Happy Halloween!

It's Skyler's second Halloween today though I doubt he remembers his first.  Yesterday, I gathered all the pumpkins that were eligible to carve together from the garden.  Altair didn't get home until 7:30 last night so Skyler and I will have to carve pumpkins ourselves today.

 I'm cooking my famous(?)  (infamous?) chili today which includes grinding my own course ground beef.  I think it's been a family tradition on my family's side since I was Skyler's age to have chili on Halloween.  I'll post pics and possibly a general recipe tomorrow.  I can't give all my secrets away. ;)

I planted Skyler's maple tree that was planted this spring from a seed from Altair and my "love" tree.  Long story...  It involves the movie "How to lose a Guy in 10 days".  Basically, if the tree dies so does our love for each other.  I'm happy to say, our maple is 10+ years old!  It too was planted from a seed from my parent's maple tree.  Ah, so precious!

Skyler carried this pumpkin all the way from the garden.  So heavy!

"This one's mine!"

"All of them are mine!"

He was quite pleased to be able to pick it up and carry it.

A fall walk.

Yesterday afternoon Skyler, Maizey and I walked up to our favorite canal road to enjoy the beautiful weather. The light was just right for pictures. Enjoy!

34 year old toys.

Skyler playing with an Ertl die cast JD skid steer loader toy that was my favorite as a kid. It's plenty tough to have survived me playing with it all those years and now it's Skyler's turn. Not to worry though, I have one new in the box that I found a few years ago.

Cornbelly's!

Or a trip to pure pandemonium! It was busy!  Cornbelly's is located at Thanksgiving Point in Lehi, Utah.  They have a corn maze, activities for kids, hayrides, chaos, and food.  Skyler had a great time running around and playing.  We rode the hayride and his favorite part was the parked giant JD 8650 tractor.  I'm sure it will be a tradition for at least a few more years until he realizes that chaos isn't really something people should pay to participate in.

Playing on the 1 ton straw bales.

"I'm stittin' on this big tire"!

Note my hand holding him and his harness to keep him somewhat close while we walked around.

"Tractor!"

Skyler clapping for the pig races!  He was so happy to see the pigs run!

Back to the tractor.  He loved to climb between the duals.

"Look at me!"

I had a bit of a hard time getting him to come back out.

The obligatory wheel shot.  Again.

"Thanks for bringing me to the corn chaos place, Dad."

"A hole!"

"I'm almost 3 feet tall!"

So tired!

Skyler after spending the afternoon at my parent's house yesterday. He passed out right after I took this.

What?!

Spotted in Autoweek this week.

At the park.

It's snowing here today. Yesterday, it cleared off enough to make it down to the neighborhood park. Skyler and the dog got some much needed exercise.

I think this is all covered...

In snow! It's still raining here in the valleys today. The mountains are getting plenty of snow which we need for next years' water. So we can have green yards. And gardens. Only 6 more months of winter...

A scene from last weekend.

Some greenery for the gloomy day.

It turned cold and rainy overnight here in Utah. Here's a picture of my Grandmother's flower garden in Nebraska. Only 6 more months of cold to go! :(

A hike to Dog Lake.

We went for a hike again with my sister yesterday.  This time we hiked up to Dog Lake toward the top of Millcreek Canyon.  It was a really good day for a hike even though it was a little on the cold side toward the top.  Skyler fell asleep on the way up while I wore him in the apparatus.  Altair wore him on the way back down.  I'm not sore at all today, and this hiking might actually be addictive.

At the base, the clouds were just starting to move in.

Toward the top, the clouds were more ominous.

Skyler the astronaut!  The apparatus converts to a "cab".  He was laughing and calling out because it echoed inside.

At the top sleeping in the apparatus.

The lake. 

All the dogs at Dog Lake!  Maizey didn't go for a swim because she didn't need doggy pneumonia.  The water was freezing!

Looking to the south.

Starting back down.  I felt like a tremendous weight had been lifted.  Oh wait, it had.  Or rather Skyler had!

Yellow leaf road!

Altair and Karen.

It was really one of those perfect Fall days

Altair not wanting her picture taken.

Skyler sitting on a bridge at the bottom.

Free at last!

"I got my stick"!

The best photo I took all day! :)

Some more plowing.

Using a bigger tractor!  I stopped by one of the fields that my good friend Ken farms yesterday.  It was some hard pulling dry ground.  It's supposed to rain the first part of the week and hopefully that will make the plowing a little easier.  I may have to finish plowing for him after his baby comes hopefully this week.  Wink, wink, Ken! :)

This ground hasn't been worked for over 10 years.  It was like breaking sod on the prairie!

The field is about 12 acres.

Here he comes!

Ken on his 2640 John Deere.  The tractor sounded real good under a heavy load.

Last night's sunset viewed from our backyard.  Red at night, sailor's delight!