Saucy!!!

What a difference a year can make! Last year we picked apples in the FREEZING cold and this year we were all..."glowing" by the end of our trip to the orchard on an 80 degree day! Two other differences this year, Emeline and Auntie Kate! We are SO SO happy Kate and Austin that they are living close by now so that she can join us on all our fun excursions!





We picked and picked...and overshot a bit on our haul this year. We maybe misremembered what we had done in the past and got 3 bushels this year (6 bags!!). It didnt seem like that much, until we got home and started making the applesauce!

But of course we had to make a pit stop at the pie pantry before we began all the hard work!

I didnt post any pics of the process because its a heavily guarded family secret...

no really it is!


Or maybe we all were so gross after 6 hrs of steam in our faces and 57 containers of sauce that I thought some of the ladies may shoot me if I posted them!

Pumpkin Patch

This year we took the girls to a patch not far from our house to choose their pumpkins. It was a little muddy and cold, but we got the job done and the girls enjoyed looking for just the right one.

We all worked hard to carve them...the girls drew the faces they wanted or (used stencils for the shapes) and Brad and I cut them. We teamed up on Emelines pumpkin, but I'm sure next year she'll be able to get more in on the action!

Fall Fiesta

The last couple years, our friends the Anemas and ourselves have thrown a fall party at our barn. This year, we had all the kiddos dress up in their costumes which made it that much more fun :)


We started the night with a hay ride from "Farmer Tim"...one of the perks of living in the sticks!



Then we had pizza and a bunch of fall treats.

Then we had a candy hunt outside and a fire out by the fire pit. The we brought the kids in to do some fall crafts...A ghost and a spider :)


At the end of the night, the kids were so hopped up on sugar they began an impromptu dance party :)

We're so lucky to have such a fun group of friends (with some awesome kiddos) to spend time with! Can wait till next year!

Fall Camping at RIver Ridge

Brad had a great idea a few months ago...he planned a fall camping weekend for after the baby was born. He was going to take just the big girls so I could have some time at home with just the babe. So sweet, right? Well, Emeline came and we all adjusted pretty well and when it came right down to it, it seemed silly for us all not to go! We packed up and headed to River RIdge which hosts a Halloween weekend the first week in Oct. The weather was in the 80s in the day and 50s at night which was PERFECT! We had such an awesome time! There were tons of activities and everyone was in the Halloween spirit! All the campers decorated their trailers and participated in the pumpkin roll. The pumpkin roll involves each lot bringing a pumpin which bears their lot number and putting it into a trailer. All the pumpkins are then shoved out of the trailer at the top of a huge hill and sent careening down the hill while everyone lines the street! The first pumpkin to the bottom wins a free nights camping! Then the kids find theirs back and climb back up the hill to trhow them down the grass hill which ends in a parking lot and tons of smashed pumpkins! The kids run down and make sure every last one is broken to bits! We also went to the craft barn and did some trick or treating! Anabelle was so cute, after I painted her face, I was her looking at herself in the mirror and she started to cry! She was scared of her own face! What a sensitive soul! Emeline did great the whole weekend, she only woke up once a night and slept in the closet right next to our bed :) Cant wait till she can join in the fun!
















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