applesauce...and other stuff

october means two things in our family....hunting and applesauce! this year, we didn't know if we would all make it...it is always a crap-shoot with kids being healthy this time of year... we were soooo thankful that we were able to ALL get together! we had a very full day planned - thanks to court...she is our planner, and was this years applesauce coordinator!

here are april and dawson dumping cooked apples into the beloved saucer...we have two contraptions that mash apples going...i cant remember how many bushels of apples we did, or what kind? mom, if you're reading this, let me know!

also, we DO NOT CAN...waaaay too time consuming...we dump about 4 cups applesauce into a zip loc freezer bag and its ready for the freezer :) two things that are oh-so-special about our applesauce...we have a martha stewart recipe that we dont really follow, but feel the need to frantically look for every year...just to make us feel better, i guess. we use ingredients like...cinnamon, ginger, cardomon, vanilla and nutmeg....and a TON of sugar...YUMMM!!

the second thing is the label we give our applesauce...it started one year as a joke, but it has stuck. we give each bag a different name, depending on what is going on in our family, what is happening in hollywood, or whatever.

it was also grants first birthday...dodge & jessi were reading him some of his birthday books!


instead of birthday cake...court brought post family farm donuts and cider...awesome! it wouldn't be fall without 'em!



pumpkin carving....complete with really difficult patterns...luckily grandma and the dads had LOADS of patience & ambition...not one of my favorite things to do, but it was so fun to see how excited the kids were with their finished jack-o-lanterns!






i'm not sure what jessi is looking at...maybe the pretty colors of the trees, or leaves flying...but i love the look on her face :)

kirk letting gracie take a stab at it

nice choice, dodge...have fun daddy!

dawson loves this kind of stuff...i totally see kirk when i look at him

we also did 4-wheeling and dirt biking...dawson was big stuff riding grandpa's quad by himself

zak, i think you're a little big....

gracie wanted nothing to do with anything that had a motor (unlike her big sister!)...court would spend 20 minutes getting her ready to play outside...she would then go 15 feet out of the house...stand there for 5 minutes, and come back inside...she's her own person...

miss. independent

the girls also got a lesson in shooting zak's hand gun...if i get a pic, i will put it in here...it was a lot of fun

we also drew names for christmas, ate grandpa woods famous white chili...which i think uncle moe smelled from forest grove, cuz he came over PRECISELY when we were eating lunch...hee hee! and we finally pooped out at the end of the day...

it was a ton of fun...a beautiful fall day spent with family...yes, its exhausting...but its a good kind of tired...and i'm sure it will be a day that we'll always remember :)