My Crazy Life as a Farmers Wife:

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October 26, 2011

Pumpkin Walk

My sister-in-law and her husband have a pumpkin patch in our community where they grow and sell tons of pumpkins. She put together a community pumpkin walk this past weekend. The kids each got to decorate a pumpkin to enter into the contest. Grace and Shelby made owl pumpkins, and Kate made a witch...

Russ made a man-eating pumpkin...

and Lily made a princess...

it was a beautiful fall evening, and she had it decorated so cute...there was hot chocolate and donuts, plus a potato bar (they are also potato farmers)...

we played fiddle tunes while everyone looked at the pumpkins and ate around the big bon fire...

there were so many creative pumpkins!

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Headwaters Fiddle Contest

A couple of weekends ago, the kids competed in the Headwaters Fiddle Contest in Three Forks, Montana. We woke up bright and early to make the 3 1/2 drive to the contest. The drive was amazing...beautiful fall colors and the sunrise was magnificent...I only wish the photo could do it justice.

here are the top five contestants from each division...Grace and Lindsey both won their divisions, and Russell got fourth in his :)

and Shelby was a judge for this contest, along with Lily Broger...

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October 25, 2011

Making Apple Cider

The apples were loaded on the trees this year. Every day during spud harvest, we gathered all the apples that fell off the trees and stored them until we were ready to make cider. We got an cider press from Happy Valley Ranch because we were tired of wasting so many apples each year.

when harvest was over, and things were caught up around here...we were able to spend the afternoon making cider.

it was actually quite easy...especially with Burkham's help :) With all of us pitching in to help, we got about 38 gallons.

and the chickens were quite happy with all of the left over mash that we fed to them...

I forgot to mention that we added pears to the cider as well, and it has the most delicious flavor! We will be freezing the cider to enjoy when winter comes.

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October 19, 2011

Potato Harvest 2011: Part II

I'm realizing that I just keep uploading photos. I can't seem to choose just a few. Sorry. I love that through photos...and very few words, I am able to paint a story of our life. Harvest is such a special family tradition for us each year. All of the years hard work comes to a final stretch, where we hope for good yields and a safe and quick harvest. I'm so grateful each year to see the miracle. That with hard work and a little help from God, a miracle of growth occurs and these crops that my hubby has worked so hard to grow, will support our family through the year. Here are the last of this years harvest photos :)

every year, I have one favorite photo from harvest...something that just speaks to me...and this year, this is my favorite. My mother in law sitting in the kitchen after a long morning and afternoon cooking and baking...she was sitting to rest for a bit while watching the progress happening in the field in front of the house...

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October 17, 2011

Potato Harvest 2011: Part I

What a relief to have it all done. I took so many photos during harvest. I'm not feeling very organized, so the photos are just in random order. If you want to know more about our harvest, you can read some of my past posts from previous years where I explained it all in more detail. As you might know, my kids and I help my mother in law cook for everyone. We were busy cooking lunch and dinner every day (and taking care of kids) while the rest of the family drives truck, tractor, or works at the cellar. Though it is a relief to have it done...and it is a few weeks of pure chaos and hard work, I think we all enjoy our harvest and the times we get to spend together. This year was a little hard to not see Lisa's smiling face everyday. I don't think harvest will ever be the same without her.