Welcome to "Moments" here on JoyFoodSunshine. At the end of every month I share a recap of all the shenanigans that went down in crazy town (i.e. my life in a nutshell). So here it is for October 2016
Recipe love:
Here are a few must-share recipes from the month of October from my favorite spots around the web!
Turkey Pot Pie from Kitchen Confidante {The prettiest dinner I ever did see}!
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Truffles from The Paleo Running Momma {Cookie dough dreams}!
Pumpkin Spice Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting from The Sweet and Simple Kitchen {Gorgeous}!
Raw Pumpkin Pie Bars from Dishing Out Health! {Pass me a stack}!
Caramel Apple Pie Bars from Feasting on Fruit! {Breakfast anyone?}
Life with my tribe:
Hiking
As always we haven't taken the mountains for granted and have had some amazing adventures this month enjoying the fall colors! Here are a few highlights...
This is where our family pictures were taken...for real!
Took a trip to Silver Lake with my mom and sister when they were in town...absolutely breathtaking!
My sweet little hiker baby...all ready for an adventure with her little sprout and big smile.
I couldn't love this boy anymore than I already do. He is the BEST! And he dressed to match the mountains too!
Can't hike without his stick!
My Birthday
My husband {and the rest of my family} totally spoiled me on my birthday this year! I really am not big into my own "getting older" celebration, just because I'm not super great at accepting help or pampering. 😉 However, Ritch took the day off, which was an amazing gift in itself! We went hiking and drove through some of the prettiest parts of the mountains! 31 is going to be great...I can feel it! 😉
Can't beat this lunch view! Seriously! Check out my little adventure girls!
I got totally spoiled in the gift department too! My mom gifted us a membership to one of our favorite places to play in SLC! My dad sent me a Yeti, which I have wanted forever. My sister surprised me with one of my favorite vintage muffin tins! Ritch totally went overboard...not only did he take the kids to pick out some adorable food props...but he also hooked me up with Lightroom! I'm way excited to edit photos now! Seriously, it was way more than I ever expected and I still feel a little guilty about it! 😉
More Fall Fun!
Cornbellys:
We took the kids to a little festival called Cornbellys and oh boy we had so much fun I can't even tell you! Usually these kinds of fairs are a little, um...underwhelming. But this one was incredible! We stayed forever and didn't even get to do everything there!
My little unicorn! Her hair might be getting to long for this sprout...maybe. But Naomi won't keep a bow in her hair to save her life. So a hilariously cute little pebbles hairdo is what she gets! 😉
My cute little corn cobs!
The Hogle Zoo!
We had the privilege of exploring the zoo thanks to Animal Jam and Today's Momma! It was such a blast! They started by feeding us an amazing breakfast, teaching us about their new zoo guide, and then bringing in real animals for the kids to touch! We had the best day as a family!
I LOVE these adorable apes!
Seriously we were oh so very grateful for this wonderful time at the Hogle Zoo!
The Pumpkin Patch!
Can you tell we have been living it up this fall?! We took the kids to Petersen Family Farm, which is only a couple miles from our house, to get our pumpkins! As we were driving away we realized that this was our fourth fall getting pumpkins from Petersen's....it's still hard to believe we have lived here for that long!
The kids were super proud of the pumpkins they chose!
And Naomi, true to her spunky little nature...just wanted to move that wheelbarrow so bad!
Halloween!
We had an epically awesome Halloween this year! We went trick-or-treating with friends and had a blast! Our neighborhood goes ALL out, and there are hundreds of kids everywhere. Last year we went back to our old neighborhood since our block wasn't finished being built yet...but in 1 year they finished all the areas around our home and the place was crawling with people and fun! Seriously I love our neighborhood!
Our Garden:
We had to winterize our sprinklers and let our garden shut itself down for the season...but not before we got a few more bountiful harvests! We had tomatoes, cucumbers, and green peppers abounding throughout the month of October! Until next year you sweet garden you!
A few of my favorite things...
YETI! I have been coveting the Yeti forever...but I could never justify spending so much cash money on a cup! However...my Daddy'o spoiled me {as always} and bought me one for my birthday! My life is forever changed! Seriously...ever since I was pregnant with Naomi I absolutely cannot drink water at any temperature other than freezing without being totally grossed out! Well...I never {ever} have to drink lukewarm water again! Seriously...there is still ice in my water when I wake up in the morning. I am one happpppy momma!
Vitamix Perfect Blend Scale! My friends at Vitamix sent me this scale and oh my word is it awesome! I will share some more about it later! But for now just know it's super duper awesome! 🙂
Wax Warmer! Have I been hiding under a ROCK?!?! I've always been a candle girl...but I got a wax warmer this month and I am totally hoooked. Even when I'm not with child I am crazy about smells....but when I'm pregnant my nose is absolutely insane. My husband comes home from working the evening and I can tell what he had for lunch. Yep. Nutso. Anyway....this wax warmer makes my entire house smell amazing and works so much better than a candle. Now if Anthropolgie could just sell wax melts my life would be complete.
Well that's all she wrote! I'd love to hear a highlight from your October! What are you looking forward to in November?
If you want to stay connected or you make something from JoyFoodSunshine I would love to see your creations! #joyfoodsunshine
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Emily
Your garden is so absolutely beautiful; I love how you winterized it, and you definitely have a precious family that gave you such a wonderful birthday celebration. <3 You are such a precious sweet mama Laura; I love to see how much you love your kiddoes and being a home maker and baker and cook and wife and most of all, precious daughter of God.