October

Another month has nearly disappeared!  I haven't taken as many pictures as normal, but here are a few.

Melting caramel for caramel apples.

Beautiful blue eyes.

Making applesauce with Grammy.  My parents got me this wonderful sauce maker that allows you to make applesauce without coring or peeling the apples.  Super time saver!

We finally got some much-needed rain, which also brings mud, of course!

"Picking apples" by Nora.  I love the person on the ladder dropping apples to the person below and the basket full of apples.  It just makes me smile!

 I did a lot of running in the dark early mornings this past month to train for the half marathon I ran last weekend.  Here are a few pictures I took during runs when it was actually light enough to see anything!

Dawn over a nearby lake.

Somehow these flowers survived long after everything else was frozen in our recent cooler temperatures.  They were a welcome pop of color along the roadside recently.

A recent misty morning.

 Mike and I spent a couple of days in Minneapolis and St. Paul last weekend while my mom stayed home with the kiddos and the farm animals.  We had such an enjoyable time with Ben and Jen!

We spent one night at The Depot hotel downtown.

Wandering around the Mill District one morning.

We picked up our packets for Saturday's race.  Behind us was a large poster (much larger than the one panel visible behind us) with the names of every person running either the 5k, 10 mile or half marathon the next day.

Timing chip on my shoe.

Jen the skunk and Ben the tortoise.

The tortoise and the hare.

Mike's 5k was at a different location, so we didn't get to watch him.  Thankfully he got this photo of him with the running refrigerator!

Love my sister-in-law!  Thanks for a lovely weekend!