Fall Leaves

Fall Leaves up Rock Canyon for Family Night.

 What is it with boys and rock slides, seriously?!  

This was one of several oh so tempting "climbs."

 Ahh, grasshopper!  JUMP, JUMP!

 Why yes, she did haul her thick (new) The Mark of Athena by Rick Riordan on our hike! 
Hiking and reading go hand-in-hand as you know.

 "Cheese!" (Kids pull the funniest poses last second, don't they?)

Delicious (and Easy) Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies.  

Did we just undo our hike?

Giant Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
Recipe from The Best Bake Sale Cookbook
Ingredients:
1 cup (2 sticks) butter
1 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour, lightly spooned into measuring cups and leveled with a knife (very high altitudes may want to try adding 2 additional tablespoons of flour)
1 cup quick-cooking oats
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt (or 3/4 teaspoon table salt)
3 cups (or 18 ounces) chocolate chips (I used the big Ghirardelli milk chocolate chips and don’t think I wouldn’t be above using those chocolate chunks you can get in the baking aisle…)
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 325. If desired, line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats.
Beat the softened butter, sugar, and brown sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla and mix until combined.
In a separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients (except the chocolate chips). Add to the butter/sugar/egg mixture and mix until combined. Add the chocolate chips and mix until just combined.
Using a 1/4 cup ice cream scoop, drop the dough by the scoopful onto the prepared baking sheets. You should be able to get about 6 cookies per sheet. Bake in the preheated oven for 12-15 minutes or until they begin to turn light brown around the edges. Remove from the oven and cool for 5 minutes and then transfer to a wire cooling rack and cool completely (or don’t…no shame…) Makes 18 giant cookies. If you’re feeling more modest, you can always use a smaller cookie scoop.  (We used our big cookie scoop and it made at least double the amount listed.  Also, I upped the cooking temp to 350--because our oven runs cooler than most and they still take about 12-15 min.  Look  for slightly brown around the edges.  So Yum-ME (as Baby yells)!