Cider Bend-October

 I love fall on the farm! Everything is beautiful, the mornings and evenings are crisp, but usually warm up nicely during the day, and we feel the push to get stuff done before winter hits. Although I don't love the shorter day, this is the time of year when it's dark when I head out to take care of the animals in the mornings, so I'm out there for the great sunrises again.

Run-In Shelter:

Mark started the run-in shelter out in the pasture clear back in June, and it finally got finished in October. We are training for a 100 miler, so we have been gone doing long runs in the mountains every weekend. It's been a crazy year, and the race has consumed our time. Projects on the farm have been put on the back burner for the most part this summer. This was one that we knew needed to be finished before winter hit, and Mark got it done just in the nick of time. It turned out so good, and the animals already love it! 

He marked it off on the ground for me so I could see if it was the size I wanted.

The building began! He was often out there getting help from goats, cows, and donkeys.

Every time I let the donkeys out in the pasture, Willow would go inspect all the work that had been done since the last time she was out there. 😄

Bailey, Mason, and Nora were here for a few days, so Mark got some much needed help from Mason. It was coming along nicely!

The donkeys used it for shade long before it was finished.

The cows loved napping in it. Made us feel good to know it was going to be used a lot.

We literally finished painting it one day before the weather turned too cold for paint. 😰

It turned out so good! I just need to hang something fun on the front wall. I'm sure I can find a good sign.

The day after it was finished, we got a rain storm, and the donkeys took shelter. Yay!

Our pasture is very exposed and the animals needed to have somewhere to go to protect them from the sun in the summer. They will be able to have more room to run around in the winter, but needed protection from the bitter wind, snow and cold in the coming months. 

Chickens:

Things have been interesting with the chickens this month. Tillie and Fern were living happily in the coop with the other chickens, and then one day the mean girls started pecking Tillie like crazy again. She was a bloody mess! I moved them into a stall in the barn. I doctored up Tillie, but it took her a while to heal, and by that point the idiot rooster wouldn't let them back into the flock. So, Tillie and Fern have taken up permanent residence in the barn. I never thought I'd have barn chickens, yet here I am. 

A friend from church pulled up all her sunflowers at the end of the season, and brought them over for my chickens. Everyone, especially Tillie and Fern, loved them.

When we tried to reintroduce Tillie and Fern to the flock again, the first thing they wanted to do was take a dust bath in the sand. Once we realized that they weren't going to be able to stay in the coop, we hauled a load of sand into the stall so they could still have their baths.

I was cleaning the cows stall one morning, and I looked out and saw Fern wandering around the barn looking for me. She pushed the board out of the way and went right under the gate. The cows were pretty fascinated by her. 😆

Now each time she hears me come into the barn, she tries to get out and help me with chores. She follows me around and pecks my feet if I don't pick her up or pet her. It's pretty funny! She supervises Reeses. 😂

Donkeys:

There was a trend going around social media to see how many of your animals would like candy corn or the candy corn pumpkins. I tried it, but forgot to post my results. Only 2 out of 7 of mine would eat the pumpkins. Clover and Rocky loved them! Willow really wanted to like it, but she finally decided it was a no for her. Both cows took a hard pass and wouldn't even try them. Ginger and Dolly wouldn't try them either. My goats are picky though.

The donkeys had the cutest Halloween costumes this year. I tried to match their personalities the best I could. 😂

*Side note-I've never seen a donkey (or human for that matter) rock a pair of red tights quite like Willow did. She worked it! Poor Clover has such skinny legs, her tights wouldn't even stay up. 

Goats:

Here's Roxie being the only goat brave enough to try a pumpkin. She loved it! A girl after my own heart.

Cows:

I just love my sweet cows! They love all the pampering they can get!

This picture is a good perspective on how big Ace is getting.

This is what Ace did when I tried to rake up their corral. He stood right in the middle of any pile I was making. He thought I should be giving him loves, not raking his corral. 😆

Cats:

Notice how I titled this section cats and not kittens. Floof and Mischief are all grown up! 😭 Now they are just cat size pains in my butt, and spend their days wreaking havoc on my house.

Stormy is doing great! She looks so good and healthy. She is getting a lot friendlier with me. She follows me out to the chicken coop each morning when I feed them. She even brushes up against me sometimes when I'm feeding her. I wish she would let me give her scratches. Maybe someday.

Reeses:

I was getting asked quite a bit on social media how Reeses has been doing. She has a lot of people rooting for her. 😊 She has been struggling, and it has been getting harder and harder for her to control her back end. I filled her pain meds for the last time, and have decided that when they run out, we're gonna make the hard call. I didn't tell that to anyone besides my immediate family, but I wanted to film her walking to show what a struggle it was becoming for her. She still loves her walks every morning, but they have shortened to only a half a mile, and she often falls and can't get back up without my help. She also is to the point where she can't control her bladder, and I'm not going to let her go on lying in her own pee. It wasn't an easy decision for me to make, but I wanted her to be able to walk into the vet's office on her own, with a little bit of dignity left. I think she would just go on living, even if she was in a lot of pain, if that's what she thought we wanted her to do. I just can't do that to her. It's so hard knowing we only have a month left with her, but I know it's the right thing to do. I shed a lot of tears on our walks, and it's been a hard month, but I'm just soaking up all the time I can with her.

Random Stuff:

The shorter days means I go out to feed in the dark each morning. A perk to that is that I'm out there for all the sunrises again, which I love. Here are a few of my favorites from the month.

When I walk out of my house and see how pretty my barn is with that back drop, it makes me feel very grateful for my life.

I love a good Idaho sky.

We also had snow this month, a little too close for my liking. It didn't stay for long, but we've been gearing up for when it does.

Starting to have frozen animal waters in the mornings. Time to pull out the water heaters.

I love lighting the house and barn up for Halloween!

I can't believe October has already come and gone! This year has flown by so far! We hope by this time next year there will be lots of changes and improvements made to the farm. We won't be running any crazy races next year, so the farm will be our top priority. Can't wait for what's in store. 

Halloween in Boise

 Halloween is my favorite, but the past couple years it hasn't been as fun. It's a little boring with no kids home, and living in the country where we don't get many trick or treaters, so we decided to go to Boise and spend it with Nora. Best decision ever! We drove over on Halloween morning, and got there just in time to meet Bailey at work for some fun trick or treating and a tour of the courthouse. Not many kids went through, so Nora got so spoiled! She filled her whole candy bag just in the courthouse offices. It was fun meeting the people Bailey works with, and getting a cool behind the scenes tour.

One of the offices has a photo station, games, and lots of candy to hand out.

We went to Justice Moeller's office, and he put on his Darth Vader costume for Nora. Justice Moeller is Sawyer's father in law, so it's fun for Bailey to work in the courthouse just down the hall from him.

We got to tour the court room, and see some back rooms like where the justice's robe themselves, and sit and make decisions.

This is the first time the women justices outnumber the men.

Bailey got off work early, and we went home and got ready for more Halloween festivities.

Grams and Pops brought Nora a Halloween package, and she loved her pumpkin necklace.

Ready for a night on the town. 😆

Bailey and Mason made us a fun Halloween dinner.

We spent the evening on Harrison Blvd. They block off the whole street to traffic, and the houses are decorated crazy good. The whole neighborhood participates, and there are all kinds of things to draw big crowds to certain houses. It's so fun! One house even had a live band playing Halloween songs. The owners stand out on the sidewalk handing out candy to the constant line of people. 

Nora was the cutest little hot dog just dancing her way down the sidewalk. 😁

We all loved the creepy circus house! There were some pretty scary things, and I would wonder if Nora was gonna get scared. She pretty much went by and waved and everything. There was a giant buzzard at one house, and she waved and said, "Hi duck!" 😂

I loved this spider house!

Grams and Pops with their cutest little hotdog!

In case you were wondering if Nora was excited about being a hot dog, she was! Very much! 😄

I wanted to post this picture too, to show how cute their little family costume theme was. They handed out little smokies at their trunk or treat, and they were a big hit! 😂

Meanwhile, while we were in Boise doing scary stuff, Amanda was in Idaho Falls looking super cute dressed like Belle in her 4th grade classroom. Such a perfect costume for her!

Mark and I got up early on Friday and did our long run while Bailey was at work. Friday night was a Boise State football game. Bailey and Mason have season tickets, so Mark and I bought tickets so we could go with them. We had tons of fun! Boise fans bring the energy. The Broncos are having a great season, and Nora is one of their biggest fans! 

Towards the end of the game I looked down and the potato was lying face down on the sidelines. I think he fell and couldn't get back up. I was laughing so hard! 😂 Someone eventually came by and helped the poor potato back to it's feet.

On Saturday we spent the morning playing with Nora. We took Bailey out for her birthday lunch, and then had to head back to Idaho Falls.

When our kids were little, and they got together with all their cousins, it could sometimes get rowdy. Mark used to have all the kids sit in a circle on the floor and teach them to meditate. It was hilarious! He tried it with Nora, and she caught on pretty fast. 😆

We played lots of games with Nora, and she had us laughing all morning.

Three generations of goof balls!

It was a quick trip with lots packed in. Being around Nora for Halloween was just what I needed to remind me why Halloween has always been one of my very favorite holidays.

Halloween Candlelight Concert

Keith, Jenni, Mark, and I had a date night to this really cool candlelight string quartet Halloween concert. It was really fun! They played lots of scary classics, and explained the stories behind them. They also played all the traditional pop culture Halloween songs, and theme songs from scary movies. I loved it all! 

 

My Birthday

I haven't been very good at taking pictures lately, but I had a great birthday. Mark sent me on my usual scavenger hunt to find my presents. I got to go to lunch with Sawyer and Amanda, and a few days later I had a fun birthday dinner with friends. I'm always grateful for the awesome people in my life that I get to celebrate with. 

The haul from my scavenger hunt.

My fun new Halloween sweatshirt. 😆

We had my birthday dinner on Sunday, and Amanda made me this yummy dessert. So so good! She makes a lot of really yummy treats, but this is definitely one of my favorites.

Mason, Bailey, & Nora Visit

While Mark, Bailey, and I went to the Grand Canyon, Mason and Nora stayed on the farm and took care of the animals. That meant we got to see them for the day before we left, and the day after we got back for a little bit. We all (especially Floof) love having them here. 

Floof loves visitors so much!

Nora watching out the window as I showed Mason how to take car of the animals.

 

Floof would sit in the car and wait for Nora to take him for a drive. 😂

Nora gathered chicken eggs with me. We have matching egg gathering aprons, so we have to use them every chance we get. 😄

Floof really needs Nora to live here. He is so entertained by her!

Grand Canyon: R2R2R

 We got a big group of our IFTR friends together to go run Rim to Rim to Rim of the Grand Canyon. This was the second time doing it for Mark and I, but we brought Bailey with us this time, so it was extra cool. It's one of my all time favorite runs, and even after doing it twice, I'd still like to go back in a couple years for round three. We started at the south rim and ran down the South Kaibab trail, across the box (or bottom) of the canyon, and up the North Kaibab Trail to the north rim. Then we turned around and retraced our steps back down, and finish by climbing back up to the south rim via the Bright Angel Trail. It's about 50 miles and 11,000 feet of climbing. It's no joke, but the whole thing is spectacular! 

There were 12 of us total. Seven of us flew down, and 5 people drove down.
Mark-Steph-Joyce-Jenn-Michelle-Tricia-Bailey

We traveled down on Thursday, spent Friday touring around the south rim, and just getting ourselves prepared for the next day's adventure.

We had a 5:00 AM start, with a nice warm up to the trailhead from our lodge. 

This is the only time we were all together. We just split off into whatever pace was comfortable for us. Some of us ran in little groups and were together for a while, and some people were even solo for parts of it. We kept track of everyone via our InReaches. It's so cool knowing we have so many friends just as adventurous and crazy as we are.

Heading down in the dark. It's so fun to see the big row of headlamps snaking down into the canyon in the dark.

Mark heading down into the canyon.

Bailey and I enjoying the sunrise.

Once the sun was up, our views were amazing!

Skeleton Point

Running down the south rim.

Amanda took this picture of Mark, Bailey and I running down the South Kaibab Trail.

We made it to the bottom. Through the tunnel and across the Colorado River we go!

Looking back at the bridge we used to cross the river.

The seven mile stretch through the bottom of the canyon is called the box. It's probably my favorite part! It's just gorgeous!

Running through the box.

😂😂😂

Bailey in the box.

Mark and I climbing to the north rim.

This section of trail was carved into the side of a cliff. It's crazy!

Bailey

Mark

Tricia

Running up to the north rim.

It's a good feeling to make it to the Supai Tunnel. It's a rough seven mile climb to the north rim, and once you reach the tunnel, you only have two miles to go! It was really hot, and we were running out of water at this point. Bailey was getting light headed and dizzy, so we stopped to eat lunch here. Mark pressed on, because his water was about gone, and he was struggling. He just needed to keep moving towards the top where we could refill water.

The north rim!

We got plenty to eat and drink, cooled off, and went to the bathroom at the north rim. Then it was time to start the long journey back across.

Running down from the north rim.

The views running back this way are so good!

We loved having Bailey on this adventure with us.

We stopped at Phantom Ranch on our way back through and got the famous lemonade. It just hits different down there!

We ran really good through the box on the way back, but once we got to the ranch Bailey really started feeling the fatigue. We had to gear up for a long climb out. 

Bailey really struggled the last five miles. This was the farthest she has ever gone, and the most elevation she's done by far. We kept wondering when she would hit the wall, and we were impressed she did so good for so long. For the last few miles, we'd have her keep moving as best she could for a half mile, then sit down on a rock and rest for three minutes. We did this until we reached the top. 

We made it! Such a huge accomplishment. We were so proud of Bailey!

We drove back to the hotel, slept, and then headed back to the airport the next morning.

Our final picture at the sign.

This whole Grand Canyon trip was part of Bailey's law school graduation gift. It included a medal to remember our adventure. I ordered them right when we got home, and they turned out so good!

This was the longest run of our 100 mile training program. It gave us confidence that if we can do this, we should be about ready for our race in a month.