Fall Harvest

Ryan's mom planted grapevines along the property line years ago. I have always felt guilty that we just throw them away every year. Last year I attempted to make grape juice and it was a disaster. Hand mashing through a sieve and yielding only a cup of liquid, that was super thick and gritty. Wasted a whole day - and after the mess I was left with, I swore I wouldn't attempt it ever again. 

But this year, we had so many grapes and they smelled so good that I decided to try my hand at it again. So I researched a few things and found a juicer steamer that was on sale. It arrived this past Saturday so I got at it and did a test batch. After the first round I knew I had made the best decision ever in buying the juicer steamer.

Sunday, we had our nephews mission farewell, but after we got home, we took advantage of the sunny day and we all got to work picking grapes and washing them. In the end we got 14 jars for our food storage and put 3 in the fridge. I never cared for grape juice as a kid - just too sweet and watery. But this stuff, it's the nectar of Gods I tell you. Or as Ryan called it - Mormon wine. Thick, fragrant, and just the right amount of sweet and tart. I am addicted.

The best part for me of all this, spending the time with the kids, side-by-side, in the kitchen. They loved helping out and Finley even said that this was his favorite yard-chore thus far. They cut the grapes from the vines, washed them in the sink, and picked them off the stems. The best conversation comes in moments like these. Berlin had us rolling with laughter, Finley had us wracking our brains trying to remember our science lessons from school eons ago. The three of us standing at the sink picking grapes of the stems, talking about the silliest things and even serious things. I hope that this will become a Fall tradition for us. Ryan remembers his mother juicing these grapes when he was a kid. He used to have to pick them off the vines and stems. I want my kids to have the same fond memories. I will take these sweet moments when I get them.

Falling Leaves

Finley and Berlin helped me rake up the leaves in the front yard today. I can't believe how much had fallen overnight, especially considering I had already raked them up yesterday. Guess that nice storm blowing in didn't help us any. Neither did the neighbors tree. It's huge and close to our property, so 30% of the leaves we rake are from our tree, the other 70% come from the neighbors tree. Nice!


Berlin got a splinter from the small rake and soon called it quits. But Finley was determined to make himself a big pile to play in. Here he is lovin' his leaf pile.

 

 

The kids were such good helpers. I love Fall and I'm sad to see it go. We should have snow by tomorrow. Boo!

A visit from the Fam and the Police

My sister from California came up to Utah the week we got back from Germany. We were so lucky to have her and her 3 little boys stay with us for a week. It was a blast and my kids loved having playmates 24x7. These are just a few of the things we did while they were here.



Visit from the police
Yep, we had a visit from the police the second day they were here.  I had been picking up the fallen apples in the back field that Saturday and noticed a large box upside-down tucked behind the tree. I went over and picked up the box (thinking it had just blown over into the field while we were out of town. But when I picked it up there was a rusty old tool box with a shiny new padlock on it underneath. The inside of the box was insulated - lined with that padded foil plastic lining. Odd, really odd. What in the heck was it doing here of all places? So of course lots of things started pouring into my mind: skeleton bones or a corpse, a dead animal, stolen property, treasure, weapons or even worse a bomb. Who knew - it could have been anything - and of course I thought of everything. 

So I nudged it with my foot and it was heavy - very heavy. I went and told Ryan and after much discussion (and one sleepless night of bad dreams) we decided that we'd call the police. Cause really, who dumps an old rusty toolbox, locked with a brand new shiny padlock, in the back of someone else's property and then covers it with a very large, insulated cardboard box? Yeah, weird. So, Sunday after church we called and they sent two officers over. Yes, I felt silly and foolish for calling them on such a lame matter, but at the same time, better safe than sorry. My nephew K, however, thought this was the COOLEST thing and was so excited to have them over. He loved it so much that he even remembered to thank Heavenly Father for the police officers in his dinner prayer later that night. So sweet.

In the end, it was nothing but a bunch of old rusty tools and newspapers (from March of this year). Darn it, no treasure! The officers took it to enter into evidence in case anyone reported it missing. But it was probably someone just dumping their junk in the back of our property. Makes me feel oh so safe, right?


We sure do know how to kick-off a visit!



Cornbelly's
This is an annual tradition for our family. Ryan usually comes with us but this year he had to work and bring home some bacon. Guess that's what happens when you take off for a month :)  But it was still fun and we can't wait to go next year when he can be there. They added a ton of new stuff to Cornbelly's this year. We almost didn't have enough time to see and do everything. But after 4 hours, we were beat (and cold) so we headed home totally satisfied with what we were able to do.

 

  
  

  

 

   

Gardner Village Witches
Another annual tradition for us. In the past the kids have let me take their official Fall pictures here, but this year there were just too many distractions and they wanted nothing to do with standing still for the camera. But it was still fun.

 This is how Finley would get every time I asked them to turn around for a picture. Yeah. Lovely.

  

This is one of our favorite witches to find. This year they must have placed it near a sewage drain because the smell really was appropriate. The kids are not pretending it stunk - it really did!

And my our reward ... homemade caramel apples from Sweet Afton's - YUM!

Sugarhouse Park
My older sister from So. Weber was able to meet up with us at Sugarhouse Park for lunch, feeding the ducks, and playtime at the playground. It was a blast to see all the cousins getting along so well. They really had a blast.

Seriously, I had the best time with my sister. I don't get to see family enough and I wish we all lived closer. I am so glad she came up for a visit.

VOTE NOW - DIY Halloween Costume

So, I just might have heard about 2 DIY (Do-It-Yourself) Halloween Costume contests a few weeks ago, and I just might have entered Finley & Berlin's costumes. Both end in a couple weeks so help us out and vote by clicking the links below.

http://www.thecutekid.com/ckgallery/votemyfavorite/41

And guess what? This morning I got an email stating that on one of the contests we were selected and in the final judging stage! How freakin' cool is that?!  The prize is $100 and voting starts today. To vote for us click this link:


http://photos.parents.com/category/vote/photo/569940


You can vote once a day and voting ends Nov 14th. Seriously, so excited! We've never won anything before. This would be awesome, and who couldn't use a $100?

Happy Halloween

Despite the cold & rainy weather we were able to have ourselves a very fun-filled Halloween. First, we got up early and hit the Zoo for some Boo at the Zoo trick-or-treating. 

Berlin in her Wonder Woman costume made by me.

Finley in his Lego Darth Vader costume made by Ryan

(except the cape, that was sewn by me).

Then we took a short lunch-break before heading out to Finley's last soccer game for the season. Next we stopped at Canyon Rim park for Millfreaks in the Park. 

We were there about 45 minutes when it started to rain downpour. So we headed home to dry off, take a quick breather, before heading up to Ryan's step-mom's house for dinner.

Lego Darth Vader and Wonder Woman in all their glory.

After some yummy food and visiting with family we met up with some friends to go trick-or-treating in the neighborhood. Luck was on our side as the rain stopped long enough for us hit up a couple blocks with the kids. They had such a great time.

October Happenings

My niece has been staying with us for 10 days while her parents are on a fun vacation. Since she has been with us I've tried to fill our calendar with lots of fun activities.

First up, we went to This is the Place Monument Park over UEA for their Halloween extravaganza. It was crowded but lots of fun with cute crafts, trick-or-treating, story time with a Witch, and more. The kids had a blast.

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Second, we went up to Hill Aerospace Museum. This was VERY cool. I loved that it was free (yep, FREE!), and the girls just loved singing and skipping thru the place. Ryan's been suggesting this for a while and I've never been all that enthused, but I have to say, it was awesome and totally worth the trip.

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After the museum we headed up to Brigham City to eat lunch at Maddox, our favorite place to eat in Utah. Then we hit a couple of the Fruit Stands, one of which had a free wagon ride thru their orchard, another had a free kids maze & slide. It was awesome and we were all worn out by the end of the day.

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Another day, we hit the zoo.

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And finally, we topped the week off at Cornbelly's.