the one about wild game

Growing up my family moved quite a bit, I guess not as much as some other kids I knew but enough that the thought of  new schools and friends were always on my mind (yay for fresh starts!). One thing always remained the same wherever we went was the quintessential small town vibe. You know the kind of town with  the main street had  no stoplights and the grocery store was a bustling parking lot of running cars with their keys in the ignition and no drivers to be found.

Ennis is  no different and I wish for one day I could bring you all here. There are so many little events that happen in this quiet little town that make me want to finally give my kids roots of their own.  If you're a Gilmore Girls fan it's kind of like Stars Hollow with bustling a diner and colorful characters and enough drama to fill seven seasons of television ;)

 In late October, right before the opening day of hunting season the downtown businesses hold an annual event called the Hunter's Feed. The sidewalks lining main street become  inundated with eager crowds patiently waiting to try unique culinary works of genius made exclusively made with wild game (insert: kick ass elk brownies). It's a last hoorah before the blustery months of snow and wind, making it almost impossible to stay outside for extended periods of time, so  naturally it's a very popular event.

But it's not for the faint of heart, favorite's of the night included chunky trout chowder, fried antelope ravioli, and jalapeno and bacon wrapped duck and about twenty different concoctions of wild game chili give or take a few...

Stop cringing, the elk brownies were deceivingly tasty ;)

A little corn maze action

 

Last week we took the kids to one of the local corn mazes in town because it just wouldn't be fitting to go all Fall without getting a little straw in our shoes or in the kid's underwear ;)

 

And I'm sure I've mentioned that I'm not the biggest fan of the lack of seasons in Montana. Actually, I'm fairly certain that I've mentioned it more than my fair share of times. Anyway, since having kids I've kind of taken on this new appreciation for what little seasons we do have. You gotta take what you can get, right? Arriving at the corn maze was more than Brecken could handle, the excitement in his voice and eyes was worth every penny of the experience. Seriously, you should have seen it, it was kind of like herding cats...in a shower. Each time we would get stuck in the maze he would yell "DEAD END!" and then as fast as his little legs could carry him he would bombard through the crowd trying to retrace his steps. He didn't care if we made it out or not, and I'm certain that he was a little disappointed when we finally got to the end.

 

At one moment, John was bouncing Addy who was ecstatically giggly as they bounded ahead of us, all the while Brecken was still screaming "DEAD END!" as he tried to catch up to his Dad. The sun was just a sliver along the horizon and was cascading the most beautiful magenta hue along the mountains and in that moment I remember thinking how perfect our life was, and I mean really perfect.  You know what I mean? I guess I sometimes get so caught up in this image of creating perfection for my kids that I forget that just living in the moment is sometimes as close to perfection as they will every need. Does that make sense? When you really think about it some of the sweetest moments in life are the ones that you never planned or expected--this was one of them.

 

 

P.S. My sister introduced me to Bastille a few months ago and I'm still obsessed. This song is on my workout playlist. For some reason it just gets the juices flowing.

Let's talk about weather.

All things considered summer was really good to us. Traveling, fun adventures, babies old enough to hold their own, and a whole slew of other factors made the past four months comparatively easy. And like a broken record the ending of summer always makes me a bit anxious, like I didn't use my time as wisely as possible or I didn't appreciate every morsel of what it had to offer.  

But the welcoming of fall is awfully alluring after weeks of travel and the constant berating of the summer sun. The cooler nights and the opportunity to finally wear boots and beanies are always warmly greeted around these parts. And fall food, well it's the best (don't bother arguing against it, because it really is) it's totally comfort-meets-easy with lots of Crockpot dishes and soups. John is not much for soup (or the Crockpot) so it's about the only time of year where I can actually get away with serving it as a meal and even then I am pushing my food boundaries. 

Gosh, I feel like I talk about the weather in Montana a lot. I promise there really is more to my life than checking the barometer. There's this long standing joke and yes it is about the weather that Montana has two seasons: winter and road construction.  If the road construction doesn't ruin a windshield it can pretty much be taken care of by the gravel on the road during the winter. All joking aside, Mother Nature's temper tantrum last week was manifested in a whopper of a snow storm. I really shouldn't complain, even though the Interstate and parts of the valley got nearly two feet of snow our storm was nothing compared to what hit the Dakotas and Wyoming. If you have a chance send an extra prayer their way, especially for the agriculture community who was hit hard by such a devastating blizzard. 

For us, the sun finally came out after three days and by mid-afternoon all signs of snow had all but vanished leaving behind a ghastly sight of broken trees and branches still full of summer foliage. And ironically enough it's been forecast that we would have an Indian Summer this fall, but I'm beginning to have my doubts... ;)

On a happier note, it's officially boot season, hot chocolate mornings, and no-shave November if I was into that sort of thing and all... 

Fall (and winter) have officially arrived!