And the winner is...

Just kidding. We didn't win. We didn't even dress up for Halloween. We had some pretty good ideas for costumes, but then decided they might (or might not) be slightly sac-religious. We were going to go as painters. White pants, white shirt. Paint splatter. Makes sense, right? Well, If you don't have the white cap to go with it, it looks very similar to baptismal clothes. We didn't realize that until we were laying our clothes out to splatter paint on them. Then we decided to go for the back-up plan. Doctor and patient. Classic. Well, when we got to the festivities we were running behind schedule and opted out. Call us party poopers if you must. But, we did make some yummy treats for the cake walk.

Oreo eyeballs!

I also made a cake... It didn't turn out as I had hoped, but it was fun for a first try...




Overall it was a really fun Halloween. Can't wait to do it again next year!

We LOVE the fall!

Fall just might be my favorite time of the year. Whereas Christmas is the 'MOST WONDERFUL' time of the year, Fall is just great. I love the weather. I love the change of the colors of the leaves. I love making last-of-the-year beach trips. We went down south of Santa Cruz two weeks ago and had a perfect day at the beach. I love the change from warm to cold air. Also, one of the best parts of the onset of Fall is General Conference. Its great to hear the words of the Lord's annointed and heed their counsel.

This General Conference weekend, we were able to make the trip to my parents house in Turlock and spend time with my parents and some extended family. My Aunt and Uncle Jared also live in town and two of their children brought THEIR children for the weekend as well. It was great.

We spent most of the time though at my parents house, on The Farm. My parents have been living out in the country since my sophmore year in high school. Its a haven for little grandsons that like to play in the dirt, shoot guns, play on the swing-set, and run around bare foot. Its got barns and sheds and shops and dog-runs and fields for the cows. Its a great place.

One of the only downers of the new season is the end of fresh fruit from my parents orchard. All summer long we get new weekly installments of different variets of peaches, nectarines, plums, apricots, pluots, apriums, apples, and more. Its heavenly. But now its coming to an end. Luckily, we were able to benefit from the tail end of it.

These are one of the variety of grapes that my dad has growing around the pavillion that we built last year. They're big and tasty.
Jennifer grabs one of the last plump tomatoes of the year. Her and my mom spent time canning some of those tomatoes this weekend. We love eating tomatoe soup all winter long.
Seen above were our treasures we were able to retrieve: Grapes, green beans, tomatoes, and that yellow thing is a Golden Plum. VERY sweet.

We also love my dad's dog Chuva and he loves us. He's a very pretty labrador-mastiff mix with LOTS of energy to spare. He's getting along with chilren now too. He's a great dog.


My dad got a tractor from a friend last month. I've been waiting to get home to drive it. So first thing, after Saturday afternoon conference we headed out to pasture and took her for her maiden voyage around the property. It road real nice. The grandkids are going to LOVE going for tractor rides, I'm sure.

On Sunday morning we woke up and made a pre-conference meal full of the staples: Pancakes and Eggs. It gave us just enough energy to get through all the sessions awake. Well, almost. ;)

All-in-all it was a great weekend. Food, family, and fun just might be the perfect combination. And now the Holidays are coming. Hooray! Is that Christmas music I hear in my living room already??? Almost.