Happy Halloween to all and a very Happy Birthday to Mindi who turned 39 this year. Hope you had a wonderful day.
October has been busy for us. We started out on the first and second with a sleep over with three of our precious grandchildren. Tracy and Sarah had tickets to the BSU football game in Boise so the kids came and spent the night with us.
Eisley loves to play with the Fisher Price set. This toy has lasted for two generations and kids never get tired of it.
Ashton wanted to make our dinner. He made us Chicken Lasagna.
Chandler planned to stay up and watch the BSU game with us so he took a short nap to prepare. The game didn't start until 8:30. Chandler lasted until about 11:30 and we woke him up and sent him to bed.
Our baby girl turned 37 on the 2nd. It just doesn't seem possible that our children are getting so old when we are just kids (ha ha) "To raise a child, who is comfortable enough to leave you, means you've done your job. They are not ours to keep, but to teach how to soar on their own." We must have done something right because we have 4 amazing children who are soaring on their own. They are responsible, hard working, loving, and great parents. We count our blessing daily.
The beet harvest started up again on the 6th. Lon puts in about 6 1/2 hours on Tuesdays and Wednesdays (Temple days) and 10-14 hours on the other days. We have had a wet October so the harvest has been slowed down because of the rains and muddy fields.
I went to work with Lon on the 10th to document what he does all day in the beet fields.
He is working for Dean and Cody Bingham. They have 4 semi's and nine 10-wheelers hauling beets from the fields to the beet dump and the sugar factory.
They farmed 1200 acres of beets this year.
They have 2 beet toppers, they are kind of like a lawn mower and chop up the beet greens
Each truck lines up and waits his turn to get filled up.
The toppers take a swipe through the field and then the harvester follows, filling up the trucks as it digs the beets
This topper had a problem and the driver tried to fix it, getting his finger smashed and had to be taken to the hospital and had to have surgery on it. You can't see the injured driver but the man kneeling down to help him is McCain Gilbert who drives one of the harvesters. Lon ran to see if he could help. This is the 6 row topper and they have a 12 row topper also.
This is the 6 row digger that McCain drives
The 12 row digger that Cody drives. When you dig 12 rows at a time, it doesn't take long to fill up a truck or semi.
This is Cody. He never touches the steering wheel but drives and digs with a computer so he is always turned to the side.
We are now filled and heading to the beet dump.
The beet dump is located straight east of Jerome just before the flashing light on Highway 93. As you enter, you pull onto the scales to weigh your load.
There are 2 piles of beets
You back up onto the ramp and dump your beets onto the conveyer belt
Lon's truck
dumping the beets
And the conveyer belt takes the beets to the top of the pile
As you leave, you again stop on the scales to be weighed
And then you head to the field to begin the process all over again. On good days, when everything is working good, the work goes very fast. But on days when one or both of the toppers or the diggers breaks down, you have a lot of time to just sit and wait. Dad keeps an Ensign in the truck so that he can read during those times.
With Dad gone all day, I decided to put on a quilt. This is the quilt that we decorated at our family reunion in July.
It filled up the whole room. After I got this one done, I put on another one that was even bigger and it went from piano to wall. I had to start in the closet to get the first rows done so that I could turn it.
But we now have a new spread for our bed. The center piece was made for us in El Salvador. It is all hand stitched and appliqued.
I worked at BZ Plumbing every Thursday for Lon.
Mom, Judy and I went shopping on the 17th.
Mom was ready for some new clothes. We had a great time and were successful and totally wore Mom out. So thankful that she is feeling like getting out of the house finally. I am so blessed to live close to two of my sisters.
Connie and Dennis take such great care of Mom
The 21st was Senior Night for the Kimberly Bulldogs. Mason was escorted onto the football field by his Mother, Father and Shayla.
We have enjoyed watching each of Mason's games this season. They are 7-0 on the season and will begin the playoffs in a week. It has been great to spend time with Shayla and her family each week this month.
Shayla called on Saturday morning and I met up with her and the girls for lunch.
Riley, Shayla, Ryanne
We tried out the new restaurant McAllisters in Twin after grazing at Costco. Ryanne attended her first Homecoming Dance this year. She is growing up way too fast.
Foto's before the dance with Mom and Justin
The rains keep causing problems for the beet harvest. The fields have been so muddy that the semi's can't get into the fields. They have to chain up the 10-wheelers to tractors and be pulled through the field so that they don't get stuck. On the night of the 27th Lon put in a 14 hour day, trying to get done before the rains began again. He was in a new field and couldn't really see because it was so late and with the lights from all the tractors and harvesters you were almost blinded. He was just starting to be loaded and was backing up to turn around when suddenly the back end of his truck went down into the canal that he didn't know was there. Thankfully he was able to get the truck stopped before it went clear to the bottom and it didn't tip over. They had to hook up 2 tractors and the loader to it to get him pulled out.
Almost back onto level ground. There is another tractor and a beet loader in front of this one. Lon never got out of the truck, but kept his foot on the brakes until the tractors started to pull him up the bank. The only damage done was a dented fuel tank. This was the last day of harvest for October as the rain began again and it rained all night on the 27th and all day the 28th and again all night on the 30th. They have 100 acres left and we don't know when they will be able to start again. The fields are just swimming in mud and another storm is predicted for Tuesday.
We celebrated my birthday by going to lunch with George and Kim and spending time together. We have missed being together with the long hours that Lon is working.
With the harvest shut down, Lon took off on the 28th at 4:00pm with Tracy and Chandler for a hunting trip. They went to the Featherville area with the camper and 4-wheelers for one night. They were unsuccessful but did enjoy the time in the mountains and came home to watch the BSU football game with the family here. Sarah brought over pizza's and we enjoyed (ha) watching the game together. It ended up being the first loss for BSU and they played so bad that no one really "enjoyed" the game.
We had a horrible storm with strong winds on Sunday night, the 30th. Lon and George spent the morning of the 31st cutting up 3 pine trees that blew over at Blain and Sarah Hope's house. About 2 they headed to Salmon Falls Reservoir. I went to lunch with Barbara Fuller Chester.
October came to a close with only 8 trick or treater's (oh darn, lots of white kit-kats left) The holiday season has officially begun and I am enjoying the holiday movies when there is no games to watch. Time just keeps marching on and we are trying to keep up with the pace. November is here and we have so much to be thankful for. Life is wonderful!! All is well here.
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