October 2009- Happy Autumn

So, Luke and I are really not into Halloween. I don't think either of us have dressed up since we were 12 or so. I'm not into spending a lot of effort on a costume, not into candy, not into cold darkness, not into scary. Well... this year we did Halloween. Jane wore her orange gdiaper (this was the MOST exciting part for me). We are on the activities committee in our ward at church, so we helped plan and put on the Halloween Party. We went trick-or-treating with our friends Heather and Mandy and their kids. Jane dressed up. We bought candy with the intent of giving it to little kids (although NO ONE came to our door). Jane's costume is of a black cat (we thought of changing with with a white stripe to make her a skunk- but again, we are not that into Halloween- too much effort). I think she looked cute. It was free through MBA spouses. Nice.

That said, we LOVE fall. I have always loved the crispness in the air that autumn is here, the leaves start changing. I think living in New England for 4 years clenched this love, but I was not totally disappointed by Utah's fall colors. The mountains are beautiful with the trees changing and then the dusting of snow on cold mornings. I love it! I love to take Jane out on walks and have her experience the multi-sensory love I have of the fall leaves. I let her listen as we crunch the leaves and we walk in them and throw them and talk about them and look at the colors of them while she eats them(I try to stop her but I want her to experience them in her hands).

I love apple picking. I picked boxes and boxes of apples at Luke's parents house and made dry apple leather (just puree, leaving skins on, and dry), applesauce (about 35 quarts) and a few apple pies and desserts. I also got apples from Shiree's and from the Utah State Hospital orchards with Olya (they said we could- we asked). I just love apple picking, and I love that there are so many venues in Utah to pick them for FREE! I brought Jane each time and she experienced (sometimes to her dismay) the crisp air and trees and boxes and bags of apples. She now loves applesauce (homemade and free of sugars and preservatives) and has knawed apple leather and slices.

Happy Birthday to Barbara! It's been so fun to see so many of our family members so close. We went with Barb and Matt to Red Lobster for her birthday, because she had prego cravings for crab (I think she just always loves crab). Then we went back to our apartment and had apple pie I made. I was so happy to celebrate her birthday together and to have Becca and Tyler join us. I still can't get over having family that can just come over for an evening.