Fall is in the air...

So much has happened since my last post the I don't even know where to begin! We are officially into fall now and enjoying the beautiful colors that come with it. The weather has definitely been colder than we hoped for but we're enjoying the nice days that we do get. Looking back at our pictures, I came across this one from August:

I can't believe I didn't already share about the Race Across Hamilton County! It was one of the coolest experiences Shawn and I have had in a long time (okay, ever)! It is based on the reality show "The Amazing Race" which we love to watch. I could go on talking about it for days but in short it was a 12 hr day of fun challenges at 5 different parks throughout the county. Some the challenges were physical, some were mental, luckily only one was eating! 40 teams of two participated (couples, parents, friends, etc) of all different ages. We placed 20th overall which we were happy with. It was an awesome day to just spend time together doing something so unique. We were exhausted by the end of the day (and the next day too). We met some other nice couples throughout the race and hope to see them again next year (we will be back)! We also turned out the be celebrities and were featured in the local paper and the Indianapolis Star. I am so thankful to have such a fun husband that thought this was as great as I did and made such a wonderful teammate!

We've also celebrated several birthdays. September is the month of birthdays around here! Most notably, Shawn had a birthday which we celebrated by having a nice date night to his favorite, Sapporo's. I made a cake which I was pretty proud of the decorating. We celebrated with cake and ice cream after our date with his family who were nice enough to watch the baby (not that we had a twist their arms)! 

Conrad has also had a few month "birthdays" go by. One of the things I look forward to every month is to take his new month picture with his tie sticker. Now that he is so mobile it is becoming more and more of a challenge but I am always able to get one good shot. He is so smiley and fun that it's hard not to like the silly ones too. Here are how many of them turn out:

 He just cracks me up! But in the end (after about 20 bloopers) we get some sweet ones too!

I mean seriously! Just look at that smile! Doesn't he just melt your heart? Also if you look closely, you can see that we have our first (and now second) tooth! 

Some of the things that I love most about fall are the foods! I actually love to eat pumpkin year round but eat even more during the fall. Apples also fall into that category. We recently had a photo shoot at an apple orchard in Danville. We got some really great pictures! The weather was perfect and Conrad was so cooperative and adorable! We are still waiting on those picture to come but I was able to take one in the orchard that I just love.

Since we were there, we went through their little shop and bought a few things (also a favorite fall activity). One of the things we got was a half peck of Jonalicious apples. This apparently is a hybrid of Jonathan and Red Delicious apples. I wasn't sure if I wanted to make apple pie, apple sauce, or apple butter. Then, I came across this recipe on Pinterest and decided on apple butter. Well I'm glad I did because it is delicious! It took a surprising amount of work. Mostly the peeling is what really took up time and I've decided I need one of those counter-top peelers that just spin the apple.

You know how when you are watching just about any cooking show they like to talk about how important consistent knife cuts are? Well, it turns out that luckily it doesn't matter much when making apple butter in the crock pot but I could still hear Tom Colicchio and Anne Burrell in my head as I compared these pieces.

I just threw the apples in the crock pot with the spices overnight and wow did it smell amazing! In the morning I blended them in the blender for just a few seconds and voila, perfect apple butter! We had it on English muffins and even Conrad tried some and liked it! I think next time I will try pumpkin butter.