The last weekend in October we celebrated both Lisa's and Caleb's birthdays together because they fall so close to each other. Lisa's birthday is on the 27th and Caleb's is on the 29th.
Lisa opening cards while the boys look on.
As is the custom in our house, we celebrate birthdays in the morning with breakfast.
One of Caleb's favorites, Béquet sea salt carmels which are actually made in Bozeman, Montana.
This is a special birthday for Caleb because he is now 21 and at legal drinking age.
So, his sister Hannah gave him this bottle of Sake to celebrate.
Lisa's "big" present; what is it???
She read the label before opening the box and is very pleased. Way to go Bob.
It's a brand new, really nice Breville juicer. This is something Lisa has wanted for quite awhile especially now that we live in a place where we have so much fruit in our back yard.
This machine is great because all you have to do is cut the fruit into small pieces, skin and all, and run it through for amazing juice on the back end. It's great!
This year we had a bumper apple crop. It was great getting to share them with our neighbors, many who we'd never met before. That said, even after giving out bags and bags of them we still had a lt left. The Juicer came to the rescue and we finished off our crop this year using making super delicious apple juice.
On October 26the we took a fall color hike around Spooner Lake. We were almost too late to see the full colors, but they were still great and it was a fun thing to do with the whole family as part of our birthday weekend celebration.
The birthday boy and girl enjoying this beautiful fall hike together.
We are so blessed to live only 20 minutes from this beautiful place.
Hannah holds up a very pretty and interesting leaf.
On October 16th Bob made a trip to Michigan to visit his brother Andy and his wife Mary. It was a great visit and long overdue. The last time we visited was in the early 90's.
Andy is a contractor and has built literally dozens of homes in this part of Michigan since 1986. He took me around to a number of them and they are nothing short of spectacular.
This is a picture taken from the one bridge that crosses to an island on Saddle Lake, one of the dozens of small lakes in area. Roughly 80 to 90 percent of the homes on this lake Andy either built, remodeled or added a barn or side building to. He has done so much work on this island the people that live there refer to it as "Potts Island".
The kitchen and dining area of this custom home Andy built was amazing. Bob was blown away by the detail, customization and personal touch Andy had put into this home. No wonder the folks in this part of the country think so much of him. He is highly respected and for good reason.
The outside of the home with the beautiful interior in the previous picture.
Inside and out, this is truly a "dream home".
Andy in front of another beautiful home he is working on.
Bob had fun helping him a little bit on this house and a couple of other projects Andy was working on.
Andy and Mary's beautiful home nestled in the hardwood trees just to the east of Grand Junction, Michigan.
Andy's workshop -- his "Shangri-la," his "place of perfection and happiness."
While visiting, Bob got to spend time with Andy and Mary's kids Josh and Katie and it was great catching up with them too. Here's a picture of Josh with his two wonderful kids, Levi (almost 2) and Weston (5).
One of the standout beauties of this part of Michigan are the fall colors. Bob couldn't have picked a better time to visit than when he did. The colors were just stunning!
It also turned out that Mary was celebrating her birthday while Bob was visiting. It was great taking her out to dinner to one of her favorite restaraunts, Taste, in South Haven.
South Haven is located on the shores of Lake Michigan and so after enjoying Mary's birthday dinner we all took a walk out to the South Haven Lighthouse where this picture was taken.
What a fun evening!!
Andy's latest project, wooden model rafts like those we took down the river on our recent Grand Canyon River Trip. Again, Andy's talent and attention to detail are over the top.
The other treat Bob thoroughly enjoyed while visiting Andy and Mary's was getting to know and spend time with their dachshund, Basil Hayden.
Love it, only Andy would name his dog after a premier bourbon whiskey which is, honestly, a great expresion of his bigger than life personality. It was a great trip...
This October, Hannah travelled with other members of her graduate student lab to the Mojave Desert to participate in their annual Desert Tortoise Surveys. Each year, these surveys provide valuable information about the tortoise's populations, their health, and give the crew a chance to revisit some of their old friends (several of these tortoises have been visited since the 1970's).
The crews always know how to have a fun time, and Hannah loves to bring along her kazoo to play impromptu tunes like, "My Heart Will Go On" or "America the Beautiful". If you look closely in this picture, you can see that someone at least enjoyed the playing - a little tortoise named Diane, who came out of her burrow and walked directly over to Hannah, sat down, and stayed for another hour of kazoo playing and hanging out. The desert is truly a magical place, and getting to meet Diane was one of the highlights of Hannah's trip!
A big part of the yearly Desert Tortoise Survey field work is finding and assessing new tortoises, either babies or ones that had not been found in previous years. When a new tortoise is found, trained crews take its measurements, including weight, size, sex, and overall health, as well as capturing blood samples and marking the tortoise with an ID.
Here Hannah is assisting Todd with the USGS, by holding a tortoise as he prepares to mark it with some yellow paint. This was an amazing trip filled with hard work, laughter, beautiful landscapes, and time with the amazing Desert Tortoise.