For The Big Bucks

While Mike was gone golfing in California, the kids and I tackled the leaves in the yard. I sent the boys and Michela out by themselves, but after a half an hour they were all back inside claiming they were done. Michela gave up altogether but I convinced the boys to go back out. With some help from Mom, they were able to fill the entire garbage can plus two huge garbage bags. There are still a few bags worth of leaves out there but after 3 hours we were all ready to be done.

Here are some pictures of Chase and Hunter working together.

Chase was sweeping while Hunter was doing the "heavy" lifting. :)

Hunter was the only one who was in it till the end. I told him I would pay him good money if he stuck with it. Whenever he seemed to be running out of steam he would tell me, "I'm doing it for the Big Bucks Mom" and he would return with renewed gusto. It was a beautiful day and it was a lot of fun being out there with the boys, working hard together. Thanks to the Peterson boys and Mary for helping us at the end!

Signs of the Season- Fall

The photo challenge a couple of weeks ago was Signs of Fall. I actually took photos for the challenge but I am just getting around to posting them.

Fall Decorations
I love fall colors. Alot of the rooms in my house are decorated in those colors. My family pictures are perfect decor for the fall season.

I love these glass hurricanes I bought about 5 years ago. I use them for every holiday, filling them with fun stuff. I love apples and leaves in them for Fall.
Pumpkins
The mountain tops covered with snow while the trees and bushes on the hills are turning colors. I love the contrast.
Fall leaves, so beautiful!

One cute little pumpkin enjoying the beautiful fall weather.

Cornbelly's at Thanksgiving Point

The kids had Thursday and Friday off from school so we thought it would be fun to go out to Thanksgiving Point with the Staker Family and check out the activities. There was a huge hay stack with slides coming off of it, some big bouncy trampoline things, a corn maze, go karts, a train and more. The kids had so much fun hanging out with their cousins. And the weather was beautiful!

The kids loved the slides, we spent a while watching them run around and try out all the different slides. Michela and Hunter were so sweet with Aria and took her with them. Here's a cute one of them all sliding down.

Chase was all over the place. This is the only time I could catch him to take a picture.
There was a huge pumpkin tower in the middle of the field. There were some really cool carved pumpkins.
Mike was trying to teach Michela how to lasso a steer.
And he did it!
Hold on tight Aria, don't let him get away!
The highlight of the evening for Aria was the Pumpkin Princess Playland. There were princess dresses to try on and a pumpkin carriage. Aria cracks me up. Her whole attitude changes when she slips on a princess dress. She tiptoes, twirls and holds herself like a real lady. She was in heaven sitting in "Cinderella's" carriage.
All the grandkids looked pretty darn cute sitting on these enormous rocking chair.
After the big kids went through the haunted monster ("It was freaky," they said.) we all went for a ride on the grain train. A tractor pulled these old grain carts around a dirt track.
The big kids also loved the go karts.
For the grand finale we attempted going through the corn maze. Michela had brought a map and had the way all drawn out. The only problem was it was pitch black. I had wanted to do this when it was lighter, but we didn't get around to it until it was late. It didn't help that Mike and Matt aren't the most patient of fellows. :) Plus I think we didn't start where Michela had drawn out her path. Needless to say, we didn't make it too far before we started back, going a bit off road in our attempt to make a beeline to the entrance.

We did have a fun night though. Next year we will make sure we bring flashlights, snacks for the kids and start a little bit earlier. Thanks Stakers for the fun time!

Pumpkin Harvest

When we planted our garden this year we decided to try our hand at growing some pumpkins. We planted them outside our fence along our back wall. The plant went crazy! Those vines cover everything in their path. It was kind of fun to see pumpkins growing on the rocks of the wall.

This pumpkin even started growing into a space between two rocks.

The kids picked their favorite pumpkins. There were enough good ones for them to each have one.

We put them out on our front porch and Sunday morning we noticed one was missing. On the drive to church we found it smashed in the gutter up the street. Come on, can't the hoodlums wait until after Halloween?!

Somewhere Over the Rainbow

The other day as we were eating dinner Mike looked out the window and saw this lovely sight outside.

It's been raining a lot lately (love it!) so we have had plenty of opportunities for beautiful rainbows. I couldn't believe how bright this one was!

A funny story. About a week ago we had a really big thunder and lightning storm in the middle of the night. The thunder was so loud, it sounded like a bomb going off. The one that woke me up sounded like it was right outside our window and caused the house to totally shake. I bolted out of bed and ran out to check on the kids. Michela was peering out her blinds, the boys were sound asleep (they could sleep through a stampede of elephants running through their room) and Aria was laying in her bed with wide eyes. I walked in and she looked at me, totally terrified, and said, "I was scared to the noise Mom!" I laid down with her for 2 hours. The thunder kept up for quite a while. I think maybe 3 or 4 storms passed over us during that time. Poor little Aria kept her hands over her ears the whole time. She wouldn't let me pull them away! Finally we kind of wrapped her blanket around her ears and she was finally able to go back to sleep. Sweet little thing, I'd do anything for my baby girl!

Fall is in the Air

I absolutely love Fall. It is my favorite season, hands down. I love it when the air starts to get cool and I can open my windows. Fresh air flowing through the house makes such a big difference in my life. I love sleeping with the windows open at night so I can snuggle down in my blankets. I love being able to wear pants and long sleeve shirts without wearing a jacket. I love warm cozy sweaters and cute boots. In California we had Fall for much longer than we do here, in fact Winter was Fall weather most of the time. Right now it is raining outside and I am loving it. This calls for a big bowl of soup tonight, did I mention that I also love soup?!
Last week I helped out with Chase's Kindergarten Field Trip up at Nunn's Park in Provo Canyon. We played Fall Games, made Fall Crafts and went on a Nature Hike up to Bridal Veil Falls. The kids each had a paper sack and a little book that told them what things they needed to collect. It was so much fun. I think I'll have to do something like this for a family night or something. I had some really cute kids I was in charge of and they were pretty funny on our hike. One little boy was worried and afraid about everything. Whenever he heard a big truck rolling down the road he would say, "I think I heard a bear." I would reassure him that there weren't any bears around and he would reply, "I really don't like bears." Too funny.
The other night we went up South Fork Canyon and enjoyed the beautiful autumn colors on the trees. So pretty! I took some pictures of the kids and they turned out pretty cute but I totally forgot to take pictures of the scenery. Duh! I guess I can only think about one thing at a time.
I'll put the pictures up sometime after I've played around with them in photoshop a bit. I was thinking of trying to make them look hand tinted on a sepia background. I really want the fall colors to stand out. I'll see what I can come up with!