Our Animal Kingdom

Our yard is quickly becoming a kingdom of "crazy" animals - each day we are finding more. We have had a lot of deer from day one. The best part now is that we have expanded our yard into their regular daily path so we now have deer found footprints on our trampoline in the mornings. I am waiting to catch one jumping and enjoying the tramp. We have a mother and baby bunny that have been living in our front yard since the spring. We always look and see the baby waiting for us when we get home. But try as they might - that bunny is too fast for the girls to get very close. Chipmunks have now made their homes in our rock wall. They come out and play with each other - chasing and jumping tree to tree. They are actually quite entertaining to watch. Piper gets so excited to see them when she is outside! They are really cute. And of course we have the occasional snake here or there, too. New this week (just in time for Thanksgiving) - TURKEYS. There are 7 that roam the yard and get up into the trees that line the driveway. So cool!! But I won't let my brother-in-law and his gun anywhere close to them. I don't want a thanksgiving dinner from my backyard - I like to buy my turkey at the store. (Stayed tuned for pictures - I have not been able to get a good one yet...) Today we we found this:

A tiger salamander - cool, huh? Mia has taken over feeding it and researching it online to learn more. The girls are really pushing for a dog, but luckily with all of the "natural" animals running around we have put that on the back burner for now!! Besides, with mountain lion sightings in the area a little dog would not be safe in our yard. Now onto the FALL colors around here!

I have really come to love this time of year here in Utah. The mountains look like they are on fire with the red and orange glowing in the sunlight. Fall is in the air. And now comes the anticipation of the first big snow...and lots of cold weather (and skiing). But for now I will just continue to enjoy the amazing colors at our house and keep an eye out for any additions to our animal kingdom!!