.  While the boys were off camping, Mary Polly and I got to help her get ready and add the finishing touches to her ensemble.  I personally get to take credit for those purple tights.  LOVE!

Her date is Thomas, another exchange student from Prague.

They both really enjoyed the dance.  It was one of many, many new experiences for Tara.  We’re excited because since the culture in Indonesia is so very different from the US, we are getting to experience a lot of “firsts” with Tara.

Halloween was another first.  She went to two costume parties and helped out at our church’s Trunk or Treat event.  Lots of little ladybugs came and had their pictures made with her!

She also go to help us serve at STEP ministry’s fall harvest festival last Saturday.  We’ve stayed super busy with school and sporting events, but now that football and soccer season are over, we’re excited about sharing our upcoming holidays with Tara.

It will be her first Christmas!

plain of six glaciers {lake louise hiking trails}

Tags

banff, banff national park, family vacations, hiking trails, plain of six glaciers, plain of six glaciers teahouse

Yesterday we drove up to Lake Louise, arguably one of the most beautiful spots on earth.

A path runs along one side of the lake.  Towards the end you can look back at the famous Chateau at Lake Louise.  My grandmother stayed there many years ago and I remember her talking about how beautiful it was.

From the edge of the lake, we took the Plain of Six Glaciers Trail up into the mountains.  We were excited to find the Tea House that was built for hikers in 1927.

The trail leading up away from the lake was very steep.  Lots of climbing.

From the trail, there were several points you could look back and see Lake Louise.  I stopped lots to take pictures in front of me towards the glaciers and behind me of Lake Louise getting farther and farther away.

The yellow trees continue to amaze! Waves of them high on the mountains

High above the lake, the trail meanders through fields of boulders and along cliffs.

The trail went along a ridge below the glaciers.  We think we counted six as we were hiking this ridge.

Just before we got to the tea house, we reached snow.

We were so excited about reaching this adorable tea house.

We had the best lentil vegetable soup ever to warm up our tummies.  Plus a rich chocolate cake, apple pie, coffee and of course, tea.  Wonderful rewards for a hefty hike.  Everyone was delighted.

We bounced back down the mountain with full bellies.

This picture is from just below the tea house before we hiked back down.

Back down at the lake, we spotted a bear (small black blurry spot in the picture above).  He was across the lake from us, so we stood and watched him for a while as he climbed up the hill away from the lake.

 

All in all it’s about seven miles round trip to the tea house from the trailhead.  We were plenty tired when we finished.

And a little chilled from the damp air.  We finished the day with more coffee in the Chateau.

Cold, cloudy days will forever remind me of our summer of camping in the Pacific Northwest and how I drank coffee or tea all day long.  You are always trying to warm up those chilled bones.  The kids are motoring through a huge warehouse box of hot chocolate.

But it is well worth the chilled noses and toes to get to see this part of the world.

johnston canyon {banff hiking trails}

Tags

banff, canada, family vacations, hiking in banff national park, johnston canyon trail

Day two of hiking in Banff.  We hit the most popular trail in the area.

Johnston Canyon is an amazing trail, complete with paved, elevated level pathways that are almost stroller accessible.  Lucky for us, we are now stroller (and even baby backpack) free.  I am loving these days of everyone hiking on their own two feet.

In fact, I’m having to run to keep up with them.  This hike is super family friendly.  Everyone in our party made it the whole way.

The trail went by so many of these gorgeous pools and falls.  The kids wanted to see if we could hike down underneath some of them.  On the way back down, we found a trail to this set of falls, so we could actually touch them.  And even get behind them.

We had a picnic lunch on the trail, which we devoured.

After loading up and heading out of Johnson Canyon, we had to stop and take pictures of the AMAZING golden Aspens.  Taido’s shots were the best.

On the drive back I took pictures of this peak that looks like it’s been sliced off on one side.  Very striking.

We stopped and did another short trail near town called Fenland Trail.

It was deserted compared to Johnston Canyon, so we got to meet this forest friend in the quiet woods.

Then on our way back through town, we spotted a rainbow!

All in all, another great day in Banff!

c level cirque {banff hiking trails}

Tags

banff, canada, family vacations, hiking in banff national park

{Saturday morning}

Our first hike in Banff was roughly five miles, with some pretty decent elevation gain.  We had a beautiful view of Lake Minnewanka through the trees.  We hiked around old mining shafts.  We climbed boulders and chased pikas under rocks.  We picnicked at the bottom of a great rock basin that was cut by an alpine glacier under the shadow of the sheer eastern face of Cascade Mountain.

My legs were aching at the end of the day.  In a good way.

 

fall color in banff

We are spending our Fall Break in the Canadian Rockies, and the fall color they have going on up here is just stunning.

The trees are a sparkling gold instead of just yellow.

Against the pine trees and the blue sky, it takes your breath away.

We’ve had a great first day and we can’t wait to explore more of this gorgeous part of the world!!

taos ski valley

I’ve said before that we love the mountains.

We love to be in the mountains.  We love to hike and bike in the summer.  We love to ski in the winter.

Snow skiing tends to be a little (or a lot) hard on the pocketbook,

but it was a huge part of both mine and Taido’s childhoods.

So it brings us both a lot of joy to watch our kids falling in love with it as well.

 

Taido grew up skiing at Taos Ski Valley, and it has become one of my favorite places to ski.

The charming ski village itself is a great place to waste away an afternoon.

 

 

Sadly, most of the mountain was not open as it is still very early in the ski season.

You can see the grass on a lot of the runs in these pictures, but the kids enjoyed it nonetheless.

We only spent two days of our vacation there, and Simon and I mostly just hung out together the second day.  We were both glad for the break, as it was very, very cold.

Our little guy did great while he was out there though!

Fun times for all!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

tomato and cheddar potato soup

We’re kind of missing this view today and moving very slowly.

In fact, one little Chino missed the departure for school this morning due to an overwhelming need to despair in a puddle on the floor.

She is now outside planting bulbs, because well, it worked for me.

Next up, laundry and unpacking.

We’re also going to make soup.

I make this soup about once a month in the winter, and I can’t believe I’ve never posted it before.  To me, it is comfort in a bowl.

You start by boiling the potatoes in beer which gives the soup a dark, wonderful flavor.

Soup may not solve all our re-entry woes, but surely it will help.

Tomato and Cheddar Potato Soup with Beer

Loosely adapted from Crescent Dragonwagon’s Soup and Bread

2 cups dark beer

6 large potatoes

1 quart chicken stock

3 bay leaves

1 teaspoon basil

1 teaspoon oregano

½ cup butter

1 large onion, diced

2 ribs celery, diced

2 carrots, diced

5 cloves garlic, peeled and minced

1 28oz can diced tomatoes

2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

1 tablespoon soy sauce

2 tablespoons flour

1 cup milk

Tobasco sauce to taste, optional

½ teaspoon dry mustard

12 oz sharp cheddar cheese, shredded

Salt and pepper to taste

Bring potatoes to a boil in the stock and beer.  Add the bay leaves, basil and oregano.

In a cast iron skillet, melt butter.  Saute onion 10 minutes.  Add celery, garlic and carrot.  Cook 10 more minutes.

Add tomatoes and sauces.  Cook until most of the liquid evaporates.

Make a paste with the flour and then gradually stir in the milk.

Add mustard and tobasco (if using).

Stir tomato mixture into the soup pot and add the cheese.

Allow the soup to heat back up after the cheese is added before serving.

Serve hot.

ridiculous

I’ve been in a bit of a funk this week.

And I do not like to be down around Thanksgiving. It’s my most favorite holiday.  All that food, giving thanks, jigsaw puzzles and family, family, family.

But we don’t really get to choose when the uglies come calling for us, or at least I don’t, but in the spirit of a season of gratefulness, I’ve been attempting to fight them off.

And feeling futile in the effort.

Wednesday evening the lies had got the better part of me.  You know the lies.

We all have our own version of

You are not good enough,

The warning sign for me is that all of sudden everyone else is not good enough.

When I have stopped extending grace to myself, I generally withhold it from others.

Or maybe it’s that I don’t have any to give since I am refusing to take it for myself.

When I start down that road, I know I need to turn around quickly or I’m headed for a crash.

Sometimes it takes the crash to get turned around.

But the way back is so much longer from there.

So, after a week of small collisions with the universe, I decided late Wednesday night that I just needed to get outside on Thursday.

Because that always helps.

I got up ready to cross something off my list.  Ready to put rainboots on Simon and myself and head out into the cold, dark world.

The universe fought back.  I couldn’t find any of my garden trowels.  At some point, I have owned at least four of these at one time.

All. gone.

I got a camping shovel of Taido’s instead.  It broke on the first dig.

So we used Simon’s itty bitty garden shovel to plant about 100 bulbs.

Ridiculous.

Equally ridiculous was that later, when I was walking, again in an effort to just get outside.

Get some air.

Breathe.

I tripped over the front of my shoe and fell flat on the sidewalk.  Splat.  Jeans torn.  A concrete burn on my knee like you get when you are seven and you fall off your bike.

Absolutely ridiculous.

Later I went to see a high school play with a friend because her son was one of the star roles.

When we sat down, I was kind of warm from rushing to get there.  I took off my sweater for the first time all day, revealing that when I had picked up my shirt off the floor to wear that day, apparently, I had put it on inside out.

Beyond ridiculous.

Then the play started, and I laughed.  I love, love, love A Midsummer Night’s Dream.  It is a total gluttony of love and silliness.  Cole and Mary Polly came along with me and they laughed almost as much as me.  They got it, which makes me eternally grateful for their performing arts teacher at eStem, who has helped them understand Shakespeare this fall.  She could not possibly know what a gift that is to me.

And our friend’s son was beyond wonderful as the ridiculous Nick Bottom.  Precious.

We talked all the way home about what was probably Shakespeare’s most ridiculous play.  Mary Polly begged to see it again on Saturday.

When I went to sleep last night, the sadness was definitely still there lurking beneath the surface, but it was somehow subdued.

By hope.

Simon and I planted hope in the ground yesterday, but God planted hope in my heart.

I can still feel how I will have to fight to enter the holiday season with joy, but I don’t feel like it’s not a fight worth the effort.

It’s a fine line, but today I am ridiculously grateful for it.

crunchy pumpkin muffins

Tags

cinnamon and spice, fall, muffins, pumpkin

Again with the pumpkin?

Yes.

It’s rainy and cold and my coffeemaker had an early morning meeting, so I might be swinging through Starbucks for a Pumpkin Spice Latte on my way to storytime this morning to go with my muffin.

I make a plain pumpkin muffin for my kids that they love, but this week I am making muffins for an event and I wanted something with more texture, so I’ve been perfecting a new recipe.

The result is a hearty, perfect-for-a-cold-morning muffin.  They are packed with yummy little surprises, a crunch in every bite.

If you’re getting ready to have company for Thanksgiving, you can make muffin batter ahead of time, later scooping out the deliciousness into muffin papers just as you need it.

Enjoy!

Crunchy Pumpkin Muffins

3 cups whole wheat white flour (or a combination of wheat and white flours)

½ cup oats

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

3/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon ground allspice

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

½ teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 teaspoon salt

½ cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 cup packed light brown sugar

1 15 oz can pure pumpkin (about 1 ¾ cups)

1/2 cup well-shaken buttermilk

4 large eggs

2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Mix ins:

(Use whatever you like, golden raisins, cranberries and even chocolate chips are possibilities.  This is just the combination I have found that I like.)

3 tablespoon pumpkin seeds (pepitas)

3/4 cup chopped pecans

½ cup coconut

1/4 cup candied ginger, finely chopped

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1 tablespoon oats

Directions:

Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, oats, spices and salt in a large bowl.

In a separate bowl, whisk together butter, brown sugar, pumpkin, buttermilk, eggs and vanilla. Add to dry ingredients and stir until just combined.

Toss together your mix-ins.  Reserve 1/3 cup of the mix ins and add the tablespoon of brown sugar and the tablespoon of oats to the reserved portion.  Fold the rest into the muffin batter.

Divide batter among muffin cups and sprinkle tops with reserved mix ins.

Bake at 400°F  until a wooden pick comes out clean, about 20 minutes.