Capture September..

So this may seem a bit backwards, but I decided that I would get my external processing out in the previous post so that I can share with you all the lovely happenings of September, that I somehow remiss to post during the entire month...

However, this was my birthday month so much celebration was to be had with little time to catch up the web. Fortunately, I am the queen of many pictures and have many to share!

Thus, I thought I would do a little pictorial display seeing as there is a cliche about a picture being worth some big number of words.

For starters, my husband woke early on the day before my bday to take me on a little surprise adventure. But you can't start the day without breakfast! In addition my husband knows how much I love to try anything pumpkin, since my birth ushers in the season of Fall (or at least I like to think so.. Chicken or the Egg?..) So he whipped up a pumpkin pie latte for me along side my favorite breakfast toast! And of course it was all gluten/dairy/refined sugar free! So if you would like the recipes I will have to go to the source to retreive them, but should be no trouble! ;]  He also bought me these cute baby pumpkins and gourds, because it is just not complete without them! 

Once we were fueled for the day we took off for the day! And here is where the beautiful drive began.

SURPRISE! He took me to Lassen, because I have been wanting to go since we arrived in Redding!

 

But what we didn't know was that the park was shut off almost halfway through due to a rock slide.. dun dun dun.

So we decided to go as far as we could then turn around and take the back way around the park to the other side and this is what unfolded.

This turned to this... SNOW! 

We also saw steaming lakes!

And this dapper man made us lunch! These were brown rice tortillas filled with baked tofu (marinated in balsamic vinegar, oo, and liquid aminos with a dash of garlic, s & p), black beans, mushrooms, and broccoli! They were seriously so good!

And as we went on to the other side this is what we found...Mars! Or smelly Sulphur...

And even MORE snow! It was not even Fall yet people!

It was an amazing day! And to cap the night off perfectly, we decided it fitting to watch The Hobbit as we felt we had been galavanting in the Misty Mountains.

The following day was my actual birthday in which we decided to celebrate the morning with Chai lattes (my favorite!) and Pumpkin Spice pancakes! I used the same recipe for my banana pancakes by added about half a can of pureed pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix). They were delicious and completely gluten/dairy/refined sugar free! I topped each with this awesome rice milk whip cream I found and almond butter for the cakes!

And from there the Party began!

Mike invited our sweet group of friends over for a surprise celebration where he cooked white bean chicken chili with butternut squash (gf/df/rsf) and others brought their contributions! Again, I can get the recipe for the stew and post it up!

And it wouldn't be proper without a cake! But not just any cake... a PUMPKIN CAKE! Gf/df/rsf and topped with an icing whipped up from coconut oil, honey, and pure vanilla! It was amazing!

September was an amazing month of growth and celebration! And now that I have Earth, Wind, and Fire singing in your head (if you grew up with a dad who loves Motown..) I will leave you on that note. Pun intended.