Meeting up with Crystal and Nathan and their girls is always a fun time. Eden and I enjoyed a morning with them at the Scarecrow Festival at Thanksgiving Point a few weeks ago. Here we are on our ‘train’ ride. Most of the festival was a collection of inflatable bouncer toys–the girls had a great time. (and so did I)

Every day Eden BEGS me to let her stay in her pajamas “all day long.” (MUST be said dramatically) A few weeks ago we had our first-ever family pajama party with pizza and our first-ever full-length movie: Monsters v. Aliens.

A friend and neighbor of ours runs a large pumpkin patch with a corn maze. We gawk at it every time we drive by and marvel that there are so many pumpkins remaining despite the hundreds and hundreds of visitors we’ve witnessed. A couple of weeks ago we let Eden select her perfect pumpkin, which she later named “Punky” (all by herself). Eden adores Punky and all of the other pumpkins we had adorning our front steps for the month of October. Whenever she was feeling blue she’d walk out the front door and tenderly kiss each and hug each one.

First taste of Green Eggs and Ham.

Playing Mr PotatoHead is a Sunday afternoon family tradition.

Although we’ve only been in Utah for a little over a year, I love that we have so many of my close friends here. Many of them are friends that I’ve had for over a decade. Man, it makes me feel old to say that. Here we are in the forest having a little picnic adventure with my BYU roommate Marisa and her kids.

Then we have Kristin (BYU neighbor)’s four kiddos playing some playdoh at my house last week. Eden often tries to convince me that they are her brother and sisters.

This past week Marisa (sadly, not pictured) and Dantzel came over with their kids for a playdate. This was the first time the three of us were all together in 5-6 years. We missed our other three roommates from freshman year, who are scattered across the country. Again, I’m so lucky to have had such fantastic roommates over my BYU and single-in-Arizona years, and keep in touch with many of them.

We had our first significant snowfall on Tuesday, and Dantzel’s girls joined Eden for some fun in the back yard.

The look on Eden’s face should tell you how she felt about touching the yucky innards of her beloved Punky.

Last year one of our favorite family outings was Customer Appreciation Day at Snowbird Ski Resort. This year the event was held this weekend, and again next weekend. We invited our neighbors to join in the fun, and it did not disappoint. We took the 40 minute roundtrip tram ride up the mountain (to 11,000 feet), and spent about an hour playing in the snow and sipping hot cocoa at the top.

Lucky little Eden got to wear two different Halloween costumes this year. First was the ward party, where she wore the 50s poodle skirt costume that Gma Householder gave her as a Christmas gift last year. Then on Halloween night she was Little Orphan Eden, thanks to a borrowed costume from our friend Becca. Note in the photo with Dean you can see Punky (carved with a cat and moon) and her mini-pumpkin friends.