Carving of the Pumpkins

A couple nights before Halloween we carved our pumpkins. Can I just say how nice those carving kits are?! I've only used kitchen knifes in the past and it has always been an arm workout. Those little tools are heavenly especially when you are carving several pumpkins.

We let the kids draw their idea on their pumpkin and then we try to carve as close to their lines as possible. McKenna's drawing was a bit of a challenge. :)

And it's our tradition to have glazed donuts and apple cider after the work is done. (Glazed donuts were out of stock this year.)

And the final products!....

(Pumpkins by Derek, Taylor, Natalie/McKenna, Dave)

Apple Picking at Grandma's!!

My grandma has about 10 apple trees on her property in Logan. Every other year those trees produce enough fruit for us all to gather and pick the apples and enjoy the company! It's been a tradition since before I can remember, but my role in the process has evolved. As you can imagine, we didn't do much of the work as kids. We mainly played "school" in the basement and only came upstairs for lunch after the work was done and again when it was time to travel home. It's fun to see my kids carrying on the tradition with picking about 5 apples. :) The boys were really looking forward to the trip to Great-Grandmas and I don't think they were disappointed.

I missed the monumental 5 picked apples, so I had to stage these photos....so I guess they picked 6 in total.

McKenna LOVED picking with her daddy. She literally laughed and squealed when he lifted her up. And yes, she wasn't very gentle when she threw the apples into the bucket. But her total of apples picked was much higher than her brothers. :)

Oh, this view made me laugh.... 5 ladders holding legs with missing bodies....or maybe you just had to be there??

Derek and his cousin, Cameron

My dad hauling the fruits of our labors...ha ha ha...get it. Oh man.

My very talented cousin took these pictures of McKenna. Aren't they amazing!?

Poor Duckies!

Our neighbor asked if we wanted to join her family in feeding the ducks at a local park. It was a beautiful place and the kids really, really loved it. And boy did the ducks love it. They were used to people and ate right out of your hand. (I really didn't appreciate that. Yuck.) They were acting very underfed and were fighting for the bread. The boys asked if they could come back again and I was all in favor of it. But a few minutes later a lady pulled up and said "did you ladies know that the park is closed for the season?" We were asked to leave. I felt very sad for the ducks...no wonder they were starving. The boys were disappointed to hear that we can't go back until the Spring. I think we should sneak those poor ducks some food during the Winter.

A Fun Fall FHE

As soon as the leaves turned colors we drove up a nearby canyon to take a look. We found a fun grass area with tables and swings...we're just hoping that it wasn't private property. :) We had a fun little picnic and explored together.

(I decided to wear a hat that day and it spread to the boys. Maybe this post should be titled "A Fun Hat FHE".)

Poor Derek got a little too close to the river and mistook the swampy grass for solid ground. It kind of put a damper on his fun.