Pumpkin Patch

 Fall is my favorite season. There is nothing to compare with the colors, the smells, the fashion, the food, the cooler temperatures, any of it. The only thing that could be better is if it lasted longer.

One of my favorite things about fall is visiting the pumpkin patch. After work about a week ago, we picked Ryan up and headed to a pumpkin patch at a church. 

There were several sweet boy scouts offering to help us find the perfect pumpkin and wheel it out for us in a wagon. It was pretty cute.

Little P wasn't quite as smiley as he usually is since he was a little tired, but he loved the bright colors and he loved holding the small pumpkins and drumming on the big ones.

When we moved out into the sun, it was super bright. Unfortunately these pictures were a tad bit over exposed, but you can still see the total joy on his face.

We moved over to some corn stalks and baby pumpkins. Pierscen was mostly interested in eating the leaves on the ground. There was no use in trying to stop him. As soon as I pulled one out of his mouth, in would go the next one.

He is such a sweet heart. How did we get so lucky?

Before we left, I put Pierscen in the swing. The only other time he has been in a swing was before we moved out to Wyoming. Ryan's dad put him in the swing in their backyard surrounded by pillows to keep him upright. He is big enough now he doesn't need the pillows. 

He loved the swing! I can't wait until next spring when we can play at the playground more. 

We had a fantastic time. Pierscen loved it. Here are some of our other favorites. :)

When we first took him out to the super sunny area, he started sneezing like crazy. Even though these next two pictures are really bright, they were taken right in succession.

Ahhhhh.... 

Chooooo!!!

Mmmmm.... leaves.... so tasty!

We sure love this little guy. Happy Fall everyone!

A Dash Of "Fall"

The Saturday morning of General Conference, we woke up to this:

Holy snow! I knew it wouldn't last long, but it was still a bit of a shocker. Sure enough, by the end of the afternoon, it was pretty much gone.

This was the only snow storm we have had so far, but the weather has definitely cooled down. And that wind! Wow, the weren't lying! It doesn't stop! We have enjoyed several really gorgeous fall days. I love the colors, the sounds, and the smells of fall.

We spend lots of time inside where it is warm. As I have mentioned before, I just love hoodies, so fall weather is wonderful for me.

We have already made lots of use of our wood burning stove. Ryan bought a pellet insert for the stove and we also bought 2 cords of wood. We fill the pellet basket insert about 2/3rds full, then put wood on top and in front. That makes one amazing fire. It is wonderful!

We are also loving the hot chocolate season. :) Ryan likes to make it nice and hot and then put in a small scoop of vanilla ice cream. It cools down the drink and makes it oh so creamy. Yummy!

I made my first "batch" of what I learned is called "mulled" cider. When I think of apple cider, I don't think of apple juice. But that's essentially what they sell in the store. In the fall you will see cases and cases of "apple cider." It's apple juice. Nothing else. But when I think apple cider, I think cinnamon, cloves, all spice... cozy fires... etc. So I looked for some recipes online and found that what I was looking for is actually "mulled" cider. Technicalities. 

Anyway, it was not a good experience. I thought for sure I had a bag of cinnamon sticks, but I didn't. However, the recipe I used said you could use regular cinnamon just the same. I imagine this is true, but I think the amounts were way off. It was like drinking sludge. I really like cinnamon, and this was gross. Sad, sad experience. I think I will just warm up my "apple cider" from now on. Does anyone have a fool proof recipe I could try? 

I hope everyone is enjoying fall where ever you are... and that it's not too snowy... yet.