Autumn time in the Northwest!

The rain and cooler weather has returned which means it is fall here in Washington. We went to a corn maze one night for mutual and decided to come back during the day to pick a pumpkin.

It was VERY BUSY! It had been raining on and off all day and it was kind of chilly, so we did not expect that many people to be there, but they were. The farm was also a lot bigger than we realized, so that was good.

First thing we got on the tractor ride and rode out to the pumpkin patch to pick our pumpkins.

Magnus chose one and gave some other ones a sit.

The farm also had the softest sheep, cows, and donkeys that ever lived. They are also well fed.

Magnus liked touching the cow’s wet nose.

There was also a corn (sand)box. Magnus and Dana liked filling the toy trucks with corn and then dumping them out. Included in the entry price is a chance to use the pumpkin slingshot. It was tricky to navigate in the mud, but it was fun anyway.

That night was our ward’s harvest party. I was a princess, Magnus was a frog, and Dana was a log (for the frog to sit on!) 

The kids got a chance to trick or treat and decorate pumpkins. Magnus loved coloring his pumpkin and putting stickers on it. It is a work of art!

Under Magnus’s frog costume we had put on skeleton pajamas as a back-up. When Magnus wanted his frog costume off, I thought it looked a little funny to see a skeleton under the frog suit.

Happy Fall! And Happy Halloween to everyone!

Jensen Van meets the Columbia River Gorge

We took our van on its inaugural trip up the Gorge.  First we stopped at the Women’s Forum where Magnus wanted to use the telescope they provide.

The old highway was closed just past the forum, so we had to wind back around on the freeway to get to Latourell Falls.

Magnus had fun climbing on rocks and walking down the path by himself. He spotted the waterfall right away and would point at it as we walked along.

We also made sure to stop at Multnomah Falls. It was pretty busy, but the autumn foliage was very pretty.

At Horsetail Falls, Magnus had to do some experiments testing the water temperature, and his shoes may have gotten in on the action too.

It was a nice trip!

Goodbye to an old friend

Saturday, October 6, 2012 we watched the morning session of General Conference and then headed out to the Farmer’s Market. We had a wonderful time and even got some good food.

On the way home Magnus fell asleep, so when we got home we laid him down for his nap. We were going about normally when, after about 10 min, our doorbell rang. It was our neighbors saying our car was on fire. I ran out and saw smoke billowing from under the hood. I tried to open it, but the latch wasn’t working. Ruth called 911 and I got things out of the car. The neighbors moved their cars out of the way. Very soon the flames came.

When the firemen came, they had to saw the hood in two to get at the engine. It was strange to think it was actually happening. It took a few minutes to put out all of the flare-ups, and then the horn began honking continuously. The firemen ended up pulling all of the fuses and clipping all of the wires to finally make it stop. One said that he had never seen a car fight so hard to stay alive.

 

We have owned this car for just over five years and it has been very good. We got it just after an accident wrecked our first car. Though the car wreck was bad, it ended up being a blessing in disguise. So, that is how we are looking at this one, too. No one was hurt, and only the car was destroyed. Plus, if you have to lose a car, at least it was spectacular.

We said goodbye to our Buick Regal. Magnus got to push all the buttons he wanted.

And after some shopping around, we have purchased a Dodge Grand Caravan. We hope this one treats us well.

The question is, how will it top a four car accident and a fire…?