October Happenings 2014

Besides being massively pregnant and having a baby, here are a few fun things we did this month.

1) I love this view.  Makes me happy every.single.day.  Our latest addition to the yard is that awesome swing set in the back corner.  A few days before Darcie was born, I was out walking with Daphne when our neighbor, Darrel Hulet, drove by and then backed up to visit.  He asked if we would be interested in having the swing set he had made for his children over 30 years before.  We were thrilled and so touched by this unexpected generosity.  That night Darrel showed up with our other wonderful neighbor Kurt Johnson hauling the swing set on a trailer.  To top it off, Darrel insisted Burke come get a can of paint primer from him so we could spruce it up.  Just last night we painted it cherry red, but I haven't snapped a picture yet.  Daphne absolutely loves her "horsie swing" (she calls it that because the Ridings have a swing that looks like a horse made out of a tire) and it's nice to have another option for kids to play on when there are too many on the tire swing. 

2) We too a Sunday drive the weekend after Darcie was born just to get me out of the house.  We hit the tail end of the vibrant autumn leaves up Cedar Canyon, but still enjoyed a few breathtaking vistas.  So refreshing.

3) Ward Wood Haul and campout up at Co-Op.  Great turn out!  They loaded about 8 trucks and trailers.

4) Western Ag had a fall social up north where they took all the employees out to a fancy lunch and then to tour a few of their borrowers' properties including a couple of dairies and an onion and peppermint farm. Only Ag lenders would think this was awesome. :) Check out this mountain of onions behind Burkie.

5) On October 17 (Darcie's original due date), we headed up the mountain for the annual Adams family party on the eve of the deer hunt.  Even though Darcie was just 10 days old, I actually felt fantastic and was so happy to be there.  The food and company were top notch and we had a great time until Darcie puked all over me...awesome.  Thankfully, we live so much closer now so we were able to call it a night soon thereafter.  Oh yeah, and we got pulled over by a cop in Parowan when we accidentally pulled out of the gas station without our lights on.  He heard Darcie's sweet little newborn cry and let us off with a warning.  Thank you, sir.

6) Harvested the last of the apples for family night and a bunch of our weird pear/apple blend.  Daphne was killing me this night.  She was so eager to help and saying the funniest things.  It was a delight to sword fight with fallen branches and semi-chase her around the yard.  Oh how wonderful to feel nearly normal again!

7) Last Saturday (October 25) we headed to the mountain for one more morning of the deer hunt (more on that later) and took our apple harvest with us.  Marie had borrowed an apple press to make juice.  It was a fun and relatively quick process, producing absolute divine apple juice!  We have about 10 gallons in our deep freeze now next to 4 deer legs (ew. ew. ew. again...more on that later!) - come visit and we'll share a glass or two!

8) We went down to the temple on Tuesday night.  The plan was to take turns doing initiatory and running errands so we didn't have to get a babysitter for our ladies.  We got a late start because Burke did some home teaching after work and then he ended up being a lot longer than we had planned on in the temple, so by the time he was done, so were the girls and we just headed home. :(  I was bummed not to have my turn, but I consoled myself with the fact that I picked up Taylor Swift's brand new album while he was in there...DELUXE edition mind you.  She has officially declared this her first truly pop album.  It's definitely a new direction than her other albums, but I've been enjoying it so far.  Yes, I am still a devoted fan - don't judge!