September

Bennett had his first day of pre-school this month. He TOTALLY loves it. He has a knack for learning names and he knows who is or is not there each time. Bennett is learning how to read and write and still loves to color.







Because I wanted our dining table back, we took this quirky little table that came from my great grandpa and made it Bennett's art table. The first day he didn't leave it for 3 hours.

We were able to attend a reunion on Jared's mother's side which was held in a favorite camping area above Fairview. The boys found this hut and had fun with their cousins. I enjoyed myself too.

A few years ago we took a Fall camping trip with Jared's parents. We enjoyed the cool weather and changing leaves so much that we decided to do it again - even in the same camp site. Although we camped several times this summer, this was the first time that hot chocolate or a fire sounded really good. It didn't freeze at night but we had a little frost and some cool fog on the nearby reservoir.

We hiked a lot this trip, and the boys more than they ever have. Because we were in sheep country we ran into some protective dogs that firmly pushed us back up one trail. Thanks to Jared's elk bugling (and Gma's fruit snack break) we saw this large elk above us.

My camping photos wouldn't be complete without a canoe shot.




















On one of our hikes we found several massive fallen tress that boys played on. Paxton does not appear to have any fear of heights and he can have fun climbing even the smaller trees near  camp.

To be perfectly honest, I haven't seen Clyde catch a fish in a long time, so it was fun for me to see him pull this one out of the water for a photo op.








We saw plenty of deer nearby, and even a moose. There were also beavers that had worked extensively on the stream below our camp spot.

I loved the trip. In fact I aim to make it an annual event.

My friend recently told me that I'm very domestic. I'll take it as a compliment, and I can't really argue since I have a cold storage full of self-bottled tomatoes, applesauce, peaches, and now around 32 pints of home made syrup. We spotted these elderberries on our camp trip and decided to try the 'ole fashioned elderberry syrup. It turned out well; I personally like it the best of the several types we made. The others were blackberry-raspberry and blackberry-raspberry-peach. Some turned out more like jelly and others were a bit too thin. But they're ALL sweet.

My favourite type of cantaloupe, 'Athena' grew in a range of sizes in our garden this year. But they are reliably tasty.

Here's a recent pic of our 8 chickens. They are a pretty flock, and very friendly. The smallest one now routinely jumps up onto my arm or shoulder if I'm close to the ground. I don't know who's weirder - the hen for doing it or me for allowing it.

And, if you animal lovers haven't had enough, here's our two cats. Destructo on the left and Invisible on the right. They are brother and sister but other than color they aren't too much alike.