Magical Fall!

Every year the Hutchings Museum in Lehi, puts on a Harry Potter Night. It is seriously better than Christmas for us. The boys (and myself) were going crazy with excitement, waiting for this day to come. (I know that's a little pathetic, but it's true.) Right when we walked through the front door, we ran into Rita Skeeter, writer for The Daily Prophet. After she interviewed both boys, and took lots of notes, we headed to the magic show down stairs.

During the magic show, if you answered any of the questions the magician asked, he would give you a chocolate frog. James was the little boy in the back with his hand held high for every question. James ended up with two chocolate frogs, and he got to help in one of the magic demonstrations. He was beyond giddy. (I answered a question too, the only adult to raise my hand....I forget that I am not 12 when I go to these things!)

Next, we headed to Defense Against the Dark Arts Class, where Professor Lockhart (Aka Joseph Smith) was signing Autographs and posing for pictures.
A trip to Divination Class was worth while. We found out that we were destined to meet many interesting people on our travels throughout the museum.

And Finally, to top off the night, we had to bring home an assortment of sugar. The kids shopped at Honeydukes Candy shop with their Galleons and Sickles and enjoyed blood pops, chocolate frogs, and exploding bon bons. My favorite were the chocolate covered cockroaches!

The next day, we got up and headed to the mountains for a family hiking trip up to Bells Canyon. James loved that the lake was dried up in places and left a swampy bog. Mud is too hard to stay away from when you are seven years old.

These are all the happy hikers. Everyone in my family was able to come except for Jeff and Jill. It was so fun hanging out and talking. I feel lucky to have such a great family.
This is a picture of me, my sister Kait, my nephew Easton, and my big sister Kim.
We stopped and ate lunch on a dried up waterfall bed full of bolders. Jesse's pose is standard for all pictures that are taken of him now. Danny made us a lunch of cheese, crackers, salami, apples, carrots and water. For some reason, the simplest things taste the best up in the mountains.
Henry, my stinkin' cute little nephew, fell asleep on his Dad's back (my brother Clint). He was so good on his first hiking adventure!

My nephew Easton is almost as tall as his mom! Why do kids grow so fast?


For one of our family night activities, we made and decorated Grandma Judy Sugar cookies. They have almond extract in them, and they are sooooooo tasty. Jesse was very serious about the placement of his frosting!

Here is James' creation. (Notice the lack of clothing. My boys do everything shirtless these days.)

And while we are talking about sweets, Jesse and I decided to make a pumpkin pie the other day. I have had an extreme affinity for anything pumpkin with this pregnancy. This was Jesse's first attempt at making pie, and he was a great helper.

Baby bump update: This is my 20 week bump. I'm still growing and so is the wee little guy! It seems like I woke up one day, and my stomach decided to pop. It's pretty amazing how fast your body changes. I'm looking forward to Halloween and spending time with our family! I hope all of you enjoy your holiday as well!