Fall Catch-up

Somehow time went into warp speed, and before I knew it, I was two months behind in blogging. I am not sure if I am actually that busy or actually that lazy. Maybe a combo of both? Anyway, we will do our best with a few blog posts to catch up to speed. Fall really was lovely around these parts, and we did our best to soak in every glorious moment before the impending doom! 

 

Beth and I were fortunate to snag some great rides before the weather turned. Some were more glorious than others, and this particular ride was easily a favorite. Mark sold Scout, and our trainer Sherman informed us he had been working with a big gray horse for a few months and he might be a good fit. Since Tucker was out of commission, I needed a mount and decided to try the big guy out. Let's just say big is an understatement. Fortunately Beth is tough and basically my ranch hand and saddled him up for me. Had it been up to me, I would have been sunk! The weather was beautiful, the scenery was stunning, company couldn't have been better, and the big guy was a perfect gentleman. He really is a gentle giant and I am THRILLED Mark decided to buy him!

 

 

After spending a good portion of the ride coming up with some awesome names for this beautiful boy, we found out his name is TJ. I like the ideas Beth and I came up with better!

 

View from the top. Seriously magical.

 

Yum. We had a hard time wanting to come home. I could have rode forever!

 

Beth keeps me sane. Literally. In so many ways. She's a blessing in my life for sure!

 

Since the weather was so great, Paige and I were able to do quite a bit of exploring down in the river bottoms. She loves a good walk! We spent a lot of afternoons trekking around with the dog, listening to music on my phone, and just enjoying the good life together. Nothing fancy, but oh so fun.

 

I loved that on this particular excursion she insisted on the binoculars.

 

 

We loved this rock beach. Paige would throw rocks in for hours! I enjoyed sitting down and observing until I discovered that spiders also loved the rock beach.

 

On one particular glorious fall evening, we hit up the local straw maze. It was pretty great and this little turkey led the way the entire time. She did a great job and pushed us through pretty quick. We somehow nabbed the attention of the newspaper and made the front page. It's hard to be a celebrity sometimes.....

 

Of course we needed to hit up Bear World and Beth's house a few times. I snapped this picture on one particular outing. These two have a love/hate relationship. Fight one minute, hold hands the next. I really think they are great friends, they just happen to be three and being three is just hard.

 

 

At some point this fall, Paige turned 15. Seriously though, I can't believe how grown up she looks and can I say gorgeous? What a sweet, wonderful, beautiful little one. Just love her!

 

We discovered that Paige is a pretty serious bike rider. We apparently should have bought one months ago. One Saturday afternoon, we decided to check out a bike shop and couldn't get Paige to leave. She rode this bike in the store for a solid hour and then pitched a fit when we left. Mark caved and ended up bringing the bike home from work one day. At this point, things were getting cold so we back out all the cars and Paige rides the bike in her indoor arena. The first week she rode the bike each day for 3 hours. 3 HOURS! Serious love. She insists that Roxy comes in and joins her and they have a marvelous time. Paige requests Roxy's presence and then when Roxy busts into the garage Paige usually yells, "Surprise Roxy!" Every. Single. Time. It's hilarious and Roxy loves the surprise each and every time. I can usually hear Paige cheering and laughing from the garage while I am doing dishes. Too fun.

 

Mark and I celebrated our 10 year anniversary in October. I am not sure where the time went. I can say I love him more now than I did ten years ago. We've seen a little bit of everything in the last decade, and I am grateful to have such a good husband at my side.