Sunday Trails & Other Happenings

 We love FALL! Hiking yesterday on Sunday was SO amazingly gorgeous. Being in nature, outdoors, talking, walking, soaking in life with my oldest is always time I look forward to each week. We had a great hike, good chats and took pictures of the beauty surrounding us. We have so many great trails where we live its always the debate....which one to choose!? But this one around the lake did not disappoint.

 

Fall I use the crock pot at LEAST 2x  per week! A few meals of the last week included; 

CROCK POT Rotisserie Chicken  (for our daughter who loves chicken!) - we've tried a normal 'rotisserie' rub and also a lemon-pepper rub. Foil balls on the bottom keep it from sticking. 8 hours on low. Then transfer to the oven on broil to crisp the skin for 5+ minutes- until crispy outside.

We also tried a new soup using my preserved summer squash from our garden. We ate it before I could take a snap shot but it was amazing!

CROCK POT Yellow Squash Soup with Parm & Herbs (Vegan/Veggie)

2 lbs yellow squash cut in chunks
1 cup veggie broth/stock
3/4 cup chopped onion
2 tbsp vegan butter
1 tbsp lemon zest
Salt/pepper

Cook low - 6 hours
After 6 hours:
Add: 1/2 cup almond milk
Blend
4 tbsp (or to taste) grated Parmesan cheese (or vegan if non dairy)
Sprinkle with parsley and tarragon

Tennis time weekly with our son. Our favorite downtown courts. Photo doesn't do it justice but there is the best view of downtown and the mountains here.

Around the farm....kitties getting big.

Our last batch of eggs before most of our chickens were taken by predators....

Ro-Ro girl!

Trying to find treats we hid.

Scarlett pig and one of the chicken girls that is still around.

Poor guys, life on a farm means sometimes you loose birds.

The boys - our sweet pups.

  Life is busy, good, blessed and we are embracing Fall and remembering daily all we are thankful for in this beautiful life. There are so many blessing surrounding us. The warm sun coming up each morning, our animals here, the ability to be together daily- learn-work- have fun as a family. Happy Thanksgiving week.

Hiking & Halloween

We've been hiking weekly if not more...we tend to do MORE hiking during the fall and winter vs the spring and summer. We usually hike September through May and skip the summer/and monsoon months around here. We're loving the changing of color of leaves. The air is definitely crisp around the lakes, but gorgeous.

Halloween we thought would be cancelled and even when it was for our town, the residents petitioned the city to keep the spirit and open up to go forth with Halloween and they said yes. There's a street downtown that nearly every house goes all out in decorating. The town closes the street so everyone can walk and see all the decorations. Kids trick or treat. Music is played and everyone has an awesome time. This year was no different than last or the previous years- everything felt and seemed back to normal. It was a great family evening spent enjoying our town celebration!

 

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Not all houses handed out candy - but nearly all the houses participated in decorating and there were some awesome houses this year! We love our town!

Day Trip - Poultry Show & Petrified Forest

Although our weeks are filled with pretty normal happenings we spent yesterday out of town on a little day trip. Thankful to our daughter for holding down the fort with the animals so we could take our son to a Poultry (pigeons, ducks, chickens, geese, turkey etc) Show several hours away.

In addition to the Poultry show we also went to the Petrified Forest National Park. Both were awesome.

Lots of birds to see, different breeds - lots of pigeons which are his favorite right now. Disappointed not to see our friends from our state pigeon club but otherwise it was a great time seeing all the birds. After the show we ventured to the Petrified Forest National Park -it was on the way so we figured we couldn't miss the opportunity to visit. It did not disappoint. It was truly amazing - especially for anyone interested in geology, science, history- it had it all. It was overcast so pictures don't do it justice to the actual beauty of seeing it in person - we were all in awe. 

Find info on this awesome national park here:

Petrified Forest AZ info

Or check out their photos - so much better than ours here:

Photos 

Photos from our trip.....Poultry Show:

And next the Petrified Forest National Park....

Wonderful time with family exploring our beautiful state of Arizona!