BeautyRevealed | The Blog of Melissa J. Dillon

“If a person walks in the woods and listens carefully, he can hear the voice of God.”

- George Washington Carver

So our camping trip took a bit of a hit this year. At the last moment Jamie and Angela were unable to join us due to sickness, and we were trying to think of ways of postponing it so that we could all be together. But alas, with many work schedules to juggle, it wasn’t going to happen… so we decided to swallow our disappointment and go without them.

As it turned out, this may not have been the best year to “break them in” to Northwoods camping, anyway. It was chilly this year! We were bundled up in our winter’s finest and mostly stayed close to the warm fire or played games in the tent when it was rainy or windy. We didn’t even venture out for a hike this year, not wanting to get too far away from the fire! (All except for Jodie, who is the true adventurer in this family. He took daily hikes with Jack).

It was cloudy almost the entire time, which is really hard on picture-taking. But I still tried to get a few to capture the memories of our time at Owen Lake this year. The Northwoods is still gorgeous, no matter what the weather, and it was actually fun to brave the elements for a few days.

Papa, Marmie and Mark cooking around the campfire.

Our favorite meal that we look forward to every year is Jodie’s famous campfire breakfast. Usually we have oatmeal around the campfire for breakfast, but on Saturday mornings he makes us a huge feast. Mmmmm.

We had a little raccoon “friend” this year who so badly wanted to share our food rations with us. He actually unzipped our camp kitchen storage shelf and helped himself to our hamburger buns before Jack woke up to scare him up the tree. The men shooed him away, but our little masked bandit came back every night to try again. I don’t think poor Jack got much sleep out in the wilderness at night, so he took many naps during the day to make up for it. Good Boy, Jack.

Sunday was a bit warmer so Mark and Dad threw around the football a bit… while Jodie grilled up some of the best tasting burgers… ever.

So although we had so much fun this year and felt a sense of accomplishment from surviving the cold, we have decided that for all of our sakes (and our baby’s sake!) we will go earlier next year when it’s warmer. Jamie did confess that he was glad he was home sitting in his cozy easy-chair, while we all were “roughing” it. No excuses next year, Bud… you’re going camping!

“When I was a little girl, I always wanted to be in the kitchen because it was warm,

and that’s where my mother was.”   –  Dolly Parton

This delicious soup is perfect for warming up the kitchen on a fall or winter day:

Mom’s Wild Rice Soup

1 cup of Wild Rice (Rinse really well. Add Wild Rice to 3 cups of boiling water and simmer for about 45 minutes, covered.)

1 Large Onion, 3 Chicken breast, 2 cans of cream of potato soup, 4 cups of milk, 1 package of American cheese slices.

Directions: Add all ingredients together except cheese. Heat on LOW heat and do not let boil as the milk will curdle. When soup is getting hot, add ½ to whole package of American Cheese slices and let melt. (Use as much or as little cheese as tastes good to you. The slices melt the best and won’t cling to the chicken.)

Serve with some yummy fresh baked bread on a cold evening and you will have one happy family! This also freezes well so make a double batch!