Tonight I came home from work and officially made my first rich fall dinner. Mom's Meatloaf, mashed potatoes, green salad, warm garlic bread. Goodness! I even ended the night enjoying a personal choc chip cookie pie. Such a cool recipe that I found on Pinterest! After those pumpkin spice latte's came out at work a few weeks ago, I've been smelling and tasting the glorious flavors of fall for a while now. Yet, until yesterday, the weather wasn't complimenting those flavors as much as I had hoped. Last week we were laying in our bed at night with three fans going, and still complaining about the heat. This week, it's a whole different story and to be honest I love it! I took a nice long nap on the couch yesterday, soaking in the sounds of the wind and rain hitting our building. Autumn leaves, acorn and fig candles, boots and jackets....ahh these are all coming back into season and I am enjoying every single moment! All of this "fall" talk gets me to thinking about my family....ok, let's be honest here, everything gets me thinking about my family! But bare with me, I'm feeling the need to reminisce.
Fall meant a few wonderful things in the Larson household. Halloween was just around the corner, and we new this because the pumpkins started popping up in grocery stores, and signs for pumpkin patches started showing up everywhere. It almost feels like yesterday my big brother Alex and I were raking the leaves with Dad, putting them into a pile to jump into, and realize that it actually doesn't feel as good as it looks in our story books. Plus, once you jump in those piles of leaves, you've got to rake them back up again! Looks like I've always had a bit of OCD in my bones....
Sometimes Dad would burn the leaves, which meant the smells of autumn were in full force in our backyard. I remember seeing Mom through the kitchen window cooking up a creamy cheesy soup for us to enjoy after we were done helping Dad. Of course we would be watching Funniest Home Video's while enjoying that amazing soup. My precious little Joshy, my baby brother was always hanging out with us, sharing his adorable little presence every where he went. And Jazz...oh Jazz...or gorgeous white dog that looked like a Blonde Golden Retriever, yet was actually called a Brittany dog. It was meant to be!
Halloween was always a fun time for us, for we would make leave stuffed scare crows, and carve pumpkins with Dad in the garage. I don't remember too many years where we didn't go to some pumpkin patch to pick out our very own pumpkins. Anytime we carved these orange things, my Dad would get a brilliant idea to use all sorts of little electric saws to get as clean a cut as he could. I don't remember too much of a mess that's for sure. And that almost warms my heart! I'm a Daddy's girl that's for sure....obsessively clean at times.
Each time Alex and I came back from Trick-or-treating with Mom, Dad, Joshy, Grandma, and Grandpa, we would dump out all of our candy in the living room floor, so that we could swap candies. Joshy of course was too little to have that much freedom with sugar, so we definitely had to wait until the little pooper was out in his toddler bed.
I realize that none of these memories will have a whole lot of significance for you, and that's ok. As I sat in my bubble bath tonight I was reminded of so many wonderful memories I've shared with my beautiful family. I was reminded of the realty that laughter has always been a part of our lives, and it continues today whenever we are together. It's one of the most refreshing things about being with my family. I was reminded of the many special holidays we've shared together, and it made me excited to share those same holidays in the future when my Mom and Dad are also known as Grandpa and Nana.
I hope this sparks some of your most treasured memories of fall with your family or other loved ones. Just taking the time to reminisce brings a renewed joy to my heart.
Love you so much Mom, you are my best friend. I loved that each day I become more like you!
Love you so much Dad! Your laughter, wisdom, and humility never cease to amaze me!
Love you so much Alex! I'm praying for you EVERY SINGLE DAY and can't wait to reminisce with you as soon as you are home. I'm so proud of you soldier!
Love you so much Joshy Squashy! You're my buddy, and I love looking back and seeing how much fun I've had being your big sister!
Last but definitely not least, to my sweet little Charlie Barley...my mini wiener dog puppers that is probably curled up in bed as I type...I miss your sloppy little kisses and warm cuddles every night! Yes. I JUST wrote a message to our mini wiener dog. It's therapeutic for this homesick girl:)
Fall meant a few wonderful things in the Larson household. Halloween was just around the corner, and we new this because the pumpkins started popping up in grocery stores, and signs for pumpkin patches started showing up everywhere. It almost feels like yesterday my big brother Alex and I were raking the leaves with Dad, putting them into a pile to jump into, and realize that it actually doesn't feel as good as it looks in our story books. Plus, once you jump in those piles of leaves, you've got to rake them back up again! Looks like I've always had a bit of OCD in my bones....
Sometimes Dad would burn the leaves, which meant the smells of autumn were in full force in our backyard. I remember seeing Mom through the kitchen window cooking up a creamy cheesy soup for us to enjoy after we were done helping Dad. Of course we would be watching Funniest Home Video's while enjoying that amazing soup. My precious little Joshy, my baby brother was always hanging out with us, sharing his adorable little presence every where he went. And Jazz...oh Jazz...or gorgeous white dog that looked like a Blonde Golden Retriever, yet was actually called a Brittany dog. It was meant to be!
Halloween was always a fun time for us, for we would make leave stuffed scare crows, and carve pumpkins with Dad in the garage. I don't remember too many years where we didn't go to some pumpkin patch to pick out our very own pumpkins. Anytime we carved these orange things, my Dad would get a brilliant idea to use all sorts of little electric saws to get as clean a cut as he could. I don't remember too much of a mess that's for sure. And that almost warms my heart! I'm a Daddy's girl that's for sure....obsessively clean at times.
Each time Alex and I came back from Trick-or-treating with Mom, Dad, Joshy, Grandma, and Grandpa, we would dump out all of our candy in the living room floor, so that we could swap candies. Joshy of course was too little to have that much freedom with sugar, so we definitely had to wait until the little pooper was out in his toddler bed.
I realize that none of these memories will have a whole lot of significance for you, and that's ok. As I sat in my bubble bath tonight I was reminded of so many wonderful memories I've shared with my beautiful family. I was reminded of the realty that laughter has always been a part of our lives, and it continues today whenever we are together. It's one of the most refreshing things about being with my family. I was reminded of the many special holidays we've shared together, and it made me excited to share those same holidays in the future when my Mom and Dad are also known as Grandpa and Nana.
I hope this sparks some of your most treasured memories of fall with your family or other loved ones. Just taking the time to reminisce brings a renewed joy to my heart.
Love you so much Mom, you are my best friend. I loved that each day I become more like you!
Love you so much Dad! Your laughter, wisdom, and humility never cease to amaze me!
Love you so much Alex! I'm praying for you EVERY SINGLE DAY and can't wait to reminisce with you as soon as you are home. I'm so proud of you soldier!
Love you so much Joshy Squashy! You're my buddy, and I love looking back and seeing how much fun I've had being your big sister!
Last but definitely not least, to my sweet little Charlie Barley...my mini wiener dog puppers that is probably curled up in bed as I type...I miss your sloppy little kisses and warm cuddles every night! Yes. I JUST wrote a message to our mini wiener dog. It's therapeutic for this homesick girl:)
