Fall Leaves and Apple Pie

Greg had an Optometry convention in Couer D' Alane so I stayed at Glen's house while he attended the convention.  Later Greg joined us.  It was so fun to be with Glen and Sarah and laugh at all the funny things the little boys did. 

One day I took a walk with Glen up a hill to an old cemetery.  It was interesting to read the inscriptions on some of the very old pioneer tombstones.

Another day we went to the Farmer's Market.  There was lots of produce, flowers, baked goods and foods.  One outdoor shop had a huge kettle where they were popping up kettle popcorn.  Logan and I watched as they sprinkled the popcorn with sugar then bagged it up.  They gave us a sample. Yummy!
After his convention, Greg joined us.   Glen suggested we go to the local orchard and pick some apples.  Logan was very excited.  He ran to get his little book and said, "Look!  There is a picture of an apple tree in my book!"  He brought the book with him as we drove to the orchard.  The trees were low and loaded with red, green, and yellow apples.  Ribbons hung from the trees to show which rows we could pick, and what variety the trees were.  We picked Red Delicious, Golden Delicious, and Rome apples.  The limbs were low and loaded with beautiful big apples.  Logan and Lucas both enjoyed picking the apples and putting them in the bags we had brought.  We took them to be weighted, then drove back to the entrance to the orchard to pay for them.
When we got home we sampled the delicious crisp apples.  I suggested we make an apple pie.  Sarah agreed, so I made the crust while Sarah and Glen, with help from Lucas, made the filling.  Logan loved helping me roll out the dough.  Then he and Lucas used cookie cutters to cut some shapes from the top crust.
Later when we were eating the pie, Sarah admitted to not usually liking apple pie, but she loved this one!  I think the nice fresh tart apples, and the fact that it was not overly sweet appealed to her.
The next evening we were taking about things we could do, such as watch a movie or play a game. Sarah said, "Or we could make another pie!"  So we did!   This time Logan helped with the filling.  I gave him the cinnamon to take to his mom, but unexpectedly, Logan dumped a large amount of cinnamon into the filling they were making!  They had to spoon some of it out.  The pie turned out a little spicier than the first one, but it was still delicious.

Then we drove over the mountains to Montana to see Eric and his family.  The trees were brilliant in their fall colors.  We even saw a special kind of lacy pine tree that turns yellow in the fall and drops its needles.  Then they grow needles again in the spring.
We had a great time with Eric and Nancie and the kids.  They drew us numerous pictures and love letters.  I told Nancie the story about the apple pies and she said, "We have a whole box of apples!"  So, you guessed it, I made another apple pie!   On the way out of town we took some food to Eric at work, including the last slice of pie.  Nancie told me later that the first thing he said when he got home was, "Did you get the recipient for the pie?"
When we arrived home, I check facebook.  Sarah had posted that she had make an apple pie!  Then later she posted the picture above.  She had made two more pies!