Finally!

I could have titled this post many ways....but I guess this one sums it up. We went hunting again last night and FINALLY filled the rest of the tags of the group that we started with. This time wasn't as strenous as the previous times we went. We were able to go on private land with a friend of ours and he took us right to where the deer were. They didn't seem to be to concerned that we were there, until the shooting started of course.
I was a little disappointed in myself...I became the mop-up shooter, not by choice, but because I wasn't as aggressive as I should have been. These deer were coming up into the field and we basically ambushed them. Lance had a better position to see and therefore shoot them, so he became the lead shooter. He said later that he was waiting for me to shoot, but when I didn't he did. He shot his little buck and then wounded mine. Gabe took his doe with one shot and then it became a matter of finishing mine. I shot him (yes, I said him) 5 times. Okay, so I didn't hit him all 5 times, but I did get him at least 3 times, but everytime I shot him he would stand up and be the typical male. It was almost like he was saying "that didn't hurt, I am alright".
I am glad that we all filled our tags, but pretty disappointed that I wasn't able to say that I took down the deer all by myself. Gabe says that this is what hunting it about...someone has to be the mop-up crew. I guess that next year I am going to have to be a little more aggressive and fight for my rights as a shooter.
On a side note, now that we have all the tags filled, the barn looks like something out of a horror film. There are currently 5 deer hanging there. Gabe and I have 2, Lance and Kelli have their 2 and then Lance's brother-in-law has one hanging too. For someone who is not used to it, it can be a little creepy.
So now I guess that I need to tell a little more about my deer. Yes it is a buck, but it doesn't show from the picture. Some may doubt that I got a buck, but the proof isn't decent to show. Gabe and Lance thought it was a doe too, until Lance started gutting him. We believe that the doe that Gabe shot was his mother and that he is only a yearling. Not a big one like I dreamed about, but still meat in the freezer. My dream had been to shot one that was bigger than the one that is currently hanging on my wall. But maybe next year.



















Lance and his deer.



















The hanging of the deer.

Stripper Girl

This one is for all you mothers out there. We are coming into that stage of development that most mother's dread. You know the one, when the child has discovered that they can take their own clothes off and then they don't want to put them back on. So Katherine is here. I get her dressed in the morning and she looks something like this:

But on this particular day 20 minutes later she looked like this:

I must admit that I have been lucky....that is all the farther that she goes (so far). When she gets like this, I ask her where her clothes are and her response: "I don't know" with a shrug of her shoulders of course. I am glad that she delites in the discovery of how things work, I just wish that she wouldn't take such pleasure in proving her growing independence.

Hunting--- Take 2

So since our first outing wasn't successful (we didn't see any deer nor shoot any) we had to take another one. This time we were a little more successful, but not by much. We decided to take a little more time at it and went out on Friday AND Saturday. I know, we were fortunate to find a great babysitter that was able to stay with the kids both days. So we went Friday.
And right off the bat found 4 nice looking bucks that would have been great for the freezer. The problem was we weren't sure if we could hunt in that area or not. After looking at the maps and such we decided that we could and so started to put the sneak on them. Unfortunately---they fled and we couldn't keep up. Strike one.
We jumped on the four-wheelers and went into an area that Gabe and Lance hunted before (it was actually the same area where Gabe harvested our trophy deer that is hanging on our wall).


We saw nothing there. No, wait, I take that back.
We saw a couple of does (but this was an antlers only area), a few cow elk, and a rattlesnake....not to mention the numerous cows that were there. Strike two.
The next place we tried we saw three huge bull elk (it was enough to make Gabe and Lance long for a tag so they could take them down). Strike three. (I can't take credit for this elk picture. I tried to get my camera out but I wasn't fast enough. By the time I had it out they were already over the hill and gone. Thanks Kelli! I borrowed this from her.) I also have to put in here that the picture of Gabe came from Kelli too. He is so hard to get pictures of that I don't try anymore. Thanks Kelli for the great picture of Gabe too.


By this time it was getting late and as we all had children to tend to we decided to head home. As we were driving out, Gabe was scanning the hillside (we didn't give up even on the drive out). He saw a deer laying on the side of the hill. He thought she looked hurt and we again debated what we should do. We decided to go try. We parked the truck. All four of us got out, but Gabe didn't bring his gun as we weren't sure what we would find. We started up the side of the mountain. We got about 4 hundred yards from the deer and stopped. I saw one standing up and Gabe had seen one laying down, but said that the one I saw standing was the same one. We decided that Kelli would have first go. She shot. Missed. As she was reloading, we noticed 4 more does stand up! WOW! Lance took a shot...nothing. Gabe took some shots....nothing. Kelli took another shot and said that her deer disappeared. By this time there were about 12 does standing there and in various stages of leaving as quickly as they could. Since Gabe didn't have his gun, he had taken mine, so there was no way for me to have shot anything and then they all left, rather quickly. So now we climbed the hill to see if there was anything. We were surprised that Kelli's second shot was true and had brought down the deer. We were thrilled, but disappointed that nothing else was there. We took care of the business of cleaning her up and getting her loaded and headed home.
The next day was also a disappointment for us all. We saw lots of deer, but they were in places that we weren't allowed to hunt---in the city limits, and on private property. I didn't take any pictures because there wasn't anything exciting to see and all the scenery had been taken the day before. This means that another hunting trip is in order. I wasn't sure that I wanted to shoot something, but now the challenge is before me. My competitive nature has taken hold and I too have to get that elusive deer so I can say that I can do it too. If you want another view point of this trip check out Kelli's blog at www.coresonfamily.blogspot.com and you can see the pictures of her deer too.
This picture is one of the sage grouse that we saw. If you look closely you can see one big fat sage hen....this is my "Where's Waldo?" picture for you. She is there. But they blend so well that they are very hard to see.














This is our rattlesnake. As we were walking along the hillside Gabe heard it. Kelli was actually walking ahead of Gabe and almost stepped on it. A little scary but he didn't hurt us, nor did we hurt him.

What a trooper!

We had to do something yesterday that as a parent is pretty tough. We took Amanda into surgery and had her tonsils and adenoids taken out. It wasn't physically tough to take her there and wait with her while this was done....it was emotionally something that I don't want to have to do again with any of my children, but know that I may have to sometime. This wasn't the first time that we have taken anyone for surgery, but I must admit it was easier this time. The first time was with Katherine and her clogged tear duct. This one was nothing compared to that, as Amanda is old enough to understand what was going on and didn't freak out as she came out of the operating room and into recovery. She was a real trooper. I didn't really hear her complain until the very end when she really just wanted to go home. And at that point, I didn't blame her because I was ready to get out of there too.
We started our day at 8:30 which found us in the waiting room.














They took us back to the room and Amanda donned the cute gowns that you have to wear. Then she got her IV. She never once cried or flinched while this was done.



















About 9:15 they came for her. They put the lovely cap on and put a robe on, because we all know how flattering those gowns are. And away they went.



















About 45 minutes later (about 10:30) she rolled back into the room looking a little tired, but still pretty upbeat.



















It wasn't until the nurse came to take out the IV and she got up to go potty that things started getting stressful for me. I know that bleeding after surgery is pretty normal, but this was a little on the extreme side I think. After they took her IV out, her nose started to bleed. I wasn't too worried, but it kept oozing and oozing. The nurse told us that she couldn't go until it stopped bleeding. So we sat there until about 4:15 before it stopped and we could go home.
Today she is hurting, but you tell me who wouldn't be after that. I know when I had my tonsil out I couldn't eat for several days and I didn't want to swallow anything either. If I remember right I lost a lot of weight. What a great way to start a senior year.

14 things I love about.....

Of course it is that time again...another birthday update. This time it is Amanda. I am going to have to stop doing this, not because I don't like listing the things that I love about my children, but because it get harder to find things that I haven't already said about them. So here it goes. 14 things that I love about Amanda:
1. She is always helpful. Since she has been little she has been my little helper. Now she loves to help, but it has gotten to the stage where she is more eager to help somone outside the home than in it (just a teenager thing).
2. Talented Musician. She is able to sit down and play a piece of music a couple of times and then almost play it for memory. This is especially true for her clarinet. She will practice a piece and then she will walk around the house playing it without her music.
3. Generous. She is and always has been a very giving person.
4. Good Cook. This one has come about lately as I have been more willing to let her help out in the kitchen. She has even done the whole meal by herself a couple of times with minimal help from me. That is nice for me as I can have her start something while I am busy with something else and then come help her finish it.
5. Willing to help. This one is a little different than before. She is always the first one to jump in where she sees help is needed.
6. She is alway pretty happy. I am seeing less of it as the teenage grumpies hit, but I can always seem to get a smile out of her.
7. She is going to be a great mother. I have caught her trying to do things that I should be doing for the other children. She loves to play with the babies of the ward and anytime that she can babysit (other than for her siblings) she is always willing.
8. Brave--this one I really saw happening lately. But more on that in a future post.
9. Energetic. I wish that I had half of her energy and stamina at times. She has been know at slumber parties to do just the opposite----stay up ALL night and then just keep going the next day without missing a beat.
10. Relates well to others. It doesn't matter how old they are, she is a people person. She wants to be with other people.
11. Dependable. She has come to be the one that you can rely on. If she says she will do something,then she is going to do it and be there for you.
12. Eager learner. She is always up for the challenge of learning something new.
13. Quick study. She is eager to learn, but she also picks it up quite quickly.
14. And last, but definetly not least, is that she is turning into such a nice and well rounded Young Women. I am very happy with what she has done in her life and the choices that she is making. If we can make it through these teenage years, we will be one happy family.
These are just a few pictures that I found of her that I wanted to share.
This was taken last Christmas. My father-in-law bought a Santa suit and had all the grandkids come and get their picture taken with "Santa". The funny thing is, that is his true beard and he didn't have to stuff the costume at all either.



















This is a special one for Gabe. This is Amanda with her Great-Grandpa Joe. She was born about 3 yrs before he passed away. I believe that she was his first Great-grandchild, but don't quote me on that one.
















This is Amanda and Gabe at her baptism. What a special day for her and us.



















This one is my special one. This is a four generation picture taken after she was born. This was her first road trip to Utah, and hasn't been the last either. I know that somewhere we have a 5 generation one for this side of the family (it would include my great-grandma and Amanda's great-great grandma Kimber) , but not sure where that one is. If any family members can help me track that one down, I would be forever grateful.

Rags to Riches...well not exactly

Today I had a burst of creativity....or something like unto it. I decided that it had been way too long since I had pulled out my sewing machine and I needed to get it out so that I could sew the patches on Wyatt's scout shirt (I know he has been in for almost 5 months and I am such a slacker for just getting around to sewing them on). But in order to sew today I had to uncover my machine which meant that I had to decide what to do with the mending that was pilling up---mend it now or later. Well, as you might guess, I decided to mend now while I was going through the pile and save Wyatt's patches for another day. So my task began with sewing Gabe's work shirt and fixing a hole there, sewing another button on another work shirt of Gabe's, stitching up a hole in one of his ties, and then there were several pairs of pants that had holes in them. Jacob is very hard up for pants and there was one pair in there that was his size. The rest were actually Katherine's size....although she isn't needing them as much. So I had some decisions to make....do a patch job that was just that a patch or do something more decorative.
A friend suggested that I take the denim patch that I would have put on the outside of the pants on the inside and then make the outside fancy. I was unsure at first because I am not really good at cute and fancy. Patching I can do, cute and fancy...not so much. But as I was thinking about it, I was trying to find some fabric that I could use and came across pieces of a quilt that we had made for a wedding and cut some off to make it shorter. It was just what I needed. Katherine really didn't have a choice and hers was the test. I think that they turned out pretty cute what do you think?















The whole time that I was working on Katherine's pants, Jacob was looking at the rest of the scraps that I had and was asking where his pants were. So I showed him the pants that were going to become his and then asked him what he wanted on them. I would have put the puppy print that I had, but he chose the kitty ones instead. Either way I had to make his today too, because he kept asking when his would be finished. It really didn't take too long. And I feel pretty good about having taken some things that would have normally go in the trash, fixed them up and made them wearable again. I am thankful at this moment in time for my mother who took the time to show me how to sew and then taught me that saving material is okay. If I hadn't have saved those scraps from the quilt I would have just had to do boring old patches that the kids probably wouldn't have wore anyway. But now I have something that is 100% unique and pretty darn cute in my opinion. And if you think about it I saved our family about 15+ dollars by not needing to buy the pants new.

I think that I may have to do more of this, but unfortunately I don't have many more scraps of fabric or pants to put them on. I may just have to break down and get the fabric for a "real" project or two first. Either way I need to do more of this. The satisfaction of seeing the end result and knowing that I did that makes it worth the effort. Granted next time I think I will start a little earlier into rest time as then I won't have to contend with Katherine wanting to push the pedal for the sewing machine when I am not ready for that. We shall see what happens with time.

The first snow of the season...

Yesterday it began to snow, and it really hasn't stopped feeling like winter since. I love this kind of snow as it is really wet and sticks together well. So what do we do with it.....build a snowman of course. But by the time I decided to make one Jacob was complaining that he wanted to go inside and so therefore Katherine was doing the same. I made just a quick one and convinced Jacob to get the eyes (rocks).

This one is Katherine in her snow stuff.

Jacob is getting a kick out of throwing the snow balls.

Our snowman. This is the first one that I can remember building in a long time. I think that the last one that I built with the kids was when Amanda was about 3 and we were living in some apartments and made one with all the apartment neigbors.

My new stuff

The biggest treat for me was that my cousin brought their cricut with them. Now I am not an avid scrapbooker, but I know the possibilities that this machine can create. So I was trying to think of something that we could do with it. And the best that I could do was names for our hooks in the closet for the kids. I had been given instructions that I couldn't put the vinyl on the walls, but we managed to do something and I really like it. So here are the creations that we were able to do with the cricut among all the other things that we did this weekend. Thanks guys, I love them!

Our Weekend

I must warn you before you read this post that there are a lot of pictures.


We had company this weekend. I normally don't have company but this time it was pretty special. My cousin and his family came up to see us from Utah. We were in for a treat I will tell you.

Friday night we had dicussed making dutch oven something because we don't normally get dutch oven stuff, and my cousin is really good at that. So I had a vacation from cooking Friday evening and even learned some new recipes for inside from the event. We had chicken cordon bleu in the dutch oven and it was delicious. They also made a s'mores brownie concoction that most of us were unable to finish as it was very rich. The kids loved this because it was new and they had someone new to entertain them.

Saturday morning saw this happening in my kitchen:

Again, I didn't have to cook and the kids were enthralled with helping. I loved the outcome because the cinnamon rolls were excellent! We went sure what to do with our day, but we eventually decided to do this:

Again the kids were excited because my kids love shooting with their dad and our company had never done it before. I admitt I was a little jealous because the kids were all better shots than I was. While we were there I happened to see 7 head of deer in the next field over and took the binoculars and was looking at them . Jacob wanted to see them too and this is what we saw instead.

That night the kids were so tuckered out that Bethany didn't even make it to her bed. She was sitting on the floor with one arm in bed sound asleep. She didn't even wake up when I put her in bed. I would have left her but I think that her arm would have been really sore in the morning.