Fall Fun Weekend

Now that the boat is put away and the temperatures are dropping, it's time to enjoy all things FALL! This really has become my favorite season. I love seeing the leaves change colors. I love throwing on a fall cardigan in the mornings or at night. I love all things pumpkin and apple spice. I love the sense of coziness and family gatherings. I just love fall! In years past, Jonas and I have made a fall bucket list that includes things such as completing a corn maze, going to a pumpkin patch, visiting the witches at Gardner Village, attending a football game, and so much more. We made our same list again this year, only this time we had to prioritize things. I think Jonas has finally reached that stage that we might not check off every item on our list. It makes me a little sad because I've really enjoyed experiencing all the fall fun with him, but he is engaged in good things that he enjoys and that promote his physical and intellectual strengths so who am I to complain? Still, we're going to try to get as many checks as we can! Since fall is officially upon us, we decided to get started with a weekend of fun. On Saturday, September 24, we met up with Laurin, Casey, Carter, and Everly to go apple picking. We needed quite a few apples for our Fall Family Fun party we were hosting the next day. It didn't take long to get a bag full of delicious honeycrisp apples...and that didn't include the several that were eaten while we were picking. I'm not sure it would have been as fun for Jonas if Carter wasn't there, but we all enjoyed it! (Carter even picked his own apple and savored it for long after.) Apple picking: CHECK!

The next day (Sunday, September 25th), we hosted a fun evening with chili and cornbread for dinner, carnival games (e.g., pin-the-nose on the jack-o-lantern, witches hat ring toss, mummy bowling, feed the monster bean bag toss, bobbing for apples, and donuts on a string), and a caramel apple bar for dessert. The Tanners joined us along with Dallin, Laurin, Casey, Carter, Everly, Amber and Jacob. Sometimes it's a lot of work to host evenings like this, but it's worth it when family gathers. Jonas had a blast with his nephew and cousins...and the rest of us enjoyed each other's company. Plus, we got to check more things off the list: bobbing for apples, caramel apple bar, chili & cornbread...check, check, CHECK!

Our weekend didn't end there! The boys didn't have school on Monday (September 26th) because of a teacher development day so Jonas and I spent the morning at Wilkerson's Farm Fall Festival. This one is in Orem and it's a little more expensive than the others because of all the fun carnival rides, but that's why Jonas loves it. (I'm still hopeful we might be able to hit another fall festival before the season is over.) I love it too! It has my favorite corn maze because I feel like it's manageable - not too big, not too small, and not too crazy. I rode a few rides with Jonas (and there were a few rides I chose to skip). His favorite rides were the pirate ship and, of course, the swings. He actually really loved the kiddie corn pits too. Maybe I do have a few more years of this type of fun with him left? I actually think most of us turn into little kids when it comes to these type of activities. For example, our corn maze adventure turned into a Top Gun mission as we ran through the maze pretending Jonas was Maverick and I was Phoenix. We walked the maze the first time through in seven minutes. It was about half way through the maze that Jonas decided we needed to turn it into an aerial mission. When we finished, he was convinced that we could run the maze in 2 minutes and 30 seconds...the same amount of time it took Maverick and his team to complete their mission...so we did! And we made it! Before we left the festival, we stopped at the pumpkin patch for Jonas to pick a pumpkin to carve later...and of course, we're going to carve an F 14 jet on it. Bring on more fall fun!

SHHS HOCO 2022

This weekend, Danny celebrated his last homecoming dance! I can't believe we're moving towards all of these "lasts" with him. It's crazy to think how different his life is going to be by this time next year. In any case, he definitely went "big" this year for the dance. His group consisted of 12 couples! It was crazy, but it was fun to see so many youth engaged in good, clean fun. For their day date, he invited all the couples over to our house for a breakfast bake-off. They divided into 3 groups, commandeered our 3 kitchens, and created one perfect breakfast masterpiece per group. Each group had a country assigned to them as a theme (Mexico, Germany, and France - Danny was in the French group). In the end, Danny's group won because one of the girls actually made real whipped cream and real custard to fill their delectable crepes.

That evening, after pictures, the couples went to Joe Veras in Provo for dinner before going to the dance. Danny's date was Sadie Fulmer. She goes to Payson High School, but they have known each other since junior high. It's a good thing she has a fun sense of humor because Danny parked the tractor at our Salem lots and drove to the dance in that! Oh boy! Evidently, it was the hit of the dance though with many other couples asking to take pictures on the tractor. Silly kids! It sounds like they all had a blast!