Apple Festivals

Sarah and Chelsea surprised us with a last minute visit before their school started up this fall. It was so much fun to have them here with us. Their youthful spirits inspire me. They really wanted me to have my baby while they were here, but to no avail it really didn't work out that way. I was too tired to do all of the walking that they wanted me to do. But by the end of the week that they were here, we figured that all they really needed to do was make me laugh. We got laughing pretty hard some nights and I really thought that I might go into labor because my stomach was getting such a work-out. I seriously almost peed my pants a couple of times. Just remember...if you are stuck...go to help!

While they were here we visited a couple of apple festivals...all in one day. At the first one the kids got to find their way through a hay bale maze and climb up this hay pyramid. We also got to sit behind a tractor and go on a hay ride through a cherry orchard. I think the funnest part of the day was when we were able to make fresh apple cider.First we had to pick the apples. The orchard made this a lot more simple by having us only have to pick them out of the crates and not off of the trees. The kids had a lot of fun filling up their buckets. Two buckets of apples make a gallon of cider.

Next we washed the apples. Sarah made sure that all of the stems were removed (not that this had to be done). But our apples were nice and clean for the apple press. Brendan and Eliza did a good job of throwing the apples into the press. The first process left the apples like this:And then they started to press the juice out of all of these crushed apples. It was really neat to see all of the juice run out of this bucket. And the cider tasted so YUMMY! It was all that Brendan and Eliza wanted to drink until it was all gone.

And if that didn't fill us up with the fall spirit, we went to another apple festival. Daddy got to come with us to this one. We got pumpkins and squash! And best of all we got to see lots of animals at a petting zoo. We got there late in the afternoon and didn't get to go on a hay ride though. It was fun to be able to go around and play though. We felt bad for Chelsea, the stomach flu got to her right in the middle of our fun filled fall festival day.

Brendan is Three!

I can't believe that Brendan is three already. Happy Birthday!!!
Grandma Bedke came to town for his birthday and it was so nice to have her here. I just want Brendan to know that there are a lot of people that love him and that he is a really spoiled boy. But we hope that continues to make you sweeter and sweeter. Here are some pictures from his birthday. He wanted a train cake for weeks:

Cousin Ryan sent him this Buzz costume for his birthday. Thanks Ryan. We have had so much fun flying to Infinity and Beyond!

And Grandma Erickson sent presents to him in the mail. We enjoyed opening them

and playing with them. The Lightning McQueen shirt is from Grandma Bedke and he wears it every day. I have to sneak it into the laundry so that I can wash it every so often.

Thank you to everyone that made this 3rd birthday so much fun. And thank you to Brendan for making our lives so much fun!

Cherries

In the October 2008 Friend we really liked reading the story about President Eyring's message about giving. When we were reading it I remembered that one of my good friends in Indiana, Pat Finley, had once given us a jar of cherries, too. We still had it in our cupboard. So I went and got it down and Brendan and Eliza thought that it was so cool to see that we had a jar of cherries just like President Eyring. We were able to look at the dark color of the cherries and then the bright gold top, too. I appreciate good friends who always are giving me gifts of life and learning. Pat is one of those friends and I am eternally grateful to her for that. There are so many friends and family that have helped out and given me so much. I only hope that I can give something in return to others.
Last night we took that jar of cherries over to our friends the Lybberts and shared them. The kids helped us in making a cherry crisp to eat. It was so yummy and we were able to feel good about giving, too. It is the small experiences that really mean the most in life...by small and simple things are great things brought to pass. (Alma 37:6)