Millie Visits the Groomer

 Millie had a date with the groomers today! It took FOREVER! BUT she's a new dog. We felt last time was too short. This time I asked them to be sure she could see and to get the snarls out. They left her longer...but they BLOW DRIED her hair...she has no curls...she's one giant fluff ball. She looks like a little bear.  The dip on top is due to a bit matt Stacia had removed. 

I kinda like her this way...I think Stacia likes her shorter....shorter it will be next time....shoot...shorter will mean less trips to the groomer. 

The Girls Are Surprised

Backstory: We have never been able to afford to give our children new cars when they get their license or leave home. We did sort of have a thing going.... The military moved us fairly often. We always had the family 15 pass van, and we'd buy a little commuter for Michael in our various locations.  When we moved, we either had to drive it cross country, store it or sell it. When the girls left home, we gave them a car. Josiah bought his own. Jamin got the Honda when he moved out and we pcs'd from TX. At that time Krista got my little Toyota (I think it was), rather than us storing it when we were in Japan.  We were in Japan when Jared needed a car, and he purchased a Jeep.  We were retiring when Arielle left home and she took our commuter from CA.  We didn't think ahead to how we'd handle this when we were no longer moving and selling commuters every few years.  😂 Nolan reached driving age about the time we were looking to retire our Jeep - which we bought to tow behind the RV.  It's still running for him - though held together with duct tape.  Alex has been using JaRissa's truck and is planning to buy it.  We've been trying to figure out what to do for Stacia. Allie has a truck which will either be fixed or sold...she's in the process of deciding....and we've been teaching the girls to drive in my van...thinking eventually we'd need to get them something to drive....

KrUke were recently blessed with a new to them Jeep. They wanted to play forward the blessing. The girls had NO CLUE what was up when Luke and Krista stopped by this evening. Yep, they are pretty great people. They gave the girls Krista's old car. Whoever needs it will drive it. This is a blessing to Michael and me as well. There will be time for the girls to save up for reliable transportation. The Vibe will serve them quite well. 

Check out the circled keys

They are motivated to finish learning to drive in the van, get their licenses, and move on to learning to drive a manual transmission. 

Note: I was going to get a photo of the girls with the car, but it snowed before I got the photo, and it hasn't stopped snowing...

Baking and Games

 Josiah and Liv came out to visit today while Carrie is working.  Stacia  baked a little cake for them to decorate. She taught Livie how to make a fondant rose. 

CoRielle dropped by too.  Benny loves to bake and cook. I wanted him to feel involved so handed him the pumpkin of candy corn. I love the concentration on their faces...well Liv is a sugar monster. LOL 

Benny is a bit sheepish about how carried away he got! I was proud of the girls for encouraging his creativity.  Next time I'll give him a set number to put on the cake. 

It's always fun when the "big Gherkins" drop by.  Josiah brought a game this time. We played a rousing game of Taboo Junior together. I actually enjoyed it better than Taboo and all were able to play. 

Cory, Stacia, Liv, Allie, Danny, Arielle, Cy, Benny 

It did take a bit of cooperation for Benny to participate, but he hung in there well and accepted help from his teammates. 

This was a relaxing end to a great week. I am realizing anew how truly blessed we are to have these people  nearby. LOL 

Millie at the Movies

Fridays are Pizza AND nights....and a game, and a movie...usually we're ready to simply veg with a movie by Friday night. 

Michael suggested Swiss Family Robinson tonight. Millie approved of this movie about gloriously big dogs and tigers. 

 Millie added a new dynamic to the movie. 

Surprise!

 Surprise!

I opened the door to head out to the compost bed and to feed the rabbit and chickens. I got out by woodstove and heard a noise. A quick check revealed a moose. I backed up and took a photo. 

As I continued to pan right, I discovered TWO MORE moose. 

This is a good reminder of the season change. The moose are certainly back in force. 

Fall Food

 Nothing says fall like fall food.  The season is changing at Wholesome Food co-op too and that it evident by the food on our table this week. 

In fact, we got a pallet of squash to divide. I've got 100 # of squash resting under the stairs for winter eating. This is good as the garden was a bust as far as preserving food this year. 

A Glorious Fall Day

I'm capturing past days for the blog...this folder was titled "family dinner," but I remember nothing about dinner.  We were home from church as it was a "covid week" for us....we have noticed this year we are constantly being notified we are "close contacts"...and so we dutifully do our 10 days. Our natural immunity is holding us well. CyRi and CoRielle have just had covid in their homes and were good to visit. 

I remember a glorious fall day. Cy brought Willow to meet Millie. They did pretty good. 

Carrie has been working the night shift and many weekends, but she had time off this day. They called and came out. CoRielle dropped by as well. It didn't take long before Liv and Benny had us all working towards their vision...so many leaves to rake. 

Arielle has been wanting to try colors on her hair. Cory did a thing for her. 

Cory, Danny (11 months), Arielle 

Such a good Dad! 

Hello, sunshine! 

So many leaves - a kid's paradise. As we went through the day Benny and Liv kept returning to the leaves. The pile was jumped in, moved to beneath the slide and slid into...and finally there was the great leaf war of 2021. 

Swimming in leaves

Michael brought a load of wood over to the fire ring...of COURSE we had a fall fire and s'mores. 

Benny LOVES to help Papa and his Daddy with chores. 

GG and Stacia chilling by the fire

Arielle, Benny, Allie, Livie, Cy and Willow

Warming up chocolate while the marshmallows roast

Stacia, Cory, Arielle, Danny, Allie

Cory, Arielle & Danny 

Someone got a great idea...but maybe it's an idea whose time hasn't quite come. An Oreo S'more....

Papa's new wagon is going to be GREAT for dip-netting, but it's also wonderful for hauling so many things around here - including grandblessings. 

Livie and Benny get an assist from Papa

Go Livie!

We love fall. In recent years I've begun to dread fall as winter gets a tad bit long in our area. This year, rather than dreading fall signaling the advent of winter, we are working to embrace fall for fall. I put up decorations even though "they'll be covered in snow soon." We are enjoying each day and trying not to think, "This may be the last fall fire," but seriously, I do think this was our last fall fire. LOL  Soon we'll be moving into winter bonfires.