The Good Witch

Saturday night we went with our good friends, the Montgomerys, to Linvilla Orchards. They have this awesome apple orchard, hayrides, a pumpkin patch, and all kinds of other fun stuff to do. We took the hayride out to the witch's house in the orchard and listened to her tell a story and some really bad jokes. After the hayride we roasted marshmallows and got some fresh apple cider. We had a great time getting ready for Halloween.

Our new family portrait.

T and Marlee waiting in line for the hayride.

T on the way out to the witch's house. He loved riding on the tractor.

As we rode out into the orchard, T covered himself up with the straw in the wagon. By the time we got done he was covered in it from head to toe.

Here we are at the witch's house. They do a really good job with this every year.

T and Mommy roasting marshmallows.

T enjoying his marshmallow. He doesn't like most sweet stuff, but he LOVES marshmallows!!!

Traditions

Every conference Sunday we always make homemade pizza. T had a great time helping by eating the dough. The pizza turned out great and we even had enough left over to make some cinnamon rolls. We are so blessed to have a living prophet on the Earth. We really enjoyed listening to conference.

T eating the bread dough. This is so gross, but he loves it. He will even ask for the frozen Rhodes Rolls.

T made sure that all of the cheese was firmly packed down. Notice the globs of cheddar.

T and Dad listening to conference and painting pumpkins.

The pumpkins proved to be a great distraction. We were actually able to listen to most of the speakers.

The finished products. We're getting a great start on the Halloween season.

T's Hard Work Pays Off

Eric and I feel that it is very important for our children to understand the value of hard work. We have been trying to teach this to Tayeson for quite some time. For several weeks T had been asking us for a yellow school bus, so we decided that this may make a great incentive for him to learn about some important aspects of life. We went to Target and told him that he could pick out a toy he wanted. He quickly decided on a Thomas the Train boat. We brought it home and put it on top of the fridge where he could see it. We showed him his chart and explained that if he earned all of his stickers he would be able to have his Thomas boat in a week. He worked really hard all week. Every time he put on a new sticker he would look longingly at his Thomas boat. Today, he finally earned his last sticker and got to open his boat. Little did he realize that in earning these stickers he learned the value of work, patience, following directions, and setting and achieving goals. You can tell that this boat means more to him than any toy that has been given to him because he earned it.

We love this little boy so much. Everyday he does something that makes us laugh. I love that when I do his laundry the lint trap is always full of sand, dirt, and rocks (and recently spare change?). I love how he knows when I'm having a bad day and says, "Mom, you're a princess." I'm so excited to see who he becomes as he gets older and I'm so grateful to be a part of his life. Tayeson we love you so much and we are so proud of you.
T with his new Thomas boat and his completed chart. Can you tell he's excited?

Ringing Rock

Yesterday we went to Ringing Rock. When we got there we hiked back into this huge pile of rocks. The fun part is finding the rocks that ring like a bell when hit with a hammer. Yep, you heard me right, some of them ring when you hit them. It was the weirdest thing. T had a great time climbing all over the rocks.


T even found some "dragon berries" while we were there. For those of you who don't have to watch Dragon Tales everyday, that's where dragon berries come from. Needless to say he was very excited to make such a discovery.

Hiking back into the rock pile. Notice T is dragging a huge stick that he found along the way.

Eric buried in the rocks.

"I found one Mom!"

After lunch we headed over to the river and spent a few minutes fishing. We didn't stay long after Eric took a plunge and soaked both shoes and tweaked his back.

On our way out of town we stopped at this little orchard and bought some apples. You just can't beat fresh, homegrown apples.



Below are a couple of videos of the ringing rocks. Consider this proof that I'm not crazy, they really do ring.

So Exciting!

We were so excited to hear President Monson announce that there is going to be a temple built in Philly!!! Now we don't have to move. It feels so good to be able to have our cake and eat it too.

Jackpot!

To celebrate the nice fall weather we decided to walk down to the Delaware and go fishing again. In a little over an hour we had each caught a fish! We had a great time and T was so excited to help with the fish until they were out of the water. We came home and cook one up for dinner. Who knew fishing could be so fun. :)

Tayeson Taco

T loves it when we wrap him up like a Tayeson taco. He is such a goofball.