Dad got the canyon bug last month (I'd say he picked it from me, since I had it earlier this summer, but I inherited the condition from him to begin with), and Addison and I agreed to come along with him on a three-day road trip that took us 750 miles through some of the most amazing country on God's green earth. Except in this case, the earth was red and chocolate and white and orange and dark purple and pretty much every other color of the rainbow. This was our route: View Larger Map We went down the evening of Halloween and got to go trick-or-treating with Grandma and Grandpa and Lindsey and Micah. We were scheduled to leave on our trip at 6:00 the next morning. Addison woke up at 5:00 and proceeded to puke his guts out, thanks to Halloween candy-bingeing. We had to stop twice in the predawn hours to beg grocery bags from convenience store clerks, but after tossing his tootsie rolls a couple more times he was good to go. Between heaves. Our first hike was ca...

We are having so much fun with our chicks! They've been in a box under a heat lamp in the shed for several weeks while their feathers have been growing. The weather has been so nice lately, though, that we have taken them out into the sun several days this week, which they've loved.  The kids are loving them. Bryn is my extra big helper with the food and water. She loves to go out and turn on the light with me every morning and greet the "chicky poos." She's gotten very good at filling up their water and actually does it all by herself in one of these videos, which is no mean feat. Addison enjoys playtime with the chickens (who he does not allow me to call "chicky poos" in his presence because it sounds like I'm saying "poo poos") more than the morning wake-up call and feeding. I love watching him chase them around and cup his little hands around them to pick them up. Almost without fail he says that his favorite part of the day wa...