Pumpkin Festival

Brooke had Red Ribbon week at school. On Friday was "crazy hair day" so we did her hair extra special! It turned out super cute and fun!

Saturday night was our town's pumpkin festival. They have pumpkin displays and lots of booths and fun for the kids. Blake and I haven't been for several years (not since Brooke was our only child) and we had a really good time. The kids were even brave enough to walk through the spook alley! Porter kept laughing and saying how spooky everything was. Brooke held onto the back of my shirt for dear life. She's really sensitive to scary things and didn't like it at all. Blake carried Grant and made him lay his head down on his shoulder  so he wouldn't see anything. The spook alley was pretty mild and all in good fun!

They had to pick Crusty the Clown's nose to get their treat!

 There was a leaf pit to play in

 Pumpkin shooting

We love our community and the many fun, free things they provide for families to do.

Fall Break

At the beginning of October Grant watched an episode of "Cat in the Hat" on PBS about Fall and pumpkin patches. He'd been asking ever since when we were going to go to a pumpkin patch. So he was really excited when we went to one when we visited my mom over Fall Break.

My brother and his wife were visiting from Maine with their two boys and joined us. It was super hot that afternoon (I was sweating so bad in my sweatshirt) and pretty crowded, but we all had a good time.

The next day we went for a drive up American Fork Canyon, had a picnic lunch, and went on a small hike. The fall colors were beautiful and the kids had a blast playing in the leaves.

This was mine and the kids first time meeting the newest member of our Smith family...baby Reid!

 It was fun to let my kids interact with Ben's kids. These cousins don't get to see each other very often (and probably won't as we live across the country from each other). There were a few bumps as they learned to get along with each other and I hope one day they'll be good friends and remember playing together as kids and Nonna's house!

 Every night after the kids went to bed my mom would watch the kids and me, my brothers Ben and Jared and sister-in-law Katie would go out for ice cream!

 I love spending time with my siblings and their families. It's funny how we spent so much time fighting with each other while we all lived at home, but now they're the people I most want to hang out with!

Hello October!

October started off pretty chilly and rainy, but we've been enjoying mild temperatures with lots of sun the last few weeks and I'm not complaining! The days where the air has a little crisp to it are my favorite! The leaves are changing and everything is vibrant with color. I know it won't be long before we're freezing and worrying about snowy road conditions, so I'm going to soak up as much of it as I can. 

This time of year reminds me of a quote "Autumn teaches us that endings can be beautiful"

That quote has been on my mind lately as it is the one year anniversary of my father-in-law's passing. It's so crazy to think that a year has gone by. I still expect to see him walk through the door anytime we're over at Deena's house. We are adjusting to this new normal, but he left a huge void that will probably never be filled. We love remembering him and talking about him with our kids. We don't ever want them to forget their "Pinch" Even Grant, who really won't remember him, will see a picture of John and say "that's Pinch!" 

We harvested the pumpkins from our garden

 One pumpkin though it would try and grow through the tomato cage. That didn't work out very well.

 Blake gave Brooke her first driving lesson in the Razor. She was nervous at first, but did a mild dirt trail near our home and did a great job!

 It was trick or treating at the library! Brooke was in school so just the boys and I went. This will be the last year for Porter to do it as he will be in full-day school next year.

 Grant was more interested in eating his candy than taking pictures.

 Porter's buddy Mason was there too.