who carved their very first jack-o-lantern this year?

Jade. She's the daughter of my friend Michelle. We always have a great time when she comes to visit. We carved pumpkins and made dinner while her mom was cutting Ben's hair.

Here she is drawing her design on her pumpkin before she started carving...

and here she is trimming her jack-o-lantern's nose.

After we carved the pumpkins, Jade wanted to have a contest (notice the post-it notes under the pumpkins). Jade's pumpkin, on the left, won!

what am i doing with the apples being harvested in hood river?

Making apple butter and applesauce.

I wanted to learn how to can. So, Ben brought home apples from the orchard where he works and using the directions from the jars I bought and my mom's expertise over the phone, I taught myself to can. Once I completed the first batch of apple butter, I realized canning is not too hard.

how was our race?

Incredible! Here we are before the race- Ben, me and Sarah.

Ben and I started the race together. Ben was running the half marathon and I was splitting the half with Sarah.

Here we are at Ben's turn-around point, my finish and Sarah's start.

Ben finishing the half marathon. Woo Hoo!

Sarah and I are reunited at the end!

what do i love about hood river in the fall?

The leaves.

what was the best part of harvest fest?

The produce. There was food, crafts, art and even the new Subaru Outback (yes, we live in Oregon), but Ben's favorite part was the produce.




We bought a lot of produce and made delicious and easy butternut squash soup for dinner last night. The recipe is below. Enjoy!

Butternut Squash & Apple Soup

16oz butternut squash, peeled, seeded & cubed (2 cups)
3 crisp apples, peeled, cored, chopped coarsely
2 (10.5oz) cans of chicken broth
-I used 2.5 cups of water with 1.5 cubes of vegetable bouillon
1 medium onion chopped
3 slices of bread, torn into pieces
salt, pepper, rosemary, marjoram

Combine all ingredients. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer uncovered for about 45 minutes. Cool, then put in a blender until smooth. Heat again when ready to serve.

what's a good thing about getting lost in portland?

You get a chance to see beautiful wood pedestrian bridges in the suburbs.

what's the best thing about training for our run?

The views.

The rain finally arrived in Hood River. Although it was forecast to have rained all day. There was a break, enabling Foster and I to go for a run.

what does the new winter entrance at timberline look like?

This.
In 2003 Timberline Lodge held a design contest for a new temporary winter entrance. A few days before our anniversary they installed the new entrance and held a ribbon cutting ceremony.

The winning design is described in this article. At the bottom of this article is a picture of the previous winter entrance... I love the new one!

what does our new nephew look like?

This.
He's pretty cute and big. He weighed 8lbs 13oz and was 20.5 inches long. So adorable. We can't wait to see him!

what two special events happened today?

Ben and I celebrated our third anniversary... and our nephew, Steven Arthur Ford was born (I'll post more on the baby later- Congratulations Jason & Abby).

Ben and I spent the night at Timberline Lodge to celebrate our anniversary. We arrived in time for an afternoon hike and beautiful sunset.

Ben bought me flowers (Gerbera Daisies-my favorite) and I bought him Cap'n Crunch... how romantic.

We woke up this morning and hiked up to Silcox Hut to watch the sunrise. This evening we read old love letters Ben wrote to me... some of them were 17 years old.

Happy Anniversary Doll.

who just graduated from boot camp?

Justin!

He graduated the end of last week. Here he is with Jake. I think they were pretty happy to see each other.

Check out his form. Pretty impressive. Congratulations Justin!

what is our pumpkin patch doing this year?

Growing pumpkins. Here's a picture of our Cinderella pumpkin. There are many others in the patch and a few gourds, too. This year we took the volunteer plants out of our vegetable garden and planted them in their own plot. They seemed to like their new home.