Fall

I love fall! It is my very favorite season of the year and I would be sad if we lived somewhere that didn't have fall. Granted, living in Utah, it seems that the fall season does not last long, but at least we do have a fall.

I love that things cool down and you can wear jackets if you want, or various light layers of clothing. I love football season and the sound of a high school game being played across the street. I love the colors and smells of fall. I love the holidays associated with fall - Halloween and Thanksgiving. I loved going "back to school" and the thoughts and feeling associated with a new school year. I love fresh, crisp apples and visiting pumpkin patches. I get very "crafty" when fall hits and want to make things - I have no idea why, but I must not be the only one because that is always when the Relief Society has their Super Saturday craft days. I can't say enough about how much I love this season!!

But. . . living in as many older homes as I have over the years has taught me something that I actually do not look forward to when fall hits. . .

We always have at least one of these try to move into our house. I really don't mind mice as a whole, I think they are pretty cute, but I definitely do not like them in my home! It absolutely grosses me out and makes me want to just scrub everything and bleach my whole house when I know that one has been trying to take up residence. They just poop way too much!

Luckily we haven't had any experiences like the movie "Mouse Hunt" (is that the name of that stupid movie??) and De-Con takes care of them, but I always hate the fact that we have to kill the cute things to get them to leave our house. And I hate knowing that there is poison around our house with our small kids. We are very careful about where we put the stuff to make sure that little hands cannot reach it, but I still don't like it.

I saw a mouse run past me last week while I was downstairs ironing a few things, so we put the De-Con to work. This morning I almost stepped on the, hopefully, said mouse that was dead, or dying at the bottom of the stairs. Luckily Bump was around to take care of it and hopefully no more will move in this fall.

So, yes, I still love fall and I always will . . . and will enjoy it more knowing that De-Con has my back.

Family Photos

If you have read a few posts back I talked about Bump's parents 50th Anniversary celebration. Well, we just got back our family pictures that we had taken. They turned out really great! I just wanted to share.

Incredibly wonderful photos

We have the greatest girl in our ward, Amber, who asked if she could practice her photography skills on our kids (she is also single and shouldn't be - so if you have any single guys in mind let me know!!). Well, of course, I was happy to allow her to try on my crazy lot. She just brought over some final pics last night and I just have to share some. It was hard to pick the ones to share, there are so many really good ones that I am not showing. She did such a great job, didn't she? If you want to see any of her other work check out her photography blog HERE.

Thanks for all your amazing work, Amber!!

The one below is my very favorite!!!

All photographs are copyrighted. Do not use without permission! Thanks!

Corban starts preschool

Corban's long wait to start preschool is finally over! He was so disappointed that Gabby started kindergarten and he didn't get to start preschool at the same time. So, last week he got to go and meet his Teacher, Mrs. Baird. Gabby had her last year and we just think she is the best!

Then the day after Labor Day he got to go for his first day. He wasn't nervous or shy even a little bit. Most parents were walking their kids in and helping them feel comfortable, but Corb just ran in and could care less if I was around or not so I just left him at the door. He felt so grown up and ready to go - I loved it!

He picked out his clothes to wear the first day and wouldn't let me change his mind! He will get to be in Mrs. Bairds preschool for 2 years because of his late birthday, but it's so easy and great with her school being right across the street from us that I don't mind at all. I am just so happy for him to get to go!

Mill Hollow

The last weekend in August we went with my little brother's family up to Mill Hollow to go camping over night and fishing the next day. It was so much fun! I am very reluctant to admit (especially for anyone who really knows us) that this is our first family camping trip with the kids and the first time that any of our kids have caught a fish! How sad is that? The truth is that I hated the thought of taking a baby camping and since our kids were so close together we went for a few years having kids that were too young (according to me). So, now a new phase in our lives begins!

Here are the kids: Lily, Corb, Gab, Mal and Quincy (Lewis is in the tent trailer)

It was the day after Corban's birthday so Jared and Casi brought him a present.
A cool truck pulling a trailer with motorcycles on it. What could be better than that?

Dad's have to be mean once in awhile and Bump and Jared had fun makin each of the kids not only touch, but hold a nightcrawler. They told the kids that they couldn't fish unless they could hold a worm. It was pretty funny! Mallory wasn't too sure, but she bucked up and held the worm with only a few squeals. (check out Lily in the background - she wasn't happy)

Gabby had no trouble with the worms, she has held them before when I am doing yard work.

Corb wasn't too sure at first, but by the time Bump was through with him he was pretty comfortable.

Lily never did hold a worm and ran screaming from her dad a few times. She was brave enough to get this close to it for a picture though. What a mean dad! :)

Mill Hollow is a beautiful reservior up in the Uintah Mountains. Bump and I have been fishing up there since high school and used to camp up there when we were first married. The lake has been closed for a few years while they worked on the dam and just re-opened this summer, so we weren't sure how the fishing would be.

Bump put on a worm for Corban and Jared put some salmon eggs on Lily's Dora fishing pole.

Within just a few minutes of casting Lily's line out she had a fish on it! She was so calm and matter-of-fact about it. Jared helped her bring it in and it was a really nice fish!

Of course, since it was the first fish caught and my kids haven't really been around fish they were all over the poor trout touching it and checking it out. It was really exciting for everyone!

So, Bump changed Corb's worm out for salmon eggs and within 2 minutes Corb had a fish on his line. I helped him bring his fish in. It was just amazing! Seriously, within just minutes of throwing out our lines there were fish on them every time!

Lily caught another fish and then let Gabby use her fishing pole. She caught one too and didn't want any help bringing it in. She worked on it herself and even brought it out of the water. I think Mallory caught one at the same time because I don't have any pictures of her fish.

After all the kids had caught a fish and we were almost up to our limit, Bump sat down and helped Quincy catch a fish too. She wasn't too sure about it and wouldn't get too close, but it was her fish! Her fish and the first one that Lily caught were the biggest of the day! Way to go little girls!

I realized when I was looking at these pictures that I don't have any of Casi or Lewis! Sorry guys! Lewis was so good the whole time and we had such a great time with all the kids. Talk about a perfect trip! We seriously fished about a half hour and every kid caught a fish, had a great time and didn't have a chance to get bored! The weather was beautiful, the stars were plentiful, the kids got filthy and explored to their hearts content, what more could you ask for?

After this trip I can't wait for more camping experiences next summer! Thanks Jared and Casi for a great time!