Halloween Happenings

We were invited to one of Cody's high school friends house for a party the Saturday before Halloween. It was up in Kaysville. We hadn't seen most of these friends since my Running with Lisa Fun Run. Too long. Of the 5 guys that were friends, there are only 3 girls between us and the rest boys. 14 boys, 3 girls.

 Heather went all out with games for the kids, treats, dinner, etc.

 The kids were a little hopped up on candy and fun and finally sat still for a little bit and watched The Croods. They would turn to us adults and tell us to be quiet because they couldn't hear the movie.

 Spencer, Cody, Tyler and Doug. Dave couldn't make it and Joe lives out of state.

 Wives club. Amanda, Heather, me, and Jamie. These ladies are great and make me feel part of the group.

 We had a family theme going on for Halloween this year. We went hunting. We have our baby deer, mounted deer and another deer. Tucker wanted to be a hunter instead of the moose that I was going to make him be. He ran off to trick or treat with friends before I got a picture.

 Cody out scouting for the kill.

 This was Blake's first real trick or treating experience. We took him last year, but mainly he stayed in the stroller and I pushed him to the front porch. I stayed home and passed out candy while Cody took the younger kids around. After they were done we dump their buckets out and confiscate all the peanut items. So much candy has peanuts. Reese's, M&M's, snickers, paydays...and more. Good and bad news for Cody and I. I'm trying to eat healthier, so I snacked on one of each and then gave out the peanut candy to trick or treaters that night. Tucker wandered home an hour or so later with his friend. He hit the jackpot with a pillowcase full of candy.

Randoms

My cancer friend, Jen, came into town awhile back. We were able to have them over to our house for an evening. It's always great to see each other in person. Her hair is growing back and I believe she only has one more round of chemo to go. She just celebrated her 1 year cancerversary.

I took the kids up to my Grandpa's cabin for Fall Break. My Mom was able to come with us. I love that, I can actually relax and she plays with them. We drove up to Smith and Morehouse Reservoir and threw rocks into the water. It was cold and rainy.

But...beautiful with the fall colors mixed among the pine trees.

We made donuts one night and I sewed a bunch.

I made this cute owl for one of my friends daughters. I figured out how to use my embroidery machine a bit more and put the little heart on it too.

The little boys had a preschool field trip to HeeHaw Farms in American Fork. Blake asked me every day for probably a month when we were going. He was so excited when we drove up.

Cody went to California for a dental implant course with his brother for a few days last month. He leaves again tomorrow for the 2nd half of the course. I took the kids to the Zermatt to see the Scarecrow Festival.

More sewing has happened. My Etsy shop has been slow, but I was picked to be a vendor at Swiss Christmas again and have lots to stock up on.

This dinosaur was for an order placed online.

I'm still not quite caught up, but getting there.

Snake Creek Canyon

This past Saturday we took a drive up Snake Creek Canyon behind our house.  We love to go for drives back there and enjoy the scenery.  We live in such a gorgeous place and feel so lucky to have such beautiful mountains just a few minutes drive from our door step.  The aspens were fantastic that day.

We went up to a meadow where we could shoot our guns.  We took my semi-auto .22 rifle and Tuckers BB gun.  We had fun shooting water bottles and cans that we brought up.

It was some good, old fashioned red neck fun.

On a side note, I got my euro mount back from the taxidermist and hung it on the wall.  It looks great above the french doors of our office.  Lisa actually likes it as well.

We got the meat back from the butcher and our freezer now has a bunch of elk meat to keep us fed throughout the winter.  Delicious!

More elk hunting and fun fall colors

For my whole life my family has had a really fun and wonderful tradition every October of going out on the hunt.  I have some great memories of getting together with aunts and uncles and cousins and spending some time in the mountains with them.  For most of my childhood it was for the deer hunt, but in my teen years we switched to elk.  It's my favorite time of year and I get chills of anticipation in the days leading up to the hunt.  The best part about our annual hunting trip is that it gives us an excuse to go camping in the mountains at the most beautiful time of year.  One last hurrah to our camping season.  We were very happy this year to have our trailer and it's functioning heater because it was another cold year for the elk hunt.  Lisa has even embraced this tradition and enjoys it now too.  Maybe we shouldn't say that too loudly though ;)

Here she is in our trailer showing off those pearly whites and her excitement to be in the mountains.

We took Tucker's BB gun up with us and he had some fun shooting targets and showing off his marksmanship skills.

We got a campfire going the first night and made s'mores.  They were a big hit.

My mom sneaking a s'more.

My dad brought a broken chair from his deck and we tossed it in the fire.  Those suckers are incredibly flammable.

Saturday morning my dad and I got up before the crack of dawn and headed up to find some elk.  He had the general season spike tag.  I didn't have one because I already got my bull last month, so I tagged along as his spotter and potential pack mule if he got his.

Gorgeous sunrise views.

The aspens were so incredibly bright yellow.  We timed it perfectly for their peak colors.

We went back to camp mid day and gathered up some more red pine needles, our secret recipe for big fires, and prepared for another big fire that night.

When the little boys weren't running around and throwing sticks, climbing trees, or chasing deer, they were in the trailer warming up and eating snacks.

This is the canyon that we have hunted for years and had quite a bit of success.  We didn't see any spikes this year, but we did see 7 cow elk and one big bull, so that was fun.  We have never viewed the success of a hunting trip on whether or not we fill our tags, but rather on how much fun we had and how good the scenery was.  This year was definitely a success.

Here is a cool view of Soldier Creek and back where we hunt.

This year's camping season has drawn to a close and we are already planning our camping trips for next year.  The kids are pumped for our April Moab trip.

Addendum to post by Lisa
This is what I spent my time doing while the men were out hunting and the kids were playing. I cut out 52 crayon rolls. I almost have them all sewn together too. I was accepted to have a table for Swiss Christmas this year and 2 years ago I had 100 rolls and sold all of them. I'm hoping to make at least that many, plus about 25+ hooded towels.

 After I finished cutting everything out I experimented with my hair and low and behold...I can do french braids! This is a big milestone for me. I'm sort of partial to my hair and struggled with having no/short hair last year. I get excited that I actually have to clean the drain in the shower because my hair is long enough to clog it now!

 

Isn't my girl just darling. I went for a walk around our camping loop and brought her with me. I'm so thankful for that cute girly spirit of hers!

Tucker's Baptism

Tucker recently turned 8 years old.  He's been anxiously awaiting this birthday for quite some time.  He would tell people he couldn't wait until he turned eight so that he could get his BB gun and get baptized.  Two huge things for this little guy.  On the morning of his birthday we gave him his BB gun, and it did not disappoint.  He loves that thing, and has shown to be quite a good shot too.  We have taken it out several times and he is quite the sharp shooter.

We had a very small birthday party for him that night because he and Cole had soccer games and Lisa had her dance class.  What a busy evening.  Well, Lisa made him this delicious cake and he enjoyed blowing out all the candles.

On September 28th we had his baptismal service.  The weather was fantastic that day, and so was his service.  The talks given were excellent and he was such a happy boy.  It's crazy to think that it was eight years ago that he was born.  It seems like yesterday that Lisa and I were at the movies at Owings Mills Mall when her contractions really started to pick up, and then we headed over to Mt. Sinai Medical Center in Baltimore.  We are so very grateful to have him in our family and love what a great boy he is.