Merry's 16th Birthday

Merry turned 16 on December 12, 2013.  She had a special celebration with some of her friends and family.  The house was decorated with a special touch for the birthday girl.  Happy 16th, Merry!



Christmas Shoes - A German Tradition

Kathleen told us that in Germany there was a Christmas shoe tradition similar to our Christmas stocking tradition.  The shoes are set out on the night of December 5th and St. Nicholas fills them with gifts.

 

Thanksgiving 2013

Lots of family - that's what Thanksgiving is all about!!  The Battles and Sherwoods from Yakima brought their RV's to Jason and Courtney's to spend the weekend.  We traveled on Thursday so we celebrated our Thanksgiving on Friday.  Brett, Kelly, Kyle and Brian and his girlfriend spent a lot of time visiting with us while we were there.  Courtney's sister, Heather, and her husband, William, and their two children joined us, too.  

There was lots of cooking done in preparation for Friday's feast.  With everyone contributing their specialties, we had 11 different dishes to enjoy.  We are blessed with fabulous cooks in our family so the food was out of this world.

Some more pictures of family.

Jason set up a duck blind on the back of his property.  Even though there wasn't as much water as he would have liked, Brandon still got a duck.  Special treat for those who want to hunt.

Sisters and their Sweethearts

Bill and Teri, Coralee and Lance, and Kay and Lee met at Mazatlan's on South Hill for a nice lunch on Thanksgiving weekend.  Fun to get together every now and then!

Brandon's 8th Grade Basketball

Waiting to play.  Yay #52!!

Watching this team play was so much fun.  They have great skills and work very well as a team.  Brandon did a great job at making baskets, rebounds and assists.  

Becky's Birthday

Celebrated Becky's birthday with a nice lunch at Black Angus.

Hunting 2013

Mike was drawn for an any bull tag so Bill and Mike headed for the Rimrock area to find one.  They hunted hard - Bill would drop Mike off and he would hunt an area and Bill would pick him up.  Bill found lots of mushrooms but Mike never got that elusive bull.  Bill and Lee were drawn for cow elk permits for the Cowiche area.  The Cowiche area was totally new to them but there were several people who were willing to show them around.  It was a different experience hunting in the sagebrush.  These guys get an A+ for effort and there were some shots taken but they still came home empty handed.  Kyle hunted with Bill and Lee during the regular season.  He had lots of energy and was rewarded by finding a nice elk antler.

Merry took her hunter safety class this year and got a special youth permit for a doe.  On October 13th, she got one!!!  Jason said she did really well.  The first shot hit but the doe kept running.  Merry got excited and missed the next shots.  The first shot was enough though.  The doe only ran a short distance before dropping.

Jason got a nice buck on Halloween.  Yay!!  Glad he was successful because a trip to Wyoming earlier was a no deer, broke down truck experience.  Ugh!!

Cool picture that Jason took with his phone and binoculars while out scouting!