Pumpkin ... everything

There is something about the smell and taste of pumpkin that puts me into a fall coma. Since October began I’ve made Sunday morning pumpkin cinnamon rolls with a cream cheese glaze and yesterday used the rest of my pumpkin up, paired with 2 old bananas and some leftover Hershey’s kisses, to create pumpkin-banana muffins. Might sound a bit odd, but they are seriously delicious. It’s a shame I never measure out my concoctions, so I can never really give anyone an accurate recipe. Therefore, I am a domestic blogging failure.

 

But in my opinion, following recipes takes all the fun out of cooking.

We love the fall for more than our pumpkin cravings, though, we live next to a majestic canyon full of yellow aspens that are now canary yellow. We took our camera with us on a drive and I was able to capture the essence of the way I feel toward fall. It’s that period of time when the sun is sinking lower, and I’m shaded by dozens of delicate aspen limbs, fanning me with golden leaves, and then the sun makes them glow as if they are on fire.

 

A week ago we picked out our perfect pumpkins in a local patch, but getting the whole pumpkin-picking experience definitely costs more than digging through the barrel at Walmart. We’ve also been watching really bad horror movies and not thinking about what we are doing for Halloween, because I may have to work. I am so uncool these days, but so OK with it at the same time. We love having a $3 movie theater nearby and love that we can get our all-you-can eat sushi fix a few blocks away. Because we love sushi so much and realize it could be a budgetary issue, we decided we can go twice a month. Is there crack in the tobiko or something?

 

We got drive to Logan, Utah, for the first time since we left the first week of May. We concluded that we were glad we didn’t live there anymore. It felt smaller than we remembered it. We were only up there for a few hours to attend our cousin Megan’s wedding. It was in some sort of pretend castle in the middle of a Hyde Park field. I made favors for her as our gift, and let me tell you how long it takes to assemble 200 truffles, refrigerate them, dip them in melted chocolate, refrigerate them, put them in bags, tie raffia and a fall leaf onto the bags, create labels and stick them on the bag … well, it takes longer than I anticipated. They were a huge hit and were gone within a half hour. If only I had the time to make more.

Dalton’s brother Cole J. received his mission call a few weeks back to Everett, Washington, and we could be happier for him. I am envying the beautiful, thick greenery he will wake up to every day. I hope the rain doesn’t bum him out too much.

Dalton’s dad received his patriarchal blessing yesterday. He and my mother-in-law Gail were sealed in the Bountiful temple just a few months before me and Dalton. Their family is so amazing and has come so far in such a short period of time. I feel so lucky to be a part of their journey. For anyone who doesn’t know what a patriarchal blessing is, LDS church officials stated this:

“Patriarchal blessings are given to worthy members of the Church by ordained patriarchs. Patriarchal blessings include a declaration of a person's lineage in the house of Israel and contain personal counsel from the Lord. As a person studies his or her patriarchal blessing and follows the counsel it contains, it will provide guidance, comfort, and protection.”

Dalton and I used to make fun of the religion classes BYU required its students to take, but the more Dalton shares with me about his Book of Mormon classes, the more excited I am to read the scriptures. Well, Dalton is acing all his class—surprised? Didn’t think so—and he recently got a raise!

The countdown begins now everyone! In only 2 ½ months we will be exploring Santiago, Chile. I just have to remember to not count down day by day or I will go ca-razy.