Happy Tuesday!!!
Yes, I am going to do all 5 link ups today! Is that greedy? Maybe. I like to think of it as getting it all done in one post:)
So, our weekend was nutz!! But it was good, too. I took 251 pics on my camera, and I have about 150 left to prove it.
Saturday; We went to a wedding! It was of a good friend of ours and her American Love!!!! Yes, we had a fun time ribbing our new American friend! We don't know him that well, but we have heard so much about him, and we know from what others say that he is a good guy. He is a youth pastor at a church that meets in our building.
Got up around 9:30 or so and hung out and relaxed. I had a shower, folded some laundry, ate breakfast, did some dishes, and got dressed (not necessarily in that order). We made it to the wedding with only minutes to spare. The wedding was so fun! I don't know the last time I have ben so excited for a bride! I believe she is around the same age as I was when I got married, so I can identify with her a bit. Here are some pictures that I captured of the fun day.
The Groom, and his Groomsmen.
The Bridesmaids. And yes, two of them were pregnant, and one had just had a baby a few months ago.
Saying their vows.
The Bridal party.
Their first kiss (ever!!)
We had coffee with friends btwn the wedding and reception.
Got back around 4:30, and the reception started at 5 or so.
Our church`s gym was transformed into a wedding fairy land!!!
Their colours were Tiffany Blue and white, and their theme was rustic/country but elegant.
They had a sweet/candy table! Yum!
I loved their candles!
I took these next couple of pics for my American readers!
They had Canadian Iced Tea and on the right was the Texas Sweet Tea. They ran out of the TST VERY quickly! I did manage to get a sip of it, however, and it wasn't bad!! But I still love our Canadian Iced Tea better!
Apparently, there is a difference btwn American Oreos and Canadian Oreos. Who knew? (PS, the CND ones tasted better!!)
These, my American Friends are Naniamo bars! THE BEST dessert EVER!!! Just sayin'!
They gave away coffee as their party favours! I heard it was from Starbucks. We may or may not have come away with more than two allotted bags! They also encouraged us to colour the table!
And yes, we heard a few "ya'lls" that evening! There were about 200 people (including kids and babies!) that night; and probably half were from the US. Such fun! I am telling you; I don't think I have seen that many babies and small children at one event in some while, if ever. I had a few baby pangs, that's for sure!!
The wedding itself was short, which was nice. There were only a few short speeches, and the cutting of the cake, and a funny song, and that was about it. The dinner was very good!
They even had biscuits (that were a bit sweet..yummy) with gravy!
Here is one final pic of the night, of hubby and I.
Anker and I cleaned for about 3 hours after (that is with help!), and came home around 11. After a few minutes of downtime, we went to bed.
Sunday;
We slept in; we were SO tired!! I got up and packed, and did some more cleaning (or something), and packed up. Packing for the two of us is pretty simple and quick.
In Canada, Thanksgiving is in October, and to get anywhere, we have to travel by dogsled. Ok, I am kidding about the last part, but TG IS in October:)
Because they (my parents included) were looking for a man from our little community, we had no idea on when and if we were going to have a turkey dinner. The discussions/plans went a bit like this: Turkey Dinner, TV dinners, Turkey Dinner, eat at 2, eat 6, Turkey Dinner at 5, TV Dinners whenever people come in. Yup, it was crazy! I nearly had a flip out. Just a little bit. Ok, I may have. A tiny bit. In the end, however, it went well. We got to the ranch around 2 on Sunday (no church; bad, I know), after a very lovely drive.
First however, as I was running and getting frozen dinners (remember, at this time, I thought we were doing frozen turkey dinners..you know, to keep it simple), and gassed up, I HAD to grab a coffee of each of us, and bran muffins, because, you know, we hadn't eaten yet.
Lovely site, no?
I love the drive up to our place! 2 hours of pure bliss (unless traffic is being silly)!
There was a fire here 10 years ago; it is sad and exciting at the same time. Looking forward to seeing new growth, but sad at the devastation that it caused.
Got to the farm, and played with puppies (of course!), and picked apples and plums! Oh my..I can't remember the last time I had fresh picked apples. Maybe not even last year?
Facing our driveway.
Anker picking apples! I had two in a row! They have already had a couple of frosts, which make the apples sweeter..yummy!
No pesticides and GMOs on these babies!
My parents an apple and a plum tree in their yard.
Fresh fruit in fall:) Is there anything sweeter?
The plums we picked.
Me holding one of the puppies.
2 of the 5 puppies that are left.
Hung out and relaxed in the evening. I drove my brother to and from his friends, and we had popcorn and Anker watched an X-Men movie on TV. Had a short visit with mom and dad when they got back, and went to bed. I actually did some of m FB group stuff, since I had been neglecting it for awhile.
Woke up around 7:30 yesterday, and had breakfast and just did whatever until I felt let starting dinner. By this time, we had decided to skip the frozen dinner, and eat a turkey dinner, since there was one that was thawed in the fridge. I know. Don't get me started:) In the midst of all this, mum wanted me to make cookies for the searchers (well, mom was asked by my aunt if I could make them). Thankfully, it was as simple boiled raisin cookie recipe that didn't take long at all. First, though, I had to start gathering stuff up for the stuffing. I then took a trip to our small store, then drove to the next town to grab some things that the store didn't have, only to find out that the larger store was closed. Came back to the smaller store to grab a few more things. I settled on Cherry tarts with frozen tart shells. I don't do pastry.
Came home, started the stuffing. I didn't really do a recipe, I just added stuff:)
Doesn't it look DELISH!?? Apples, cranberries, raisins, onions, shallots (or whatever that thing was sitting on mom's counter!!!), garlic, bacon, onion sausage, and celery (which was what I went to the store for!)
The Turkey!!! Yummy!!! We added Sage/Poultry SSNG, and melted butter.
It may or may not have been slightly overcooked due to my forgetfulness to take it out..OOPS!
The cranberry sauce:) My lil brother did an awesome job!
We also had potatoes, sweet potatoes, broccoli and Brussels sprouts, and gravy. It went well, and tasted delish!
I did find some pumpkin pie filling in the cupboard, and I ended up making tarts. They turned out well. I also had lots of filling left over, so I made my own version of
Frozen Pumpkin Squares. Basically, it was the filling, some ginger, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, about 2 T of custard powder, and some condensed milk, and for the crust, I used graham crumbs. I have no idea on how they tasted, because we forgot last night to bring them out, and when we brought them out this morning to try them, they were frozen solid. I told mom to save us a couple of pieces.
Tarts in front of the fire:) Bliss!
....made even better with tea.
Frozen Pumpkin Squares.
.
I had fun organizing and pretty much single- hand idly making my first Thanksgiving Dinner alone! Even before they started searching, Mom had asked me to be in charge of it. I had fun raiding mom's fridge and pantry!!
This morning.
A couple of extra puppy cuteness pics!
Isn't he adorable??
It is hubby's bday today, not sure what we will do, as everyone we have asked is busy. We may just do it another night this week.
Happy Tuesday!
