Deer Hunt

I usually get to draw a general deer tag about every other year. So next year I probably won't get one, but you never really know for sure.

Anyway, CJ and I left Friday (the 22nd) morning. We drove to PG to drop Drake off with CJ's sister Shaylee and her husband Bryce and then off we went. We got to camp around 1:30 p.m. that afternoon. We set the trailer up and got ready to go out for some evening scouting before the big day (Saturday, October 23rd 2010; Opening day for the general rifle deer hunt) As soon as we got all our gear on, the rain came down. It was so cold too! We hunt in the same area every year so scouting in the cold rain was not of great importance to us, so we bagged it.

Opening day was wet and cold. We drove the truck quite a ways into the spot that we wanted to hunt and then unloaded the 4-wheelers (we borrowed one of my dads) The roads were very muddy. We hunted, and hunted, and then hunted a bit more. We saw some spike's and I think one 2 point and I tried to get a shot off (I wanted to shoot the first thing with antlers because we are running out of steaks in the deep freezer lol) but I could not get in a good enough position to feel comfortable about taking a shot. We met up for lunch and found out that my mom had got a huge 3 point buck and my uncle had also got a huge 2 point buck. That left me and my dad with unfilled tags.

About 1 hour after lunch CJ and I were driving down an old dirt road and saw a buck run across the road right in front of us. I jumped off the 4-wheeler and got a really good rest on the back of the 4-wheeler rack and took a shot. Down it went, it didn't even move. YAY!!!!! I was stoked!!!! The end result: a nice 3 by 4 point buck and meat in our freezer :)
My dad ended up getting a nice 3 point Sunday night.

October

Geez. We've been super busy lately but I find my self stumped on what to blog about. Maybe we're losers after all. Anyways. My sister-in-law Shaylee and her husband Bryce offered to watch Drake for us this past weekend so that CJ and I could go on the deer hunt. I'm the one with the tag but CJ has never been on this deer hunt with me. Two years ago when I drew this tag CJ stayed home with Drake and I just drove down with my family. But, this year CJ insisted that he be a part of it. I got a 3 by 4 deer, my uncle got a huge 2 point, my mom got a really big and old 3 point and my sister Jen (who was not camped with us but hunted in the same unit) got a really nice 4 point. My dad still has a tag and he will continue to hunt. I'm glad that I got a deer, CJ and I were running out of steaks. I have pictures but I'll post them, along with the hunt story in a couple days.

My sister Jess thinks it's funny to draw on Drake's stomach, and well, so does Drake.




While we were hunting Shaylee and Bryce carved and painted Pumpkins with Drake. Here are some cute pictures they sent us of the fun they were having.





Shaylee was telling me that while they were carving and painting their pumpkins, Drake kept saying "This is hard work guys, this is hard work" LOL

Meanwhile, CJ and I still have NO idea what we are going to be for Halloween. Goll, I don't even know what Drake is going to be. I'm a last minute shopper and I'll be going our tomorrow to get him a costume. I know, I'm bad.

We've been keppin' busy!

Life it so hectic! CJ and I both work full time, we have a 2 year old (enough said) and hunting season. Here are some picture to explain what we've been up to lately. Enjoy! (WARNING!! I will be posting pictures of the bear that CJ shot with his bow. I have left out all the pictures that show blood, however CJ has blood on his hands and I'm posting pictures of the dead, skinned out bear.)

But, before I get to the bear, we went to the CIRCUS! I have never been to the circus and CJ doesn't ever remember going when he was younger so we were excited!

We ate here before we went. YUM!



7 motorcycles fit into this cage and drove around. I was such a circus nerd, it was amazing LOL!!!

9 tigers and only 1 guy. I thought for sure we were about to witness a feeding frenzy. I couldn't even enjoy this act because I was so nervous.



Drake's Uncle Bryce bought him this stuffed monkey at the circus and he loved it. He snuggled with it the entire car ride home.



CJ and I had our last concert of the year to attend. The Brad Paisley H2O tour. It was lots of fun! We went with CJ's sister Shaylee and her husband Bryce. We saw Brad Paisley, Darius Rucker, Justin Moore, Josh Thompson and Easton Corbin.

Shay and Bryce

Don't make fun of my braid! I know that I look like Juliet :)

This is Easton Corbin. I had to post a picture because he's a hottie!





And now, ladies and gentlemen, THE BEAR! I could not stop smiling when CJ sent me the picture of the bear. He has waited 8 years to draw for a bear tag. And he's been thinking, plotting, planning and stressing about filling his bear tag. I'm so happy we don't have to worry about this hunt anymore.

This is the bear before he shot it. The hound dogs tree'd it for him and they were just waiting for some other guys to get their before he shot it with his bow.
The state of Utah only has black bears. Even though they are chocolate, cinnamon or blonde in color, their DNA is still that of a black bear.

This is just the cape of the bear, in other words, the bear has no insides.

Bear foot (not to be confused with bare foot :))

CJ's hand and the bear's paw. Huge right!? That thing could rip your face off!



I just realized that I do not have any pictures of me with the bear. Sad.

**Special thanks to Erynn and Nate!!!! Thank you, thank you, thank you! Erynn, thank you for sharing your husband. And Nate thank you for working so hard to help CJ get a bear!

My Night Out

As many of you know, CJ has been hunting like crazy so I rarely get to spend time with him. Well I was excited to be able to this last Friday night because he was actually going to stay home. Shocker, I know! Well, my excitement was short lived because I got a text from one of my friends Friday afternoon requesting that we have a girls night that night. I could have told her no but I thought I'd give CJ a taste of his own medicine. Ha ha ha!
I had a lot of fun, as I usually do when I get together with my friends! I went with Ashli, Kylee and Kami. We went out for some sushi and then we went back to Ashli's place and b.s'd all night long. I got home at 1 a.m. However, I probably would have stayed later but she has a frikkin' cat, and I'm allergic..... bad! I wear contacts and all the cat that was in the air just stuck to my contacts. I tried washing my hands and rinsing the contacts off but it didn't help. I was a train wreck. I could hardly see anything. Besides all that, I had a great time out! Enjoy the pictures of my crazy friends and I.

Ashli and Kylee

Me and Kami waiting for our sushi



I don't know what they are doing so don't ask :)

Utah State Fair

Ever since I can remember my family has been going to the State Fair. It is one of my most favorite childhood memories. There is a lot of fun stuff to do. I'm mad at myself for not getting enough pictures this year but at least I got a few to help me remember the good times.

This is Drake with the Sheep. He loves animals so he thought these were like the coolest things! We also saw the Cows, Chickens, Bunnies, a Turkey that Drake gobbled at and two sea lions that I didn't get a picture of (I thought I did but I didn't, I guess me and CJ were too busy eating our Funnel Cake to care about the Sea Lions). We never did see the pigs.
Here are the baby Chicks that Drake wanted to hold SO bad.



My niece, little miss Addi, is a daredevil and likes to do this ride every year now. She is 4 and thinks this ride is like the coolest EVER.



I had to post this picture to document that CJ came with us. LOL. This is the only picture that he is in. Sad, I know.

Drake, saddled up and ready to ride!

Addi got to be a big girl and ride all alone.

Dallin (my nephew) was riding a little sideways the whole time, it was so cute!

This picture is really dark but it's of me and Drake going down the infamous YELLOW SLIDE!





Next subject; Babysitting swap.

Me and my Sister-in-law, Traci, swap our kids once a week so each other can go to work. They are so cute! And Drake loves it when they come over to play! Addi has her routine down. We watch Pocahontas (every flippin' Thursday lol), each Cheetos and play with my old barbie dolls that I've kept from childhood. Drake and Dallin just do whatever Addi tells them to do. Ha! Here are some pictures that I've snapped. Addi and Drake are camera hogs and want to get their picture taken at all times and then there is Dallin who will barley look at the camera in order to get a picture.

The kids watching Pocahontas



Me and Miss Addi Cakes

Hurray for Dallin for looking at the camera! He got a fruit snack for doing that, just so you know.

Again

I've told you before, but let me tell you again how excited I am about this time of year. I LOVE THE FALL! Fall = hunting season, which = not seeing much of my husband. However, hunting season usually means we have meat in our freezer for the next year, and for that I am grateful. Our anniversary is coming up on November 11th. 4 years folks! And Thanksgiving will be coming soon. I love Thanksgiving, it's my most favorite holiday. The leaves in the mountains are starting to change colors, and they look so cool! The nights are getting colder and the days are getting shorter. I get to bundle up in warm sweaters and cute jackets. Oh, and I'm looking forward to Black Friday, I like that day. The only bad thing about the Fall is that winter is right around the corner. BOOOOOO! I hate winter. But, I'll stay very positive and enjoy this time of year while it lasts me.



Ok, now a change in subject. Drake is the most fun kid I know! He is talking so good and completes new sentences everyday. CJ and I are telling him stories every night before bed (that's right, we make up our own stories for him, not because we want to but because Drake insists that we do that lol) and every time we get done with a story, no matter how big or small the fish may be or scary or hairy the monster is, Drake always tells us "That's a good tory" while he shakes his head up and down in approval. So cute right? Gosh, I love him!

Everyday I play "dinatores" with him. My mother-in-law (who is seriously THE best Mother-in-law in the world) bought him some tiny little dinosaurs. There is a T-Rex "dinatore" and a Raptor "dinatore" and a bunch of other ones. Well one day Drake decides that he's going to quiz me on what kind the species each of the Dinosaurs were. We sat Indian style facing each other and he had his little pile of Dino's. He'd pick one up and look at me while waiting for my answer. I'd say "That's a T-Rex" and he'd set it down. He'd grab another one and I'd say "That's a Triceratops" and he'd set it down. I knew some of the names but I knew I would not get them all right. Well he picked up this one Dino that had a lime green stripe down it's back and was kinda hunched over so i sat and thought about it for a second and then I said "hummmmm, that's a hunchback Dinosaur" (knowing that I was wrong) and Drake smiles and says "Ya, that's' right mama!" and sets in down. LOL Oh, he's so cute!
So there you go, a couple cute stories for those of you who care. p.s. Sorry, still no pictures.

Tis the Season.

So It's officially HUNTING SEASON! Something that is cherished in our home. Actually, before I got married I used to think that men only hunted during the Fall, which is hunting season, then I met CJ and he changed my belief. There is no such thing as a hunting season around our house, why you ask? Because it's ALWAYS hunting season! Deer hunt, bear hunt, getting ready to bait the bear for the bear hunt, elk tag, sighting in the gun and bow, dove hunt, duck hunting season, ice fishing, fishing, chuckers hunts, pheasant hunts. Hummmmm, am I missing another one? That's right, we also have the annual Coyote derby, oh and all the STUPID hunting shows that we just have to watch. (Really long side not: Have you ever watched one of these shows? The guys whisper even after they've made the shot, now I get why they do that because once upon a time I used to be able to go hunting. But CJ will be watching one of these shows and he'll whisper in the freaking living room of our home while he watches it. It is pretty funny, but it gets old. I've called him while I was at work to just say hi to Drake and CJ will whisper on the flippin phone. He's weird I know!) Also, don't forget the cost of all this. I'm the one left at home budgeting all this out. I used to go hunting with CJ but now I'm the one at home caring for our little guy. It bugs me when CJ asks "Why don't you ever come hunting with me anymore?" I really wish I could go more often with him, but Drake needs my attention right now. However this year I drew a general deer tag so I'll be going hunting while CJ stays home with Drake. MUAH HA HA HA HA! This will be great for him to get a taste of his own medicine. CJ's mom, Angie, thinks I'm nuts for putting up with his crazy ways lol. My sisters think I'm crazy too. I should probably put my foot down when he asks to go do whatever it is that he does, but honestly, I'm happy that he has a healthy hobby. I don't care if he goes as long as he takes care of me while he's home. And he does, some days could be better but no one is perfect. He does laundry and dishes and takes the trash out. Sometimes I even get a meal out of him (he's a great cook). He also changes diapers and tucks our little guy in bed every night with me and helps Drake say his prayers too. I'll be looking forward to the day when Drake is big enough that CJ will take him hunting. Maybe when we have our next child I can have a Little girl so that someone in this house will get excited about scrapbooking with me!