Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow

This morning we woke up to the beginning of a winter wonderland. Snow has arrived here at Star Valley Ranch in Wyoming. It is a wet snow and not much to play in right now. The beautiful fall colors that we enjoyed yesterday were covered up by the snow but, the prediction is that this snow will melt .... more leaves will fall .... then more snow will come and stay. It is not unusual for their to be 10' of snow for the majority of the winter on the ground around the houses here. Thankfully, we'll head to St. George most likely next week.

Visit to the Dairy Farm

Yesterday after our hike up Cedar Creek Canyon we went over to a families dairy farm from church. They are currently milking around 68 cows twice a day and breed cows year round. We took Max to show him where milk comes from and he had a fun time running around seeing the farm.

These cows just got milked.

Each cow has a computer chip in them and they get scanned as they come in to get milked. Each cow will give them 60 to 70 lbs of milk per milking episode. One gallon of milk is 8 pounds.

This computer cadget monitors their milk intake and can produce all kinds of reports for them.

Happy cow ... getting milked! All their milking cows are currently "expecting" and their gestation period is 9 months.

Bro. Heiner inside the milking barn - a little stinky - they do 12 cows at a time. We watched their process for a couple of rotations.

Some of baby cows that are a few months old now.

The Heiners also raise they own wheat and barley on the farm. They raised their boys on the farm so they would learn hard work and what it means to work 7 days a week. None of their sons are taking over the farm. Farming is difficult and the Heiners milk all year round so they have an income. They have their holding tank emptied every other day and all their milk is taken to Ririe, Idaho to a creamery that makes cheese. Thank you Heiners for showing us where our milk / cheese comes from!

Our Morning Hike - Cedar Creek Canyon

We see this canyon from the back deck on my parents house here on Star Valley Ranch. The colors are so beautiful right now and today we had to go up the canyon and see them up close. Max did great on the hike and of course had fun throwing rocks into the river. Enjoy the beautiful fall colors!

Grandpa's New Sleigh

Grandpa got an early birthday present this past week. A new Toro 42" zero turn radius to mow around his 57 trees here in Wyoming! Grandpa has been wanting one of these for several years now and is quite excited about his "new ride". Max was just as excited to have it delivered and they waited all day together for its arrival from town. Everyone wants to cut the lawn now! (PS - not that the "old" riding lawn mower was bad ... but the new one is AWESOME!)

Little Buddies

Max has really found a friend in Grandpa! Yesterday they were almost inseparable. Grandpa had Max out in the yard working, cleaning up and getting the yard ready for us to head St. George. Grandpa even found a way to hold Max's pants up with "make-shift twine" suspenders and Grandpa found some for him so they could be twins. I'm so grateful that Max is getting this time with his Grandpa!

Picasso, Not Yet ...

I bought some paint and wooden toys the other day and let Max go to town on them. He had a great time with them but, I am not so sure we are ready to break out the canvas! Here are some snap shots of the entertainment!

Idaho Falls Trip

We took a little trip over to Idaho Falls this week to do some shopping and to go to the temple. While we were there we stopped in to DI (a 2nd hand store) which always has some interesting bargains! Max had a great time looking over the toys and was happy that he was not being told to not touch or put it back, etc. Grandma let him try this mask on and I think it is a baseball umpire mask - although I am not 100%. Anyway Max looked rediculously cute - so I had to take a quick picture.

As far as bargains go I was able to find some great clothes for Max for this upcoming year - I think I ended up with 7 pieces for $23 and then I found two Williams & Sonoma cook books for $1 each. I was so excited! I love to find a new cook book - especially at bargain prices. I have never been to the Idaho Falls Temple so I was happy to go and do some work on my spiritual self. This is an older temple but still very beautiful. Quite different from the Washington DC temple but, the same wonderful spirit resides as it is the House of the Lord. The fall flowers were beautiful. I love fall .... I think it very well may be my favorite time of the year. We spent the night at a local hotel which thankfully had an indoor pool. Max and Grandpa had a great time splashing in the pool while mom and I did more shopping. I considered this a quick trip to the "big" city ... which from Thayne, Wyoming perspective - Idaho Falls is like going in to DC! All in the eye of the beholders perspective!

Talk to Mark again this morning. He has been terribly, terribly sick. Fever and stomach flu have plagued him for the past 4 days. I guess this is Afghanistan's little welcoming for him. Apparently most people go through this after they get there. He is more than ready to be done with the fever and running to toilet!

Fall Craft Project

I have been diligently looking for craft ideas that Max and I can do to help him learn and have fun as well. We have found the local library and have gone to the story telling time which was fun for him and we'll plan to continue to do that each week.

I saw an idea similar to this online for valentine hearts but thought we could try doing this for fall leaves. We took old crayons and shaved the wax down with pencil sharpeners. With this leaf we used yellow, red and orange crayons. Then place your shavings on a piece of wax paper. Place a second piece of wax paper on top. Turn your iron on to the lowest setting and put the wax paper (with shavings inside) inside a piece of newspaper. "Iron" your paper for just a few seconds and the heat will melt the crayons and wax paper together. Be careful because the wax will go outside of the wax paper ... depending on how big of a piece you use onto your newspaper. Wait a minute or two and trace a shape on the wax paper to cut out. I used an old cereal box to create shapes to trace out on the wax paper. Then cut your shape out, punch a whole in the top and hang with your favorite string. Max is currently hooked on pipe cleaners and we have a whole bunch - thanks to Aunt Angela on our trip across country. Anyway, we did three the other day and hung them up on the blinds. They are really pretty especially when the sun is shining through. You can do this for Christmas tree shapes - or any holiday really. Easy project and it held Max's attention for 20 minutes which is really good!

Greys River

Last Friday we went over to Greys River Canyon which was only 20 miles away. We drove up the canyon to see the beautful fall colors and to have a picnic. The day was perfect and of course Max and I had a great time dipping our feet in the river and throwing rocks! The deer hunt has started and so we also saw lots of hunters and their campsites. Here are some of pictures from the afternoon.

Proof that even my toes were in the water!

Max loved to climb all over the tree stumps, throw rocks and jump!

Grandma & Grandpa Tippets

Last Saturday, my parents volunteered as part of the Event Staff that helped run the 206 mile bike race from Logan, Utah to Jackson, Wyoming. There were somewhere between 1000 and 1400 bike riders. Many many riders come from all over the world to participate in this bike race. Mom and dad helped with parking and the support crews in Alpine, Wyoming just before the journey up Snake River Canyon. Max and I had gone to Jackson for the day and on our way home we passed the first few bikers on their way through the canyon. The average speed for the front runners is 24 mph. That is unbelievable to me! Snake River Canyon is difficult but, the bikers had two others that were harder from what I hear. Amazing strength these athletes have.

On Sunday, September 13th, mom & dad celebrated their 49th anniversary. We had some of their friends over for a little dessert party. It was a nice evening with their friends and Max and I played down here in the basement. We served chocolate oreo truffles, mini cherry cheesecakes and mexican chocolate cake. Yum! Happy Anniversary mom & dad!

All About Mark

I am so proud of Mark! He is in his 4th week in country and is finally stationed at his job post. He is slowing adjusting to the country, the climate and working in an unfamiliar environment. I am so thankful that we can talk just about every morning and now that he is at his final job point, I can give him a call if I needed to. Our lives have turned up-side-down over the past 2 months but, we are so grateful for the job and this opportunity. He is working 7 days a week usually 10 to 12 hour days. Now that he is getting settled in he will be starting work on designing roads and over-seeing contractors. Since he has been in Afghanistan he has had one flight by plane and one by helicopter. He is getting to see a whole new part of the world first hand and is learning about a completely different culture! I am anxious to have him home for Thanksgiving and so I am counting down the weeks. Thankfully he will be able to come home every three months. Mark has already met so many people from different parts of the world and the US and the great thing is that he is making contacts for future work every day. I know the Lord is watching over Mark and each and every day Max says a prayer that his daddy will stay safe and protected. We miss you and we are so proud of you Mark!

Quote of the Day

A sign that I saw this afternoon reads:

Recession is when your neighbor loses his job.
Depression is when you lose your job.
Recovery is when Obama loses his job.

Dear Chase

Dear Chase Manhattan Bank:

I thought I would make you aware of the lack of Customer Service that your bank has provided my family and I over the past 10 months. First it started with over 25 phone calls to your office which lead to multiple transfers to various departments with customer service representatives who do not speak English even as their 2nd or 3rd language. Telling the customer service representatives of our situation, asking for help, giving endless financial information, being told you would provide help in 6 to 8 weeks and then again in another 4 to 6 weeks and receiving actually no help or follow-up. Now after we have an offer in to your institution since the 2nd week of July and we still have not heard from your service division yet again ..... please do us all a favor ..... do not claim that you provide customer service on any level .... especially on nationally televised commercials. Honestly, I would rather do my taxes every day of the year or better yet go to DMV on a daily basis than have to call or deal with your customer service representatives.

Seeking professional help for training of customer service representatives may want to be considered in this upcoming years company goals.

Best Regards,

A Completely Frustrated and Ready to Lose It Customer
Seeking Someone Who Can Provide Some Kind of Service
Or Beter Yet ... Someone Who Can Just Make a Decision
Within Your Organization.

Stephanie T. Bridges

Grandpa's Swing

This past week Grandpa got Max out in the garage and they made this little tree swing to put up in a tree near the garden. Max has had the BEST time swinging and trying to "kick" Grandma's Daisies in the garden ... and wants to go higher and higher each time. Thanks Grandpa for a great summer time swing!

Snake River

The other day we decided to take advantage of the nice weather and drive up the canyon towards Jackson. We stopped at two different locations where we could walk down closer to the river and at the 2nd stop we had a picnic and played in the river. There quite a few guided rafts and fishing boats that came along. I told Max that when he gets a little bigger I would take him on raft down the river. In the meanwhile, we had a great time dipping our feet in the river and throwing rocks!

We decided that a 3 year old could get away with no pants at snake river!

Brr, the water is cold mom!

Today I went through the canyon as I went over to Jackson and the tress have started to show their fall colors. I can't wait for everything to be in full color - the views and pictures will be amazing! Fall is definitely my favorite time of the year.