The $2,000 Gate and Fence

Our gate finally was installed! We hemmed and hawed over this baby, but finally dropped a ton (literally!) of money to put a new gate on the side of the house. This gate is out further than the former gate, and we changed the fenceline on the southwest corner there. The trailer will be secure behind it! Now for the last west side of the property and the brown fence that is on its last leg...

And just to keep it real, what the transition into Christmas REALLY looks like at our house:

 

The Annual Colville Forest Tree Snagging

We did it again, this year! This time our tree was on the sidehill by the upper road, we traipsed from the usual camp spot to find it and brought the truck back around to pack it up. Josh was extra excited to hold the saw in inappropriate poses and Micah was whacking things with sticks the entire time. Not any snow this year! All up in one day, where's the adventure in that?!? This tree proved to be one of our wonkier ones...but with all of our ornaments and that red ribbon on it, it looked meant to be.

 

Another Sweet Day of Thanksgiving

We love our Thanksgivings at the farm, but this one was especially sweet with G'ma Trudy, Jerry & Sheyanna, and Levi & Kat. Ben's were in Warden this year, and Katie's were all in HAWAII to visit Megan, so it was such a quiet holiday. Before we left we helped G'ma put up the basement Christmas tree to usher in the holiday season at hand!

 

Micah's TENTH BIRTHDAY Day

The TENTH BIRTHDAY TRIP was announced via scavenger hunt clues: SIX National Parks in One Spring Break Trip! Jeff did such a great job planning this amazing trip--Great Basin, Zion, Bryce Canyon,  Capitol Reef, Arches, Canyonlands--and putting together a slide deck to show Micah. Later in the day we heard him telling a friend at soccer: "In our family when someone turns ten they get to pick a trip...but I get to go to SIX PLACES!" He's always hard to read in the moment, gaging his excitement, but it was so sweet to hear this interaction later in the day. 

And this was the year he got to play in an indoor tournament on his birthday, the day before Thanksgiving. So fun!