Halloween at Day Care

The kids started the day with a Halloween Party at day care, and then went out in the afternoon to walk around town with the elementary school kids to trick or treat.

Getting in a circle to play games



mmmm...snacks

Tyler was the only kid to lick the frosting off the cupcake and then drink the ranch dressing

We yelled at him from across the street when they went on the Halloween walk to local stores.  He wasn't sure what they were doing.

"look at me...I have hooves and don't even have to walk!"  His best friend Wyatt refused to wear his monkey costume.

Shawn and I walked with them for a little bit but then decided we didn't want to deal with the swarms of kids begging for candy.

More MI

The Farmer's Market was full of Gourds---all together, they were quite the characters.

 I picked one out, and even had it as a carry-on in the plane ride home.

We met up with some pals from High School days....


Sarah, Jackie, Betsy, Mollie, Becky (8.5 months pregnant), Sue (3 months pregnant)

  I could have walked on the beach in Manistee all day.

 We climbed up one little structure on the edge of a pier and I was immediately slightly afraid of heights and seasick.

In Pentwater we went to the Bitchen Kitchen where I bought a couple of kitchen things, and we looked at the neato cottages.

We went to Silver Lake sand dunes also--which I had never heard of.  I loved it!  I could have spent all day THERE also!

the person with the devil horns is not actually a devil...

Missin' Michigan

I had forgotten how beautiful that State is.  I wish I could just drive over for a visit anytime....

A Punkin Carvin' Party

One Spooky evening, Tyler and I went to a carving party.
He had a friend's dad help him carve the pumpkin with a power saw.

There were so many kids and pumpkins and pumpkin guts!

The treats were tasty and clever and not at all nutritious

Eyeballs and mummy fingers and witches hats

After everyone was done we lined them all up on the porch

(Tyler's was the Bat)

Everyone posed, and then the lights went off.....

and we howled at the moon!

It's Done!!

We finally have the Greenhouse up, the raised beds built, and a fence around the whole thing.

Woohoo!!

Jessica made the design for the sign...it isn't a great photo so I will find another one sometime.

Days and days and hours of volunteer time went into it; can you even imagine how many bolts we screwed in?

Visiting

We went to Butte last weekend, to visit some friends and pick up 3 more chickens. The house we were at has amazing views, but it is always windy. We lucked out that day with just a calm breeze. Tyler got to meet Myles and Morgan. There ended up being a lot of kids and a lot of toys, and Tyler had a hard time leaving. Who blames him though, friends and toys are always better than a 1.5 hour drive in a truck.

What's Wrong With This Picture?

Ummmmm, a cow in the front yard is not an everyday occurrence.

Our Columbus Day holiday was spent helping out this cattle truck driver. He swerved to avoid colliding with another driver. His options were either to pile into the other car, or hit the ditch. He chose the ditch.
Two cows died in the truck, and one that had limped to the neighbor's backyard had to be put down later. It was a mess, with scared cows running everywhere. Tyler enjoyed it, constantly saying "truck, mess, cow, wreck, uh-oh" throughout the day. We had cows in our yard, in the back, and up and down the highway. Shawn was able to help out extensively, and the rest of us did the best we could.

House of Sky

Back in 1998, when I was in college, I worked for a Wildlife Biologist named Bob. It was a work study position and came to less than 12 hours a week. Every day when I arrived to work I never knew quite what to expect; once I hung signs on roads, another time did hunting data entry, I also helped work at a hunting game check station, and another day sadly held a clipboard as the biologists euthanized a grizzly bear. Bob and I would go for drives occasionally to look at different hunting areas, or respond to public phone calls. We traveled around the Missoula area, mostly coming up to the Blackfoot Valley. Back then I had hopes and dreams of living in a log cabin in the area, with my husband, kids, and of course a dog. I never knew those dreams would come true, because here I am--living that 19 year old kid's dream. There are times I complain quite a bit about my house and the town I'm in but then I get the chances to remember why, 12 years ago, I had those dreams.

If only Bob knew that the roads he took me on back then would be part of the place I work now. I sometimes think of him when I get a chance to remember why I love it here. Back then he would tell me different books to read to get to know Montana better. He always said "'This House of Sky' by Ivan Doig, there aren't any better than that." I read that book and all the others by that author, sometimes more than once. The title fits Montana so well and I thought of it yesterday as I looked out across the Valley.

I went ATV riding with two others yesterday to check out a trail that goes along ridges, through trees, and up and down and around. My knees are sore and tired today, but the views we had were worth any minor aches and pains. I'm not usually a proponent of ATVs, but that is what the trail is created and used for, and I will admit it was lots of fun.

Only time will tell if my next set of dreams will come true, or the prayers be answered, but I have to say that at this point in my life I feel very blessed and fortunate. Thanks to everyone who leave comments or tell me how lucky I am--each one makes my heart happy.

The last of my NH photos

I realized that nothing new has been going on here because I keep putting on vacation pictures from 2 weeks ago! Oh well, at least they're nice photos.

The Rumney town common had a fountain that we wished and threw pennies into. My wish did not come true and neither did Shawn's. Mine is a secret but his was to have smooth flights home. I guess his came true sort of--we made it home but it was a long, bumpy, and frantic trip.

The swimming hole just down the road...

I entertained the idea of jumping in but never did since we were flying out later that day.

Dad's music group, "Rhubarb Pie"

And my favorite thing of all...

MAKING APPLE CIDER!!!

It tasted soooo good and I wished I could have taken some home on the plane with me. Tyler loved it too. We picked apples from the tree in the yard and neighbor's yard. The worms and brown spots just enhanced the flavor.