Are these cute or what?

The Halloween Phantom has been in our neighborhood, and he left us some goodies the other night.  So it is our turn to be the "phantom" and deliver some treats.  I saw these two sugar cookie ideas on this lovely site and decided I must try them - using my own personal favorite dough recipe.  They were both super easy and I think they turned out so cute.  And yummy.

I want my mummy!  Bwahahahahah!

A little corny!  :)

 Karen, the captions are just for you.  And me.  :)  Yep, still giggling to myself. 

There are some other fun treats I want to make from this site.  I'm especially intrigued by the worms.  Really.  I think I'll try them.  That is all.

Cecret Lake

At the top of Little Cottonwood Canyon is the Albion Basin.  It is a beautiful area that keeps patches of snow year round and provides several hikes and even rock climbing for those so inclined (not me.)

 You often can't even get into the Basin until late spring (unless you're skiing.)  

A short hike up the mountain,

 there is a lovely glacial lake - Cecret Lake.  In late spring and summer there are gorgeous fields of wildflowers covering the mountainside.  Everyone should go on this hike during that time of year.

I have been on this hike quite a few times, but never in the fall. Our family decided to take advantage of a warmish autumn evening and hiked to the lake.  (Thankfully, we went when we did, as it snowed two days later and we probably wouldn't be able to hike in now!)  I wasn't disappointed. 

 Fall has it's own beautiful flowers and berries.

Of course, the leaves, are not to be missed.  

The quaking aspens were absolutely glowing golden as the evening sun streamed through them, and I remembered that when we moved to Pennsylvania, I had missed them - not many quakies there!  And the smell of fall is heavenly no matter where you live. 

Being in nature always lifts my spirits, and this peaceful evening was no exception. I'm so blessed to have an inspiring, beautiful world to live in, seasons to pass through, and family to enjoy it all with.

Goodness from our Garden

A peek at what is out our back door... 

Ginormous pumpkins!

The. best. raspberries. ever.

So we inherited a great garden when we moved into our house.  The two stars of the show have been the above items.  If I can't find Jacob, I go to the raspberry patch where he is often sitting on the ground with handfuls of raspberries and a red-with-juice mouth.  The pumpkins may take a Herculean effort to remove from the garden to the front porch.  But, boy, will they be worth it . . . I hope!