Fall in the mountains

I just love this time of year. When it starts getting cooler and the leaves begin to change. The return of Friday night lights and the anticipation of upcoming holidays. Making (and more importantly eating) pumpkin cheesecake. The smell of hot apple cider. Getting to wear fuzzy socks to bed and sleep on flannel sheets. I could go on and on...

Last Sunday, our little family decided to venture out and enjoy the beautiful fall day. We went to the pumpkin patch at First Methodist church and our good friend Colleen met us there to take some pictures of Avery. It was bitterly cold, but Avery was a trooper. The pictures are absolutely amazing and I believe that Colleen needs to make a quick career change :). I've posted the pictures in a slideshow because there are too many to post individually and there was no way I could only pick a few!

After taking pictures, we decided to take a trip to the parkway, however it was closed, so we decided to go to Cataloochee instead. The trip there was amazing! It had snowed that morning, so we were able to have our first winter preview. Nothing is prettier than fall-colored leaves covered in snow. Avery got to see her first elk (alive that is...not counting the one hanging on our wall at home) but did not seem too amused. Shayne and I were able to get some decent pictures while we were there...hopefully after Christmas we'll change "decent" to "exceptional" when we buy ourselves a new, much nicer camera. Although our pictures don't quite do it justice, there's no doubt about it...this place we call home is amazing.