Leaf it To Dad

We love him. He's a great husband and a great dad, and last night he was a great family home evening planner. With the fall leaves looking beautiful and the warm days beginning to be numbered, Joe took us up into the mountains in search of leaves of all shapes, sizes and colors. There are great rocks at the base of the trial we wandered and Chloe, in a picture taking mood, insisted we couldn't begin our search without taking a picture by the rocks. So a picture we took and then off we went into the colorful mountains.

Adam didn't last in his carrier very long.

Joe brought a clip board with paper and crayons for each kid so that when they found the leaves they could do rubbings of them. They thought this was the coolest thing ever.

"I look like a supermodel" Chloe declared as she posed for several pictures that all looked similar to these:

"Well I'm impressive because I'm a superHERO" came Noah's reply as he too wanted to show his best moves. And yes, impressive is a word in his vocabulary. (My other recent favorite is when he is told something, like where a toy can be found, he replies "duly noted" Cracks me up) With notebooks full and the sun fading fast, we headed home to cut out our rubbings and make a collage and drink some hot cocoa.

As we created our collage, Joe talked to the kids about the different leaves we found and how they were all different, but they were all special in their way. He talked about how just like leaves, each of us is different, but also special and beautiful because our Heavenly Father created and loves us all. It was perfect.

When the activities were done and the cocoa cups empty, Chloe told me "Dad really planned a fun family home evening this week, huh Mom." Yes Chloe, yes he did!