It's Autmn Time!

Well, it's October 1st and I just have to express how much I love Fall! Most everyone now knows it is my favorite season of the year. I love the crisp weather (which we haven't quite hit yet here in Utah), the colors, the start to a new school year, the holiday celebrations, and of course all of the wonderful warm comfort foods and delicious treats there are to make! I am excited to be sharing this first new fall as a mother with my wonderful husband and my adorable little guy Isaac. Manuel and I always love this time of year too because it's when we met. We first met four years ago and I have to say they have truly been the best four years of my life so far. Manuel has been such a wonderful husband to me and I am more than lucky to have him by my side. We have so much fun together, especially this time of year when we reminisce of the times when we were first dating, carving pumpkins together, and we always like to recreate those 'firsts'. It will be great to get Isaac in on the fun and the traditions we've already started as a young family. I've already been getting busy in the kitchen making wonderful foods and treats including pumpkin bars, pear cider, chicken soup, as well as my new adventures in Peruvian cooking. So far, I've successfully made estofado and ají de gallina. I attempted picarones once but failed miserably. Picarones are sort of a Peruvian doughnut in which the batter has yam, squash, and warm spices, in the end tasting more like a pumpkin-y doughnut. The syrup is made with many of the same spices as the dough mixture including cloves, allspice, and cinnamon, all boiled with sugar, water and fig leaves. Picarones are one of my favorites and are so delicious! I will have to get some one-on-one help from Manuel's mom to get this one right as I find it a little more difficult to get all the steps down. I've really discovered that I should just start a food blog since that seems to be a lot of what I write about here! Anyway, on to other things. Manuel is doing well in pharmacy school and is really enjoying it. He has already had several opportunities to get some great experiences learning about different aspects of pharmacy. And I'm also learning a few things here and there! I am also loving being a stay-at-home mom to Isaac. I can't believe how fast he is growing up right before our eyes! I feel so fortunate that I get to be here full-time for him, seeing him grow and watching all the new things he can do. I love that I can be a teacher for him and know what his needs are. It will be bittersweet to see how he changes and grows these next four years during pharmacy school. We are just grateful that he is a healthy and happy boy. We haven't received any official church callings yet besides home & visiting teaching assignments, but I have already been asked to play piano and organ on several occasions. I've played in Relief Society, primary (I actually just played for the primary program as the other pianist just had a baby), sacrament meeting, and I'm consistently playing for the choir. It can be exhausting at times but I love being able to use my talents and it has been a good way for me to get to know some new people. We like our ward so far but hope to meet some more young couples that we can hang out with every now and then. We are staying nice and busy. Manuel is almost always in class or at the books, and Isaac sure keeps me on my toes. Now that he is crawling, standing, and climbing around everywhere, I've got to keep a better eye on him! It is getting more difficult to get simple housework done around here! But I enjoy being here with him and he is the most important thing. My biggest challenge is trying to balance my time with the cooking, cleaning, laundry, playing with Isaac, and finding the time to just get myself ready for the day. Ah, the joys of motherhood! Well, I think that's about enough for now. I will try to get our photos up from Oregon as well as some more recent pictures/videos of Isaac. And we'll keep posting more as we celebrate the season and carve pumpkins, etc. Can't wait! 'Til the next post, lots of love to all our friends and family!