Beautiful Day at the Beach

Adam's friend Tara likes to do things together, which is nice. At the spaghetti dinner last Sunday, she asked what we were doing this Sunday. I suggested we all go to the state park we like about 30-40 minutes away (depending on traffic) after church to grill. Turns out she had never been there!! Crazy since she's lived here all her life. Not all my crew could come. But the ones that did had a great time. And the water was amazingly beautiful.

I love the turquoise-ish water and white sand. I have become a beach snob. 

It was absolutely clear.

Tara wasn't sure how to hula hoop.

Jasmine demonstrated.

Adam being Adam

Me taking Kealen in the kayak, and Kaleb riding along on the back.

Adam definitely being Adam.

See how clear it is out to the jetties. Everyone calls this the baby pool area.

I love Tara and Jasmine together.

Tara tried out my snorkel gear and my underwater camera.

We have no idea what this is! Anyone?

Other Things that May Interest You

This is one of four blogs. It's the one about my family.
One of my other blogs is for girls. It features devotions, quizzes, things from my books, photos and anything that might appeal to a 7-14ish old girl. That blog is HERE. Not long ago I was able to interview Burton Cole, who writes middle grade fiction. (That means it's for roughly 8-12 year olds). His newest book is Bash and the Chocolate Milk Cows. You can read about it HERE

Another of my blogs is for teens. You can find it HERE. This blog has interviews with authors who write for teens. These are all Christian authors, but they write a wide variety of genres. I also review YA fiction, mostly secular. Here are the ones I've featured.
Diana Sharples

Cynthia Toney

Bryan Davis

AJ Cattapan

Monica Mynk

Jean Ann Williams

Sherrie Giddens

JC Morrows

Tonja Condray Klein

Katherine Nelson

Angela Moody

My last blog is for parents, but really it also covers a lot of stuff of interest to women (and maybe some men). You can find it HERE. One of the special features of that blog is "Quick Tips." These are brief articles about different topics. They normally consist of three bulleted points and are the kind of thing people used to cut out of newspapers and clip to their fridge. Now I guess you'd simply bookmark it, but somehow that's not the same. Here are some of the topics we've covered:

Be Smart, Savvy and Strong

Keeping Your Mind Strong

Getting Your Preteen to Read

Help for Clutterbugs
Keeping Christmas Simple But Meaningful
Healthy Heart Tips for Football Couch Potatoes
Having a Personal Quiet Time with God
Beating the Winter Blues
Friendships That Cross Boundaries
Five Fresh Starts for Living
Positive Parent Teacher Relationships
How to Make Your Words Matter

I also have a webpage HERE. Please take a few minutes to check out these link.

Fun Friday: Making Butter Beer (and Keeping it Real!)

Whether or not you are a Harry Potter fan, you can try these two recipes for butter beer (it's not really beer!) for a fun fall drink. One is a hot drink and one is a cold drink. Try both and see which you prefer. And if you figure out how to make the topping for the cold one so it's not lumpy, let me know!



Hot Butter Beer

You need:

• 2 cups milk
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 3 tablespoons hot butterscotch topping
• 1 cup cream soda (or you can substitute rootbeer if you prefer)
• large bowl
• whisk

Do this:

1. Combine milk, butter, and brown sugar in a microwaveable bowl. Use a whisk to stir them.
2. Microwave for three minutes.
3. Remove and stir.
4. Microwave again until milk is foaming. About 3-4 minutes.
5. Remove from microwave and add the butter using the whisk. Make sure all the sugar is dissolved and mixed in. 
6. Heat the butterscotch topping for 30 seconds. Add to mixture and use whip to combine.
7. Whisk in one cup of cream soda.
8. You can add sprinkles, ginger, canned whipped cream to your taste.

Even River got in on the hot butter beer

Cold Butter Beer

You Need:
48 ounces Cream Soda
1/4 cup butterscotch syrup
1 cup heavy cream
2 Tbs sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup melted butter
Two bowls
whisk
beater

To Do:
1. Combine cream soda and butterscotch syrup using the whisk in one bowl
2. In the other bowl, use the mixer to beat the heavy cream until peaks appear
3. Fold in the sugar and vanilla.
4. Add the butter and mix.
5. Serve the butter beer with the cream mixture on top.

Just keeping it real --Our cream mixture came out lumpy, and I think we either didn't beat it long enough or it went lumpy when we added the butter. I sprinkled cinnamon on top to hide it :)

We will just  pretend it's supposed to be a lumpy mountain of goo

What is your favorite fall or winter drink? Or soup? Or something festive? Leave me a recipe to try!!

Date with River

River is pretty popular with three full sets of grandparents in town. So Ty and I went and got her one day for a River date.

She is pretty easy to entertain, so we went to the mall. We planned to rent electronic animals but weren't sure whether or not River would like them. Mostly she either loves something or hates it. Not much in between. Thankfully she loved the animals.

 
Then we went to the food court.

Check out River's face as we wait for Uncle TyTy

We shared Chik fil A. (Do all of you have Chik fil A?) and played in the food court.

She did great, and she's very social.

Here are some other recent pictures of her.

 Hunter's mom is holding her up