Our Autumn

We had a long and lovely autumn here in Twin Falls.  And we enjoyed it and spent lots of time outside.  There were hikes in the canyon, bike rides at Auger Falls, sunsets at Dierkes lake with friends, plasma car rides in the driveway (and Cheerios snacks on the cement...NBD), playdates with fat babies at the park, and family trips to the Tubbs Berry Farm hay slides.

 

 

 

We spent time with cousins and grandparents (funnest!), and our favorite Drew came for a day to go to the pumpkin patch and carve them with us.  It is so precious to see how sweet Drew is with both of our kids, and how much he and Noah are looking alike these days!

 

 

Aunt Dana came from Boise to spend a day with us, and it was so cute how Noah immediately took to her.  He whispered in my ear, "Mom, is that Grandma Sally?"  I told him, "No, but that's her older sister."  Unconvinced, he went and got a little framed photo of my mom out of his room and held it up next to Dana's face to compare them and be sure.  He's right, my mom and Dana really do look a lot alike!  And I love being with her because she reminds me so much of my mom!  It was so fun to take her on a hike around Dierkes Lake.

Our favorite babysitter, Taylor, got married and we had so much fun dancing at her outdoor wedding reception.  She watched the kids about 10 hours a week this past year while I wrote for Power of Moms, did some editing for a friend's business, worked on a website for Ryan (more on that soon), planned the fundraiser for South Africa, and enjoyed some sanity.  She was an absolute lifesaver, and as happy as we were to see her get married, we were also so sad to see her go.  (She and her husband started school at ISU this semester.)  We will miss our Taylor!!  She cooked, cleaned, played with my kids (I mean, she made salt dough volcanoes with them!!)...I called her the babysitter sent from heaven.  I'm not sure how I am going to survive without her.

 

Ryan did his annual 10-trillion-mile bike ride over the mountains in Sun Valley with his brother and his dad.  He loves this ride and tradition with his family.

Ryan also got a truck!  He's a real Idaho boy now.  It took us weeks to find a used one online that was the color, style, and price that he wanted--and we were so relieved when the long process was over.  And I have to say, it fits him perfectly.  He's a hotty in that navy blue truck.

We of course spent the month of October gearing up for Halloween.  We Nielsons love a good holiday.  Our neighbors and besties the Sumsions helped us kick off the celebrations by buying our kids pumpkins (Sally approved--diva!) and then inviting us over to decorate "Apple Uglies."  We had a competition to see who could decorate the ugliest caramel apple--really fun!

We went to the Jerome Farmer's Market and picked out some of their amazing colorful, unique homegrown pumpkins to put on our porch.  This is my favorite Halloween decoration every year.  I love living in Idaho amongst the farmers!  And I love Sally's skeleton dress from Aunt Sarah!  And her pig-tails and Converse tennis shoes!  SHE IS INSANE.

 

Ryan's office dressed up as Superheroes for Halloween, and Noah was super excited when Ryan bought a Captain America costume because that meant they could be twinners!  (Though this was not Noah's actual Halloween costume.  Much more on that in another post!)

And PS...Sally kills me in this photo.  ^

It was a wonderful autumn.  The weather really was perfect which allowed us to have lots of adventures.  So far it has been a very cold, snowy and brutal winter, so I'm glad we were able to soak up those extra months of temperate fall!