Apple Pie Filling

I received a small bag of apples from a neighbor the other day. Around that same time, I ran across a recipe for Canned Apple Pie Filling. MMMMmmmm, I have to give it a try. I've never made apple pie filling before.

I didn't have as many apples as the recipe called for, and some were a little small. So I decided to only make a half batch of the syrup and see what I could do. I ended up with 3 bottles, of oh-so-yummy smelling pie filling. It looked good too. I wanted to make a pie that night just to make sure it tasted good. That hasn't happened yet. Don't worry, I'll let you know when it does. :c)

Here is the recipe if anyone is interested:

Canned Apple Pie Filling

4 1/2 C sugar ~ 1 tsp. salt
1 C cornstarch ~ 10 C water
2 tsp cinnamon ~ 3 Tbsp lemon juice
1/4 tsp nutmeg ~ 25-30 apples, peeled, cored, and sliced

Combine in a large saucepan the sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Add the water and mix well. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly. Add lemon juice and mix well. Pack apple slices into quart canning jars, leaving 1 inch head space. Pour syrup over apples. Use spatula or knife to help distribute syrup. Process in boiling water bath or steam canner for 25 minutes.

To make apple pie, prepare pastry for a 2-crust pie. Prick bottom of crust and pour in filling. Cover with second crust. Bake at 400 degrees for 50 minutes or at 350 degrees for an hour or more, until the apples are tender.

Folded Arms

I had to run to the store today for quilt block demonstration this evening. Becca and Anna stayed at the kids carnival at the church with a neighbor and I took Kaitlyn with me. Kaitlyn was walking back and forth down the aisle that I was standing by. After she had felt and pointed to some different fabrics, she was on her way back. As she was looking at me, she noticed that my arms were folded. When she recognized this, her whole persona changed. She stopped walking, folded her arms and was ready for prayers. I quickly and quietly picked her up and told her that I loved her.
So sweet.

Pumpkins

It's Friday!!
After a long morning of cleaning and getting things done around the house, we went for a quick drive to the local farm and the girls each picked out a pumpkin.

A little later in the afternoon, I decided to take the girls to a movie. We went and watched Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs. It was a cute show and got some giggles from the girls.

We stopped at Subway for dinner on the way home. As we were sitting down, a lady came in and asked me if I owned the SUV outside. She then went on to tell me that her husband just backed into it. Are you kidding? We were the only vehicles in the parking lot, how did he back into it? Anyway, I'm glad she came in and got me rather than just leave and have me come out to find this:

As we were exchanging information, she kept telling me how sorry she was. I told her that I was just glad we were inside and not just getting there and one of the girls running around the back of the truck. It could have been a lot worse. It's done, let's just take care of it.

Where was Brian during all this you may be asking?? He has been sitting in conference rooms all week in Hawaii. A great place to visit, but not when you are by yourself and tied up in meetings and on conference calls. He is on the red-eye tonight and will be home in the morning.

I hope you all had a better ending to your Friday.
Enjoy your weekend.

Portland Trip

Last weekend, Brian and I flew up to Portland with some friends for the UofU football game. We flew in Friday afternoon, walked around, saw some stuff (stuff being: cool ampitheater, guy peeing on the sidewalk, beautiful tree lined streets), and then we walked to dinner. YUMMY...we went to dinner at Jake's Famous Crawfish. Everyone enjoyed their different seafood entrees, and my steak was delish! I'm just not a seafood fan, everyone has their something and that is not mine.

Saturday brought the rain. We headed to the game and ran into different Duck fans that told us to take it easy on them, you are going to win, you think that because you are ranked you can travel with the team, these were some different comments made to us at different times before the game. We bought our tickets from ticket stub or somewhere, so we sat in the thick of Duck fans. We had our share of drunk fans that let us know we should be sitting in the visitor section, and would yell "OOOOOOOOOOOO" in our faces. That's all they really had, just "OOOOOOOOOO." Anyway, we sat in the rain and mist the entire first half of the game, and the Utes were not playing so well. Neither team was really. Here are Brian and I at half time, our friend Trish and her husband is in the background.

The game continued and for a minute we thought we'd take control. It never happened. Thanks to the handful of Duck fans that made us feel welcome. With this loss, we ended up handing over the longest winning streak to the Florida Gators....your welcome Dion. :) We were at 16 wins and the gators are now at 14?

All in all we enjoyed our trip. Thanks go to Lance and Christy for watching our girls all weekend and Nana for helping everyone get to soccer games on Saturday.

deleted pic....

Sometimes I wish there was an undo or a oops button on blogger. I put my pics on and then type my message around them. Once your picture is there, you can't move it around or change the order. Well, I haven't figured out how to if it is possible. Anyway, this picture was in the middle of our Soccer Saturday post when it was accidently erased. So without starting that whole post over, I thought I'd just put it on another post. Here you go...

Here is me, Anna, and Kaitlyn sitting at Becca's game. I enjoyed growing up around the soccer field, that's just what we did. With my brother and sister on comp teams, at tournaments, at practice, indoor and outdoor, we were always at some type of soccer function. After being away from the field for the last handful of years, it was quite enjoyable sitting there, watching and cheering on again. I don't know if our lives will be lived at the soccer field, I guess we'll just wait and see what the girls decide to do as they get bigger.

Soccer Saturday

Let the soccer days begin!

The girls wanted to play soccer this year, and their first games were on Saturday. Just before heading to the first game, Brian grabbed a picture of the girls.

Here is Becca on the field. She did a lot of running around with the group. It took her a while before she would try to kick the ball. There were a couple of times that the ball was right there for her, and she just didn't want to kick it. She finally decided it was ok and got her foot on the ball a few times. She actually had an assist on a goal. When her game was over, she said it was lots of fun.

After Becca's game, we rushed over to Anna's game where Brian was filling in as coach this week. After we found our field and the girls began rolling in, Brian had them all on the field for a few minutes of practice before the game. When he came over to the sidelines, I noticed this:

I said, "You have a feather in your shoe."

He told me that one of the girls found it and told him to put it in his shoe and it would help him to run faster. I think he left it there the whole game. What a coach!

When Anna came off the field at the end of the game she said...

"That was AWESOME!"

Becca's Birthday

For Becca's birthday this year, we went camping and boating for the weekend. One thing she wanted for her birthday was a notebook with a lock on it. After a little boating, we were back at the trailer getting some lunch and this is how I found Becca...

Off in her own little space, writing in her notebook...so cute!

After dinner we had some birthday icecream. When we cut into it, it looked like a watermelon. It was fun and Becca loved it. She told be a few times that this was the best birthday ever! I'm glad she enjoyed her special day.

We had corn on the cob with dinner on Becca's birthday, and after a couple of bites, she couldn't have anymore. Her tooth was just too loose. After school on Monday, Becca called Nana to come over and finish getting her tooth out. It was holding on by only a smidgeon of a thread. Now Becca has no top front teeth. With the loss of her tooth, she also lost her very own unique whistle. She would roll her tongue and whistle, it sounded like a train horn or something. Hopefully when her teeth grow in, she will be able to whistle like that again. She is the only person I have ever seen that kind of whistle.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BECCA
We love you so much!