I feel like I blinked, and Summer was over. I’ll be honest, I’m not in the least bit sad about it. Yes, my family had a pretty great summer. Our boys both celebrated birthdays, as did my Mountain Man, we had a nice family vacation to the beach, my oldest started Kindergarten, I JUST returned from a week away from my entire family so I could attend a convention for essential oils, and my husband is heading out for a fishing trip soon. Needless to say, we’ve had a full and exciting summer. But Fall…Fall is my favorite.
The weather begins to get cooler, long sleeves are almost always required, and the leaves…oh, the leaves where I live are absolutely breathtaking!
Ok, So maybe this isn’t a super fancy landscape shot. But this is just a quick shot I took, looking up into the trees in my yard, several years ago, while we were in the building process. I just love the array of colors and the crisp blue sky. This, to me, screams “Fall in the Mountains”.
No, I’m not into all the “pumpkin spice everything” that so many people seem to go ga-ga over. I mean, once in a while, I can dig it, and may even indulge in a pumpkin spiced cream cheese frosted donut from Krispy Kreme. But the lattes, candles, and now cereal?! It seems a bit much to me. But I am not here to judge. To each their own. I’ll wait until Thanksgiving to have that piece of pumpkin pie. And I’ll wait until I get a girls afternoon out to maybe grab the yummy pumpkin spiced latte. No, MY favorite part of Fall is pulling out my “winter clothes” bin from the attic and getting to wear my cute, chunky sweaters. Getting to wear my jeans and boots, and my hats and scarves. Going for walks in the leaves with my husband and kiddos. Snuggling by an outdoor fireplace or fire pit with a cup of hot chocolate (loaded with marshmallows, of course). Saying good bye to the mosquitos, and other bothersome insects and creepy crawlies (can I get an amen?!). Carving pumpkins with my kids, and watching their faces and bodies squirm, as they dig out the slimy seeds. Roasting the pumpkin seeds, and getting creative in the kitchen. I could go on.
Needless to say, around here, we LOVE Fall. Mountain Man and I talk about how if we could go back and re-do our wedding, what would we have done differently. One thing we can both agree on, is that we wouldn’t have had such a long engagement, and we would have had an outdoor Fall wedding. I guess since we can’t go back and change that, it’s a good thing I had my bridal portraits done in the Fall, huh? 
This was shot by a very dear friend of ours (he actually introduced me and my husband), and I used this as my gift to my Mountain Man on our wedding day. He loved it.
So since we can’t “re-do” our wedding date, we will settle for just sitting back and soaking in the beauty of Fall in the Mountains. We seem to spend the most time together as a family, during this time of year. Perhaps it’s because this Crunchy Mountain Mama isn’t worn out from heat exhaustion, and can actually enjoy being outside. Or perhaps it’s because I don’t get eaten alive by mosquitos after stepping out of the door for 5 minutes. Regardless, I’ll take it. It’s my favorite…and I don’t ever see that changing. I’m ready for Fall.
