SHUMWAYS: October 2013

Sunday, October 27, 2013

Carving Pumpkins

Fun Sunday activity carving pumpkins as a family with Kevin and Jett. We also broke out some pumpkin cobbler and apple cider for the first time this season. We love Fall in this house.

Ashlyn

The kids stealing Ashlyn's fries at the park. They had so much fun with her. Everyone was happy and healthy when we came home and the house was in great shape too. Bonus.

Matt and I got home from our getaway just in time to get the kids ready and over to our ward's trunk or treat. My friend/neighbor and her family joined us as well as Matt's co-worker and his daughters. It was a lot of fun and the kids loved it. Our neighbors seemed to have had a pretty good.

Napa Valley Getaway

For the first time in seven years, Matt and I left the kids overnight and went away just the two of us. I left the kids with one of my young women that is simply amazing. I trusted her so much that I didn't freak out or have anxiety at all while we were gone and the kids adore her. We left Friday night and got back Saturday late afternoon in time to take the kids trunk or treating. Matt and I have talked about doing a vacation or extended weekend on and off for a few years now but I have always chickened out and once it fell through because babysitters were sick. Honestly, it is mostly me. I hate leaving my kids and I feel very fortunate for how often Matt and I are able to go on dates and then we do a lot of fun things together as a family. With all of that said, our mini getaway was simply amazing. It was only twenty four hours but we had a blast. We ate two dinners Friday night, went to bed early, woke up when our bodies were rested and spent Saturday touring wineries, site seeing and eating more delicious food. I am so glad we went and had this quality uninterrupted us time.

We stayed at a Bed and Breakfast that at first make me laugh/cringe at the same time but we both loved it. The couple was so sweet and it's all about memories, right? I think we made some great ones this weekend. I love Matt and am so grateful for the chance I had to just be with him and not worry about anything else going on. I wish we would have taken advantage of living near both of our parents and done this a couple of times while in Utah but the getaway was worth the wait. I feel like right now is the season for growing as a family and doing things with the kids so this was a big treat for me. I hope it isn't another seven years before we do it again but even if it is, I feel so lucky to have Matt as my own. I love our dates and this was just an extra long extra special one.

Napa Valley is gorgeous! All of the trees and vineyards were changing colors and it was so beautiful. The smell of wine was overpowering and burned my sinuses but it was neat to see all of the work that goes into taking care of a vineyard. Interesting to visit after studying Jacob 5 in institute too. We had fun learning about wine and refusing it about two hundred times. Great missionary experiences and such nice people. We had a wonderful experience.