I Love Fall

Me with my mother-in-law and sister-in-law, and former co-workers from Leger's Deli enjoying the "Witchapalooza" dinner theater.

I love all the seasons of the year... but fall is my favorite. I love the change in the weather and the temperatures cooling down; this year in particular because it has been so hot for so long. The other day while buying my favorite oatmeal at McDonald's, the woman at the drive-thru looked at me and asked in shock, "where is your coat?" I'm not quite ready for a coat yet... it feels good to be cold. In fact, I haven't even turned the heat on in my house yet... not even once.

I always look forward to setting my clock back an hour. Not only do we get an extra hour of sleep for one night, but I love it when it gets dark early... at least for a few months.

I love watching holiday movies like Ichabod Crane, Charlie Brown and The Watcher In the Woods, I especially like it when the fire is going and I have some of my favorite fall treats. These cold, dark nights are perfect for hot cocoa.

I love the beautiful colors on the mountains. They match the colors of Halloween and Thanksgiving which I love, and I love my cute Halloween and Thanksgiving decorations.

I love it when it is overcast and then starts to rain... especially when I am at home where it is warm and cozy.

I love fall outings such as going on drives in the mountains with the Johnson's; or visiting a corn maze which I did for the first time this year with our YSA ward; and something else I did for the first time this year was go see the musical production "Witchapalooza" at Gardner Village. I loved it!!! Next year I'm going to be brave and dress up. Does anyone know where you can buy those cute black and purple striped tights?

I love to do fall cleaning in preparation for the holidays and settling in for the winter. My recently cleaned windows are still see-throughable even though it has rained.

I love fall/winter clothes more than spring/summer clothes. Does anyone else feel that way? I think most people probably like their spring/summer wardrobe more... probably because they can wear flip flops, and I don't ever wear flip flops.

I love fall scented candles. I just bought one today called autumn wreath... it smells like apples, and apple scented candles are my favorite.

Fall is the perfect time to make soup for dinner and I have several good recipes. Soup and hot rolls... so yummy! I really love everything about fall. How about you... what do you love?

Mike's Happiest Place (to visit) on Earth Part 3 of 3

The week after we returned from Disneyland, Mike and I spent the weekend in Yellowstone. The much cooler temperatures were a welcome reprieve after our hot summer here at home. On Saturday morning as we left our hotel and drove into the park it was 16 degrees... I loved it!!!

Mike has an amazing eye... he sees everything!! He can drive and will see things in the sky, on the mountain, in the meadow, in the river, on the lake... sometimes as we drive by, I'm still looking for what he's already seen. It truly is a gift he has.
He also knows the names of every animal he sees, some of them I've never even heard of before. He's always pleased when I see an animal first, and when I point out things like "this is bear country" or "this is moose country" as we drive through certain areas in the park (I'm not just an ocean girl).

We stopped at Mike's favorite place in the park... Hayden Valley. He got out of the car, set up his chair and spotting scope, and watched for about two hours. I sat in the warm car and crocheted. It was beautiful and peaceful.

In Yellowstone it is not uncommon that when someone pulls off to the side of the road... everybody stops. Everyone wants to know what you are looking at. Sometimes I find it a bit comical. As Mike watched in Hayden Valley, cars kept stopping and people would come over to ask him what he was looking at. I wish that I had taken pictures of all the people who stopped to talk to Mike. He was always friendly as he pointed out the elk that he was watching across the valley and on the mountain, even sharing his binoculars with strangers. Mike loves nature. Yellowstone is his favorite place to visit and I love going there with him.

Vacation: Caitlin's Happiest Place on Earth Part 2 of 3

Three weeks ago the three of us spent three days with our three Leger families in Disneyland. It was hot, and day three was crowded, but it was great!! Some of my highlights were: being there with my four kids, seeing the grandkids excitement as they saw their favorite characters and rode on their favorite rides, yummy Disney treats, finding a bench to sit on, going on splash mountain with Mike and our four kids, buying a Mickey jack-o-lantern, the Halloween decor at the park... but my best moment was when I went on my favorite ride, Pirates of the Caribbean, with our entire Leger family (18 of us) in one boat. Mike and I sat on the last row with William in between us, and as I looked at my entire posterity in front of me I couldn't help but reflect back 28 years ago when we brought our three little boys to Disneyland for their very first time. Our family has sure grown in 28 years, and seeing all of those I love in front of me at that moment, well... it brought a little tear (or two) to my eye. Here are just a "few" pictorial highlights.

Vacation: My Happiest Place (to visit) on Earth Part 1 of 3

We have been very fortunate and blessed recently to enjoy a couple of brief vacations. Our first trip was to Southern California, which is my favorite vacation spot.

This was actually a Disney trip; but Mike, Caitlin and I drove all day on Saturday September 22, just so that we could enjoy nearly 24 hours at my favorite place... the ocean, or as I affectionately call it... t'ocean. We traveled all day and arrived at our hotel in San Clemente at 5:50 pm, just enough time to check-in and get down to the pier to watch the sunset.

I have been vacationing in San Clemente since I was ten-years-old, and Mike and I spent our honeymoon here (there we are standing in front of our honeymoon hotel) and have been bringing our children here for over 28 years. It was surreal to us that we were actually here, having just left our own home eleven hours earlier.

It was a total coincidence that two of my siblings also planned trips to Disneyland and San Clemente that same week. When my brother Alan called me that afternoon wondering where we were at that point of our trip, he was so surprised to find out that we were driving to San Clemente to spend the night. We made a plan to meet up on the pier for the sunset.

We have stood on this pier many times over the years and watched beautiful sunsets. We didn't think we'd see it this night because the sun was hiding behind the clouds... but look how spectacular it is!

Some of our San Clemente traditions are: eating ice-cream cones while walking on the pier (it's the same ice-cream man in the shop year after year) and eating at Pick-Up-Stix (where we also ran into Alan and Marivic).

Seeing t'ocean was a huge BONUS for me on this trip. Part 2 of my vacation posts will be the reason we went.