PRE-HALLOWEEN ACTIVITIES

Halloween is a busy time, don't you agree? There is so much stuff to do, it is starting to rival December. Ridiculous, but fun...

Here are a few things we've done to start the holiday off right:

Family night at the barn carving pumpkins with the extended Gordon family.

Costumes for school day. My sister-in-law took a theater make-up class at Snow and she did C's make up to be Frankenstein. Yuck, huh?

My husband and I in our Star Wars costumes for a party. Very fun! I heart Han Solo! (Shout out to Chrissy and Keri for the loans)!

My high school kids even dressed up as Zombies for school.

My middle schooler as Slash from Guns n Roses.

My youngest as Bat Girl. She had such a blast! (Shout out to Charlynn for the loan!)

Friday night concert at the Underground (under Roy's Pizza). They let the Rock Academy kids open for the other bands and the kids rocked! That's mine in the middle.

My other son on the drums. Very fun!

A SPOOKY SNOW STORM

It is not even Halloween yet and we got about 4 or 5 inches of snow today. It is just too early! My thoughts instantly turned to shopping, Christmas trees, candy canes, and skiing. Whoa, slow down Mother Nature. We need the rest of our fall!

Wish I'd taken this cool photo. I don't think our snow will last long enough to do this or I would try it.

I HATE CANNING

I really do. It is messy, hot, sweaty, back-breaking work. I remember hours spent in the kitchen with my mom snipping beans, pitting peaches, coring pears, juicing grapes and tomatoes. You name it, my mom canned it. I never learned to like it. But I do it.

I do have my rules about it though. I will not can something unless I have grown it. Going out and buying something to can is just plain masochistic. This year we got a great crop of apples. Pie filling is the one thing I have canned that we consistently use, so I just couldn't justify letting all the apples go to waste. Yesterday and today I canned in the afternoon and now have 26 quarts of apple pie filling to show for it. We will be eating apple crisp quite often for the next year. At least it is over!

Here's the recipe I use if anyone is interested.

APPLE PIE FILLING

20-25 apples, peeled and sliced

SAUCE:

4 1/2 cup sugar

4 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. salt

10 cups water

3 Tbsp. lemon juice

1 cup corn starch

1 1/2 tsp. nutmeg

Combine in large pan all but lemon juice and cook until thickened. Stir in lemon juice. Fill jars 1/3 full of sauce. Add sliced apples and push down until full. Put lids on quart jars and process (water bath) for 35-40 min. Makes approx. 6 quarts.

THE ANTI-THESPIAN

My 3rd grader had a leading role in his class play. He was not very happy about it either. He had to play a school teacher. The character tells another character that she's 'as sweet as marshmallow pie' and then asks her to the movies. I guess all the other kids teased him about it and he was not happy. But I went and watched the play and he did such a good job.

Here he is with his 'class.'

Here he is with the girl teacher.

Here he is 'asking her out.' What a cutie! I think the thing that pushed it over the edge was the fact that this little girl has a crush on him. But who wouldn't?

MAPLE CANYON

Maple Canyon is one of the most beautiful places in our desert valley. It is a climbing mecca( click for link to amazing photos) for adventurers all over the world. My husband took my 4 youngest today and had a blast. They hiked, climbed, picnicked and explored. I was at RS super saturday (and had lots of fun there, so didn't feel too left out). I gave the camera to the boys and told them to take photos. There are some interesting results... (I'm actually surprised at how good they are).

D climbing

A climbing

C and P hiking with Grandma and Grandpa Gordon.

C hiking in the beautiful fall leaves.

My husband climbing the Pipe Dream, belayed by his brother.

Inside a huge cave.

FALL FAMILY PHOTOS

I love to have family photos taken in the fall. This year our good friend Jason Stevens (click on name for website link) took them for us. We LOVE them and I am so excited to get them printed and on my wall. Here are a few of my favorites...

PUMPKIN PICKING PARTY

Here we are again at the Beck Family Farms pumpkin patch family night tradition. We do this every year with all the Gordon family in town and also with my sister and her family too this year. It was very fun, just like always. We all got to choose a pumpkin from the huge patch...

Here are some of our selections for this year.

My oldest with her cute little jack o' lantern-to-be.

My two youngest with a display of all the stuff they grow. They have every kind of pumpkin you can imagine- and then some. There are blue ones, white ones, black ones, etc... and lots of different kinds of squash and gourds too. My favorite are the mini striped pumpkins. I also got a mini bale of straw for my front porch. This is a very FUN fall tradition!!

EVENTFUL WEEK WITH NO TIME TO BLOG

We've had so much going on I haven't had time to blog about it all. It wasn't major happenings, just busy little events to keep me on the run.

P fell and bumped her face on her way to school on Wed. I was going to have her get school picture retakes because she forgot to turn in her money the first time, but now I guess I'll have to wait more and get them somewhere else.

One of my good friends and I were in charge of Red Ribbon Week at our middle school. The theme was 'Join the Fight Against Drugs.' My neighbor is a member of the National Guard and a very nice guy. He arranged for them to come to school with a tank. P and I got to go for a ride in it. Very exciting- but not very comfy.

Today we participated in a bike ride/raffle for a friend who is having some health problems. It was put on my my brother-in-law and sister-in-law and turned out great! C, S, and D all rode and I made some things to donate to the raffle. I think it went really well!

A VERY FUN DAY

Yesterday was so great! We got up in the morning and went up into the mountains. I wanted to see the leaves again before they were gone and Cory took the boys to do some fishing. I painted and listened to conference, my oldest worked on a drawing, A and P went exploring, and C took little C with him to fish.

When I got home I ran up to go to dinner with some of my high school friends. I had an amazing group of friends in high school. They were great girls, who lived the gospel and set a great example for me. We depended on each other a lot and to this day remain close even though we don't see each other very often. I love them! My older sister came too. She was closer to my friends than her own and we all had a ball! First we ate at Olive Garden (with all the other women in American Fork), then we went to Deseret Book for Ladies' Night and ended with a treat at Cold Stone (with all the men, because the priesthood session was over). We all need a girl's night sometimes and this one totally hit the spot!

GENERAL CONFERENCE TRADITION

Every 6 months, as General Conference rolls around, I have a goal to redo our 72 hour kits. We take out the old food and the kids get to eat it and we redo the clothing (that is already way too small) and replace everything. I have to confess, it doesn't always get done, but I do try.

I have found a few good sites that give good ideas about 72 hour kits. If you don't have yours done, I challenge you to do them. It really isn't too bad. Most things we have laying around the house anyway, and all you have to do it put it together. It is a great way to spend your Saturday, listening to Conference and putting everything together. It will give you peace of mind. I promise!

Site 1

Site 2

Site 3

Also, during conference, I am always looking for ways to keep my children interested in watching and learning from the meetings. Here are some things I have found...

I found this idea on someone's blog, and she found it on someone else's blog... etc, etc... I don't know if I could do this one. My husband would think it too much, but I do like some of the ideas in it.

This is a site with fun activities and links you can use to make booklets for kids.

I also have a good packet I can email to you if you want it. Just let me know. Hope you all have an inspiring and fun Conference Weekend!