Ahhh Yes...Fall

We finally kicked off our fall this weekend by taking Blaire to a popular pumpkin patch in town called "Mr. Bones" and then to the LA Farmer's Market.  We had fun and Blaire was great (probably why it was so fun).

Why is Fall such a great time of year?  I know I'm not the only one who feels this way, I've heard others express similar sentiment on many occasions.  Obviously the partiality to the season is partly due to the weather.  It's wonderful when the heat of summer ends and a briskness fills the air.  But in some ways spring shares similar climate traits and has the added benefit of being the light at the end of the winter tunnel.  Yet I just don't feel the same way about spring.  After careful (almost no) thought, here's what I've come up with.

The Colors- warm, bright fall colors.  Changing leaves.  What else can you say?

The Holidays- I think our bodies instinctively know that with a change of the weather comes the holiday season.  We get a nice warm up with Halloween (a great holiday unto itself) and then go headlong into Thanksgiving and Christmas.  The food, the family, the spirit...it's awesome.  And fall is the entrée to it all.

The Sports- football season begins and the baseball playoffs start.  It's great.  Admittedly I'm not much of a basketball fan, so I'm likely a little biased.

Happy Fall!

Mr Bones

Nanny got in on the action.

Nothing says fall like sausage!

Blaire looks pumped.

Laugh Out Loud

As we were driving to a friends house yesterday Blaire apparently thought something about the ride was hilarious.  She's laughed before, just little he-he's, but this was the first time she really had a belly laugh.  Very cute.  Mama cried.

Two weekends ago we went to Utah to bless Blaire and spend some time with our families.  We had a great trip and saw both of our families and many of our friends.  The blessing was a nice affair.  We were pretty overcome by the generosity of our loved ones and are grateful to everyone for coming and sharing the day with Blaire.

For posterity's sake, a quick chronicle of the blessing events:
Ally's uncle Steve Hutchinson said some words and lead Ally and me in a reading.
Ally's sister Melissa read an Irish blessing.
I blessed Blaire along with my father, my brothers, and some close friends.
We had a nice lunch courtesy of my parents who carted 25lbs of carne asada from Brawley, and all the hands who helped in preparation.

On Sunday following the blessing we drove up to Bear Lake along with Allyson's family to spend a few days of vacation.  Bear Lake is beautiful this time of year, but very dead as the summer tourist season is over.  It was very low key which is exactly what I was looking for.  We had fun, collected some shells, went swimming, and ate some chocolate covered raspberries.

Overall it was a great trip.  Blaire traveled well and we loved seeing everyone.

Dad helping in the kitchen.  Very masculine Dad.

Blaire and aunt Torry

We visited the site where it all began.  "Utah State hey Aggies all the way!"