Indian Summer

We had a beautiful, long, warm autumn this year and the leaves stayed on the trees for a long time.  This photo was taken November 10, when the leaves were just beginning to fall ~

they were breath-takingly beautiful!

Annual Pumpkin Carving Contest

 

Will spent hours creating his masterpiece ~ and it was the Best of Show!

Saturday, October 23, we had our Annual Pumpkin Carving Contest.  It is really fun to see the creative energy that starts flowing.  Will spent a couple of hours on his pumpkin . . . he cleaned it out and scraped it  until it was just the right thickness . . .  

Here's Will's intricate carving

 Some of the designs are pure inspiration and others are taken from patterns that come with the carving tools or from the internet.

Brittany and Ethan

Sydni and Jacob ~ this year's judges, thoughtfully contemplating the awards

 We give out awards ~ one for every pumpkin . . . most creative, best of show, funniest, etc. Jacob and Sydni judged this year's contest, took their responsiblities very seriously and they did a great job!

Just a few of the 20 pumpkin creations.

 

Charlie and his Alls Hallow Tree

Charlie ~ "Most Frightful Award"

 Charlie and Grandma worked on his pumpkin together.  He chose the design, then we both worked on cleaning, marking and carving the pumpkin. 

Tiffany and Ray ~ the Pumpkin Seed Chefs



Brett likes baked pumpkin seeds, so Tiffany  and Ray decided they would gather the seeds . . . it became a stalwart project . . . with 20 pumpkins, they ended up with tons of seeds, and we were up playing games after 1:00 a.m. just trying to get all those seeds baked . . .Tiffany created different flavors and they were good!



The cutest pumpkins~ Ashton, Hunter, Charlie, Kourtni and Ally

Cory, Ashton, Hunter Brittany

Megan and Ethan

Brett and Tiffany

James, Will, Charlie and Arianne

Sandy and Ray

Scarecrow Festival and Prep for Pumpkin Carving

We liked the Scarecrow Family Reunion best ~ doesn't Ray fit right in?

Ray and I went up to the Homestead in Heber for the 2nd Annual Scarecrow Festival. Anyone can enter a scarecrow in the contest, but it was mostly local businesses and different departments from Homestead Resort - a new  festival, it has room to grow.  But the drive up Provo Canyon was spectacular, the autumn colors are blazing and we enjoyed our Saturday afternoon out last week-end!

Ethan - getting fancy with the dough

 Each year we have our Annual Pumpkin Carving Contest - Sydni and Kourtni, Ethan and Megan, Brittany, Cory, Ashton and Hunter all came on Friday and they were all a great help in getting ready and we played games and had a great time.

Cory - getting a good stretch on that dough

I was making crockpot soups (Taco Soup and Chicken and Noodles) and Cory and Ethan decided they wanted to try making handmade noodles the Asian way . . . so they got on the internet and watched several "how-to" videos - it looked so easy!  Then they took the pasta dough and started kneading, stretching and twisting . . .an hour later they were exhausted and the dough was still not co-operating.  We decided my home-made egg noodle recipe wasn't  right for the job, so we got out the pasta press and Ethan finished the noodles. The soup tasted great - it must be all the love that was kneaded in! 



Kourtni ~ just relaxing!

Sydni - our Wii Golf Pro!

 Sydni and Kourtni came over Friday for a Wii Slumber Party and they were also great little helpers. Sydni is a good little cook and Kourtni is happy to do whatever task is needed. 

Ray ~ just touching up the pizza with a few extra ingredients!