At the Pumpkin Patch

As a family, we are still very young. Keith and I have been married for a little over a handful of years, and our boys are still very young. But I love the idea that already we have family traditions.

One of my favorites happens this time of year.

For the last five years, in October, we go pumpkin picking. We always go to the same pumpkin patch, a small locally owned one in West Jordan.

Roman, on a huge pile of pumpkins

We get a wagon and wander through the rows and rows of pumpkins.

Standing in all those pumpkins

This way, Mom!

And everyone gets to pick their own pumpkin.

"I want this pumpkin!"

It's a simple activity. And it never lasts as long as I wish it would. But we all look forward to it every year.

We have our pumpkins

This particular patch, Schmidt's, is gaining in popularity. We went on Friday, and the small parking lot was full, and people were parking on the street. Having a wagon would have been a lost cause, but Keith was very patient, and in the end, we got one.

Everyone looks for the "perfect pumpkin." It needs to be just the right size, and have a nice smooth surface, so that it can be turned into the perfect piece of carved art later. Roman said that he wanted a pumpkin that looked like how he might draw a pumpkin.

Roman, sitting with his pumpkin

Blaise, just thoroughly enjoying himself.

Now that we have our pumpkins, it is time to go home, and do another family tradition...

Carve them!

The Big Picture

So in all of my free time [insert sarcastic laugh here], I was surfing the web, and found some of the most amazing images. I just has to share them with you.

The photographs are the work of Yann Arthus-Bertrand, who hopes to inspire everyone to think globally and to inspire sustainable living. They are going to be on exhibit in New York in 2009, and then in California in 2010. This is an exhibit I would love to see. We all have dreams.

I hope that you are amazed by this pictures as much as I am. The perspective is unique and awe inspiring. It makes us realize how diverse the world is. At the same time, the subject is familiar, and feeds the sense we are all connected.

Enjoy!

Glimpses of Autumn

I'm feeling drained from the events of the last few weeks. From personal events, to political events, to professional events, I don't really have the energy or creativity to say anything even remotely clever at this moment. But rather than let myself wallow in misery and fatigue, I will fall back on my self-proclaimed optimism, and share something I love.

I love fall. The dynamic nature of the season, the fundamental transience draw me in. As sad as I am to see summer go, and despite knowing that fall signals the inevitability of winter, I can't help but revel in the season.

The other wonderful part of fall is the amazing photography opportunities. I will not claim to be the best photographer out there, but I love what I do and have some small sense of pride in the result.

So here of some of my favorite autumnal images. Enjoy!











Because harvest is such a part of fall...

Happy Birthday, Darling!

Today is Keith's birthday!

Keith with Roman and Blaise.
He is such a fantastic dad!

(After asking permission to tell), he is 33 years old today!


And I have been a part of his life for 9 years! I still feel lucky for everyday!

So, you remember that prize he won at his company picnic last month? Dinner and a night at a hotel? Yeah, we decided to cash that in this weekend for his birthday. We dropped the kids of at my parents, and had just a fantastic weekend. Great food (fish for me, steak for him), a movie, a hot tub... It all makes for a great weekend.

We has a small party for Keith at my parents on Sunday when we picked up the boys.

Okay, one joke...
That sure is a lot of candles!

Blowing out the candles!
(Yes, he is holding a calculator. That's my man!)

And then today, his actual birthday, we went bowling as a family, and then went out for ice cream. (Oh, I miss ice cream...) And the evening went wonderfully. Just a great way to spend a birthday.

I just want everyone to know how much I love my husband. This shouldn't be a mushy, romantic post, since this should be about Keith, but I can't really help it.

Guilty Thoughts

I have to admit something. As much as I would love to have my life governed by happiness, idealism, and other lofty motives, it hasn't been that way in a while. Lately, the main motivator in my life has been guilt.

One of my friends once told me that guilt was the most useless of all emotions. And I must disagree. I will readily admit that guilt feels terrible, that it can weigh one down and completely eliminate other motivators. (I will get to why I disagree later...)

And for the last, oh, I don't know, several years, I have been lugging around my own guilt grindstone. There are so many pressures on women and families these day (I'm sure there are similar pressure on men, I just don't internalize them, and therefore can not elaborate on them). I personally believe that every women is riddled with guilt. Maternal guilt is nearly a definable disorder.

I've been taking a public health course the last couple of weeks. And this is what I've gotten from it so far:

-I need to eat healthier. I should be cooking all my food from organic, whole foods, avoiding anything with preservatives, imported from another country, harvested by slaves. I should never eat at fast food "restaurants."

- I should eat less of this wonderful food that I'm cooking. All Americans overeat, and the only way that I'm ever going to find happiness is to eat less. I should always stop eating before I'm full, I should never have dessert. I should eat few enough calories that my weight is always trending down.

- I should exercise more. The number one predictor of individual health is physical activity. I should have a minimum of 120 minutes of strenuous exercise a week, with a variety of activities and a gym membership with a personal trainer.

- I should start participating in research. As an academically trained person, I have a social responsibility to contribute personally to the body of knowledge. And people with bow to me if I'm published.

- I should spend more time with my family. I should never let my children watch television, eat junk food. Their time should be spent in intellectually stimulated family activities that also promote the sense of social obligation.

So, obviously, I have a lot to feel guilty about. I feel that I will never be able to be the "ideal" community member.

However, I don't think that guilt is useless. If it was, I would never go jogging, never try to get home early to spend time with my children. Without guilt, what is there to motivate us to try to be better people? I wish that I could arrange my life so that there would be less daily guilt. However, if the twinge of guilt gets me into my running shoes a little more often, out of McDonald's and around the dinner table more frequently, and home playing tag or Chutes and Ladders instead of shoe shopping with the girls, I will take the guilt.

Millcreek Canyon, Again

What can I say? This is such a beautiful place, and so easy to get to that it is always my first choice when the urge to get out of the valley strikes.

Mill Creek

This time, the reason was fall leaves. Autumn is so short in Utah, that I want every opportunity to enjoy the changing leaves that I can.

The start of the adventure

Before my Grandma Ethel died (18 years ago), I remember going up Millcreek Canyon in the fall. Despite the fact that she was very ill and weak at the time, we made huge piles of fallen leaves and jumped into them off the picnic tables. It was one of my last memories of her.


I keep worrying that I will miss the autumn leaves, since it is October already. But when we got up the canyon, the leaves were perfect. There were still plenty of trees that were still green.

Roman immediately started collecting "beautiful" leaves. Before we left, he managed to fill an entire bag with red, yellow, and (his favorite), "rainbow colored" leaves.

We made a leaf pile under the maples. The boys were a little hesitant at first, but with a little "encouragement" (yes, that's what I'll call it), they were jumping in the leaves.

Blaise is not so sure he wants to get in the leaves

Now, he is thoroughly enjoying it.
So much fun!

Roman in the leaves

The jumping in the leaves rapidly turned into throwing the leaves. Isn't that how it is supposed to go?

Blaise ready to throw leaves

An armful of leaves

Autumn joy!

"Enough of the leaves on the ground,
I'm going up"

It is so much fun to be able to get out and enjoy the seasons.

Family Carving

My grandma (Roman and Blaise's great-grandmother!) came to visit us from Portland over the weekend. I was excited, since I haven't seen her since May.

It was cold and rainy during the weekend, making outdoor activities out of the question.

What a gorgeous view from the front door!

So, for a family activity on Sunday, my dad decided that we should all carve pumpkins. My dad and grandma picked up the pumpkins on Saturday, and we all met on Sunday for the carving!

Everyone, hard at work on their pumpkins

Papa, lending a helping hand

Christian and Brooks, elbow deep in pulp

Keith, working on his masterpiece

David, just getting started

Okay, first a little background on this. Keith and I first started carving pumpkins (seriously carving pumpkins) about 4 years ago. Before this, there may have been a little, silly, buck-toothed jack-o-lantern sitting on the porch. But after Roman was born, and was old enough to notice, we have taken to visiting a pumpkin patch each year (will post when that happens). And then, we carve!

Over the years, the designs have become more elaborate. Keith has become the master carver. He is amazingly artistic and talented when it comes to carving pumpkins. I never let him get away with saying he isn't artistic anymore. He gets more adventurous every year. (although the best templates have been removed from the internet for copy right purposes which is absolutely ridiculous. Don't get me started.)

We did try to keep it simple with the family. After all, we were outnumbered 3 to 1 with children under 10.

No one said it was going be be clean!
After all, we cleaned out at least 8 pumpkins!

Everyone made their own designs, as well, which made this extra unique, challenging, and fun! We decided that the little kids "sponsored" a pumpkin, since they told me what they wanted on their pumpkin, I drew the design, and then cut it out. But of course, it is their pumpkin.

Here is the finished work for the evening!

Galilee's Pumpkin: Haunted house
This was as scary as I could make it.

Keith thinks my "haunted houses" look like "Who houses"
(from the Grinch who stole Christmas)


Gwendolyn's Pumpkin: Haunted House
She also wanted a haunted house.
I'm not sure the effect is any scarier here.


Grace's Pumpkin: A Fairy
I was rather proud of how this turned out.


Ariana's Pumpkin: A ballerina

I had no hand in the rest of the designs. I give all credit to the appropriate "artists."

Trelawney's Pumpkin: A Fairy
This was Trelawney's original design.
She drew the picture, and helped carve it out
(with only minimal help!)


Mercy's Pumpkin: Les Miserables
Mercy developed this stencil from one of
her own drawings!
(Okay, she did require just a little help from Keith on the carving)

I will admit that the best pumpkin of the evening does not go to Keith (although this is the first year Keith has drawn his own stencil.) This pumpkin also belongs to Roman, since he sat and watched Keith draw the design, and then punched all the transfer holes.

Keith's and Roman's Pumpkin: Batman, Dark Knight
The letters didn't show up as much as we would have liked.
Maybe we'll try again.


Brooks' Pumpkin: The Grim Reaper
This was very impressive.
Admittedly, he did "steal" the picture from one of
Christian's original drawings,
Brooks did make the stencil and carve it single-handedly.


Christian's Pumpkin: Dragon
I think this won for the evening.
Christian is definitely the most artistic in our family.
This dragon is his own design, and the execution of the
carving is fantastic!

Great fun. I will add more pictures after we have our family pumpkin patch trip. I can't promise that we will top what has already been done.

But we love a dare!