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!