Jumping Bean

Being a big sister makes it easier for L to learn things at an earlier age. She is already jumping and doing somersaults. Things that K wasn't able to do until she was 2 or 3. It is so cute watching them play together and then seeing L copy what K does when she is alone.

Wildlife Sighting

At 6:00 am On Halloween morning, M and his friend Randy head up to the hills looking for some game. They have been twice before but were unsuccessful. Could this foray turn out to be a lucky one?

The boys traverse about a 1/4 mile down a hill, stopping near a creek and some deciduous trees that their prey likes to visit. They hunker down and quietly wait, taking in the beauty of nature all around them. A few hours later, out of the tree line come a handful of does. M gets them in his sights watching for a buck to appear. Another deer joins the does, could it be a buck? M is uncertain. There is a tree branch near the deers head that looks kind of like antlers but it is hard to tell. But wait, the deer moves it's head and the branch moves too...BOOM! The deer falls to the ground dead. Randy and M make their way to the buck and find that M's shot pierced the shoulder and came out the neck.

Now for the hard part, lugging the deer up the hill and back to the car. First, Randy guts the deer, leaving the internal organs for some scavengers tasty meal. Then they each grab some legs and start their ascent up the hill. This proves to be harder than they thought. It takes them
3 1/2 hours to get the deer up the slope to the truck. When they get home, M says it is the hardest workout he has ever done in his life.

We ate dinner together and then took the kids trick-or-treating. Afterwards the boys went back to Randy's house to skin and process the meat. It took them almost 6 hours to cut all the meat off the bones. After splitting the meat evenly, we each got 4 roasts, a bunch of steaks, 4 pounds of hamburger and some deer jerky. M made fajitas for dinner with the deer meat and it was really tasty, very similar to cow meat. Even though it was a lot of work once they shot the deer, I think it was well worth it. They each learned something they didn't know previously and we have some yummy food to add to our food storage for the winter months. Well done guys!

Looking out over the area they were hunting in.

M with his first kill.

Randy gutting the deer. Both guys said this was nothing compared to watching the birth of their children. Apparently childbirth is more gruesome.

Taking a rest after hauling the deer up the hill.

Our exhausted boys.

M brought the deer home for us to see before taking it to Randy's to hang.

M cutting the meat off the deer.

Randy taking a turn at cutting off the meat.

After hearing about the kill, M's mom asked if she could have the antlers. She collects them. Here is a pic of K with the antlers on her head.

Happy Halloween!

Our friends came over for dinner before we took the kiddos Trick or Treating. After all the bellies were full, we headed out into the neighborhood to get some treats. K was Moon Raven the Indian Princess, her friend was a Faerie, L was a Cowgirl, and the baby was a bat. They had a good time and got lots of candy.

Here we are just heading out to the houses in our neighborhood.

This was L's first year and trick-or-treating and she did great! She got up and down all the steps, with only a few falls. She carried her own bag even when it got heavy. And she only took one piece of candy at every house, even when the candy was just in a bowl on the front steps.

This is towards the end, L is trying to lug all her candy around with her.

Stopping by our neighbors house.

Costume Party at Preschool

Today was K's Halloween costume party at preschool. She went as Princess Moon Raven. Her grandma made her this darling Indian costume. K just loves it!
They had a fashion show, showing off their costumes, they played games, and they went trick or treating around the school. Afterwards they had cookies and chocolate milk. K had a great time and liked all her friends costumes. There was a race car driver, three princesses, a bear, a barbie, a mummy, a skeleton, an Indian (K), and her teacher was a nurse.

Playing Together

I just love to see my girls playing so nicely together. As L gets older the two play better. K is pretty good at showing L how to do things like jump, run, spin, throw, and play with toys. Here they are pushing a toy car back and forth to each other. It was so fun watching them play together and have such a good time.

Happy 35th Birthday, Daddy!!

M has been very sick for the past week. He had to take time off from work, which is something he usually doesn't do. But by his birthday he was feeling much better, just a little tired, so we decided to do a low-key birthday this year.

We took Daddy to Road House Grill for some steak and fries. Then we came home and he opened his gifts. I think the kids were more excited then he was, but he really liked his gifts.

The gifts and cards. K made one with just a little help from me.

Daddy opening some ammo.

A LED flashlight for camping.

His mom got him a turret press. He has been wanting to reload

his own ammo and has been doing it at his friend Randy's house.

Pumpkin Faces

We had three pumpkins this year to decorate for Halloween. One was left on our doorstep, one K got from her field trip to the pumpkin patch, and one we grew. For FHE we decided to use
Mr. Potato Head pieces for the faces. K had a great time designing the faces and L had a good time playing with the pieces we weren't using.

Our pumpkins. The big one is the one from our garden.

L dressing up her face for us.

K putting on the pieces.

M and I took turns using a screwdriver to make holes for the pieces.

Daddy trying to balance the pirate pumpkin on shoes.

Our completed pumpkins.

SQUIRREL

We have some squirrels that like to visit our back yard on occasion. The girls love it, especially Larkin. She screams and jump all around pointing out the window. Well, the squirrels have taken to trying to get the apples off of our trees. Here are some photos of a squirrel going for an apple. The next day we found a big green apple sitting on the fence with several bites taken out of it. Silly squirrels.

Perched on the fence.

Crawling down the fence.

Sitting under the tree.

Trying to grab the apple.

Primary Program

Sunday was our wards annual Primary Program. The children ages 3-11 get up and do a program singing all the songs they have learned this year in Primary and they each have something to say. The songs tell about the things they were taught. This year the children learned about Families being together forever, what it means and how it can happen. This was K's first year doing it and she did a fabulous job! She was very friendly, waving to her parents and her friends parents. She knew most of the words to the songs and she knew her line well too. When it was her turn she smiled, spoke loud and clear, and then went back to her seat after she was done. I was SO proud of her! She is so good at public speaking. I don't know where she gets it, I certainly don't do well in front of others, but she is a natural. I wish I could have taken a picture of the whole group, they all did an amazing job.

Taking Her Dog for a Walk

K took her scarf and tied it around the neck of her stuffed dog. Then she started taking him for a walk around the house; making sure to stop every once in awhile to pet him. It was so cute.

Petting her doggie.

She stood him up on all fours before starting on her walk again.

Going for walkies.