Election Humor ~

Saw this while driving into town today and it made me chuckle! 

Rocky Mountain Raptor Program - 25 years

 The Rocky Mountain Raptor Program had their 25th anniversary on Sunday, so we headed down the mountain to check it out.  Jordyn and i love this place, but Justin had never been, so he decided to come along, and Christy joined us too.  Check out this Great Horned Owl skeleton...the giant eye sockets were sort of creepy!

 They had feather painting and face painting for the kids...

 live music...burgers, hot dogs and brats....2 giant cakes as well as a bunch of cupcakes...

 and of course...RAPTORS...the Ambassadors of the Rocky Mountain Raptor Program.

 This Golden Eagle has been with the program for 25 years...so basically, we were celebrating his anniversary as well!

 This Goshawk was very pretty...but my favorite ambassador of the day...

 The Barn Owl!

Hope you enjoyed our Sunday adventure!

More Catch and Release ~

 More catch and release today...with the colder weather, its only a matter of time before this pond freezes, so we need to get these fish out!

 Justin and Jordyn worked well together...he caught, and she carried/released...

 Looks like he caught another one...

 This guy was a pretty nice size...

 Success!  They caught and released 9 trout today...not too bad for folks with no poles!  Next it was time for some lunch...Jordyn requested tomato soup with grill cheese sandwiches...one of our favorites up here!  yum!  I made the soup out of tomatoes fresh from our garden, and it was rather tasty.

 I think these two and their synchronized dipping agree :)

 What a beautiful day!

First Slumber Party ~

 Jordyn's friend Andrea turned 7 this weekend, and she celebrated by having a birthday-costume-slumber party!  It was Jordyns first slumber party, and since all the kids are so young, moms, if they wanted, were invited to stay the night too. 

 I was excited to partake in the slumber party...especially since i knew me and all the moms would have a blast!  And we did...we stayed up late watching the Twilight movies while the kids played and played and played.....

 This is one of the gifts we gave Andrea...she has a thing for elephants, and when she saw the i-spy quilt i made for Jordyn, she asked if i could make her an elephant quilt. Well, i didnt have time to make an entire quilt, so i made her a pillow instead.  She seems to like it :)

 It will go nicely with her favorite stuffed animal, "elephant", whom she takes everywhere!

 Her birthday, being in October,  always has a pumpkin theme of some kind...and Sharon, her "super" mom, always makes the best cakes!  Looks like everyone agrees....

 Enjoying a sugar high, the kids decided to play some more...this time it was slide down the stairs and dog pile on one another.

 Too much fun!  Then it was time to wind down with a movie...of course, this lasted several hours, and there wasnt much movie watching but lots of giggling, and even some emotional melt downs.  Several of which Jordyn had...but i think it was due to being over tired from the overnight she had at grandma and grandpas the night before.  Being the youngest of the bunch, and new to sleepovers, that could have been part of the reason too...so i was glad i could be there for her...but then again, several of them were getting a little punchy...so we had to put our foot down and make it "lights out" for the girls.  Besides, all their chaos was interrupting our "mom" fun :)

It was a great weekend though, and i think all the kids had a good time! 

First Snow...

Glad we took the Halloween portraits yesterday...everything is wet and soiled now!  :)

Happy Friday Everyone!

Jordyn the Jester and Poet ~

 With a chance of snow tomorrow, i figured we better get outside to take our annual Halloween portraits of Jordyn.  Its absolutely stunning up here right now, so i hope the colors stick around for a bit!  Anyways, my little canyon clown was more than happy to pose for a few pictures...

 but just a few...after about 5 minutes she was bored and super goofy, and then we had our annual "mom yell at Jordyn to smile and sit still" photo shoot!  :)

 But thats okay...because i proceeded to keep shooting while she was being goofy, and those are some of my favorite shots!

 I had to include a toothless shot...

 and of course this one looks like shes standing in front of a fake backdrop...but thats how gorgeous it is up here right now...unbelievable!

 This one says, "ATTITUDE!!!!"

 "Alright...im getting really bored now mom"...her favorite thing to say to me when i bust her for being wild and obnoxious..."but mom, im just trying to have some fun"

 And then i get the goofy face...which apparently cracks her up.....

 What can i say...shes a good sport for her photo obsessing mommy!  Thanks Jordyn...I LOVE you!

And now for her poem she wrote today after our photo shoot.....

August

Leaves turn red and yellow and orange in the fall.  Then the bears collect berries like 

chokecherries.  Squirrels collect many nuts in the fall.  Birds fly south for the winter.
People stay for fall.  They do not collect many nuts.  They do not collect berries.
They do not fly south for the winter.
They stay.

Moose and Girl Scouts...

  It was a gorgeous Autumn day, and this lovely moose agreed!  She had a partner in crime, but that one was skittish, and scampered into the woods, while this one greedily munched on some grass, unafraid!  Jordyn and i were soooo thrilled to spot some moose...this is only our second time since school started, and we just happened to have a camera with us this time.  Gotta love the mountains! 
  Meanwhile, ive decided to start a girl scout troop in the mountains for the girls up here.  Never mind that its been well over 35 years since i was in girl scouts, and things have changed a bit since then, but there was a representative at our "back to school" night, and all the parents seemed very excited, so i jumped right in to get things going.  Its interesting when you start a new troop...you start with 0 dollars, so its a little hard to get started.  Thankfully, we've had several generous donations from friends and family to help us get things rolling!  Wish me luck!  :)