Thanksgiving in CO

Last Monday, Greg, Paton, and I drove from our home in UT to my parents home in CO. The weather right at the very beginning was pretty poor, but we made it! I had to take a picture of the McDonalds in Evanston, WY. It was by far the most shwanky fast food restaurant I had ever been to-complete with flat screen TVs in the bathrooms! Above is Paton in the children's play area. At each table in place of seats are leather saddles-not plastic saddles, but leather saddles!

We were very thankful for the car DVD players. Below is Paton using the headphones while watching a movie. He didn't really need them on the way there, but on the way back the wind was so ferocious, that it was hard to hear anything!

Since moving out to property that has land, my parents have spent the last few years raising poultry. One year Dad raised turkey that grew to be too big for conventional ovens! Chickens are their more regular project. Dad has several hens he raised from chicks in order that he might collect their eggs. Paton absolutely loved going to the hen house with Grampa to collect the eggs. Around 2 or 3 in the afternoon, Dad would let the chickens out to roam the yard. How much fun it was for Paton to chase the chickens!

It's interesting to view technology and its advances. Below is Paton coloring the conventional way. And then yet another method of coloring is on the iPad--the mess-free method! By now, Paton is pretty good at navigating through my parents' technology.

Grammy and Paton taking a walk...

Sorting eggs with Grampa...

You know you're out on farmland when sandboxes are filled with chicken feed! Paton loved playing in it!

Dad smoked a turkey for Thanksgiving....so yummy!

Our spread...

Family time...

Coyotes frequent my parents' property in search of rabbits (there are many of them), but they also pose a hazard for their two pet dogs. One, Griffin (their Jack Russel terrier) was attacked and almost killed by a coyote. So when Dad and Greg got whiff of them near, both men turned into our mighty hunters.

Paton was still recovering from a nasty winter flu/cold, and below he's about ready to fall asleep rather early into the evening.

First Snow of the Season

 This being our first snow in our home, I felt a little bit of trepidation when I heard wintery weather was coming. Would our house keep us warm? Is is completely water-proof now? Needless to say, we're doing just fine in our home and keeping quite warm with the wood stove downstairs heating the house perfectly! No need to turn on the propane-fueled heat yet...thankfully so since propane is pretty expensive right now. I've even learned how to quickly start a fire without too much smoke in my eyes during the building process. Paton likes to "help" me start the fire by mimicking my blowing technique. He's very good though about not touching the stove-this was an initial worry but he's really shown no interest in exploring that part of the basement living room.

Obviously, we have many more months of winter ahead of us, but I'm still rejoicing that the Lord provided us with such a wonderful house here in the valley. I couldn't have asked for a better home. Now all that's needed to complete it is a dog!

The Great Pumpkin

Gathering inspiration from another blogger friend (Ti-Ti's Times), I decided to chronicle my pumpkin adventures. A friend from my church gave me this monstrous pumpkin to bake, puree, and then freeze for organic baby food when Charlotte is ready for solids. And yes, should you ask, I did discover that a serated knife is much better for pumpkins than the knife I have pictured above.

Cutting the stem out proved to be the most difficult of all the steps, and then the cleaning out of the pumpkin halves proved to be the most labor intensive. Separating the seeds from the flesh was probably the most boring. But it was all worth it since I'll have organic baby food for free next year!

When Paton saw that I was taking pictures, he jumped in front of the camera and kept saying, "Cheese, Mommy. Cheese!" So I indulged him and took a few shots.

That same day was another first...my first wood stove burn. I was stocking the stove with a huge log when the side of my arm touched the edge of the stove opening. It kind of looks like Styrofoam burned...the way my skin looks pulled apart. It distressed Paton to see it. He would offer to kiss it for me many times that day.

USC Gamecocks and Trick or Treat!

Last Saturday, Greg and I watched our South Carolina football team beat the Tennessee Volunteers, 14-3. Whenever Daddy would yell or shout Paton would quickly join in. I managed to capture the two of them sitting on the ottoman enjoying the game.

And then tonight was Halloween night, and Greg took Paton to several church members homes to trick or treat. Since Paton is only 2 1/2, he wasn't real keen on actual costumes. In fact, last night I had him try on a lion costume, and Paton was quickly reduced to tears. "All done lion, Mommy. All done?" I didn't have the heart to put it on him again today. So we decided to dress him up as our hunter, or as we affectionately called him...Elmer Fudd. He loved his "new" jacket and "new" hat so much! The ensemble was complete with cowboy boots and rifle!

Cowboy boots, Fluff, and Bucks

When living in the west, one's clothing collection is not complete without cowboy boots. While Paton was in SC a few weeks ago, Nana bought Paton some of his own genuine leather cowboy boots. He loves stomping around in them! Here he is just before church.

My brothers and I grew up eating peanut butter and fluff sandwiches. They were our favorite lunchtime foods. When I was in NH this passed May, I brought home two containers of Fluff and have been conserving them ever since. Hence, here we are in October still eating fluff sandwiches! It's definitely worth saving as Fluff isn't sold around here. Paton especially loves fluff and instead of taking bites from his sandwiches, he sticks his finger inside it and licks!

Last week, we had missionaries staying with us for four days. Below is one of their children, Bella, coloring with Paton. He enjoyed having the extra playmates!

This morning, Dom called and needed Greg's help tracking down a buck he shot earlier. Below is the trophy! When they found it, Greg called me assuring me that it was huge enough for me to want to see. I quickly bundled up Paton and trekked across the field just up the hill from my home. What a buck! Definitely worth the walk!

Family Pictures

 Each year around the fall, I like to take family pictures and use them for our December Christmas letter. I've done this every year since 2008 (I was a few months pregnant with Paton then). This year, my parents were in town, and just as important, the weather was looking to be great. In fact, it turned out to be around 70 that day so we didn't have to wear heavy clothing.

So a friend of mine from church, Cathy (whose photos I really like) agreed to take the pics for us. Last year, all we did was put my camera on a tripod and took pictures of us in Ogden. So this was an upgrade from last year!

Paton did very well! When he was done taking pictures, he made it pretty clear. But by then we had some really great shots from around our valley.

The picture below was evidence that Paton had had enough of all this photography, posing, and us saying, "Smile, Paton!" Thanks to Cathy for her patience and expertise!

Greg and Paton in the South

 Greg went to SC to recruit counselors and operational staff for our local Bible camp, and he was also hoping to find a possible summer intern for our church. Greg's mom thought it would be nice to have Paton come along and stay with them in Georgia while Greg worked on his tasks in South Carolina. So, both of my guys left on Friday, October 7 and returned the next Friday, October 14. It would have been really hard to be by myself for 7 days, so I invited my mom to come here and have a girls only few days. My dad drove here the day Greg and Paton returned, and we had a really nice weekend before my parents drove back to Colorado.

The above picture is Greg and the Vincent family at a South Carolina Gamecocks football game. The Vincents had never been to a college football game before, and Greg counted it an honor to introduce them to this experience. They loved it!

Below is Paton with his cousin Zoe. Knowing how particular Paton is about some things, I like to imagine that he's showing Zoe the finer points of hair-combing.

Zoe and Paton, though states apart, share a common interest in Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Nana told me that they often sat in Papa's recliner to watch their show.

Apparently, Nana got many comments about "the twins."