Loess Hills Autumn

Last weekend, Seth and I decided to take an afternoon drive around Glenwood and Mills County to enjoy the beautiful fall colors. It was an amazing afternoon and I was thankful that I was able to capture some photos what we saw.

I started in our front yard. It turns out that our three little trees along the driveway are absolutely gorgeous in the fall!

We started out heading south of town.



Seth took me down a rather treacherous road that he had discovered on a previous drive (he loves to drive around and explore country roads).

Notice the evergreen tree leaning precariously DIRECTLY over the road. YIKES!

It was strange and amazing and I loved it!

It led to an adorable little bridge and a clearing in the woods.

We continued along past some incredible views of the terraced farm land.

We saw these in several places - dark windy branches with bright red leafed plants growing up between them.

We ended up at the end of the road at a little cemetery. Some of the stones had been replaced with newer ones.

And some looked to be the originals.

Seth and I are fascinated by old cemeteries.
Headstones like these never fail to break my heart though.

"We loved this tender little one
And would have wished his stay,
But let our Father's will be done
He shines in endless day."


We passed through another "tunnel" road on our way out.

And passed a front yard that housed a long horn!

These are some of my favorite things that we saw along the way.

Signs like these:

That stand before bridges like this:
(notice what is... or isn't... on the other side)

But best of all:

That's right. "Quackenbush".
Why oh why can't that be the name of our street???

Harvest Open House 2010!!!

On Saturday, Seth and I hosted (what will hopefully be our first annual) Harvest Open House!

The weather was gorgeous and the leaves started changing color just in time.

We had festive decorations inside and out.

Some that were borrowed from Seth's mom who came down Friday night to help us get ready.

Since the house was the cleanest it's been since we moved in, I went ahead and took some pictures around the rest of the house.

This is the office (a.k.a. "Kate's Jewelry Room"!) ...or at least the prettiest corner of it. I tried to take pictures of the whole room, but the sun was coming in the window and none of those pictures turned out. Perhaps another day...

This is the former storage room/current guest room/future nursery :-)

Master Bedroom

Bonus Room (addition off the kitchen/dining room)

We had tables set up in the garage which my wonderful sis-in-law helped decorate!

Aaaaaaaand most important - THE FOOD!!!

We had lots of yummy baked goods... like cream cheese brownies, cinnamon roll cookies, caramel apple bars, and pumpkin muffins that my MIL made. YUM!

Then there were pinwheels, spanikopita, mini quiche, bourbon bbq lil' smokies, veggies, cheese, crackers, etc.
All delicious!

And don't forget the super yummy apple cider punch!
With carved apple leaves thanks to howtogarnish.com!

After 5 hours and about 80-90 people, the party was deemed a success.
Everyone loved seeing the house and enjoyed the food.
I couldn't have done it without the help of my mother-in-law, Colene, and sis-in-law, Liz.
They were awesome... and I think they already have it marked on their calendar for next year.
I know I'm looking forward to doing it all again
...in 12 months. For now, I'm all partied out!