Sugar Cookies and leaves, leaves, leaves!

Grandma made sugar cookies one day.  I wanted to take "Utah" cookies to Kelly and Tyler Laing who just moved up here from Clovis.  Joel had gone over to help them unload their truck as no one was helping them!  I asked Joel if he knew the missionaries in Riverton and he looked them up, but turns out that is in the new Orem mission so he didn't have the information.  But he said, "I will go help."  That made my momma heart so happy!  Well, now Dave and I wanted to go say hello and "Welcome to Utah!"  So when the kids got home from school, they decorated cookies for me!  I decorated the Utah, snowflake and Y ones, as I didn't want Kelly and Tyler to have the super, super, super coated in sugar ones.  :) It was fun to see them and deliver their goodies.  They asked how I made the Utah shape and I said with a knife.  Handcrafted cookies!!  We got a tour of their house which is being put together and lots of unpacking still.  Kelly came to see me last year when WE were unpacking our house!  They are only about 20 mins away and we are definitely going to have some game nights and get together!  Now it is back to raking leaves!  And picking up all those sticks!!  Oh my goodness...I didn't think we would ever get done!  I would rake piles during the day while Zander was sleeping, then when the kids would get home from school they would help me scoop them into the can to dump into the trailer.  We would get so tired!  But then we would come in and have hot chocolate.  Joel would go out and rake some too.  He even went out on the crazy windy, snowy day and did some raking!  It was so windy, the snow couldn't hit the ground, it just blew all over the place.  Then on Saturday we did an all out effort...everyone helped and we got done!  It was a lot of work!!!  Amanda used the leaf blower and that helped speed things up.  We filled that trailer 3 times!  There are still a few leaves, but we got it mostly done and I am satisfied with it. Thank you to all my awesome helpers!!!  It was great having the addition of Joel, Nate and Lilly this year!  Many hands make light work!  

My Birthday week activities...

For my birthday I got SNOW!  On the 10th we got our first snow, although it didn't last, it was snowy and cold all day!  I had to speak in Relief Society that evening on the joys I am having in my "season" of life.  I had hoped I was spring or summer, but I was FALL!  Noting that I would be a year older the next day, I was able to share my joys.  They shared the parable of the pear tree and had the room decorated so nice.  They served pears and pear butter with Doris Sweeten's rolls.  Yummy!  I liked how they used a piece of wrapping paper over the table clothe for an accent.  Lovely! It was a nice evening.  Then on the 11th, my actual birthday, it still snowed some and was very cold!  The family all went to Tucanos for dinner.  The all-you-can-eat meat place.  It was very good! The kids even tried a few things but mostly enjoyed the rolls and pasta and the grilled pineapple.  Thank goodness for the salad bar! They spoiled me with gifts that they shouldn't have - Grandma doesn't need presents!  It was a fun night. Then on Saturday Dave drove me to Wayne County to visit my aunties.  We needed to get one more visit in before bad weather hits. We had our traditional pizza lunch (all the restaurants are closed for the season except the pizza place) and I brought dessert selections from Kneaders.  We had an enjoyable visit and I was able to share with them some pictures I printed for and from the Ellett Reunion this summer, and the book I made for Steve's upcoming 60th birthday.  It was a fun afternoon and I enjoyed the drive with Dave too.  Curtis and Auntie Lew are always great hosts and Auntie Beverly is just as fun as ever.  Uncle Dudley wasn't feeling well and didn't join us this time.  His dementia is getting worse and he worries about being in public.  Auntie Beverly has her hands full for sure and we pray for them all to get through this "season." 

 Those cliffs are bright red, sure wish my phone would take better pictures! And the glare on Steve's book is from the flash...oh well.  

 On the 7th we went to Orem to buy Art City Donuts.  It was a fundraiser for a sister in our ward who is having open heart surgery.  We made a donation and then we bought some donuts.  They are warm and yummy!  Jacob was at a birthday party so he wasn't with us, but the rest of us enjoyed them!  Best wishes to Eliza for a quick recovery from her surgery!  Then Dave and I went to Costco and I got a bear hug from the largest teddy bear I have ever seen!  He only cost 190 dollars!  Who would spend that and where would you even put it?  Wow...Anyway, it has been a fun birthday week all around!

Farnsworth visitors...

Eric and Randa had a trip to AZ.  Eric was going for work and he was able to take Randa who never gets a chance for a get-away.  They stayed at a resort in Scottsdale.  We helped for a day with the kids.  They came on Thursday night and spent the night.  Were here all day Friday until their grandpa came and got them around 2 in the afternoon.  We had a fun night with dinner and a movie.  Then Friday, I'm sure they were wishing they were at school!  ha ha.  I had them all help me raking leaves in the back yard!  The littlest ones, Jackson and Carson used the little scraper scooper things, Jacob picked up sticks, Makayela and I raked, and Kai used the blower.  We got a lot done and I sure appreciated their help!  We had hot chocolate afterwards! David and Lilly were at school so they missed out on the "fun."  Joel went out a little later and blew the leaves into a pile separate from the sticks.  We hope Eric and Randa had a nice trip and were glad we could help out.  Everyone seemed to have a fun time and it all went better than I expected having all four of them here at once.  Friday night we built a fire and burned sticks!  A few leaves too...

Pretty Sunsets and Zander in the house...

We have been having some beautiful sunsets!  I try to snap pics of them, but they just never show how bright and beautiful they really are!  And one day we were out and about and the clouds by the mountain looked so pretty at the end of the street we were on.  I love clouds!  Anyway, here are just a few of the pics I have taken recently.  The day coming out of Costco (you can see a blurry Joel carrying my box) there was a pretty pink stripe all across the mountain, and the opposite side where the sun was setting was just a gorgeous color!  So yes, I stopped in the parking lot and tried to get a picture!  Another day we were stopped on the freeway and it just looked so pretty on Mt. Timp (with UVU in the foreground), again the pictures just don't do it justice! It was so much more pink than the pictures shows!  And one evening at home, the sky was a brilliant orange but my phone would hardly capture it.  Streaks of bright orange across the sky.  These are sad pictures, but I can at least remember how beautiful they were! Then a pic of Mt. Timp with snow on top.  View from our sun room.  Snow is coming...ready or not!  And lastly just some pictures of Zander in the house.  He had spaghetti one day and it is on the wall, the floor, his socks, but I promise he got some in his mouth!  Another day he just wasn't going to sleep during his morning nap so I went in to check on him and he had his shirt half over his head and his pants and socks off!  Then in the afternoon nap, same thing, I go in and he has stripped all down to his diaper!  He still makes us laugh and is just a cute little addition around our house!  Lilly was reading a book to him one morning before school.  She just followed him around and kept reading until she finished the book.  It was very cute.  Happy November!!

Happy Halloween 2015!

A trip to the pumpkin patch, painting pumpkins, Trunk or Treat at the church, and trick or treating on Halloween!  It was a very fun time!  Our neighbor had his old hearse at the trunk or treat.  Decked out creepy and with a skeleton in the coffin!  Very cool!  There were a lot of cars and a lot of candy!  One car handed out donuts! Then our little Peter Pan, Captain Hook, and Tinker Bell went out again for awhile on Halloween with their mom the witch, and got even more candy! One house gave out full size cans of soda, and another one gave out toys!  Fun neighborhood! There was a Halloween parade at school on Friday that Grandma and Jacob got to go see.  It was a very fun holiday! We have a year's supply of sweet treats!  But of course, there is the mom and grandma tax, so their bags MIGHT have a little less in them than they thought!  And one other fun thing that happened this week, Amanda's interview for the Frontiers (BYU) magazine came out!  She is the back cover!!