Afternoon at the Besendorfer's Farm

We spent Saturday afternoon at the Besendorfer's dairy farm.  President Horner, our stake president and friend, invited the kids to come ride his horses.  He was so kind to take time out of his busy day to teach the kids to ride.  We also got to play with the resident farm cats and the two dogs, Polka-dot and Champ.  We saw how the cows are milked and helped corral a nervous cow being milked for the first time.  Bro. Besendorfer, Pres. Horner's father-in-law, gave us a tour of some of his barns where he maintains a wonderful historical museum.  We went through two of twelve barns filled with artifacts!  We saw pioneer tools, old cars, WW11 weapons, a giant pocket knife and pictures of historic Wasatch County.  We were invited to return another day to wander through the other out buildings.  It was a great way to spend a beautiful November afternoon.

Ryan riding Slick

Carter riding Black

Bethany riding Slick

Halloween

We had a great Halloween.  It was a professional day which means Scott worked on grades and the kids had the day off.  The kids and I went to the movie "The Book of Life".  Camille and her boyfriend, Sean, joined us for pizza later that night.  It was fun to see Camille  and get to know Sean better.  The boys handed out candy this year while Bethany went trick or treating with her dad.

                               

  

Bethany was a fortune teller for her dance party.

  

Our favorite costume was the juice box.  Bethany made this costume back in August. She is so creative!  She wore the juice box on Halloween night.

 Barfkin, Ryan's pumpkin

 Bethany named her pumpkin Fred.

Savage Opress, Carter's pumpkin

Ryan dressed up for his friend's "sweet sixteen" party.

Remembering Zeus

Our sweet kitty passed away today.  We only had him for for about 16 months.  We knew he was going to die about one week before he did so we had lots of time to say goodbye.  Last night he was so tired and I just held him for a long time  and stroked his soft ears.  Zeus was uncomfortable for the first time this morning so we said a prayer that he could go to kitty heaven soon.  He died while we were at church.  It's been really hard on the kids watching their frisky kitty turn into a sad tired kitty.  After having a good cry Bethany was able to realize Zeus was free from his tired body.  We will be getting a new kitten soon because we love furry critters and realize there is a whole building of cats and dogs at our shelter waiting for a home.

We will remember Zeus as being a teeny tiny kitten that Bethany found in the bushes after a summer storm.  He loved to chase mittens stuffed with bouncy balls especially if the mittens were red!  Zeus loved to jump and climb.  As a very young kitten he would climb up our crab apple tree and do a flip off the trunk.  Carter said he was doing park our.  Zeus once climbed into Bethany's closet and knocked the games down waking her up.  He loved to hide behind furniture and bushes and pounce on people.  Zeus hunted pretty birds all summer.  We wished he wasn't so good at that.

Zeus snuggled with people on his own terms.  He would let us pick him up but would never stay if you sat down with him.  He loved having his fur brushed especially on his cheeks.   The best time to snuggle with Zeus was when he was asleep.  He would forget that proper cats don't need humans and chirp a sleepy hello and let us pet his tummy.  Zeus liked to hide under my bed.  When I took a nap I would wake up to a furry ball nestled beside me. He liked to be wherever the family was gathered.
We will miss you Zeus!