Wordless Wednesday

 (Old fire station)

Beautiful fall colors

The Autumn colors have been simply gorgeous here this last week.  Even in rainy weather, I've been in awe of God's artistry all around me.
Tuesday was my day off.  We had pouring rain in the morning, but the sun came out in the afternoon and I had time to get out and take some pictures.  I'm sharing some here and I'm sorry for how many.  It's just so pretty!

Our street, our house is just past the pine tree on the left.

Back on our street again, this time coming from the other direction.  

Home, sweet home.

The view from my window at work.

The leaves are pretty, but they fall down and are lots of work.

Here's Bob, blowing the leaves.

He even had to blow off the porch!

One last picture - this is our backyard.

I think by next week, many of those leaves will be down and the tree branches will be bare.
So, I'm enjoying this for as long as I can!

Family time at the Nature Center

 We went to a Nature Center that's close to Heather and Andrews home last week. We were trying to get some pictures for our Christmas card.  We always get one of us and the grandkids.  We had fun at the same time!
It had been raining most every day, but on this day the sun came out.  It was cold, but still ok for being outside.
Here's a few shots of our time there.

Here's Andrew, Heather and Cassie

Cassie is at a hard age for pictures. She likes to scrunch up her eyes and face when she smiles, and getting her to look at the camera is hard! 

There were goats and chickens to see!

This wasn't posed, they were just walking to another area and I was behind them.  So cute!

One of the pics of us.  I don't have one of Laura and Aaron, as they thought we were just doing the kids, so weren't fixed up for pictures.

The Nature Center has lots of beautiful woods.

The leaves were glowing in the sunlight.

Cassie liked this bench.

The girls called me over to take their picture on this bench.

Inside a little silo at the play area.

Ruby

And Alaina.  What fun!

Friday Funny

 

Cooking Thursday

 Here's another new thing we tried out when we were at the cottage. We made this on Saturday when we were planning a quiet day there.
It was a yummy treat!

Overnight Cinnamon Sticky Buns

20 frozen dinner rolls - the type you let rise
1/4 cup instant butterscotch pudding mix, dry powder
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1/2 cup butter
1 teaspoon vinegar
1/4 cup whipping cream
1/2 teaspoon maple extract

Spray a bundt pan generously with non stick cooking spray.
Spread frozen rolls to the bottom of the pan.
Sprinkle pudding mix, brown sugar and cinnamon over top.
Melt the butter, stir in the vinegar, whipping cream and maple extract. Pour mixture over buns.
Place damp towel over pan and let set at room temperature overnight.
The next morning, remove towel and place in 350 degree oven for 25 minutes.
Remove from oven, let cool for 5 minutes and invert onto plate.

Driving Home

Time to go home!  Guess what?  It was raining again...  But we still saw some beauty.

Finally home, and a brief break from rain.
We had a wonderful time.

Get-away, part 3

 We spent one day of our time away on a bigger trip.  We drove to Tahquamenon Falls in the upper penninsula.  It takes 3 1/2 hours to drive there from Traverse City, and then 3 1/2 hours back, so that meant a lot of time on the road.

It also meant we had to cross the Mackinac Bridge.  I'm not a fan of heights or bridges, so a 5 mile bridge tests me.  I'm always glad to make it to the other side.

We arrived and took this trail to the falls.

First view of the falls

Beautiful!

There are several viewing areas. This was on the walk to the next spot.

Then we got to the spot where you could go down to get closer to the falls.  It was 94 steps down - which meant 94 steps up.  I did it, but it wasn't easy on the knees!

Me and my honey, enjoying the day!

Then it was back in the car for a 3 mile drive to see the lower falls.

The lower falls; not nearly as large, but still pretty.

After seeing the lower falls, it was time to start the trip back.

The falls are on the tip of the upper peninsula, so the top part borders Lake Superior.  We stopped at a little roadside park to get pictures of it.

Lake Superior is huge, but this area is close to Canada.  If you look closely, you can see a little land right in the middle of this picture.  That's Canada!

Time to head back.  Unfortunately, we found there was construction on the road, shortly before the bridge, and we were held up for awhile.
But we made it through, and then we made it back over the bridge!

We got back to our cottage in time to enjoy this sunset over the lake.
What a great day, enjoying God's beautiful creation!