Wood-cutting is an annual rite for us. I recall a time when Jud had said he was done with firewood. And yet, here we are again.

Jud prefers the larger trees. It's great...if you're as strong as he is. I can only roll what he can easily lift. I can give the bigger log a heave-ho and it won't budge. Together, we haul a more daunting eight-footer but I'm pretty sure he's carrying the brunt of the weight because I'm certain that my arms have gone into a coma.

The man simply does not know his limits. So, I've started joining him for safety.

No puny trees for this exercise. Jud enjoys the effort. I asked him to let me have a go with the chainsaw. It was a 4-pound little monster and it chewed into wood like it was butter.

But the real work starts after the tree is felled and cut into sections. It's brute strength that gets it from the ground to the truck and even on the smaller logs, it's still back-breaking work.

We had water and a little food. But poor Jud forgot to bring a little Gatorade on this trip. He really could have used it!




Anni and I joined him on this expedition–south to Star Valley, to his old stomping grounds. This is the furthest we've taken Anni on a road trip since the surgery and she did very well. While Jud was sawing away at another tree, she and I hiked a short way to the top of the hill. It sure was a beautiful day.

I guess it would be fun to do this again. Like...next year. Jud is hoping that another window of opportunity would come up. He still has a few tags left he'd like to fill. Apparently four cords of wood are not enough. Not including this batch, which he's doing as a trade for that really nice chainsaw he let me try  out, we've got enough to keep the house heated like an oven.

I happen to think that's a lot but he's of a different opinion on the matter so I suppose we just may be back if this first round of snow goes away for a little bit.







On the other hand, these road trips have their little perks. They give me more opportunity to take pictures.

Now, that I like to do while Jud is making a loud racket with his man-gear. The kids are sure getting tired of their pictures being taken. They'll have to get over it. I only get a shot at every new day with them once. I'm holding my ground.

I am making up for for all those times I forgot to bring a camera!



And of course, there's the landscape that's always worth trying to capture on film. I'm still figuring out all the different features of this Lumix and I'm enjoying learning. The little tripod I bought helps me take pictures on a timer. It eliminates that drawback of being the one behind the camera.

Maybe I'll enter more photo contests and see how I fare. In the meantime, I found an online digital scrapbook. I'd sure like to create one of those really neat digital albums.

Is it really the middle of October already? The family seems to have gone through quite a hurdle in the last little bit. It leaves little time to really be conscious of time and it's passing by quickly.

Anni decided to join her friends for her school's Fall Harvest Festival. She's getting stronger by leaps and bounds (only, we don't want her to consider leaping and bounding just yet). She wore her Holloween costume, I made her a black hooded cape.

She wanted the vampire look at first. Then she changed her mind and wanted to go for the ghoul look. On the other hand, she looks more like the hooded Jedi's in Colter's Star Wars Clone Wars show but she still looks pretty cool! The next step is to get her some white face paint to complete the costume for candy day.

Snow is on the mountains but weather's been kind and LOVELY! I'm hoping the temperatures hold for another month. But you just never know around here. Jud and Colter went with Ron to Star Valley for a little sight seeing–well, okay, they went hunting but came away empty. They enjoyed the trip though–a little male-bonding time for the three dudes and a nice experience for Colter.

Yeah, okay. It's Fall. I admit with every year, it's getting more and more difficult to look forward to another long winter

...in a small town to boot.

I was hoping football was a good common ground to use on Jud to consider a family move.We've been here 10 years. And as much as I've grown to appreciate living in a small town, there are (many) times when I've questioned how long I will last. Have I griped about this before?

"Wouldn't you want to live someplace where there's a major football team?' I asked Jud last night.

"Why? Those tickets are so expensive anyways. College football is a lot better to watch." he replied.

I tried another tactic so I asked, "Wouldn't you want to live someplace where there's a good college football team?"

Sensing the direction this conversation was heading, Jud replied, "High school football is much better to watch."

Grrrrr....

Most of us have heard the fish tales. It usually starts with, "I caught a fish THIS BIG!" But we especially like the really good fish tales–the ones we eagerly take pictures of for posterity.


On this fine October day, Jud, Colter and Carmelo (my dad) went off to spend the day on Henry's Lake. They left at 5 in the morning. Came home at about 5 at night. When I called to check with them mid-day, the fishing was apparently slow. 


But as you can see...this one was worth all that wait, according to my dad. And thanks to our other Dad, Ron, they sure had a good time on his boat catching this fish along with two others.


Sorry, Papa. But it's too late to resuscitate your fish. This lovely cutthroat-rainbow hybrid in his 8+ pound and 24" glory, along with his friends, are making their way to the smoker. Yummy in the tummy!

I think that Colter was probably feeling left out in all this chaos...poor little guy. However, we tried hard not to ignore our best boy! He's having a great start to 8th grade. I think it helped that his Papa promised to give him an xBox as an end of year prize if he does better to keep up with his work this year.


My parents came up to help with Colter when Anni was in the hospital for the first week and we were going to be gone for the most part. When they headed home, Jud and I took turns coming home for him and one evening, I treated Colter to the new restaurant in town. He calls it TT–short for Teton Thai with a surprisingly (and refreshing!) urban/cosmopolitan feel that made me think of restaurants I've been to in Chicago or DC. The thing that amazes me about this kid, considering his picky ways, is that he actually has a very refined, adult palate. He'll eat a lot of things you couldn't get most kids to eat and he wasn't shy about trying out the new Thai place in Driggs.


So, of course, he gets an interesting rice dish. I tried the soup. I couldn't remember the names to save my life but they were delish! Colter ate his...and mine. We really have to do something about that appetite.


So, onward and upward we go with this challenging but lovable boy!