Elk Hunt 2011

So when Tom drew out on this big bull hunt he told me that he was going to spent the first two weeks of November hunting.  I thought o.k. whatever, but then the time of the hunt came and that is exactly what he did.  The first week was spent scouting from one mountain range to the next in search of the perfect bull.

He was excited about it and kept count of how many they had seen each day.  Well a few days before the hunt it snowed, who knew this would change the game.  The elk moved and the search began again.  The first few days of the hunt he didn't find anything except cows.  Tom was frustrated and so it trickled down the line.  I am of the mind set that if you are going to get one get it the first day and be done with it.  Five days into the 10 day hunt He told me that if he didn't get one the next day, that was it he was done.

He was true to his word.  The next day he got one. This thing is massive.  He was so excited, almost as much as the people who went with him. Now my only worry is where the heck we are going to hang this thing when it is finished at the taxidermists, I suggested the garage but I don't think that will fly.  Wish me luck! Also, there is a video here if you want to see how the whole thing went down, it is a little sad if you ask me, but the jerky we made is pretty tasty.

Birthday Boy!

 Can you believe our C.J. turned 6 years old.  I can't hardly stand it.  I kept asking him if didn't want to go backwards and turn four, but he didn't like that idea, so we celebrated.  He had breakfast in bed, well actually out of bed.  He was too excited and popped right up when we came in his room singing Happy Birthday.

 He had some friends over for a fun party.  We partied Cars 2 style with plenty of racing games, oil can bowling, old tire cupcakes.

 He had  a great party.

 He also got to celebrate at school.  The kids sang a song to him and then got to ask him questions to learn a little more about him.  Then he passed out treats.  He choose to take Gushers and Capri Suns.  Good thing it was at the end of the day, because the kids sure were on a sugar rush after that snack. We went to Pizza Hut for dinner and then home to celebrate some more.

 He loved his birthday hat and wore it that night when was had cake and ice cream.  And then it was present time.  He has been wanting a new bike for a while, so it was the perfect gift for him.

 He was so excited and loved that it was red and silver because that means that it is fast.  We are so glad to have C.J. in our family.  He is such a funny boy who keeps us on our toes and is always reminding us of things that we need to do or things we have said that we will do.  He loves school and learning, he asks a million questions about everything and always wants to know how things work.  His favorite color is orange and he will eat a huge stack of pancakes any time of day.  He is really good to listen and do things you ask the first time.  He says the most sincere prayers.  He is a really great little brother and the best big brother to Allie.  Such a sweet boy and we love him so much.  Happy Birthday Buddy, just stay 6 as long as you can because 7 just seems so much older!

Happy Halloween

 We finally made it to Halloween, well almost.  On Sunday we went to visit g and g Bogh.  I didn't get very many pictures, but this is Allie on their porch, waiting for Halloween to come already.

 Madison and some of her cute friends decided to be the cutest handful of m&m's I have ever seen.  So fun.

 C.J. decided on the knight costume for trick or treating.  In this picture he was giving me a 'strong' knight face.  He also loved his pumpkin of Lightening McQueen.

 Allie didn't want to put her costume on due to an accident while carving pumpkins.  Notice her left eye, she fell and hit it on a chair while carving pumpkins.  As soon as we gave her the candy bucket with a few treats in it she was ready to go. And her minnie mouse pumpkin was too cute.

 

Emma, our cute shaggy dog with her dog carved pumpkin.

 This house is one stop that we try to make every year.  It is amazing.  There are decorations and lights everywhere complete with fog.  You can see Tom walking in with the big kids, I am happy to say that they made it out alive.  This picture doesn't do it justice, it is pretty amazing.

 This was the gang at g and g Thalman's house.  I love that most of the kids have some sort of treat in their mouth, so true to life and Jaxon is just getting to tall so his head got cut off.  These are the cutest kids, a family of bumble bees, dragon, Belle, Alice, Jake and the Neverland Pirates, a Viking, House Elf, Blue Rock Star, Prom Queen, dinosaur, Baseball Player, Corpse Bride, and the most creative costume of the year, (not pictured) a flying purple crayon. I think Allie's expression is how I was feeling as well, is it over yet?  I love Halloween, well cute Halloween, but November 1st is always a welcome day.

This is Allie's favorite spot at g and g's house in grandpas lap.

11-11-11 at 11:11

I have always liked the time 11:11, I have always considered it a lucky time and even now when I happen to look at the clock and it says 11:11 I make a wish.  I don't know who told me it was lucky or why, but I like it.  I became a mother at 11:11, that's what time Madison was born.  I thought I would document what we were doing on this ordinary day at this extraordinary time.  Not much, but someday I might want to remember.

 C.J. was busily coloring his birthday poster that he was to take to school in a few days.  It was a poster about him.  He got to color it, and then add a picture of himself and answer questions like when his birthday was, how old he was going to be, and a birthday wish.  His wish, a bike without training wheels.

 

Allie was, well, if you notice the background, it looks as though she is running away from her latest mess, silly girl.  The big girls were at school, learning something I'm sure, Tom was scouting for a big bull Elk, and I was just trying to remember this everyday moment at a time that is lucky for me.

Happy Birthday Tom!

 In the middle of all the Halloween excitement Tom had a birthday.  On the Saturday the 29th he turned 34.  Man we are getting old.  If was fun that it was a Saturday so that we could spent the whole day with him.

 Tom hates getting his pictures taken, but I did get some cute ones of the kids singing to him.

 You can almost read Allie's mind "should I grab the candles or not"..

He blew out all 34 candles in one breath, and we enjoyed the ice cream cake.  We are so lucky to have Tom as our dad and husband.  He is such a hard worker and would do anything for us.  We love you so much!  Happy Birthday!

Halloween Week

Just like last year Halloween turned into a week long event.  It is always fun but can be so exhausting. On Monday we celebrated with a FHE at G and G Thalman's house.  There were a lot of fun games played and yummy food eaten.  Wednesday was our ward Halloween party. This was the first time the kids dressed up so they were excited about it. 

 We had a cute M & M and a tiny chicken

 A Shaggy Dog

A skeleton Pirate and Hawiian tourist complete with board shorts, thermals, and socks with sandals.

Friday was party day at school.  I am not really sure why it was changed to Friday since Halloween was on Monday but the kids had a fun time anyway.  The annual parade was in the morning and it actually wasn't freezing cold for a change so the kids didn't have to wear coats over their costumes.  Emma loved her shaggy dog costume.  She said it kept her pretty warm and she looks so darn cute, just don't call her a poodle.  The story behind this costume:  She wanted to be a dog since last Halloween, I kept hoping I could talk her into something else, I mean we already have a really cute witch/pirate/vampire costume in her size.  Nothing I said would change her mind she wanted to be a dog.  I was at a loss, she didn't like any dog costume we found online.  So I told her to find a picture of the dog she wanted to be and we would figure it out.  She found one of a very shaggy dog with matted fur and claimed that was it.  So I got to work, knowing for sure the entire time I was looping and sewing yarn that she was going to hate it and not wear it.  When she got home from school that afternoon she promptly asked if I had worked on her costume. I very hesitantly showed her what I had come up with and asked her to try it on.  She took it in the bathroom and I waited and waited.  When she finally came out she had a smile on her face and proclaimed that she LOVED it.  I breathed a sigh of relief and knew that she really did love it because she wore it for the rest of the day.

I missed getting a picture of C.J. during the parade, well from the front anyway.  So I went to his classroom and took this one where he is looking very distracted.  He was this same thing last year, and unlike his sisters could care less about that.  When i asked him what he wanted to be he said, "It doesn't really matter, people will give me candy as long as I dress up." Boys are so much easier in some ways. I makes a handsome skeleton pirate if you ask me!

Later that afternoon C.J. made a new friend our on our driveway.  I hate snakes so much it is not even funny, but he became obsessed.  He asked me questions about snakes all day and kept telling me he was going to bring it in the house. 

Thank goodness he never did and eventually the snake made its way up the street and hopefully back to its home by the canal.  But I sure was surprised to see that Madison is just as afraid as I am, she wouldn't even go outside for the rest of the day.
It was also dress up day for Madison at her school.  I went and helped with her party in her class, but forgot to take my camera, so no pictures of that one, but it was a fun day!

Calf Creek Falls

While the kids were out of school for fall break we decided to take a trip to Calf Creek Falls.  I have love, love, loved that it has been so warm and nice this fall, and hope that it will continue.  We got kind of a late start but we were determined.  We thought it was a 3 mile round trip hike.  As we started out there were alot of people hiking back to the trail head and kept giving us weird looks and telling us was had a long way to go, but we didn't care we kept going.

There are 12 markers along that way that tell the history of Calf Creek and the different ways it has been used throughout history.  Did you know they used to grow watermelons there? Anyway we stopped at each marker and would talk about different things and learn more facts about Calf Creek.  As we walked with C.J. as our leader the markers kept getting further and further apart, but we kept hiking.

 We met some friends along the way, this lizard was one of the favorites.  We also was squirrels, birds, and lots of fish.  We passed through the bamboo forest (aka snake grass) and waded through rivers (tiny streams).  We still weren't at the falls.  We came to the conclusion that the trail must be 3 miles each way and that we better kick it in gear if we were going to make it there and back while the sun was shining.

I love that Madion is holding Tom's hand in this picture.  She doesn't do that very often anymore, but I love it when she does. She is growing up way to fast!

 C.J. was still in the lead with our constant reminder to take big steps as he walked so we could make it there quickly.  As we got closer to the falls the temperature dropped and you could hear the water crashing down.  It was so beautiful once we finally made it.  It was late in the day, but we were the only ones there and we got to enjoy the falls just us.

 It was time to head back.  Emma and C.J. each found a walking stick and ate a 'magic' apple, it gave them lots of energy for the hike back, and we were off.  Emma was our leader on the way back down the trail.  The further we walked the closer the sun was to setting.  Good thing I have a husband who is a thinker and stuck a flashlight in the backpack.  It made us all feel better to have a little light shining.  Madison became especially nervous, maybe it was because our pamphlet told us that cougars and coyotes roam the area at night, we made it back the car hungry and tired, but everyone want to go back next summer, so I call that a success.

Just remember if you are going to go that is is a 6 mile hike and if you go in the Fall leave before 4:30 our you will be hiking in the dark.

Patch Work

 Another Halloween tradition we love is going to the pumpkin patch.  The week the patch opened was rainy and cold, so much to the dismay of the kids we had to wait a week to go and I am glad we did because the day couldn't have been more beautiful.

 

There weren't a lot of people at the patch so we climbed onto a wagon and rode to the middle of the patch. There were lots of pumpkins to choose from: tall and wide, short and round, and a decision to be made.  Which one is the best choice?  We climbed of the wagon and got to work.  As we walked around analyzing each one we noticed that the other families on our wagon were already finished picking out their pumpkins...what we hadn't even picked one.

 

We still had a lot to do.  So we walked around picked one and put it back and started all over.  I know for a fact that the others on the wagon were really annoyed by us, but we didn't care we kept on searching.

 

Each of the kids was able to find their perfect match in a pumpkin and we were on our way, that is until I asked the tractor driver to stop by the patch of gourds.  When we stopped our family piled off. That's it, everyone else just sat and watched us again while we scavenged for our perfect gourds.

 

And I am glad we did because we found some good ones.  I sure do have a new found love of white pumpkins and we were able to snag some pretty great one.  To the relief of everyone else on our wagon we made our final selections and were on our way back.

After the pumpkin picking there was a ride on the train and plenty of pictures taken. Another tradition to check off the list until next year.

  A few days later C.J. and I headed back to the patch for his kindergarten field trip.  This time around he wanted a red pumpkin.  He searched and we never found one with a stem like he wanted, but the one he picked was a perfect match for him.  It is always a lot of work, but so much fun at the patch.