Pumpkin Patch Palooza

Every year we take the kids to the local pumpkin patch. Normally, we get a wheel barrow and big clippers and walk through the patch and cut our own pumpkins off the vines. This year the pumpkins were already cut and lined up in rows, ready to be chosen. We still had a great time!

The kids both enjoyed the corn maze. (Ethan did it several times!) 

The farm had a row of old & newer tractors lined up, the kids had to try them all out.  




I love this time of year! It makes me want Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies. 
Here is our favorite recipe for them:

2 cups sugar
1 cup butter
2 cups canned pumpkin
2 eggs
4 cups flour
2 tsp vanilla
2 tsp baking soda
3 tsp cinnamon
2 cups chocolate chips
*Sift dry ingredients together. Blend in butter with fork until mixture is broken down into small lumps. Add eggs, pumpkin, vanilla and chocolate chips. Mix well. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for 12-15 minutes.

Ethan

Ethan is such a great kid! We are really lucky to have him in our family! I love that he asks lots of questions. He has always been a very inquisitive boy! He loves sharks, dinosaurs and anything that is scientific. He likes to know how things work (like his Dad) and has been known to take things apart or poke holes in bouncy houses to see if that hole will make the whole thing drop. : ) He loves playing games and is the champion UNO player. He loves being in the 2nd grade. His favorite subject is math! He is an excellent reader and speller, I love how he can just rattle off the letters. (I always had to write the words down). He is the best big brother EVER! I love that half toothless grin of his! I am so grateful to be your Mom! I love you Ethan!

Izzie

Our little Izzie is getting so big. She can sing all the words to songs and she is on key! Some of her favorites are: 
I Am a Child of God 
Frere Jacque
Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
In the Leafy Tree Tops
The ABC Song
These are just a handful.  I love to hear her sing when she plays. She is such a girl, she loves lotion, "lip stuff" and painting her finger nails. 

We have been dog sitting Simon today and Izzie keeps saying, "Simon, my big puppy?" She adores him and loves to lay on top of him. It's a good thing he is so big...and tolerant! She loves all animals and wants to kiss them.

Our family plays a game in the car: "I see the temple." Pretty self explanitory. (We can actually see three temples from the main road into our subdivision).  It is always a race to see who sees it first. Ethan & Izzie both love to play, Izzie, still isn't sure where to look for them, but she is always right there with her brother, yelling, "I see temple too!"
I feel so grateful to have the kids we do.  They are both so funny and keep us laughing. They complete our family. I am so grateful to a loving Heavenly Father for blessing us with such great kids!   

The Splash Park

We were in St. George all last week and one of the highlights for the kids was going to the splash park. The ones by our house are already turned off for the winter.  We enjoyed really nice weather all week until Saturday, when it rained all day for the marathon! 

There weren't very many people there that day, but it was sure fun to play in the water! Ethan loved watching the leaves and sticks he'd gathered travel down the current. Izzie just wanted to get her hands, feet and bum wet!



We had a great week in St. George! We feel so grateful to Heavenly Father for the blessings he has given our family. We are so grateful my Mom came through her surgery well and that she won't have to have chemo! We love you Mom/Grandma!

Fall Fun

I love this time of year.  The cooler weather and the beautiful changing leaves. This is what we saw one afternoon when we took the kids on a hike up Provo Canyon.


The kids had a great time walking on the path and looking for "treasures." Izzie found a stick that looked like a sling shot and she just didn't want to put it down. Oh, to be a kid again!

I love this picture. They really are the best of friends!

They loved looking through the bridge at the river below.

I love my family!