A Few Halloween Traditions...

Jack-O-Lantern and Skeleton pancakes

Carving pumpkins

Pumpkin bread bowl with "Witches Brew"

Trick or Treating (Justin was already gone with his friends)

Happy Halloween!

A Birthday to Remember

My plan for my birthday this year was simple: avoid it. I turned the big 4-0 and Aaron had other plans for me. In fact, I'd say he ought to be a contestant for husband of the year this year. He contacted several family and friends and invited them to participate in a 40-day countdown for my birthday. He had each person sign up for a day and choose what they wanted to do.
The countdown began on September 19th and my first delivery were these beautiful flowers above. I had a few flower deliveries and loved having such beautiful flower arrangements!
Each day for 40-days I looked forward to someone's thoughtfulness. My kids would come home from school each day eager to see what I got that day. I haven't ever had so many deliveries in my life! Gifts ranged from an e-mail from my nephew who is serving a mission to gifts cards, cheesecakes, a poem, a slide show, perfume, and jewelry. I feel spoiled! Aaron signed himself and the kids up several times and was awesome with having something ready for me before he went out of town.
This morning Elizabeth and I enjoyed using one of my gift cards and getting pedicures. This was Elizabeth's first time and she loved it! I feel overwhelmed with all of the love that was shown to me. People signed up who have only known me for a few months. It makes me want to pay it forward and bring joy to someone else's life the way that my life has been touched the past 40 days. Thank you to wonderful family and friends and especially to Aaron! I'm one lucky girl!

More Harvesting Fun!

Who knew Michigan had so much yummy produce? Last Monday I was invited to pick grapes at a Welch's vineyard BEFORE the workers came in to pick. In about a half an hour's time, I had enough grapes to can 37 quarts of grape juice.

I hadn't ever canned grape juice. It was so fun and easy! All you do is put the grapes into this steamer and you have juice about an hour later. It comes out hot so the jars seal themselves. Simple and oh, so delicious!

Another friend let me borrow her hopper to make applesauce. I usually cut and peel the apples and then make applesauce in the crockpot. What a timesaver this was! My friend warned me my shoulder would probably be sore the next day from all of the cranking, but it wasn't at all because my kids wanted to do most of it!

I'm still a long way from becoming the canning queens that many of my friends and my sisters are, but I am doing a little more each year. The kids think it's the greatest thing to be a part of this whole process.

Gray's baptism

Yesterday our family made a day trip to Bloomington for Aaron's nephew's baptism. It was our first time going to visit them since they have moved there. We should have stopped and taken pictures because the fall colors were so beautiful! However, eight hours in the car was long enough so we weren't really looking to extend our travel time anymore!

Most of the gang! One of Aaron's sisters and her family, as well as a sister-in-law and her little one weren't there. We loved spending this special day with Gray and his family. And can I just add what an amazing job Janey did of feeding this huge group!

Pickin' Pumpkins

Today Madelyn had her first pre-school field trip. She's been so excited to go and was so disappointed this morning when I pulled into her pre-school. I had to explain to her that first we meet at her pre-school and THEN we drive to the pumpkin patch.

Naomi was pretty excited to be able to tag along on the field trip. She doesn't say anything in big groups, but she loved telling her dad about it later.

Madelyn had a pretty tough time picking out the perfect pumpkin, but I think she finally found it after walking and jumping all over the vines in the patch.
The kids played in the park area and petting zoo after visiting the pumpkin patch. It was fun for me to watch Madelyn. She is so different from Elizabeth at this age who would have been clinging to my side. She is so social and was off playing with her friends most of the time. I'm so not ready for these two little girls to grow up!

One year later!

One year ago today, I received a phone call from Aaron's boss that he was having some chest pain so they called 911. I can replay the events of this day through my mind as if it was yesterday. I won't bore you with the details. If you want to read about his heart attack, you can go here or here.

This past year has been a difficult year for our family, enduring health challenges, job loss, and a move to name a few. I'm not going to lie and say we didn't have our share of difficult days (mostly me), but overall our family has been so blessed. A few days ago we were reading scriptures together as a family and we read a verse about our needing to be tried in all things so that we can be prepared to receive His glory. While no one wishes to have these challenges, we know that through these experiences, we learn and grow. My relationship with Aaron was strong before his heart attack, but I definitely feel closer to him now than I did a year ago.

We have also been blessed to be on the receiving end of so much service. We've had people come over and rake leaves at our house, bring meals, watch kids, help pack, send thoughtful cards, and serve us in so many ways. How grateful I am for wonderful family and friends!

Apple picking

Our family went apple picking in Michigan yesterday. We almost went last weekend, but didn't make it. We couldn't have asked for better weather than yesterday...85 degrees! It was so nice to be outside enjoying the sunshine without having to be all bundled up!

We picked over three bushels of apples. The trees were just full of apples; our baskets were full in about 30 minutes. The kids still wanted to keep picking, but that just means more work for me!

The boys have been begging me to buy pumpkins. I don't like to buy them before October because they always go bad. Now they are begging me to carve them. That one is Aaron's job!

Love the beautiful fall colors!

I came home and made my first batch of applesauce last night and baked apple crisp today. It didn't even make a dent in our stockpile of apples!

Two Firsts on Craigslist!

This was our first purchase on Craigslist. The people who bought our house wanted our extra refrigerator. One big refrigerator just isn't enough for our family so we wanted an extra one to put in the garage. They go quick on Craigslist, but we were finally able to buy this one.

After we bought the side-by-side, we decided to sell our small chest freezer because we have another upright freezer and our garage was beginning to look like a used appliance store. We listed it on Thursday and it was gone by Saturday. We've since sold and listed a few more things. It's nice to get rid of stuff that is cluttering up our house! We're sold on Craigslist!