Autumn Traditions

On October 16th, we stayed overnight with Scott and Kristine's family in Denver on our way to the farm in South Dakota and got to see Jenna and Shannon cheerleading at a soccer game.  

 Enroute to Denver

Jenna and Shannon,

cheerleaders for Broomfield High School.

The next day we stopped for a visit in Scottsbluff with Bill and Karen and enjoyed eating Mexican food with them for lunch.  

 In front of Bill and Karen's house.

(Bill, Karen, and Sam)

A special bonus for our visit to the farm was having Jeff and two of our grandsons from Arkansas there for a short visit.  A friend of Jeff's and his two sons came with them to enjoy the farm experience as well as pheasant hunting.

 Ready for the pheasant hunt.

(Grampa Sam, Sam, Jeff, Weston, Zack, Jamon, and

three friends from Arkansas)

After the hunt.

(Jamon, Zack, Jeff, and their Arkansas friends)

Grandson Sam taught the hunters 

an efficient way to clean their pheasants.

Going for a Sunday evening walk with

Brent and Tauna's family.

(Tauna, Weston, Brent, Sam, Grampa Sam, and Rachel)

The weather was nice while we were in South Dakota.

(Tauna, Sam, Brent, Weston, Rachel, and Grampa Sam)

On our walk, Rachel (and Weston) decided to 

run along the top of the big, round hay bales.

  

During our two-week stay at the farm, Sam put in long hours helping with the fall harvest combining corn while Brent combined sunflowers.  I, on the other hand, had a relaxing time reading, working on my life story, visiting family and friends, and going for walks.

The following are photos taken on one of my walks.

 Grain bins

 The auger moving grain from the truck into a bin.

They also store grain in huge plastic bags

that each weigh 450 pounds before being filled.

 Silage pits.

The one in the background has tires placed over the plastic cover

for protection.  The one in the foreground is not covered.

Calving shed used during calving season,

especially when the weather is stormy.

It also has a sleeping area for the hired man

if a close watch is needed.

A not-so-nice memory of this shed happened when we were giving a farm tour

to some friends we knew from Russia, the Moltons.  As we looked through

the glass window separating the sleeping room from the calving stalls,

I was curious about the buzzing sound I heard and wondered if if might be

an alarm clock.  Then I noticed in the corner a short distance from me

a coiled rattlesnake making the noise.  You can be sure Gloria and I

quickly left the shed while Sam took care of the snake.

While we were in South Dakota, we enjoyed visiting Curtis and Marla's family in Mitchell and attending church in Rosebud and in Mitchell.  

I also had a nice visit with Curly Mansfield, Sam's 90-year-old aunt.

Curtis, Haley, Maren, and Marla Smith

in Mitchell, SD

We had seen Patti Busch at church in Rosebud,

but wanted a longer visit with our dear friend of almost 40 years;

so we stopped at her home in Mission on our way back to the farm 

from our visit in Mitchell.

(Narene and Patti)

Eulalia "Curly" Mansfield, Sam's aunt, 

who recently celebrated her 90th birthday.

She still enjoys crocheting, morning outings to get the mail,

visiting with friends and family, and going to her weekly

hair appointments.  She is quite a lady.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

Returning to Utah on Halloween day, we crossed the long miles of Wyoming and got to Spanish Fork in time to enjoy being part of the Graham family's Halloween tradition of broccoli cheese soup in "pumpkin" bread bowls  
(orange colored bread baked to look like a pumpkin)

and to see the grandchildren in their costumes.

Amanda and Megan found their costumes among my dress-up things;

Amanda chose a dress our former foster daughter wore for her

eighth-grade graduation, and Megan chose my senior prom dress minus 

the velveteen jacket.  Joshua was a BYU football player, Rebecca

was a princess (of course!), and Ethan was a turkey.

(Amanda, Joshua, Rebecca, Ethan, and Megan)

 Sarah, Anna, and Derek

as characters from Monsters Inc.

Doesn't Anna make an adorable "Boo"?

Trevor and Megan

Guess Who game

* * * * * * * * * * * *

We had nice autumn weather, and

the chrysanthemums opened up in full bloom.

Halloween Festivities

We appreciate Beth inviting us to share in the Halloween fun with her family.  First on the agenda was watching for Ethan and Joshua to go by with their class in the parade outside their school.  At 5:00 p.m., we were included in their family's traditional Halloween evening meal featuring pumpkin-looking bread bowls filled with either broccoli-cheese soup or chili.  After taking pictures of those in costume, the grandchildren set off on their trick-or-treat quest around the neighborhood.  

Beth has modified our family's tradition of making glazed donuts to give out on Halloween.  To keep their day from being overly busy and not competing with all the other sweets on Halloween, Beth's family make and deliver the glazed donuts to friends before Halloween day. 

Here are some picture memories from Halloween 2013:

 Beth, Rebecca, Monty and Brittney

 Monty and Great-Grampa Sam

 Joshua as a baseball player

 Ethan as Uncle Sam.

My sister had made part of this costume for

her son Blake many years earlier.

 Amanda, Megan, Rebecca, Ethan, and Joshua

 Beth joins the kids for a picture.

 Brittney and Monty as the Michelin kid.

 "Cute as a bug" - Sarah with Anna

and Brittney and Monty

 Derek, "the bug catcher," is happy with his

little Lady Bug and Butterfly.

 Jared by his engraved pumpkin.

The Grahams had a yard full of jack-o-lanterns.

 "Lady-Bug" Anna with Mom Sarah and Aunt Maggie.

 Maggie with Rochelle's nephew, Andrew Abbott;

they are in the same FHE group at BYU.

   Trevor dressed up like Grampa Sam.

The cap with sunglasses and the shirt that used to be Sam's

now with extra padding completed Trevor's "look-alike."

I know some adults don't care for Halloween, but I enjoy seeing the clever costumes and have good memories of the holiday.  Here is an excerpt from my life story that I have been writing:

While living in Ann Arbor, I continued our family tradition of making glazed donuts for Halloween trick-or-treaters.  Our apartment became a favorite for the kids to come as they could smell the donuts deep frying.  Sam would answer the door and hand out the warm donuts.  One year there was a report of kids getting razor blades put in their apples, so parents began to let their children only eat candy or food given them on Halloween that was from the store and sealed in wrappers.  This never became a problem for us since neighbors knew us and our children.  Years later, when we moved to the farm in South Dakota, we only had Roy and Barbie's kids and the Allens come by; so we put the warm donuts in sacks and delivered them to the houses of the friends of our kids, a kind of reverse trick-or-treat.

Our two great-grandchildren:  Monty and Anna.

Costumes are off, but cute as always.