Family Fun

My sister, Charity, who now lives in Indiana, came to surprise us last weekend. I was so surprised I shed a few tears. When the sister shows up family fun begins.

 Low Country Boil beside the river.

Boys riding through Granddad's water park in the basement.

Kiddy pool party | Aunt Hope lets all children make a mess.

 Ham alert. This baby melts my heart. It's mushy right now.

I call him Calep and pinch his cheeks. Yes with a P.

 Ham alert #2.

 Little smores crafters, "Is it done yet Aunt Hope?"

"No, I see no brown, keep roasting."

Then they hold it 2 ft. about the fire.

With five adults behind me yelling baby talk you would think

the photo would be better. But then again this adds character.

This is how they really are. No...

 ...this is how they really are.

Not sure if Caleb is supposed to shut his eyes but Sawyer

is taking care of that problem for him. Oh, Sawyer.

Come again, Calep,

Aunt Hope

Classic Meat Loaf

Tonight it was back to basics for dinner. Time for a real, man meal of meat and potatoes. I try not to get too carried away with new recipes since my husband is a meat and potato man.

Most recipes I have for meat loaf are for 2 - 4 lbs. of ground beef. So I altered a recipe for 1 lb. of ground beef. Just right for two folks, and a little left to pack his lunch.

 Man loaf.

 Dig in.

 

 A first for making fried okra. It's quite tasty.

Classic Meat Loaf

1 lb. ground beef

1/4 cup onion, chopped

1/2 cup oatmeal

1 Tbsp. cornmeal

1/2 cup cracker crumbs

2/3 cup diced tomatoes

1/4 cup ketchup

1 Tbsp. brown sugar

1 Tbsp. vinegar

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

1 egg

Topping

1/3 cup ketchup

1 Tbsp. brown sugar

1 Tbsp mustard

a couple drops of liquid smoke

Mix together with hands and form into a loaf.

Bake at 400 for 30 minutes. Whisk together topping

and spread over top and bake 15 minutes more. 

Let set 10 minutes before cutting.

This helps it to stay together.

Enjoy,

Hope

California Coast

After Yosemite we headed to the coast. Then drove up route 1 to San Francisco, California.

 Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park.

Elephant seals.

Harly Goat Farm in Pescadero.

Field after field of produce.

 Food from The Codmother's famous fish and chips food truck. Divine.

 The Golden Gate Bridge.

I am still trying to catch up from being gone.

I hope to post a recipe soon!

Hope 

Yosemite National Park

After two days at lake Tahoe we head to Yosemite National Park. Our phone GPS routed us to take route 101 to Jamestown, California. Wow, a road I will never forget. For the locals- it puts the road to reddish knob to shame.

 Route 101.

 Majestic redwoods.

Lupines grown in the wild there.

 Yosemite Park views.

One breathtaking sight after another.

 Glacier Point.

The Grizzly Giant.

 Josh looks like a tiny ant compared to this tree.

 California coast coming up next!

Blessings,

Hope

Lake Tahoe

I'm back home! It's so good to home.

I am sorry I didn't keep posting by days but my laptop had issues and would not run blogger.

Instead of posting by day I will post by location. The next stop was lake Tahoe. We stayed there two nights in a cute, comfy cottage room. The beauty of the lake was amazing. The water is so clear and blue.

 Where we stayed, the Cottage Inn.

Emerald Bay.

 Chimney Beach.

Our own mini beach.

Cannon ball!

Nature sparkles.

 The rocks create a giant version of leap frog.

 Nothing like blue water and pine trees.

If you look hard enough you can see a wee bit

of snow on the mountains in the background.

The last photo, I promise. I could post photos all day!

Yosemite National Park coming up!

Blessings,

Hope

Day 3, 4 & 5

We are enjoying our stay here at Sheri's in Eureka, Nevada. We celebrated the 4th of July by watching the local parade and then headed to Duck Water to enjoy some natural, hot springs. It was one of the most beautiful places I have been to. You drive for miles and miles down a dusty road, lined with sage brush and all of the sudden there is a green oasis with crystal blue, spring water. God sure is creative. Being out here has given me another level of appreciation for how awesome our Creator is.


Here are some photos to catch you up on our trip.

Sheri's cute, little cottage.

Watching the rain.

The 4th of July parade.

The family.

Beauty in the middle of nowhere.

The hot springs in Duck Water.

The road tripping couple.

Sunsets in the west make you wanna jump for joy.


We are headed to lake Tahoe tomorrow.


Til' the next time,
Hope

Day 2

We spent all of day two touring the south rim of the Grand Canyon. A local guide said the average tourist spends 2 hours at the Grand Canyon. They fly into Vegas, drive 4 hours, spend two hours there and drive back. If I am going to travel that far I want to take in the full view.

Then we headed to Vegas for the night.

 The city lights are pretty amazing but the sin in the city is sickening.



Our hotel we booked on hotwire for $54 a night.

Of course, it's cheap, to get you inside the doors to gamble.

But since we don't gamble- we enjoyed the cheap stay:)

Now we are off to see Joshua's sister, Sheri, in Eureka!

Hope