Carving Pumpkins

Lily's 1st time feeling inside a pumpkin. I am not sure she loved the experience

Mal's diggin' right in

Jared and Mal designing her pumpkin face

I think Lily preferred the spoon with the really long handle to clean out her pumpkin

It took us a while to get around to carving the pumpkin but we finally did it last night. The girls had a lot of fun. Mal told Jared that she wanted to name her pumpkin "Jack O' Lantern" Jared told her that was a great idea and he is sure no one had ever thought of that before.

Pumpkins and Ghosts and WITCHES, Oh My

Every year I take my girls to Gardener Village to see the witches. Mallory has always had fun looking at the witches from a distance but will not get close to them for a picture unless my mom, Marianne, Amy, or myself is in the picture with her. This year she made a huge leap forward. There is one particular witch sitting on a bench with her arm out so when the kids sit down it is like her arm is around them. Every year we go and sit by this witch and this year Mallory sat down next to her (after her 3 month old cousin Logan showed her it was okay) and had her picture taken all by herself. Lily is in the stage where she is not sure what to think of any stranger much less a witch with a green face and funny teeth. She wanted nothing to do with them. She was happy just walking around and holding her Nana's hand. There was a witch that had a cat and mouse running around under her dress and Mallory asked me "Mommy are you sure that cat is not real?" before she would even go near the witch for the picture. The girls were also able to feed the ducks and fish while we were there. I think this was Lily's favorite part. She kept asking for more bread to throw in the water. There was one thing missing this year from our annual trip to see the witches and that was Amy, Tanner and Bryn. We miss you guys! This is a fun tradition for me and the girls, one day they will love to go there with me to go in all the fun shops but for now we will enjoy the witches.

Pumpkin Patch

All day yesterday Mallory was asking if she could have a pumpkin so when Jared got home from school we decided to take the girls to a pumpkin patch and let them choose the pumpkin they wanted. Mallory was determined to find the perfect one and if there was a pumpkin I thought was great it still wasn't good enough. I think she just wanted to run through the pumpkin patch. Finally she found the one she wanted, it was one of the smallest ones there but it was her perfect pumpkin. Lily didn't really understand what was going on but she loved running after her sister. Jared picked a pumpkin for Lil' and one for himself (he had to have one to carve his annual BYU pumpkin). After we bought the pumpkins the girls weren't done running around so Jared to the pumpkins to the car and I stayed with the girls in the patch. We found some old tractors the girls wanted to sit on and there was a kids corn maze that the girls went through. I have began to realize that the more I let my girls just enjoy moments like these the more fun I have also. Most of the time I am so worried about getting the pumpkin, getting home to carve the pumpkin before it is time to get in the tub so the girls can get to bed on time, that I don't just enjoy the moment. We really had a fun time, we didn't get the pumpkins carved but now we have an activity for tonight. There are also some pictures of Lily helping me frost cookies we took to a few neighbors. (The one she frosted was just for her and she loved it.)

You Know It's Love

This is a picture of the two of us before the game started.

There is nothing Jared enjoys more than BYU football, besides his family, of course. I have always enjoyed watching football and had gone to quite a few games before I met Jared but there is something about going to a game with Jared. He loves everything about the game, the weather (hot, cold, sunny, raining, snowing), the smell, the pregame warmups (yes, we are usually there to watch them), the kettle corn, standing the ENTIRE game in the student section, the players, their stats, the stats of the opponents you name it he loves it. He is like a little boy at Christmas. One of the rule of me going to the game with him is we stay for the entire game, no matter the score or the weather. So on Saturday when it was a blizzard and most of the people in the stadium left in the 3rd quarter you can bet I was there until the end of the 4th. There is nothing I love more than being with Jared and watching him have the time of his life. You know it's love when I don't even mind being in a freezing cold blizzard because of the guy I'm with .

This was towards the end of the 4th quarter.

Sunday Afternoon. . .

Sunday after church and a much needed nap, Jared and I took the girls up American Fork Canyon and drove the Alpine Loop. It was so nice to spend the afternoon outside. Mallory loved the hikes (maybe she isn't as much like her mom as everyone thinks), and Lily loves to be outside, so the girls were in heaven. I think that by the end of the drive Lily was getting a little car sick but other than that it was a really great afternoon.

Day at the Park

With winter quickly approaching we decided to take advantage of a nice fall morning at the park. The girls always have so much fun when we go.

Night at the Circus

Last Thursday we were able to take the girls to the circus. Eric and Hanna offered us tickets so we took them up on their offer. It was so fun to see the girls faces when all the firework started going off and the clowns and animals started coming out on the floor. I never thought I would enjoy the circus but somehow kids make everything much more magical. Lily sat still on my lap for the first 15 minutes, eyes wide, huge smile, and clapping. This is huge, Lily doesn't sit still for one minute for anything. Mallory was so excited and wide eyed. She loved the circus, by the end she was getting tired, I asked her if she wanted to go home and she said, "No Mommy, I want to stay at the circus forever and ever".

During intermission we got popcorn and a drink and Lily wanted it all for herself. Usually she likes to share with Mal, but not tonight. To make sure no one else wanted any she took both her hands and dug them to the bottom of the tub, just like she was digging in the sandbox. I am sure she touched every piece of popcorn in the tub. Kids are so much fun

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