Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween! I can't believe it's already the end of October! Where did the year go? In fact, as I look at the calendar, it seems like from here to January is a very fast-paced slide right into Christmas then through New Years. Still, I love this time of the year. I love all the holidays...even this one. It's no secret that this isn't my favorite holiday, but I will never pass up an opportunity to celebrate with fun activities, festive foods, and of course one fabulous family! On Monday (October 29), we spent the evening carving pumpkins. Jeff and I kept Jonas's pretty simple, but the other kids decided to be a little more creative. However, Jonas decided that his green pumpkin needed a pumpkin friend so we actually carved two with him while the other kids were meticulously working on their creations.

Wednesday was Halloween! We started off with a healthy jack-o-lantern smoothie and ghost bananas with orange "pumpkin" pancakes. (I think my favorite part of this holiday is the fun holiday-themed foods.)

The rest of the day was pretty routine with a few exceptions. Jonas got to wear his costume to music class then we indulged in a festive Halloween donut thanks to a little monetary gift from Auntie Co Co.

The evening, I again prepared a festive meal with mummy dogs, mac and cheese jack-o-lanterns, candy corn veggie tray, Frankenstein sodas, with monster mash brownies for dessert.

Afterward, we headed to the church for our neighborhood's annual trunk-or-treat. At this point, the older boys disappeared with their friends for the rest of the night. However, Amber and Jonas stuck with us. I took Jonas around to the various "trunks" to get some treats while Jeff passed out the treats at our "trunk". (Amber insisted he "dress up" so she provided him a little bonnet and apron. Was he Little Miss Muffet? A grandma? Who knows?!)

This is the only Halloween picture I got of Dallin. Here he is with all of his friends. He's the man in the mask.

Jonas wasn't too excited about the trunk-or-treat. Some of the adults who were passing out candy were dressed up...and Jonas was a little scared. Ultimately, he just wanted to go back to hang out in our car. Still, we went around to most of the cars before he bailed.

Once the candy ran out, we packed up and headed to Gma Penny's house to do some real trick-or-treating. Jonas LOVED this! All of the sudden, his Halloween spirit came alive. He ran from house to house as he knocked on the doors to get his candy treats. We visited a dozen houses before we called it quits.

Finally, we made it home and sorted Jonas's candy. He chose his favorite candies to keep then donated the rest to the Switch Witch who takes the candy to those boys and girls who didn't get any. She then replaces his candy donation with a toy. All in all, I would say it was successful Halloween!

Welcome Home Amber!

Today Amber returned home! For more than 18 months, she has faithfully served as a missionary of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Spain Barcelona Mission. Jeff and I honestly had mixed feelings about her coming home. Of course we missed her, but seeing the woman she was becoming because of the experiences she was having on her mission made us wish that she could stay longer. Still, we are so happy she's home! As we waited, I met her former mission president and his wife. They couldn't say enough positive things about Amber as a person and a missionary, but it wasn't until I saw her that I could truly see all those wonderful changes that I heard about. Don't get me wrong. Amber is the same boisterous, strong-willed, redhead that we all know and love, but there is an element of humility and meekness that reveals an even greater level of maturity she has achieved since she left. I truly believe that it is impossible to dedicate your life to serving the Lord and the people of Spain and not experience a significant change of heart. We were all excited to give her a big hug! We lingered around the airport as Amber greeted everyone and we waited for her luggage before heading home.

Waiting...

President and Hermana Dayton

Since she's been home, we have been helping her look for a car, a job, attend doctor's appointments, etc. Much of her first few days were pretty mundane, but we did find time to grab bites to eat at favorite restaurants and to even go to a musical, Scarlet Pimpernel. Welcome home Amber!

Fall Fun!

Over the past couple weeks, Jonas and I (along with others) have been experiencing all the fall fun activities that we can! I secretly think I'm just trying to make up for all the blazing hot autumns I had growing up. I never really got to experience this season because it was just an extension of the Arizona summers for me. Now I love it! I seriously think this is my new favorite season. Luckily, I have Jonas to drag along to all these activities and fortunately, he enjoys them as much as I do. I even got Jeff, Dallin, and Danny to join in on one of the activities. Our fall fun started with apple picking at Burgess Orchards with Krystle and her little crew on Monday, October 8. The boys had fun running through the tree-lined orchard to find the apples...then eat them. Needless to say, we made sure the orchard owner charged us a little extra for the apples that were in their bellies.

Prior to leaving the orchard, the owner showed the boys how they sorted the apples, how they made apple cider, and where they stored the apples. I think Jonas liked the machines more than the orchard.

Finally, we went back to Krystle's house to enjoy some caramel apples. Jonas just liked the candies that went on top of the caramel, which I didn't mind because that meant that I got to eat the rest.

The following day (Tuesday, October 9th), Jonas and I headed up to Gardner Village to hunt for the witches at Witchfest. Jonas actually enjoyed seeing all the funny witches...almost as much as I did. We finished our scavenger hunt to get a cookie at the bakery where we had lunch before we went over to Six "Hags" amusement park. This was by far Jonas's favorite part of the day. They had a large jumping pillow, bounce house, slides, corn pit, hay bale maze, and more. There weren't many kids there so Jonas was able to run around and play on whatever he wanted.

Thursday, October 11, Jonas and I drug Jeff, Dallin, and Danny up to the Heber Valley Railroad for the Pumpkin Train. We again met up with Krystle, the boys, and Jordan. I was a little concerned that Danny and Dallin would just "endure" this activity, but they admitted that they actually enjoyed it (perhaps dinner in Heber afterward helped sway their emotions). We arrived at the train station before the Tanners so we explored the Haunted Train car while we waited. Jonas was not a fan! I am not a huge fan of Halloween. I especially dislike the gory and scary aspects of the holiday. As you can imagine, haunted houses (or train cars) are not my thing. I guess Jonas takes after me in that aspect. However, all of us walked through the car. Jeff held a protesting Jonas, but by the time we finished walking through, Jonas was ready to show the car to his cousins.

The train ride was just a short 40 minutes, but all the boys had fun (again, there was a pumpkin chocolate chip cookie involved that could have swayed the older boys' opinions). The little boys especially loved the fact that there were no seatbelts. They also enjoyed watching the engine switch from the front to the back to pull us back to the train station.

Back at the train station, everyone was able to pick out a pumpkin to take home. Of course, Jonas had to pick one he could barely pick up. That's going to be a messy carving experience...for another day!

The following week, Jonas and I kept up our fall fun activities! On Tuesday (October 16), we decided to visit Jaker's Jack-O-Lanterns festival in Springville. I love this small town (inexpensive) festival...and so did Jonas! We had fun playing in the corn pits, racing through mazes, sliding down slides, going on a hay ride, picking out pumpkins and so much more. Not surprising, when I asked Jonas what was his favorite part of the festival, he replied, "I liked the tractor and the wagon (that we put the pumpkins in)."

To round out our fall fun, Jonas and I met up with Krystle, the boys, and my friend, Kristin, and her girls at Ashton Gardens for the Scarecrow Festival on Wednesday (October 17). Any excuse to go to the gardens is a good excuse; it was even better because of the fall fun theme! The kids loved walking through the gardens to see the diversity of scarecrows. Each of them found one or two they absolutely loved! Nolan was lucky enough to find a Flash scarecrow, which then became his (and by default, Jonas's) favorite. Jonas loves anything Nolan does. Luckily, Nolan handles the adulation well. We also picknicked in the park and fed the koi fish in the Monet gardens. It was an absolutely fun afternoon hanging out with people I love in a place that I love!

I think we have finally checked off all my fall bucket list items (except for maybe some fall baked goodies and jumping in a pile of lealves). It has been a fun couple weeks with my little buddy! Thankfully, he endures/enjoys all my activities.