Autumn And The Mysteries of Genetics

I decided to do a little leaf raking this evening. 

I waited until it was almost dark--about 6 o'clock. 

(Imagine how much we look forward to Daylight Savings Time up here)

Of course, my two shadows wanted to come outside and help.

And by "help" I mean Hailey and Makayla scattered leaves almost as fast as I could gather them.

They also had fun climbing right into the compost garbage can 

and practicing their leaf crunching skills.

Hailey wanted to take these leaves home so she could play with them there. 

We'll leave them on your front porch, Amy.

We've had a crazy year, weather-wise.  Although we've had a few nights in the low 30's and upper 20's, this is what my roses look like as of today.  Crazy!  Usually they are buried under 2 feet of snow by now.  Fortunately I have extra hardy, old fashioned roses, genetically programed to survive Montana weather.

 Speaking of genetic programing, Stan and I are always a little surprised by how much Megan reminds us of Scott.  Same smile, same sense of humor, same mannerisms,
same bizarre interesting personality quirks, same ways of expressing herself. 

Megan even holds her spoon the same distinctive way Scott use to when eating a bowl of cereal. 

Right at the very end of the spoon. 

  It's not like she learned it from Scott; she had just turned 3 when he left home and Megan only vaguely remembers his being there.

1996- 3 year old Megan looking adoringly at her favorite 18 year old brother 

Megan certainly didn't learn spoon-holding technique from me--I have my own gentile eating habits.

 Megan doesn't get her spoon holding style from her dad either. Stan is always trying to get Megan to eat the way he does.  He hasn't had much success.

We can only assume Megan and Scott have inherited the same set of genes from some distant progenitor, making them virtual identical twins.

Although if I'm being honest, Megan looks much cuter in a dress.