“I can’t remember all the times I’ve tried to tell myself to hold on to these moments as they pass.”

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 2017!

Recipe love:

Here are a few must-share recipes from the month of October from my favorite spots around the web! Who else loves cooking in October?!

Grain-Free Apple Crumble Bars from Feasting on Fruit {Those layers}!

Brussels Sprouts & Root Vegetable Hash from Wife Mama Foodie {Brussels Sprouts never looked so good}!

Sweet Potato Pancakes from Kitchen Confidante {for a sweet simple Saturday}!

Paleo Sweet Potato Waffles from The Toasted Pine Nut {Is sweet potato the new pumpkin? If so I’m IN}!

Paleo Deep Dish Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookie from Fit Mitten Kitchen {Here’s some pumpkin for you}!

New Recipe Videos!

We finally jumped on the recipe video train! Here are links to two that we produced in October! More to come in November!

Fudgy Paleo Brownies {If you follow me on Instagram then you know I make these alllll the time}!

Peanut Butter Banana Baked Oatmeal One of the most-loved recipes on this site!

Life with my tribe:

Mara Hope

Mara is SIX. MONTHS. OLD. Gahh how did that happen?! She is the sweetest baby ever {when she’s being held by mommy – of course}. She is always gazing intently into my eyes and lights up every time I walk in the room. One of my favorite moments of the day is when I go to get her when she wakes up from her naps. She kicks and wiggles in a super excited way and squeals with delight. Then she flashes me her big smile and looks at me with her stunning baby blues and I’m a goner. I just love her. That’s all!

Mara has also started army crawling!! Which is unheard of for my babies at this age. They’re all so chubby I think they can’t quite pull their weight around {literally}.

But my sweet Mara is determined to be different from her siblings in every way, and can army crawl her way across the floor like a champ. I’m so not ready to have a mobile baby, but it’s definitely time to crack down on the no-legos-on-the-floor rule!

Pumpkin Fun!

We did SO many fun fall activities int he month of October! First, we went to Cornbelly’s! This is one of our favorite places to go because it’s jam-packed with kid-friendly fun! We literally spend an entire day here taking wagon rides, pulling tractors and {much to my chagrin} playing in the corn pits! If you are a Utahan this definitely needs to go on your fall must-do list!

Pumpkin Patch! 

Every year we visit Petersen Family Farm to pick out our pumpkins! We live very close to this amazing family-owned business, and it has become a super fun tradition!

Naomi was the absolute cutest this year! Gabe and Bethany found this ugly, warty small pumpkin and exclaimed, “NAOMI! Look over here! We found a baby pumpkin.” And that was it, Naomi was sold. She carried that thing around all night giving it hugs as she walked.

No joke I asked her, “Naomi, what are you doing?” And she said, “I hugging the pumpkin. Mom, I hugging the pumpkin.” {Insert heart melting here}.

Halloween

I’m super glad it’s November and we can say goodbye to all the Halloween spookiness. Naomi was SUPER excited to get to wear her “pitty dess.” I told the kids we weren’t buying costumes this year and that they had to pick one that we already owned. The girls were totally cool with it, but Gabe was NOT.

He was so defiant, in fact, that he said he just wanted to wear a cape and nothing else. I told him he had to pick one or he couldn’t go trick-or-treating {because dude doesn’t get to be a stinker then go collect piles of candy}. He finally decided on a Capitan America costume with an Ironman cape and one of Daddy’s lightsabers. Kid cracks me up.

Hiking

You better believe I wasn’t going to let the fall colors come and go without hiking as much as possible! Here are a few pics from our adventures….

#1: Silver Lake. We were a bit disappointed that the leaves didn’t turn yellow this year! They just dropped while they were still green. But this is always a favorite spot for us!

This is how I hike with Mara! I tuck her into the Solly Baby Wrap and zip her into my coat! She falls asleep in 30 seconds and stays asleep most of the time we hike. I love the sweet, warm baby snuggles SO much.

#2. Millcreek Canyon. This was our first time heading up this canyon and OH BOY were we missing out. This is absolutely, hands down, my new favorite spot near us to hike! We drove up to the Burch Hollow Trailhead and it was absolute fall hiking perfection! I took the 4 kids solo on a Wednesday and we went back that Saturday with Ritch because he had to experience it with us! 

#3. Our church had a women’s retreat the last weekend in October and I led a small group on a hike near the Deer Creek Reservoir! It was more like a stroll in the mountains, but it was a beautiful day and you really can’t beat the view!

Jazz Game!

Some friends brought us to our very first Utah Jazz game and we had the BEST time EVER. I was super apprehensive to leave the kids and not be home for bedtime {we never do that}! But Ritch helped me get over that I’m so grateful he did.

I literally can’t remember the last time we went out with friends for the sole purpose of just having fun. When we laid down to go to bed that night I had a lightness of heart that I hadn’t felt for so long. It was much needed and seriously the absolute best. It didn’t hurt that this was our view for dinner, and the Jazz WON!

Vitamix

I had a pretty exciting October completing some projects for Vitamix! I shot some of the Vitamix-original recipes for their website! Here are some photos with links to the recipes!

Chocolate Sandwich with Matcha Ice Cream {These are now one of Ritch’s favorite desserts ever}!

Butter Cookie Squares with Raspberry Cream {SO GOOD}!

Around our house…

When we built our house we chose the basic lighting package because we wanted to find fixtures that we really loved. It has been over two years and we finally found a chandelier!

It’s amazing how big of a difference lighting fixtures make in the overall feeling of a home! This chandelier from Wayfair was SUPER affordable and is very high-quality!!!

A few of my favorite things…

Rose Line Pottery! 

I’m in LOVE with this locally-owned pottery shop! Seriously, I purchased a few pieces from them and placed a custom order! Check out their website or place an order on their Etsy shop. If you love their style and don’t see what you’re looking for they’re amazing to work with and take custom orders!

French Press

Not sure how I haven’t shared this yet, but with the change in the weather I have been enjoying my morning cup of coffee while I’m wrapped in a blanket waiting for my kids to wake up. I always make my coffee in my French Press. Nothing beats the flavor and boldness of a hot cup of coffee when the water and beans are allowed to steep together.

Electric Tea Kettle

Another couldn’t-live-without-it item in my kitchen is my electric tea kettle! I use it to boil water for coffee and tea, but that’s not all! Need mac & cheese in a hurry? Boil the water faster in here then transfer it to the pot. Need to sterilize breast pump accessories {every. single. day.} or a pacifier? No worries, just boil water in the kettle and pour it over them.

Family Photos!

If you are still with me {thank you} I have one last picture overload to leave you with! We had our family pictures taken with Brooke Steinicke Photography for the fourth year in a row {we love her that much}. We went up to the Donut Falls trailhead and oh my word it was spectacular. Just see for yourself….

We have SO MANY MORE and I’m sure I’ll share them with you as time goes on! But if you are an SLC local and want an amazing photographer you will LOVE Brooke! She so perfectly captures our family just as we are, and I am forever grateful for her gift!

Well that’s all she wrote! I’d love to hear a highlight from your October! What are you looking forward to in November?