Halloween 2025.

Kendall and her Dutch crew hit up Haunted World.  

On Halloween night, she and Diego carved pumpkins.

I love that Diego is a math nerd.  He carved pi into his pumpkin.

Of course, they dressed up his cat, Crispy, for Halloween.

Sidney was off doing her thing, so I was left to hand out candy.  It was shockingly slow, as I only had about five groups of trick or treaters.  I decided to lock the door and set the candy bowl out.  These videos tell it all.

In their defense, not that they are asking for a defense, it was 11:30pm when the girls showed up.  I had to laugh, because they next morning there was about five pieces of candy strewn about the porch as a result of their grab and go.  Good times!

The other funny story is that Sid recognized the guy in the first video.  She sent him the ring footage, and they got a good chuckle out of it.  The guy just wanted him some KitKats.

Mishaps, Miscellaneous and Harvard.

Here are some of the random things from the month.

Kendall came out to discover this giant crack in her windshield one morning.  'Mom - what should I do?'....'Replace the windshield, of course.'

RIP Owala.

Willows happy place.  Thank you Amazon for your lovely boxes.

Yep, I am that lady.  We need to keep Willow safe.  If she wants to be outdoors with me, I have a nice little tie out and harness for her.  I thought this was absurd, until my friend from the ranch, Katie, told me that her mom did this with their cat.  I feel justified now.

While I was out of town, the girls met up for dinner at Zupa's.

Of course, we cannot let the month go by without a few sunset pictures of appreciation.

This one is from our neighborhood.  Stunning.

It is that time of year.  I am happy to report that I have decided to get an early start on the holiday coffee this year.  

Oh Levi!  He decided to start tearing up the panels, so I had to break out the hot fence.  

I am light on Levi pics this month, so here is one from Sid riding him.

I had a work trip to Boston this month.  We had a tour of the newest building on the Harvard campus Rubenstein Treehouse.  I definitely should have taken more pictures of campus.  It is iconic, of course.

The Fabulous Life of Sidney.

Sidney has been keeping her life full of amazing things.  She has recently started taking jump lessons again, more on that at a later date.  It has been very inspiring to her and has renewed her love for all things horse. 

She has been enjoying all her animals.  This girl sure does have a love for four legged creatures of all kinds.  She loves her job, taking care of dogs, and has become a neighborhood favorite for both horse and dog sitting.

She continues her love for concerts and went to see Eric Church. 

Funny story...I was listening to the radio the other day and heard that Riley Green was in the running for Sexiest Man Alive for 2025.  He did not get it (this year), but I had to google him of course.  I learned that he is single and has never been married.  Forget that he is half my age, I was instantly convinced that we were perfect for each other.  I mention this to Sidney.  Here is a recap of our conversaion.

Me: I have found my next husband, Riley Green.

Sid: Mom, he is toxic

Me: What????

Sid: Yes, haven't you heard about the Ella Langley and Megan Maroney drama? Plus, he is too young for you.

Me: Uh, no I have not hear the drama and. by the way, he is closer to my age than yours, so it is fine.

Sid: He is toxic mom.

Me: Okay now that you have totally dashed my dreams, I am totally depressed.

Sid (insert eyeroll).

Since this exchange, she has bombarded me with clips such as this Riley Green on Jimmy Fallon..  She even encouraged me to get backstage passes to one of his concerts (no selfish motivation there).  I am still convinced he is perfect for me - Ha!

On that note, we will move on to gorgeous sunsets.  Sidney and her friends had there last bible study on Simplot Hill, where they watched the sunset, drank hot cocoa, ate Gma's sugar cookies and enjoyed some amazing fellowship.

Sidney has joined the HOSA club at school and will be participating in the State competition this winter.

A Round of Golf and a Cart Friend.

We have had an amazing fall, as usual.  I just love the fall weather in Boise.  Beautiful days and cool evenings.  I took a few hours off work to get in a round of golf with my dad. My mom was able to join me.  She has less than zero interest in golf, but she does enjoy riding around the course.

Jimmy joined us for the round.  He is a super nice guy that golfs every day (#retirementgoals).  

This was just after one of my finer holes.  It is a short par 3.  I was hitting well this particular day, and decided to hit my 7 iron from the tee box.  Lo and behold, it made it onto the green.  I was just as surprised as any!

Car Hot Cocoa and More.

Here are the highlights of Kendall's October.

Car Hot Cocoa (I did not even know this was a thing).

Sporting her new Dutch Bros Lonely Ghost Merch.  I have one of these amazing sweatshirts heading my way!

I guess one should not cry over spilled milk, but this is definitely worth shedding a tear over.

Kendall is a fan of the farmers market (rain or shine)!

Hanging with the ladies of Dutch!

Our Visitor - Friend or Foe?

We live just down the road from the World Center for Birds of Prey.  This fun fact, coupled with the endless acres of sagebrush all around our neighborhood, it is not uncommon for us to have very large birds around our house.  That being said, it is always startling to find them camping out in our backyard.  This guy stuck around for a day or two.  He just kept relocating to a different eave.  He was quite engaging, as you can see from the pictures.  We just had to make sure to keep Willow inside.  

I posted these pictures on Facebook and learned that Owls can be messengers.  I suppose I should have remembered this from Harry Potter.  I was joking to Sidney that perhaps the owl could carry off Bella (I think she must have been particularly annoying that day).  I giggled to myself for several days picturing this scene in my head (only insert Bella).  The Proposal - Scene with Kevin the Dog

Quilts for Kids.

The perfect storm occurred, inspiring me to make some quilts.  First, Kendall moved out of the house.  I converted her bedroom to my new sewing room.  With a freshly set up sewing machine, I needed a project to work on.  Neither Sidney nor myself needed any clothes made...so what could I make?  Enter our church's 30 day challenge.  They were having an October campaign, encouraging people to get our and serve in our community.  I thought about making some quilts for foster kids.  I research a bit and found this awesome organization My Very Own Blanket.  The idea of making quilts for children was very near to my heart.  Each of the girls received a handmade quilt from friends when they were born.  The girls LOVE these quilts.  In fact, Kendall still has hers.

I reached out to our local contact and she confirmed the need.  My mom and I set out to work.  We put together eight quilts.   

My mom had some protective wrap left over from her window treatment days.  When we were finished we lint rolled each quilt and wrapped them up for delivery.

The day we delivered them was very special.  When we dropped them off at the adoption agency, it turns out the agency had merged with the agency that helped us with Kendall's adoption.  In fact, the lady knew many of the people we had worked with.  To top it off, we learned that they also try to give a quilt (along with a care package) to birth mothers when they leave the hospital, so they do not leave empty handed.  This nearly brought tears to my eyes, as I thought about Kendall's birth mother and the beautiful gift that she gave us when she trusted us to take care of the baby that she carried.  I am forever thankful for her and her choice.

Here are pictures of the quilts that we dropped off that day.  I can assure you, I am continuing to put my machine to use, especially knowing the purpose these blankets can serve.

BSU Homecoming 2025.

BSU had their homecoming and friends and family weekend in October.  We did all the things, starting with the homecoming parade.  I convinced my dad to join me for the parade.  We met up with Kendall beforehand, as she was prepping for her participation in the parade.

After saying hello to Kendall, we headed out to find a great spot on the parade route.

The parade was awesome.  I managed to accumulate all kinds of swag.  One of my favorites is Cathy Jo.  Sidney has aspirations to be the next Bronco girl, though I am not sure that Cathy Jo is ready to give it up.  It is fun to know the Bronco Girl and her horses and to have ridden with her in drill.

My dad got this great shot of Kendall mid turn.

It is not a parade without a few selfies.

All night my dad kept mentioning that he wanted to bring my mom down to the greenbelt to ride Lime scooters.  I kept saying that this was a terrible idea.  He kept pointing out that one can go slow and take it easy.  Of course, he had never been on a Lime scooter.  After the pep rally, I asked Kendall if she would take grandpa on a ride back to her apartment and I could meet them there.  She gave him a few instructions and used her app to secure a couple of scooters and off they went.  I sent my mom a picture, as she was out of town.  I think she was not too sure about this idea until after they made it to the apartment safely.

The next day Sidney, Kendall and I attended the tailgate.

We managed to score even more swag, if this was possible.

We had absolutely TERRIBLE tickets for the game.  Corner section with the absolute back row.  I think we would have needed binoculars to see anything.  The morning of the game, my friend called me.  She asked if we wanted to join her and her friend Mike.  They had scored club seats.  I was ecstatic.  I sent Mike our terrible seats, and he managed to resale them - so we had cash for snacks.  

6-7...

The gang (sans Mike).  He must have been off getting our amazing snacks.  

Sidney donning her school spirit shoes.

It was the most beautiful thing to have these club seats, as it started pouring in the second quarter.  The wind was blowing like crazy too, and here we are in our covered seats with heaters even!!!  I could not have been more grateful.

As Rebecca so appropriately put it...Better Together!

Cathy Jo and Petey getting ready for their buzz.

Sunday morning, Kendall and I met up for coffee and 'Touch the Turf''.

Shortly after this picture was taken, Kendall and I raced to the thirty yard line.  I am VERY competitive and may have crossed the line first.  We will not mention that I did a quick 'Ready, set, go!'.  Yep, I used wisdom to my advantage.  Afterwards Kendall said, "I forget...you are an old person, but you don't have an old person body yet."  I laughed.  I am pretty sure there is a compliment buried in there:).

We purchased a BSU flag to put next to the Cal Poly flag in the den.

Kendall is pretty much famous, as she made the BSU Facebook page.