Vacation Day 3

On day three, we went to Disney World. Grandpa Noa and Grandma Tonita gifted the girls and us with 4 day passes to all of the Disney parks. So here we are on Day 3.

We photographed the area where we parked (so we wouldn't forget where the car was:)

We took a ferry from the parking lot to Disney World

Alicia, Hannah and I in the front of Disney World

Our first stop was "It's a Small World"

The girls and I on a train that takes you around the perimeter of Disney World

We took a boat ride through a jungle

Here are the girls in the front of the Swiss Family Robinson tree house

Ralph and I in Tomorrow Land

We let the girls drive in race cars, here is a video of it

Alicia driving a race car (she won't be driving for a VERY LONG time), I was along for the ride

Alicia and Hannah took Ralph on the Tea Cup ride

We also went to a few places that we could not take photos in, such as the Hall of Presidents that had all the presidents in it, the mannequins moved and some of them spoke. It was really interesting. We also went to Mickey's philharmonic in 3-D. The girls and I had never seen any movie in 3-D and found it VERY exciting. They even sprayed us with water and sprayed different scents to enhance the experience. It was a fun day for all! Thank you, Grandpa and Grandma, we really appreciate your gift. We had a wonderful time.

Our Vacation-Days 1 and 2

We left Seattle at 7:30 am on Wednesday morning. We flew to New Mexico and then on to Orlando, Florida. We arrived at 6:30 pm. We had a little bit of a bumpy ride thanks to Hurricane Ike coming closer to land. We even took some photos of the northern rim of the hurricane.

Mt. Rainier from the airplane, what a beautiful sight!

Here are some of the northern clouds from Hurrican Ike over the Gulf of Mexico on Wednesday, September 10, 2008, they made for a very bumpy ride

Ralph playing some pool at his Dad's

Grandpa Noa teaching the girls to make bread pudding, his specialty

Grandma Tonita Noa

Grandpa Fernando Noa

Here I am trying to learn how to play pool, I am a VERY sloooow learner

More Harvest from Our Garden

On Saturday, we started cleaning out the beds and harvesting what was ripe. Well, the corn was finally ready, and just in time too. We used it for the girls' birthday dinner. We discovered that we really like corn straight from the garden---RAW!! It is so fresh and crisp. I don't know if I will be able to eat it cooked again. Here are a few photos that we took.

Here are some of the corn, don't they look delicious!!

Hannah standing proudly with some of her corn

Even the dog enjoyed the "cobs" from the master's table

Here is an acorn squash, I can't wait 'til it is ready

Some of our Roma tomatoes, we planted 3 Romas and 3 Beefsteaks

Christmas Planner

Yes...you read it correctly...Christmas planner. Would you like you and your home to be ready for Christmas this year? Well, I just found a wonderful site that will guide you through the next few months so you will be ready. There is a calendar to help you clean a room or area a week until your whole house is clean. She will walk you through making lists of who you will buy/make gifts for and getting your card list ready. She will get you buying extra flour, sugar, etc. for baking, and on and on. Take a look at this site and see if it would be a help to you. You can download a pdf copy of it and use it to print off the worksheets you will need. Let me be the first to tell you Merry Christmas:)

My 13th Birthday (Hannah)

On Friday, it was my birthday, but we celebrated it on Saturday, because that was also my older sister's birthday (we take turns celebrating our birthdays on our day). For our dinner, dad bbq'd spare ribs and we had angel eggs and home grow corn picked just that day, then we ate angel food cake with strawberries, that mom made just that morning. Mom and dad gave us books on how to draw flowers and trees, dogs, and all sorts of baby animals. I also got a space experement kit. Mom and dad also gave us two new dvds to watch. I had a very, very good birthday.

Daddy is lighting our candles on our birthday cake

We each received our own Grandmother's Hope Chest book with baking kit and sewing kit

I was thrilled to get this space exploration kit

Daddy and I putting together a human body model for muscles and bones

Here it is completed!

Feminism is Anti-Christian

Find out what feminism is about. I have not read any books from the feminist point of view, but I have read from people who are experienced or very knowledable about them. You will find this blog very insightful. I sure did.

Pictures of Soaps We Have Made

We have been working on increasing our supply of homemade soaps. We are hoping to get some advertising done before the Christmas and also go to at least one craft fair. So here some pictures of what we have been making.

First will be our glycerine soaps.

Here are lavender bars, these were the very first soaps we made

Isn't this a beautiful presentation (Alicia set this up and shot it herself)

This is Plumeria (think Hawaii, Alooooooooooooooooha!)

Here is MelonCucumber, quite refreshing

Next is Peach Jubilee, smells almost good enough to eat!

This is Lavender Rose with some small rose petals in it

(not sure if we will do this again)

Here we have Ylang Ylang Vanilla, very romantic smelling

Finally in the glycerine soaps, we have Rose Vanilla, again with little pieces of rose petals in it

Now we have our lye soap collection.

This was our very first lye soap, we call it TeaTreeMint, it has already become pretty popular. It is made from Red Palm oil, coconut oil, and olive oil; for the scents we used, Tea Tree, Sweet Thyme, Peppermint and Clary Sage. It has a wonderfully clean, refreshing smell, that is not overpowering.

This is Almond, one of my favorite scents

Here is my experiment, it is Coconut Chocolate, it smells absolutely delicious!Here is one that was just made yesterday. This is what it looks like before it is cut. (it made about 40 bars of soap) This has become my new favorite. I call it Sandlewood Bay for Men. I can't wait to have my husband use this.

If you have any suggestions for different soaps just let us know. We are always looking for new ideas for scents. If you would be interested in any of our soaps please contact us .

Ways to Use Vegetables from the Garden

A while back one of my faithful readers (Jennifer) asked for some recipes of how I use the vegetables from my garden. Well, most of our vegetables we just eat straight from the garden for snacks and raw for meals. But I do have three recipes that I can share. Two of them are from my childhood and the other is from a recipe book I really enjoy.

Apple and carrot salad- once we grow our fruit this salad will be made completely from our garden. But anyway, we grate the carrots and slice some apples (some people like to add raisins too, but my DH prefers it without) and add a little mayo. This is a very tasty salad and you can't compare the fresh carrots to the store bought ones.

Beet and Bean salad- we steam the peeled beets and green beans, cool them, julienne the beets, add the beans and a little mayo (again some people like to add chives or green onion tops, but my DH prefers it without, so we put a bowl on the table so you can add your own.)

Colorful Cabbage comes from a recipe book by Serene Allison, it is called Rejuvenate Your Life (Recipes for Energy)

Finely chopped medium red cabbage
Finely chopped medium green cabbage
Two to three apples, cubed (preferably a variety that is crisp and tart)
A few good splashes fo raw apple cider vinegar (about 1/2 cup)
Equal the above splashes with extra virgin olive oil
Crack some good rounds of fresh black pepper
Put in a generous four-fingered pinch of sea salt (about 1 TBS)
Throw in a handful of poppy seeds (about 2-3 TBS)
Pour in a taddle or two of pure maple syrup (about a generous 1/4 cup)
Optional-chuck in a handful or two of walnuts (we like to add sunflower seeds instead)

Chop the cabbage by hand. (If you have a Saladacco Spiralizer use the spiral blade without the lid on and crank it out and roughly chop afterwards. This is the quickest and easiest method.) Throw in everything else. Mix around a few times. Taste and adjust flavors. It should have a sweet edge with a vinegary and zesty tang.

Yum, Yum! Great to take for potlucks and parties and a good standard for big hungry families. This recipe makes a lot so if there are just a few of you or even less, don't worry, it keeps in the refrigerator for subsequent lunches. Feel free to adjust the recipe.

My daughters and I really like this recipe.

Some Canning done for 2008

The girls and I have been working hard the past week. Last week, we canned 14 quarts of peaches and dehydrated 1/2 gallons of peach slices. Peaches are one of the easiest fruits to can. You just blanch them, pull the skins off, cut in half and remove the pit. This week we have canned 21 quarts of pears and have dehydrated over a gallon of pear slices, we also dehydrated 1/2 gallon of banana chips (which we do almost every week, we really like banana chips). Pears are a little more work than peaches. You can't blanch them, so you have to peel them, slice them and then core them. We have had lots of fun. The girls are learning a lot and should be able to get their badges for canning and dehydrating for Keepers of the Faith. Below are a few photos that Alicia took of our canning. Isn't she becoming quite a good photographer!?! The end of this month we will be getting four boxes of apples. We can't wait, applesauce, apple butter, sliced apples and dried apples. My mouth is watering already!!!

Here is one of our two boxes of peaches

Time to halve those peaches

Watching for the pot to boil (you know what they say about that:)

Here is one of the batches of finished peaches

Pears are a little more work, peeling, coring and slicing, but are they worth it!

Hannah hard at work preparing the pears for canning

Some of our finished pears

Happy Labor Day

Today was a beautiful day, not too cold and not too hot, it was just right. We spent the day together as a family. We were able to rest from our labors and reflect on our blessings. This evening, Ralph BBQ'd some rib eye steaks to perfection. Alicia and Hannah cooked corn and baked some potatoes. It was a wonderful dinner, just glad we don't do it very often. It was VERY filling.

I can't believe that today is the first day of September, this year is really flying. This weekend is Hannah and Alicia's birthdays, they will be 13 and 14 respectively.

We pray that you and your family had an enjoyable day together!