Pumpkin Patch

Some things from yesterday: pumpkin patch and pumpkin muffins! The kids each have one big pumpkin that Aunt Jacque grew in her yard this year and a cute small pumpkin from the pumpkin patch. We're going to carve the big ones and be crafty with the little ones.

Apple Orchard tomorrow? I hope so!

Our favorite pumpkin muffin recipe, I found this recipe from cookieandkate.com a couple years ago.

NGREDIENTS

• ⅓ cup melted coconut oil or extra-virgin olive oil
• ½ cup maple syrup or honey
• 2 eggs, at room temperature
• 1 cup pumpkin purée
• ¼ cup milk of choice (I used almond milk)
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon cinnamon, plus more for sprinkling on top
• ½ teaspoon ground ginger
• ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
• ¼ teaspoon allspice or cloves
• 1 ¾ cups whole wheat pastry flour or regular whole wheat flour
• ⅓ cup old-fashioned oats, plus more for sprinkling on top

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit (165 degrees Celsius). If necessary, grease ten cups of your muffin tin with butter or non-stick cooking spray (my pan is non-stick and didn’t require any grease).
2. In a large bowl, beat the oil and maple syrup or honey together with a whisk. Add eggs, and beat well. Mix in the pumpkin purée and milk, followed by the baking soda, vanilla extract, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and allspice or cloves.
3. Add the flour and oats to the bowl and mix with a large spoon, just until combined. If you’d like to add any additional mix-ins, like nuts, chocolate or dried fruit, fold them in now.
4. Divide the batter evenly between the ten muffin cups. For these muffins, it’s ok to fill the cups a little higher than you normally would. Sprinkle the tops of the muffins with a small amount of oats, followed by a sprinkle of cinnamon. Bake muffins for 23 to 26 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into a muffin comes out clean.
5. Place the muffin tin on a cooling rack. These muffins are delicate until they cool down (you have been warned!), so it’s best to wait until they have cooled down to remove them from the tin. You might need to run a butter knife along the outer edge of the muffins to loosen them from the pan. Enjoy muffins as is or with a spread of nut butter or regular butter.

Beautiful and COLD!

I think winter is so beautiful. I love seeing sparkly, bright, white snow all over the ground. The frost on trees takes my breath away. Winter is beautiful. 

We had two HUGE snow storms this week. The first one on Tuesday.

The other storm was today. It was beautiful, but the snow is SOOOO deep out there! It's kinda fun. It's also an AMAZING workout if you try to shovel it. Full body sculpting workout ladies and gents. 

Last week the kids went sledding FOUR times. FOUR. TIMES. They LOVE sledding. We stop sledding when people can no longer feel their fingers or toes. Now you may ask why Miles was not wearing a coat in the photo below. Because playing in the snow in his coat makes him hot and sweaty he says! I totally understand. I get hot and sweaty...when I'm shoveling snow. Seriously, try it. Full body workout people!

Joey was sick on January 1, 2017 so he didn't attend church that day, but the kids and I did and here we are right before church on the first day of the new year. What really cracks me up about this photo is that I'm a floating head. Doesn't it look like I have no body attached to my head? Or maybe I'm a couch with a head. Like I'm mother couch with room enough for all my children to sit on me. It makes me laugh!! Happy New Year! 

Last but not least, I thought this sight was SO special and it sums up how I feel about the snow. When I was a kid I lived from 2nd grade until 6th grade in Illinois. I have great memories of playing outside in my snowsuit. And so whenever it's this time of year it makes me feel happy to see my little kids peer out the window first thing in the morning to see if it snowed. It makes me happy to see them play outside.

This is my beautiful Hailey building a snowman last week. And when I looked out the window and saw her out there it made my heart melt! (Pun intended!) And as I watched her, just for a second I remembered another 8 year old girl playing in the snow, a little girl whose now long gone, but somehow every once in a while, is still there inside of me and best brought out by these kids of mine.

Happy Winter from Mapleton! Now, I wonder what they're doing in Cancun this time of year...

"Doe make a no-man peeeeese?"

This is what Clay asked me a few mornings ago. The translation is, "Go make a snowman please?" It was 8am and about 15 degrees outside. I was barefoot and in my pajamas. The kitchen was a mess. I wanted to say no. Then I looked at those big brown eyes. He was handing me one little blue mitten. I was smitten! How could I say  no to that?

So we bundled up from head to toe and out we went to play. We could not build a snowman because the snow was too powdery, apparently that is why it is called "the greatest snow on earth", however that does not make for the greatest snowman snow. Instead we played "choo-choo train" by shuffling around in the very deep snow. Then we threw up handfuls of snow like confetti. We admired how everything sparkled. We brushed the snow off our van together. We were out for a good 30 minutes, which is a long time when it is cold outside. This boy loved it.

Playing in the snow is also an EXCELLENT way to tire a toddler (and a mommy) out for a great nap!

Labor Day in beautiful Logan, UT

We decided to take a getaway to Logan, UT for Labor Day. 

We left after church on Sunday. It's about a 2.5 hour drive from Mapleton. We had a tuna fish sandwich picnic at the Logan Tabernacle. Next we walked around the Logan Temple. We ended our  night by watching a Shirley Temple DVD at the hotel.

On Monday we saw Utah State University. We got caught in a big rainstorm and got soaking wet, but nobody was too sad about it. :) We ate their "famous ice cream" (according to Aggies) at their own creamery (who knew they had one?!) and had lunch at a delicious Mongolian Grill (Joey was craving it!). We also explored Logan Canyon. We took the kids fishing and fed ducks at 2nd Dam located near the entrance of the canyon.

I enjoy making memories with these peeps. They tired me out sometimes (ok, often!) but they truly are my treasures and there is nothing better than having this family to call my own.

I asked Miles to take a picture of Joey and me. Her are the blurry, but cute results. 9/1/2013--First day of being 29 years old. I am finally, officially old! 

What struck me about the tabernacle was the many years it took to construct. It is so old, but SO beautiful. We don't have to rush building the most amazing parts of our own lives. It can be slow and take time, and that's ok if we are doing our absolute best and have an end goal.

Those pioneers sure knew how to build beautiful, rock solid buildings!

I am SO glad this kid came to our family! He makes us happy.

I love to see the temple! I really do. I like to feel close to Heavenly Father and I can't think of a closer place than the temple. 

George Washington, anyone? On USU campus.

We would just be tickled pink if all our children chose to graduate from college and so we thought it would be fun to visit different college campuses as they grow up to hopefully nurture a desire in each of them to gain a college education. This is Utah State University's campus. A is for "Aggies", their mascot.

Fishing at 2nd Dam, Logan Canyon. 9/2

Visitors!

Amber and her family came and visited us in July. They stayed overnight and we had a blast together. So glad they came! Love that family! They are moving to Maryland soon. Wishing them and their cute kids the best. I am very grateful to have a sister!

Hailey, Miles, Kallon, Clay, Thomas, and Emily. Who is Kallon? He is our upstairs neighbor who likes to visit Clay. They are buddies. Emily and Thomas are super cute kids. I got to meet cute little Eleanor too.

We're so happy when Grandma and Grandpa visit!

Reed and Sheryl came up for education week at BYU during August. They arrived on Saturday. We were all excited. On Sunday we all attended church together. Monday started education week at BYU. I attended on Monday with Reed and Sheryl and Joey stayed home from work and covered my day shift for me ;). Tuesday through Friday Reed and Sheryl attended classes during the day and we did many fun things at night including a date night while Grandpa babysat, and going out to restaurants with extended family (Uncle Steve and Aunt Deanne and family) and friends (the Morrises). We also took walks, went to the park, went to a nearby campground, and just had fun together.

Right before church

Clay wanted this ice cream cone so badly. Grandpa finally had the green light from mommy and daddy to give him one (there was a box of cones in the freezer). Clay was eating this cone outside. After a few minutes I went to check on him. I will never forget what I found. At first I was a little worried because I couldn't find Clay anywhere. Then I saw little chocolate drips on the pavement. I followed the trail of chocolate drops. There I found my sweet toddler--hat on, drippy ice cream cone in one hand, watering can in the other hand, crouching down watering our potted plants. When he looked up at me with that sweet (literally dripping sweet) face I had to smile.  

More ice cream drops

Little Mormons saying little Mormon stuff

Today in school Miles was the "king" for the day. That meant he got to color and fill in a poster telling all about himself. He also got to take a decorated box home from his teacher and fill it up with 5 items from home that tell something about himself.

I did NOT help him with this assignment; in general aside from checking over his math answers and looking for neat penmanship I let him do his own stuff on all homework. Last night I was curious as to what he picked out to put in the box so I asked him what he chose. He showed me his items--and one item was the Book of Mormon. Again, totally his choice.

Well, today we asked Miles how being the "king" and sharing his items from home went. He told about his day and then shared "When I showed the class my Book of Mormon I said, you may not have heard of this but it's the Book of Mormon. I am a Mormon." And then my teacher said she HAD heard of it and she had even heard of Mormons!" 

Joey and I looked at each other and shared a knowing smile.  

We live 20 minutes away from PROVO. Yes, I think a few people around these parts might have heard of Mormons!! ;)

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 And on Sunday Hailey came bouncing out of her Sunbeam class with this huge strip of cloth tied around her forehead that read "I can be Honest."  I asked her what she learned about in class and she responded, "I learned to be honest and I also learned about the scribbling warriors!" 

I couldn't help but wonder what she was imagining as her teacher told her that story!

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Miles (6) tying his shoes right before we head out to church.

Beautiful Utah!

Love the fall leaves!

Across the street from where we live.

Last Sunday we took a little family drive to Salem lake, about 20 minutes away.

The lake has a bridge...

LOVE, LOVE the fall leaves!

Can't get enough of those colorful leaves.

The kids loved the lake, and so did we.

When we go in the backyard and look to the left this is what we see...sometimes the horses are there, sometimes not.

Chickens in the backyard! Our landlords have lots of chickens!

We are going to play every second we can this fall!

We are enjoying Utah so far!

It feels AMAZING to be done with the move and to have boxes unpacked and house organized.

Miles started school at Sierra Bonita Elementary on Tuesday Oct 16th. His new teacher is Mrs. Creamer. The school was built in 2011 and it's a really nice building. He is having fun at his new school and when we were registering him I asked the principal about extra curricular stuff--he mentioned chess club, and Miles asked if he could join. Joey taught him to play chess several months back. So he joined Chess Club! He rides the bus, and is starting to make new friends.

Hailey is going to start preschool this week at a little in-home preschool here in Mapleton. It was a great monthly rate and a few of the girls in her primary class attend there so I couldn't say no :). She's excited. We are renting a basement apartment (bigger than our old house if you can imagine!) and our landlords have a 4 year old little girl so several times a week Hailey just walks out the back door into the backyard and plays with their daughter, Brielle, so she already has a little buddy!

Clay is adjusting. Since the move he has been much more clingy and not willing to let me leave his sight. I think the last few weeks of having his beloved Mama preoccupied with packing and cleaning, then moving and finally unpacking  has taken it's toll--plus he's left his familiar house and scenery. He's needed extra love and attention, which I am HAPPY to be able to give once again now. He is starting to be his old self again, slowly but surely, and I hope with continued daily consistency, extra mama time and love that he will feel safe and secure in his surroundings once again.

Joey's liking work, and he LOVES that he can how sleep in an extra hour every morning, then take his time showering and eating breakfast and interacting with us and still get to work at the same time he used to get to work in Tucson. He says the people he works with are really nice (they were super nice at Raytheon too) and I'm so happy to have a husband that is easygoing about work and loves the jobs he's had. He's started doing consultant work for Raytheon too :). I think it is pretty cool that not even a week after he left Raytheon they called him and asked if they could hire him to work for them on the side!

I'm doing good. I've gotten to know some people around here, and everybody is so friendly. I am excited to get started on a couple of my own "extra curricular" activities: I am considering joining an adult swim league in Springville so I can continue to swim throughout the winter. BYU has a fun activity in November called "lazY man Iron Man" which is to complete an entire Iron Man (swim 2.7 miles, bike 116 miles, and run 26 miles) but instead of doing it all at once like a traditional Iron Man--which I am pretty sure would give me cardiac arrest ;)--you can join up and then have the entire month of November to complete those lengths of swimming, biking and running. So I think I'm going to try that...and in the Relief Society they are crocheting little baby beanies for the NICU babies--and I've been wanting to learn to crochet so I think this would be a great opportunity!

Well, there's a little recap of life so far. It's only been about 2 weeks, but to see how far we've come and how much we've accomplished in getting settled in 2 weeks makes me happy. Oh, and one of my FAVORITE parts, maybe we can walk around the temple this afternoon. :) It's going to be great to live so close to temples and I'm really excited about that.