Fun Fall Leafs

I love fall there is no doubt about it, I get really sentimental and nostalgic around this time of year because I have so many good memories associated with the season. One memory is my parents would always send us out to rake up leaves and it would take forever to get any of it done because, 1- there were a lot of leaves, 2- put 4-5+kids doing this job and how can piles not be jumped into occasionally...okay it happened all the time, which is why it would take us at least an hour to an hour and a half to rake up. Well in our new home we have an enormous tree in the front, I watched it and watched it turn colors and drop leaves. It took for forever for it to start dropping leaves, but when it did it looked like it was raining leaves! It is a constant flow of leaves just floating to the ground in dizzying circles. So on the nice afternoons after Evan went down for a nap me and Christian would wander outside and rake up the leaves that had fallen so far. Christian soon discovered the fun of leaves- he was so fun to watch. Well this last time I was raking up leaves and realized I hadn't seen Christian puttering about and I looked around and could not see him- and I called for him "Christian where are you?" and he said "I'm taking a nap in the leaves mommy!" I look over at the enormous leaf pile and somehow Christian has climbed to the top of it and snuggled himself in for a nice autumn nap! After awhile of being there he wanted to get out, but every time I got close with more leaves he would lay down on the pile and want me to sweep the leaves over his body and face as he giggled uncontrollably. A few days later my sister Katie invited us over and she took Christian out to play in the leaves and my brother Dan came home and made "Leaf Castles" with him, which he has been talking about ever since. I hope that I can help our family create memories like this every year that will all send us into a sentimental swirl the minute we smell leaves, pumpkins, and the cold in the air.

Happy Happy Halloweeny!

Well we had a very fun Halloween each year. It us true, the holiday's are so fun with kids, it's like you get to re-live everything again! Christian was a veterinarian (cute costume provided by my sister Miriam) and Evan was a monkey. Every year Dan's work has a party where the kids dress up and they give lunch to everyone. Well Christian would not put his costume on, I got the coat on him and he took it off saying "I'm sorry Mommy, I'm sorry" which brought me to tears and I told him he didn't have to wear a costume, he could go as a cute little boy. Well after all the drama he watched me put on Evan's costume and immediately wanted me to put his costume back on. Go figure, right? Ever since then he was all about his costume. I was worried that Evan would hate wearing the little hat thing but it didn't even bother him. We had a lot of Halloween between Dan's work party, trunk-or-treat with the ward, and just plane old trick-or-treating Christian made out with a whole lot of candy! What a fun holiday, Happy Halloween.

Finally!!! Some time to RELAX!

Dan's parents cabin has been finished for awhile but we haven't had a chance to get up there with all the work being done on our house. So we finally made it up, as you can tell from the pictures it is beautiful and very spacious. We spent 3 whole glorious days there sleeping, watching movies, taking baths (they have jetted tubs- oh yeah baby I was in heaven!), and doing absolutely nothing. It was fantastic! It snowed while we were there, it was so beautiful.

Annual Pumpkin Carvin'

My sister Miriam and her family have held a pumpkin carving party at their house for the last couple of years and it has become a tradition. We have soup and goodies and then get down and dirty with the pumpkins. We always have a great time and love spending time with them.

Gardner Village

I went with my sister Miriam, Katie, my mom, my sister-in-law Marianne and her kids, and Miriam's in-laws to Gardner Village this fall. They have these cute witches up everywhere and are fun to look at. I thought there would be more for the kids to do, but really it's just shopping. It was still fun and of course the kids found things to do outside with all the pumpkins and grassy areas. Next year I will leave the kids at home and spend some time with just the girls.