Beaming Back in 2004

Our first holiday with a baby on my hip... in my arms... filling my heart to the brim I felt like I could burst!

I took her to my Dad's school



And the school Scott used to be a teacher in (that's the same school Anna goes to today!!!)



And I remember Scott wanting me to take this one telling me she'd be walking this hallway as a middle schooler one day... I thought that would never happen. But (sigh) it did...



And Halloween night we 'trick or treated' at my parents.  Beaming I tell you... beaming!





It's fun to look back and see the joy.

Never let the miracle become ordinary   ~me

Sunrise

Out my bedroom window this morning ~



This is the day the Lord has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it ~Psalm 118:24

Rosebud dress, babydoll lips, ribbon in her hair, and shiny black eyes

~ Home Was Never Sweeter Than Now ~ Susan Branch

Autumn Cooking

While that is going on...

And that (yuck)



I love cooking all year round but something about cooking in the autumn.... well... it it just the best.  I love the coziness, the warmth, the getting dark early evenings... and don't even get me started on a rainy night that we're all home and there is soup on the stove... pure heaven I tell you.

Most of the time I take pictures of my girls but sometimes something in my kitchen makes me so happy I run for my camera.

Acorn squash just coming out of the oven



Apple Cranberry Crisp



Oh and these Halloween popcorn balls were so much fun to make!



With "real popcorn" cooked on the stove not the microwave made my girls think I was amazing (okay so I burnt the first batch and daddy had to take over)





There are muffins galore and I love to roll out pie crust when I can. Cooking and baking is for sure the thing that brings out the calm in me. I like a good Frank Sinatra pandora station and cup of tea beside me... and all the stress melts away!

Waxing Leaves

I can go far or near. I can follow the map and guide from fancy, slick magazines. But by far my favorite fall tree is oh so close.



I've stood there and taken pictures too many times to count.

2012





2010





2014



It's at the girls school.



And somehow each year I am sad when the last of those leaves flutter down. I know they are coming back but I love this tree so much.



In our house we call it "Mrs. Mulready's tree".

It just is... her tree.



This fall she is home with the most precious goodness... a newborn baby... but Abigail didn't want her to miss 'seeing' her tree.





So we waxed leaves, boxed them up, and delivered them to her door. I know that staring into the face of her new love is really all the goodness she needs right now but Abigail was sure she'd need her tree.









Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower ~Albert Camus

Pumpkin Patch

Parenting can have days that are oh so tough. I love that this blog is a reminder that there were smiles this weekend. It can be so easy to focus on the 'tough stuff'. And I need to focus on that sometimes; to help my girls through it all. But it is so wonderful to look back and remember the happy, the relaxed, the family days that are good.













When Anna goes through regular life and has a 'bump in the road' she often doesn't and can't react to situations like a 'normal child'. Her "issues" and her adoption make it difficult to manage her emotions and her reactions. She is forever deeply wounded. At the core she is missing a piece that her daddy and I can't fix. But we know and can point her to the One who can... her Heavenly Father. We we hold her through her sobs that rack her body we know that He is holding her and holding us. We pray and we 'get her through' one more episode. We feel weak but we know we are strong. His strength is perfect.

Annual Leaf Trip (part 4)

"Fairy magic sparkles in nature" Lynn Holland



We were on our way to our next stop when Scott spotted this... and we just had to stop. (music)



Oh my goodness... how the water meets the leaves and the reflection looks like glass. Where do the trees end and where does the water begin?





But move on we did because chocolate was at our next stop!

Thorncrest Farm



Really! Did everything on this trip have to be so magical and amazing? Yankee Magazine truly got it right this year!



Here cows are meticulously bred and fed to supply sweet milk for individual caramels and truffles for their milk chocolate house.



The barn (cleaner than my living room) was the pride and joy of the happiest farmer and chocoltier wife.













My favorite stop... for sure. Not just for the most amazing chocolates I've ever had (godiva... you are no match!) but for the love this couple had for the 'work' that they do. Delightful, wonderful, amazing! We will be back!

And our final stop : Miranda Vineyards

There we brought two bottles of wine home to enjoy with our chocolates later since the tasting room wouldn't really work unless it was a date.  But lovely to walk around.





Thank you Yankee Magazine for the best Connecticut fall drive ever!

And there you have it!!! Thanks for coming along with us! Join us next year... mid October... the miracle of fall happens every year!



And that family picture I so wanted on this trip? I got it!



And so many more!