Fall Fun

  We went to Bill's Berry Farm today. It's about 45 minutes from the tri-cities area. It was a little cold and rainy but we weren't going to let that stop us from having some fun. This farm had a little of everything. We went through a corn maze, made our own apple cider, did an apple sling shot, sat by a fire, and went on a hay ride.

We went through there corn maze. It wasn't the typical corn maze where you have to find the exit but you have to figure out a mystery by finding all the clues. There was 6 clues altogether.

Some of the corn stalks were REALLY tall.

Ellie leading the way.

Jared was checking out the corn to see if it was still good.

We found a clue!

Daddy and Rachel looking out the clues. We found all the clues and made it out in about an hour.

This was a lot of fun...making our OWN apple cider. We had to start off by picking just the right apples. 20 pounds of golden delicious apples.

10 pounds of red apples and 10 pounds of granny smith apples.

Then we had to rinse all of the apples

Then we pulverized the apples. haha

Rachel feeding the machine

Ellie taking a turn

Taking the apple mush and putting it into a mesh bag.

Filling the press with the apple mush.

Jared turning the press. Ellie checking out all the yummy juice coming out the spout.

Rachel taking her turn. Look the bucket is almost full!

Ellie is still a little too short but had some help from daddy.

We filled 3 gallons and had still had some extra juice, so we sat and drank it right there on the spot! So YUMMY! The fresh apple juice was delicious!

Oh look...it's me!

The finished product.

Cute picture of me and the kiddos

What a good pic of the kids.

Oh man, I think they need to cut back on the apple cider.

Rachel took this for us. I want to remind you it was cold and rainy!!

The only picture of all of us together!

The apple sling shot was one of the favorites with everyone. Rachel hit a couple targets. Jared launched it the farthest. Bill had fun helping Elle.

What a fun Fall day!!

Just a little Update

• Bill is still on the job hunt. We are waiting to hear back from two decent job opportunities. One is in Utah and the other one is here in Washington. It is so hard to be patient. We are praying that one of these jobs will work out for our family. He got on as a volunteer at the local fire station, they are requiring him to go through a fire academy. So he's gone 2 nights a week and every other Saturday. He can't start running with them until he's completed it which is right before Thanksgiving. He's eager to start running calls again.
• Rachel is really enjoying Middle school. She is doing really well in her classes and starting to make friends. She had a boy pass out in her Orchestra class and he landed on her. If you run into her, you should ask her to tell the story. It is pretty funny. 
• Jared is now in 4th grade. He is playing flag football with his cousins and has fun at the games. I'm hoping I remember the camera this week to take some pictures, especially since Saturday is his last game of the season. 
• Ellie had a hard time adjusting to the move and to 1st grade but really likes school now. She is learning to be a confident reader and is sounding out and trying to spell everything. Ellie also has her first loose tooth, actually 2 of them. She's pretty excited and is working hard a wiggling them. I'm sure I will be posting pics soon.
• The girls love to help cook or bake goodies. I love that the holidays are just around the corner. We've had fun making caramel apples, cookies, and cake so far. 
• My sister is back in town after a long visit to California, we are going to start walking together on a regular basis. Hopefully, I can keep from gaining weight from all the yummy treats!