Elk Hunting

I did some trade work last fall for some cow elk tags. A patient contacted me wanting a root canal and crown. He asked if I would be interested in doing trade work for a couple of cow elk tags on his property. His property is located up above Coalville, and is a few thousand acres large. My dad and I both got a cow tag, and we spent several weekends in November, December and January going up there on 4-wheelers and later snowmobiles once the snow got too deep. We had a wonderful time exploring his property and seeing some huge bucks (some 30 inchers) that were borderline trophy size. They were huge! And we saw so many. We also saw several large bull elk, and I found a recent bull moose shed too. It was a ton of fun being in the mountains each Saturday with my dad. Unfortunately, the conditions didn't work out for us to get some cow elk, but that didn't stop us from having a great time. It's funny, when you have a bull tag, all you see is cows. Now that we had a cow tag, all we saw were bulls. Oh well, that's just how it goes.
These pictures were taken last Saturday up at "shooter hill #1".

I wish I would have had my telephoto lens up there with me to take some pictures of the huge bucks we saw. The guy needs some more dental work and wants to do some more trade, so my dad and I might be back up there this fall!

Cole's 1st Birthday!

I know this is said all the time, but I can't believe my baby is 1! He will forever mark the years of our lives here in Midway. We were going to throw a family party last Saturday to celebrate, but Aubrey came down with hand, foot and mouth disease. She was supposedly contagious for 5 days so we had to cancel the party. Tucker ended up getting it too and I'm still unsure about Cole. If he did get it, it's not a very bad case. Just a dot or two on his hands. We went and bought Cole a real highchair last Thursday for his birthday and once we realized we weren't having the party, we opened it up and sat him right in it. Our other high chair was the kind that straps to a chair, we've had it since Tucker was born, and it worked all right, especially for the smaller spaces we lived in, but the tray was broken. Cole knew that and would always take it off and dump everything on the floor. I couldn't wait to get him a tray that would stay on! Yesterday, on his birthday, my Mom and our friend Rose came up for the afternoon to hangout. My Mom made Cole a new blanket that he has been enjoying along with Aubrey. It's super soft on one side and flannel on the other.

Cody's parents came up last night and brought us dinner and everything. We ate and played with Cole's new, yet old toys. We replaced more batteries in the kids toys and set them out for him to play with. We might be cheap parents, but all the kids are enjoying them and really, the kid doesn't need ANYTHING!

Cody's parents and sister gave him this adorable rocking horse. Cody's uncle makes them and he made this especially for Cole.

Cole has been standing a lot lately, but still not walking. **Update! Cole took 10 steps tonight (1/27)!**He's our latest for sure. Tucker was walking at 9 months and Aubrey around 11. I'm fine with it, but he's got some growing up to do in the next 6 months before baby #4 comes around!

The kids and I made cupcakes for his birthday, I'm going to make my "cute" cake this weekend. Cole wanted the flame on the candle while we were singing and then we gave him the cupcake and he dug right in. Frosting taste first and then the whole enchilada!

Tucker thinks he's a little photographer and took a ton of pictures all evening. This is Cody and his parents.

We love our little guy and are happy he's 1! He has 3 teeth, 2 on the bottom and 1 on the top. We go in for his checkup tomorrow, so we'll see what his stats are. BTW, we find out in 3 weeks what we are having...any guesses?

Deer Valley Ski Competition

With all the festivities happening in Park City we decided to go up to Deer Valley to watch some of the ski competitions. Again everything was free, so of course we went! First time on the ski lift.

The aerials jump is behind us. Unfortunately we arrived right after one of the competitions and the kids got cold before the finals started.

We invited Cody's parents to come along with us. That turned out to be a good thing because the ski lift operators would not let us ride with 3 people on the lift, 2 is the max.

The moguls jumpers (I'm sure they have a more official name) were practicing so we were able to see some pretty cool stuff.

Even though we didn't see the most exciting part, we still had fun and are glad we got out and experienced some of what this great state has to offer!

The Bravery-post concert analysis

Lisa and I headed out Thursday night for main street in Park City to see the concerts put on by the Visa ski competitions at Deer Valley. We got there at about 7:00, and didn't recognize the first band on stage, so we roamed between the shops until it was time for The Bravery to take the stage. We had fun just going at our own pace, window gazing and sipping on our peppermint hot chocolate and caramel apple cider, mmmmmm.
Lisa really wanted me to take this picture of her next to the moose to prove that we actually got out without the kids and that she was on Main Street.

About 8:00 we made our way towards the stage. The crowd was really starting to fill in, but we had some pretty decent spots for the show. The band came out and started to play, then we got a call from RanDee asking us if we wanted to come hang out on the balcony she and her friends had secured for us. We bee-lined it for the balcony to have an awesome view. If you look at the street lamp in this picture that is to the left of the stage, you will see a single strand of lights right at the height of the top of the lamp. There is a balcony there, and that's where we rocked out for the concert.

It was so cool being right above the stage, and out of the masses of people. Here's RanDee and Lisa enjoying the tunes.

It really is all about who you know. Thanks for the hook up and the great spot to enjoy the concert.

Here are a couple of videos for your enjoyment. The mosh pit had calmed down quite a bit by this point, but I tried to get some video of how densely packed the crowd was down there.

It was a great concert, and the best part was that the whole thing was FREE! Hooray for free-ninety nine!

The Bravery

Ah sweetness! Lisa and I will be going to see The Bravery this Thursday in Park City. We've got babysitters for the kids and we'll go get wild on Main Street without them. This week is the Visa Freestyle International ski competitions at Deer Valley, and everything is free. I love living and working here. For those of you who don't know this band, go check them out. They are awesome. Some of my favorite songs of theirs are: Above and Below, Time Won't Let Me Go, Believe, and Honest Mistake. Let me know if you live close by and want to go with us. Oh, and on a side note, two weeks from now the Sundance Film Festival starts. Bring on the wannabe stars!

Image Quiz

Who knows what this image is? I took a picture of it and I thought it looked kind of cool, like some abstract art. First one to guess correctly gets a prize!

New Year's Resolutions

1-Take a trip without the kids.

Check! We are going to Mexico in March for free! Yay! Cody has a business credit card that he uses to order supplies and pay for lab fees that accumulates points you can trade in for hotels, flights, etc. We have enough points from the 2009 expenses to pay for not only our stay, but my sister and her husband are coming too and we have points to pay for their hotel as well!

2- Get pregnant.

Check! Baby #4 is arriving mid-July! We're excited, possibly a bit crazy, but excited for our new arrival. I'm 13 weeks right now and feeling pretty good. Heather, my sister, is due 4 weeks before me, so our trip to Mexico will be our Baby Moon. : ) And for those of you figuring out how far apart our kids are - yes they are close, but we like em that way! Tucker and Aubrey are 18 months apart, Aubrey and Cole are 22 months and Cole and this baby will be 18 months.

3- Try a new recipe every week.

I do not have a passion for cooking, so in hopes to instill some love and acquire new recipes our family enjoys, I'm going to try something new every week. I have a ton of cookbooks so that shouldn't be too hard. If you have great recipes that you want to share, send them over!

4- Be in my dad's piano recital in May.

We bought a used piano from my Mom's friend right after Cole was born last year. My dad is amazing at the piano, it's what he does for a living, and sadly none of us kids took after him. I've been told I had the most potential, so I'm going to start practicing and memorizing and I plan to be in his recital this spring. It's been more than 12 years since I was in the last one, so we'll see how it goes.

Well, that's it for now. I have other goals, but none quite as exciting as goal number 2!

New Year's Eve

This is the 3rd year that we have spent New Year's Eve with the Dyers. This year was nice because we had them up to our house and they spent the night. No one wants to drive home over an hour that late at night. We played games, ate too much food and had fun talking to each other. Ringing in the New Year - Mike and Leah.

Bring it on 2010!

Cabin Time

Every year between Christmas and New Years we head up to my Grandpa's cabin above Oakley. I loved it as a kid and it's so fun to see the great times my kids are having with their cousins. They zipped around the field on their sleds behind the snowmobiles. (Halle and Aubrey) (Mckenna, Parker and Tucker)
A bunch of the adults, ok, everyone but my Mom - she was on kid duty, took the snowmobiles up above Smith and Morehouse and played around for a few hours. Unfortunately, Cody and I were stuck with a touring snowmobile that does not do well in powder. We dug ourselves out a few times before heading back to the groomed trails.

Is it just me or does my hair look like it's fiery orange?!!

Warming up by the fire.

Grandma and Grandpa and all the cousins.

Taking a ride in the sled. Aubrey isn't afraid of anything and decided she wanted to ride where Mckenna was standing on the way back up to the cabin. She told me she would hold on really tight. : )

The boys enjoying their Leapsters. We definitely need to buy the recharging system. I think we've almost been through 16 batteries in 2 weeks!