Jim led the WA football team in as many practices as he was allowed by the state of Illinois. One day they found themselves practicing under a rainbow.

Ruth is making a statement with her face mask.

She got a squishmallow from the neighbor. Now three of them have matching rabbits.

Ruth and I ran errands one day and drove by a glorious sight:

What’s so glorious about a building under construction? Why, it’s a future Woodman’s being built near our house!

We celebrated October birthdays.

As this special girl turned 11 years old, we celebrated at breakfast with birthday pancakes,

and at lunch with her favorite pasta.

She played her new ukulele for Sugar. Have I mentioned how much she loooves having her picture taken lately?

Peter got together periodically with his non-football friends to play football on the WA field.

Despite several restrictions and guidelines for Halloween, our neighborhood observed the holiday anyway. Kids trick-or-treated with abandon–so much so, that our ginormous candy bowl was just about empty by the end of the night.

Ruth recycled Jeremy’s colonial costume that he wore for several years.

She trick-or-treated with her neighbor friends.

Jeremy rounded up some western gear, borrowing Derek’s boots and Jim’s hat.

He trick-or-treated with his own posse.

When the night was over, the trading commenced. Jim weighed the candy accumulated by both Jeremy and Ruth: a whopping 20 pounds!

Meanwhile, as those two were sorting and trading, Peter had some friends over for a cake pop tutorial.

These two dressed up as characters from Napoleon Dynamite. I was embarrassed to admit that it was the first time I’d heard of the movie (which was made in 2004). I knew I was behind the times, but I think this set a record.

Speaking of Jake, Tiffany sent a photo of his wall-sized white board in the office. It’s so… him.

And here’s a final scene from the month of October: the tree in our front yard that turns a vibrant shade of red. Alas, as I write this, the tree is now bare.

Jake and Tiffany came for a visit one long weekend in October. It was so good to be with them! We played some games.

We watched Jeremy play some 7 on 7. This is the closest we’ve come to any sporting event in months.

We picked up Derek and headed to Mom and Dad’s after church on Sunday for some lunch

and more games.

While the guys played, we girls went for a walk and sat at the dog park to people/dog watch for a while. It was so entertaining, I forgot to take a picture!

When we returned home that night, Jim and I took Molly for a walk around the track across the street. She thought it would be fun to make friends with a skunk. She learned the hard way that skunks don’t make friends.

The rest of the night was spent washing skunk spray off her fur–first outside with vinegar and baking soda, then in the tub.

When Jake heard that Ruth is learning astronomy this year, he was sure to pack his telescope to show her first hand what she is learning in her textbook. It warmed my heart.

We enjoyed a fun weekend with this beloved couple!

It’s been over three years since we moved here, and my daily outings on the prairie path have yet to get old. They are still a highlight of my day. Part of what keeps them from getting old are sightings like this:

The deer have been active ever since the weather turned cooler. I caught this one bathing in the river.

They will often cross the path just ahead of me, then disappear into the trees just as quickly as they appeared. This one, however, stopped on the side of the path and fixed her eyes on me as I jogged past. I pulled out my phone camera, because I figured if she charged toward me I would at least get it on video.

But this day, I saw a most amazing sight: a bald eagle flew overhead and perched on a nearby tree branch. Beautiful.