I love the fall!

I get giddy this time every year. I love the crisp fall weather, the changing leaves, the excitement of football games (although I never go to any these days), and I love the approaching holiday season. Fall is definitely my most favorite season and love everything it means. To me, fall is a friends and family season minus the hustle and bustle of Christmas chaos. Life usually calms down from the business of summers - traveling, house work, yard work, etc. There seems to be more time to spend at home and time to spend with loved ones. Thoughts turn to the family as the holidays approach and plans are being made for holiday dinners, gift giving, and family activities.

This past weekend, we had what I would call our second fall extravaganza. (A few weeks ago we were able to spend some time with just the two of us and our dogs as we drove through Provo canyon and saw the changing leaves.) This past Friday, we were able to spend time with good friends. We went out with some of my closest friends from the good ol' Chicago North Mission and we went down to our mission president's farm in Santaquin, UT (South Ridge Farms) where we went on a hayride around the orchard that then took us to a pumpkin patch where we picked out our pumpkins that we will soon carve for Halloween. After the fun at the farm, we all came back to our house for some delicious potato soup and bread bowls and some pumpkin pie to end the night. It was fun to see our friends once again and to spend a little bit of time enjoying the fall weather. I hope that we will continue to keep such fun traditions with our friends as time goes on and our own families begin to grow.