October

I love fall! Fall is exciting. It's apples and cider. It's an airborne spider. It's pumpkins in bins. It's burrs on dog's chins. It's wind blowing leaves. It's chilly red knees. It's nuts on the ground. It's a crisp dry sound. It's green leaves turning And the smell of them burning. It's clouds in the sky. It's fall. That's why... I love fall.


October 1 - Spring Hollow

It was a perfect Autumn day to see the leaves changing colors.  Audrey, the kiddos, and I went for a drive up Sardine Canyon. Around every corner we came upon a wall, or mountain side, of brilliant changing leaves... colors of red, orange, yellow, and magenta. The scenes were spectacular! It took your breath away. We continued our drive to Logan canyon and about two miles up the canyon, we pulled into a tree covered campground, Spring Hollow. Walking, playing, picking colorful leaves.... was this God's playground? So beautiful! So awe inspiring! I never wanted to leave.

October 2 - Temple

I took another route home from the temple. A country road on the west end of Perry. It leads to Three Mile Creek, where our ancestors - the Perry's settled. On the way, I stopped to take this beautiful picture of the temple.  It reminded me of a talk given by Elder Stevens in a general conference a few years ago. "You are never lost when you see the temple". Seeing and going to the temple gives me so much comfort. I am so grateful to have one so close to home.

October 3 - Invasion...

of the BOX ELDER BUGS! They cling to the outside of the house, to the windows, on the doors, to your hair. They are inside the house, crawling up walls, on floors, in the window sills, and even in my drinking cup. They are everywhere. We can't get rid of them. Even the cold weather hasn't hasn't been able to kill them. Hurry Jack Frost.... we need a hard freeze!  

October 4 - Ben's birthday

This is one happy little guy! He is always smiling. He is so full of humor and fun. His personality keeps me mesmerized  I love him so much. He got a bike and a horn to toot from mommy and daddy. He can ride with sister now. He's a big boy! Happy birthday to a BIG TWO YEAR OLD!

Did I mention he is just like his mother. Can't stand to be dirty. Has to have order in his life. Doesn't do well with change. Case in point. Ben was moved into Alia's room and his room was given to Emilee. Didn't work! Ben shook, cried, couldn't sleep, was fit to be tied. When mom and dad could see that it wouldn't work after one day, they told Ben he could get his room back. Hooray! Ben smiled, jumped, clapped, laughed in delight. It was in the evening. Mom and dad took his bed back in his room. That wasn't going to be enough for Ben. He hauled everything he owned back into his room. He wasn't leaving nothing behind.  Books, toys, you name it... it went with him. 

October 5 - One year anniversary 

It's so hard to believe. How can it be? Mom passed away one year ago today. I miss her so much. Kelley and I couldn't have our birthday lunch without her. We did it faithfully every year. We weren't going to miss this year. We couldn't get together in September so we decided today would be the perfect day. Mom would surely be with us. Leslie came up from Blanding. Bill and Alisa met us girls at the beautiful little cemetery in Wellington. We decorated the headstone with Autumn colored leaves and decor. Mom would love that. She was all about the decor. We visited and reminisced  We were entertained with dad's cemetery joke and Bill and Alisa's spontaneous acting out the scene as they, themselves, lied on the grass where their plots were located. We had a good laugh. Mom and dad would surely be humored by it, too. 

Us girls had lunch, at the same place as usual. Main Street Grill. I got my usual because I love it. A monte cristo sandwich, sweet potato fries, and a green salad. Yummm. It was a good day. I loved being with my sisters. It has become even more important than ever, with mom and dad's passing. It makes the heartache of not having mom and dad with us a little more bearable. 

October 7 - General Conference

The Chaplain for Dave's Brigade got tickets to General Conference for us. We went on Sunday. For the morning session, we sat five rows from the front on the left side of the pulpit. It was somewhat entertaining. Some of the general authorities (not the apostles), stretched out, layed their heads back on the padded headrests, and went out like a light when the lights were dimmed for talks. They woke only when it was time to sing the intermission hymn. My focus seemed to be on them more than the speakers. The Chaplain could be heard snoring from time to time, heads were bobbing... including mine and Dave's, at times. Not to be misunderstood, I was happy to be there.

We enjoyed a walk around Temple Square in between the sessions and met sister missionaries from around the world. The excited chatter was all about the announcement of lowering the missionary age for service. 

Making our way into the Conference center was a little distracting and entertaining. It was like going to a Jazz game. People after people were soliciting tickets to attend Conference. One girl was propped up higher than the crowd, with a sign that read, "Spiritually Starving, need tickets". Strange! 

The afternoon session was somewhat entertaining, as well. I sat in between Dave and another Chaplain. The Chaplain slept. His wife kept nudging him with her elbow. Dave slept. I left him alone.  I did get some out of the talks. What did I learn from today... I think I feel the spirit more and get more out of the talks at home, sitting in front of the television. There are no distractions. Only me and the speaker. It's quiet. I love it. I will attend General Conference at home from now on.

October 8 - Sunshine on the Bay

One of my Autumn Bucket List things to do... go to the mountains, have a picnic, and enjoy the changing leaves with Dave. Well, I did go to the mountains. I had a picnic. I enjoyed the changing leaves. With Audrey and kids. It was fun. 

Today... was great. I packed a lunch, got on the boat, and enjoyed one last day on Willard Bay. The sun was shining. It was relaxing. I drove the boat. Dave drove the boat. We enjoyed watching the seagulls chase the wake behind the boat. We stopped and rocked gently, back and forth, in the waves. We had lunch. We visited with each other. We let the sun shine on our faces. We sat in the beauty surrounding us. Oh.... it was heavenly!

October 11 - It's all about the PUMPKINS

I spent the day with Audrey and kids today. We made Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies (de-lish!) and went to the Pumpkin Patch... if you could call it that! Well, the kids had fun. They picked out little pumpkins, medium pumpkins, big pumpkins. They went home, sat them on the front porch, and admired them with pride... as if they had grown them, themselves. It was cute.

October 12 - Emilee is one month old

Emilee turned one month old today. She's such a cutie. Can't tell her big sister loves her, can you!

October 13 - Melissa and Doug

When Leslie came up to Price on the 5th, she brought with her, some gifts from the Drug Store. I had so much fun shopping. I purchased two Natvities (Willow Tree... I'm so excited), and some Melissa & Doug play items. I knew they would be a big hit with the kids. Alia and Ben spent the afternoon making sandwiches, baking cookies, slicing up some pizza, and categorizing the food groups. Thanks Leslie!

October 17 - Spooky

I like Halloween. And I like decorating the house for Halloween. I have a trio of Skeletons in the front entry to greet my little guests. Ben was brave enough to be the first to sit on the bench with the green eyed spooky skeleton.

October 18 - Thriller

Kelsey invited Dave and I to the play THRILLER, along with her family. It was great entertainment! The ghouls and zombies greeted guests outside Kingsbury Hall at the U of U. Dave and I enjoyed taking each other's pictures with the creepy looking actors.

October 19 - Hogle Zoo

It was the little kids first trip to the zoo. They loved it, and grandma loved watching them love it. My favorite part of the day... watching Alia and Ben's reaction to the strange food stuff called Cotton Candy. They had never seen it before, never eaten it before, and it was very strange... indeed! 

October 20 - Orchard Beauty

It was such a beautiful morning. I looked out the window and the orchard was just on fire with the beautiful changing leaves. The colors seem to be more vivid this year. They seem to have taken their time to change colors. We have enjoyed them longer this year. The orchard begged me to come out and meander through the rows of trees and vines. I did, and got a real treat. 

October 23 - Stolen Pumpkins 

  

Pumpkins on the porch are a pretty big thing. After all, they're for Halloween. On this particular morning when mom and kids went out to see the pumpkins, they were missing. Stolen! Mom was distraught, and wanted to cry.

Four year old Alia had a very wise explanation on the stolen pumpkins. In an attempt to comfort her mother, she had this to say about those pumpkin thieves, in her matter of fact voice.

"They thought it was a pumpkin patch, but it was just our house. We will buy some more pumpkins and watch for them, and when they come back to take them, we will tell them it's not a pumpkin patch, it's just our house!"

A good lesson from a wise and forgiving four year old! And the new pumpkins are perfect, too.

October 23 - Snow in the foothills

It's getting colder. Snow was in the forecast. I awoke to snow on the foothills. I was so excited about it that I just had to get a picture of it. I went to Brigham and took this picture from the south side of the cemetery looking toward the east canyon. It's just beautiful with the changing leaves in the foreground. 

October 25 - Snow on the ground

It made me so happy to get up to snow on the ground. We haven't had any for a long, long time. We need it. I hope the early snow is an indication of many snowy days ahead. I don't mind getting snowed in this year. Snow, Snow, Snow!

October 26 - Trick-or-Treat!

Tremonton held it's annual trick-or-treating down main street. I went with Audrey and kiddos. Alia dressed up as a beautiful Fairy Princess; Ben as Super Ben! Audrey made their costumes. They were so dang cute. Emilee enjoyed the ride down main street stroller style.

October 28 - Harvest Fest

This years Harvest Fest was few in numbers, but oh! so much fun! The menu consisted of mummy wrapped dogs, cheesy bones, monster eye balls, creepy crawlin' bug salad, gastly goblin soup, and witches brew. We had a Scarecrow making contest, Pumpkin carving, and the high light of the evening... Spooky Hollow Hay Ride through the orchard.

October 30 - To the Temple, again!

It's a wonderful thing to live so close to the temple. I am blessed! 

October 31 - Halloween

Even though we only got one trick-or-treater, it was still fun to dim the lights, light the jack-o-lantern and candle, and set the atmosphere for a spooky and fun-filled night. 

Month in Review