The Last Months of 2011

Brandon played basketball this fall.  We got to see several games.  These guys are getting some good skills.  The scoreboard shows their talents in their overwhelming win.

Another birthday celebration for Becky.

"The Nutcracker" starring Jayden Sherwood as the Nutcracker.  The drama club did a excellent job with this play and Jayden did a super job in his role.  Jayden is the drama club president this year - his senior year at Yelm High School.  Family picture time after the play.

Proud of Megan for being named Student of the Month at school for going "Above and Beyond."

Christmas Eve at Becky and Mike's in Yakima and then Christmas Day at Jason and Courtney's in Yelm.

These pictures make me ask, "What's on their minds?"

Love this picture.  Brian (visiting from SC), Kyle and Brett.  Don't they look great with all those smiles.

Megan getting her gear ready to go duck with her dad.  Kyle loves to hunt with Jason and he shows us their one duck for the day.

Finishing the year with some pretty shots.  Oops, forgot to take down the hummingbird feeder before the first snow in December.

Thanksgiving Weekend 2011

So proud of these smiling, beautiful and stylish girls who planned a special weekend for our family.  We rented a large house on a 35 acre horse ranch from Wednesday night through Sunday over Thanksgiving weekend.  It was an awesome family Thankgiving/birthday party/mini vacation. 

Thanksgiving dinner had a favorite dish for everyone and as always, there was plenty to go around (and lots of leftovers).  We are grateful for our family and our time spent together.

The girls had lots of fun doing their hair and nails.  Megan's hair was so cute after being crimped.    The house was decorated with horses.  This mural was just one of many displays.

On Friday, we celebrated Jayden's 18th birthday all day.  It was perfect.  The first activity was lazer tag.  It sounded like a war but don't they look like it was really fun.

Next on the schedule was a lasagna dinner.  Then Jayden opened his gifts.  He hugged his sisters for a special card.  The story of his life album made for Jayden by his mom brought on an emotional moment and a huge hug for mom.  He didn't win anything on his first lottery tickets but he was overjoyed by the cash gifts.  He ordered a computer that he has wanted forever.

Next, we went to the skating rink.  Everyone is getting ready to hit the rink.  The lighting was too dim to get pictures while they were skating.  No one got injured so it was a successful trip.

Then, of course, birthday cake to end a day of celebration for a great young man.

Oh, what would a weekend together be without some pranks.  Lindsey and Merry tried to discourage the boys from getting into their room.  Peanut butter on the floor?  Or opened ketchup packets? 

Part of the rental included riding horses.  The girls are getting acquainted with the horses by grooming them and helping saddle the horses.

Safety comes first.

What a special picture!  All our children and grandchildren (with the exception of Brett's son, Brian, who lives in SC)  are pictured here just before we ended a very memorable weekend.  Let's make this a tradition.  

Elk Hunting

Going elk hunting has really changed over the years.  Some of our first trips were in a summer tent and the freezing weather would make icicles on the inside of it.  For a few years, Bill packed in with our horses and stayed in wall tents.  Sometimes, he would just drive to and from the hunting areas.  Well, for the last four years Bill and I and Kay and Lee (Teri's sister and her hubby) have taken our travel trailers to elk camp.  Bill and Lee do a great job of doing whatever needs to be done around camp so that Teri and Kay will be warm and comfy.  It's a good system.  The gals cook dinners but the rest of day we enjoy reading, visiting and walking and the guys get to hunt all they want.

We very comfy in our travel trailer and spend a lot of time using it.  Our travels, fishing trips and elk camps which always include family and friends have created a lot of special memories for us.

The success for this elk season was Jason's boss, Chad Hummel, filling his special cow elk permit.  The only glitch in Chad's hunting trip was when a rock fell on his travel trailer on his trip home.  He said it sounded like something exploded when the rock hit it.  The rock was about 6 x 18 inches in size and caused about $8,000 of damage which fortunately his insurance will cover.

The last two years we have camped in a gravel pit which keeps us out of the trees (not so worried when the wind blows) and provides good drainage when it rains or snows.  We got to watch this truck driver load some gravel with the front end loader, leave to deliver the gravel somewhere and then come back to get the front end loader.

The last campfire of the elk season.

Lee and Kay are hooking up their trailer to make the trip home to Puyallup.  We were happy that the weather was good as it takes some time to break camp.  Actually, the weather was quite good for the two and a half weeks that we camped.  We had a couple of wind storms but the guys had the awnings and everything else anchored well.   

Had to have some pictures before we headed our separate ways - Kay and Lee to Puyallup on the westside of the mountains and Bill and Teri to Tieton on the eastside of the mountains.

Jason was drawn for a special deer permit for the Tacoma watershed.  Once he was drawn for the permit, he had to complete a lot of forms to be able to hunt in the watershed which he was happy to do.  It's like a private hunting area because only a limited number of hunters are allowed to hunt there.  This special hunt was after the regular elk season.  Bill really wanted to go with Jason but he was on jury duty.  After several days of hunting as he was heading home for the day, this buck ran in front of him.  Good job, Jason, and thanks to Beau Burkett who hunted with Jason during most of the season.