lattin's cider mill.

we stopped at lattin's cider mill on the way home from football. ironically, i just saw it featured in better homes and gardens magazine. i'm not sure if it is always that busy or if the magazine brought out the crowd. either way, it was packed. but for one of their amazingly sinful apple fritters, i would have braved any crowd. the kids checked out a couple of animals, did some square dancing to the tunes provided by the live band, and spent way too much time choosing pumpkins. mw and i determined that the beginning of the perfect pumpkin hunt is always very exciting. fifteen minutes in, we're bored. and after thirty minutes, we hate the pumpkin patch, each other, and the kids.

the sign at the bottom of this photo is misleading. it should say "two partially rotten apples."

notice the two adults in the picture with us. mw's parents. can i just take a moment to say that i love where we live. it is beautiful and we love our friends and our new home. but there is nothing that can compensate for the hole that family leaves when they are not near. it was a great couple of days, dragging g and e to the school for pickup, to costco for goodies, to the football game and cider mill. our families don't miss the big things, dance recitals, baptisms, baby blessings or sealings. but we miss a lot of the little things that our brothers and sisters and nieces and nephews do, and they miss a lot of our stuff. when they're here, we're all happy in a different way. happy in a way that comes only from sharing our lives with people who know us and love us in spite of what they know. for family, our home is always open.