Pictures from the Party on Flickr

I have posted about 120 of the 300+ pictures from the party on Flickr. I think you can see them by clicking here. Give it a try and let me know! I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

Question of the Day

The common factor in this series of pictures is Rev. Zahn - a long time family friend who will be officiating at the wedding. The question of the day is this: What is he telling us that elicits these responses? Comment if you have any ideas!

Pictures from the Party! Part 4

David and Kevin
Coach Mullins and David
Grandmother and G.W.

Pictures from the Party! Part 3

Christina and Erin
Derek and Todd
Derek, Todd, Kevin, and Stobbe

Pictures from the Party! Part 2

Erin's Parents - Gail and Dale

Darrin, David's sister Sarah, David's niece Erin, and David

Erin's Uncle John and Aunt Connie

Pictures from the Party! Part 1: Erin and David

Rick and Becky's daughter made us these hilarious balloon hats. Have you ever seen anything like it? They were amazing!
And here we are...

I'm trying to upload all 300+ pictures to Flickr. There are just too many great pictures to get them all on the blog. It's been uploading for an hour and is 10% finished. Guess this may take a while!

The Road Leads to the Ferry

Today the road to wedded bliss ended at Bull Shoals Lake. Really - the highway runs right into the lake. We waited a few minutes with some bikers for the ferry to make its way back across the lake.

It's spooky to see nothing but water in front of the car.
Here we are! It was breezy out on the water.
We were the only vehicle with 4 wheels on the ferry for our trip.


We're still eagerly waiting for the CD of pictures taken by our photographer from last weekend - hope to have them this week!

Meet Me in Margaritaville Part 2

Fantastic...that's my one-word description of the pre-wedding party hosted by the Houge family on Saturday night. David and I were a little humbled by all the people who came. We have such wonderful family and friends. The decorations were great fun, the food was delicious - especially the crab dip, and it was so wonderful to see everyone. Pictures will be added soon, so stay tuned!

New Chairs

Our new chairs came in this week! David picked them up on Tuesday and I was sure surprised to come in to find them in the living room. Gracie immediately claimed her spot on one of the ottomans. Henrietta was soon to follow. They seem to see the ottomans as their own personal thrones.

It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!

I love fall. Love, love, love it! So much so that I am usually pushing the season. By the end of August, I was making pumpkin bread. Just couldn't resist. Last weekend I made pumpkin muffins and brought out the fall decorations. Robyn and I went a a few fall open houses at some of our favorite shops. Now I officially have the fall bug. I thought I'd share the bread and muffin recipes, and I am looking for a good pumpkin cookie recipe. The ones that I have found online all look like cake-y cookies and I'm looking for more of a cookie-cookie. Anyone have such a thing?

Pumpkin Spice Bread

(from Cottage Living Magazine, November 2006)

This recipe doubles and even triples really well. A single recipe will make four little loaves (bake for 36 minutes).

1-2/3 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1/4 plus 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt

1-1/3 cups sugar

1/3 cup canola oil

1 cup plus 1 1/2 tablespoons canned unsweetened pumpkin

1 large egg

1. Preheat oven to 350. Grease and flour an 8x4 loaf pan. Stir together the first 6 ingredients.

2. In a separate (large) bowl, combine sugar, oil, and pumpkin. Beat at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth. Add egg, beating until well blended. Gradually add dry ingredients, beating at a low speed until blended. Transfer batter to prepared pan.

3. Bake at 350 for 1 hour 5 minutes or until loaf is golden and a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Let cool in pan on wire rack 15 minutes. Remove from pan.

Pumpkin Muffins

(from About.com, September 2007)

2 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 can (15-16 oz) pumpkin

1/3 cup melted butter

1/2 cup half and half

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/4 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs, beaten

1 teaspoon vanilla

In a large bowl, combine first 7 ingredients. In a separate bowl, combine pumpkin, butter, half and half, eggs, brown sugar, sugar, and vanilla. Stir pumpkin mixture into the dry ingredients until moistened. Line muffin tin with liners. Fill to 3/4 full with batter. Bake at 375 for 20-25 minutes. Makes 12-18 muffins.

Happy Birthday David!

Happy Birthday David!!!

Labor Day Weekend

At the beginning of the weekend, our only plans were to go to the last Springfield Cardinals game of the season. Despite our lack of plans, we ended up having a very fun and busy weekend. Dale called to invite us to eat lobster - yes, lobster on Saturday night. I had great plans of trying to eat it, but only managed to get one buttery bite down. There's just something about the disassembly process that I find really creepy. I ate lots of other tasty things, and David enjoyed the lobster. Sunday morning, we went to Krista's for a wonderful brunch. Her newly finished pond is so pretty! This afternoon we went to the ballgame with Kevin, Scotty, and Todd. It was hot but fun and the Cardinals won.

Guess it's back to work tomorrow!