Fall Break Adventures

My kids were off from school for Fall Break October 15-19th. Jonathon couldn't take any time off because he has been crazy busy at work, so it was looking to be a pretty boring vacation at home. Then everything fell into place. My cousin, Forrest, just happened to be getting married on the 15th, so it worked out that Kym and Joe's family decided to come up for the reception and stay a few days. My mom also decided to come up to see the newlyweds and visit with my Grandparents who were visiting for the wedding. In the end, it was a big party all weekend long!

Forrest's reception was a lot of fun. I got to see a lot of my relatives (my mom's cousins) that I haven't seen in years. Forrest and Kate were beaming, and I was glad we got a chance to welcome her to the family. She seems so sweet, and I hope they have a happy marriage. The reception itself was pretty casual, so I didn't feel bad that my kids were a bit wiggly. And the cake was to die for! Seriously, I don't know if I have ever had better cake. My cousin, Mariah (Forrest's sister) made about 6 different kinds of delectable cakes. I have been sticking to a pretty strict no-sugar diet lately, so I was trying to be careful and only try a bite or two. The three different varieties of cake that Jonathon and I split were all amazing, but the spice cake with brown sugar icing was Out-of-This-World-Good! I hunted Mariah down and asked for the recipe. She was so nice to send it to me. Now, I just have to find the right time to make it again. Mmmmmm!

 Dancing at the Reception

The next day, Kym and I took all of the kids to the park during the afternoon, and then we all went tailgating outside of the stadium before the BYU football game. The kids had a blast playing all of the games, getting free stuff, and sliding down the blow-up slide. We were all worn out, so I loaded all of the kids up in my van and headed home for a pizza and movie night. We ended up watching The Incredibles, ate pizza, and then got everyone in bed. It was fun to have the cousins together.

 Park Fun

Tailgating

Party Van

Meanwhile, Joe and Kym (and baby Savannah) met up with Jonathon to go to the football game against Cincinnati.The game ended up being pretty awesome and came down to the wire AGAIN. Shortly after they got home, my Mom arrived!

Mom always creates adventures for the grandkids and this time was no exception. On Saturday morning, we took all of the kids to the Pumpkin Patch that is right around the corner from our house. For the first hour, we pretty much had the whole place to ourselves, which was totally great. The kids bounced on balls through some haybales, spent a long time playing in the corn box, shot a corn cannon, rode a train through the pumpkin patch, found their way through the corn maze, and finally got to choose some cute little pumpkins to take home. It was so much fun, and the weather was unbelievably perfect. Grandma packed them water bottles and snacks and was so fun to be with. I just adore fall pictures. The colors and textures really appeal to my senses, so prepare for picture overload.

And my favorite photo of the entire weekend:

Grandma with her Grandkids! Pure Joy.

Saturday night we had dinner with Gpa and Gma O., Aunt Diane, Forrest, and Kate. They even brought some leftover wedding cake with them. Needless to say, we were all on a sugar high after that. We also headed down to the Secret Playground to play on the tree swing. It was such a lovely Fall Break. Family is everything to us. I love this little life of ours!