The Apple Orchard

 Growing up, we used to sing this little diddy every morning to thank God before breakfast -- the Johnny Appleseed Song, which goes like this, "Oh! The Lord's been good to me. And so I'll thank the Lord for giving me the things I need like the sun, and the rain, and the apple seed. The Lord's been good to me. Amen, amen, amen!" Well, a few weeks back, Kiel and I did a study in his preschool work (Oh! Have I STILL not posted about that? Okay, I will do that soon. It's been reeeeally fun!) on apples, and it was a huge deal to go to the apple orchard in Sherwood, Oregon this Saturday to do some apple picking of our very own.

 

We picked a total of 22 pounds from about 5 different varieties. Apple pies and applesauce and apple muffins and apple cider were in our future here!! 

 We took them home for a good wash and then proceeded to eat our weight in them.

 I used our favorite cider recipe (from Willows Lodge, a place dear to our hearts, as that is where we stayed on our wedding night and our first anniversary) and cooked up some deliciousness from these beauties.

  There's nothing like the smell of homemade cider on the stove -- so comforting!

Amazing way to welcome in Fall!

Weekend away

 This past weekend, we continued celebrating Eva's first year by driving to Seattle (Bothell/Woodinville area) and spending time with family. This was also the site of our now traditional "cake smash" event.

 She murdered that thing. #cakegore

 I made a lil book that spotlighted a picture from each month of her life. It was fun to see how much she had changed, and yet, stayed the same.

 After presents and naps at GiGi's, we headed to Matt's Dad's house for the night. We explored the veggie garden, ran after free-range chickens, ate amazing grilled salmon, roasted some perfect marshmallows, gazed at the stars around the campfire, talked and talked, before finally flopping into bed!

 flowering artichoke.

 Kiel helping Grandad pick tomatoes.

 Great weekend was had by all. Happy birthday week, E!

Bye Bye Baby

Today, our littlest turns one and we couldn't be more overjoyed for her! The song, "Bye Bye Baby (Baby Goodbye)" by the Bay City Rollers has been spinning around my brain as we celebrate this very momentous occasion in our daughter's life. What a fabulous year it has been, and we are so proud of the obedient, beautiful, attentive, and loving little girl Eva has become. What a joy to have her in our home! Her furious wave brings nothing but laughter to all that see it. She can say Mom, duck, more, all done, hi, and milk. Her favorite person in the whole world is me, her mother. She is never happier than when in my arms. What a privilege to have that place of honor in her life! I love her with a fierce love, and I will do everything I can to teach her by example to love God with all her heart. I pray that she grows up resting in the knowledge of His immense and powerful love for HER. My hope is that she embodies her name in ways we can never imagine -- shining like a city on a hill, filled with radiant life.

Eva Brighton, Oh! The Place You Will Go!

 The party faerie visited our house, and she woke up to an epic birthday breaky!

 Her brother had NO complaints about this special treat!

 Then, we moved on to enjoying presents...

Best New Toy Award goes to this bad boy! Both the kids are head-over-heels for it.

 We continued celebrating her day at the zoo...

These two are ready for a-n-y-t-h-i-n-g. I love these two little hearts, burning with so much personality and passion! There's nothing better than seeing the world through their (beautiful) eyes...

 And, to wrap up, here are two videos of the day. The first is of Kiel, giving Eva the special present he prepared for her. I REALLY wanted him to understand that today was a day to respect and honor his sister. It is so easy for children to feel left out when they are celebrating someone else, so I made a huge deal about him giving her a gift (a re-gift really, just one of his old baby books) and making her a card. It hit home, I think. And the second is of him spazzing as the penguins try to eat his sunglasses. Enjoy.

 For His reknown, 

m