Autumn

“Every leaf speaks bliss to me, fluttering from the autumn tree."

-Emily Bronte

Autumn is my favorite time of year. I love the colors of Autumn. My dishes and decorations (when they aren't in boxes in a storage unit) are variations of red, orange, green, and bright yellow. I love watching the leaves change and get a little sad when they blow off the trees early. I love taking drives just to look at the leaves changing.

I love the smells of Autumn. I love smelling the rain on the pine trees. I love the cooking smells and the food of Autumn. All of the harvest fruits and vegetables... squash, peaches, apples and anything baking. I love that it is cold enough to enjoy soup again! There is nothing better than a hot bowl of soup with fresh baked rolls or bread.

I love the cool, crisp mornings and the warm afternoons. I love pulling out the box of sweaters I have and getting to wear them without a coat for awhile. I love the "back to school" season... although I haven't enjoyed it for a few years. I will get to enjoy it with my kids soon.

Autumn is Luke's favorite time of year, too. For all the same reasons, plus it is hunting season! Autumn leaves us all too soon. We would both be happy if it stayed this nice all year round.

Last Sunday we took a drive and a picnic with my mom and grandpa. From home we went to Midway to pick Grandpa up, then to Guardsman Pass and down to Brighton. The leaves were beautiful and we had such a great time.

This picture was taken at the Spruces campground, just west of Brighton.

We took a walk around Silver Lake at Brighton. It's a great short walk and perfect for little kids. I highly recommend it.

Noah was really proud of this pinecone that he found.

Luke, Noah and Grandpa at Silver Lake.

thought it was funny

I saw this on Julia's blog and thought I would give it a try. It was good for a laugh! Type your name followed by needs in Google and see what comes up...

1. Megan needs help
2. Megan needs a quiet home in a place with few or no thunder storms and lots of sunshine (truer words were never spoken)
3. Megan needs an ass kicking, now!!
4. Megan needs to buy me a drink (wonder who me is, anyway?)
5. Megan needs a summer intern
6. Megan needs to come back
7. Megan needs a dress rehearsal
8. Megan needs a very quiet home in a place with few or no thunder storms and lots of sunshine (again? Must be really true)
9. Megan needs jobs
10. Megan needs some gun advice

Try it out for a laugh.

Last Day Success!

So, Megan has been on my case about blogging and she really thinks that I should try to get into this blog craze that seems to have everyone so tied up in knots. Well, I told her that I would blog when I actually thought that I had something to say......well, tonight I have something to say. After many hours in the field and many miles hiked by foot I have finally had some success with bow hunting. I tagged my first deer tonight! Talk about a rush! I'll tell the story........

Tonight we had a company get together and I told Megan (my wife) that we weren't going to be staying very long because I was going to go "chase" (that is mostly all I've done is chase) deer. Jokingly I told Megan that there was a buck waiting for me that had my name on it and I didn't want to be late for our date. So, we drove the five minutes it took to go home, I changed into my camos, grabbed my bow, and we were on our way. We got to my "little spot" and from the vehicle I glassed to see if anything was out in the open. Well, I didn't see anything and it appeared that this night, the last night of the general season, the deer were going to give me the slip one more time. I told Megan to let me out and I would hike down the hill aways and see what I could see. I started to hike down and got right behind some trees so that I could glass and hopefully not have the deer "glass" me. I sat down and pulled out the trusty binoculars and scanned the hills. I quickly saw a small doe making her way up and over a little ridge. This doe, however, kept looking back like she was waiting and expecting something to come up behind her. At first I thought nothing of it being as how I though she could be looking for a fawn since there are a lot of does with fawns in the area. I kept watching her, sure that something was going to come up into view and I wanted to know what it would be, even if it was going to be just another doe or fawn. I was about to give up when this 3x3 popped up out of bushes. I glassed him and guessed him and the doe to be about 350 yrds away. They had no idea I was around and continued to feed up and over the ridge. I waited for five minutes or so and guessed that from the looks of it they were headed to a specific spot and there probably wouldn't be any chance that those deer were going to come back over the ridge to the side that I was on. So, I made a quick decision and started out. I figured that since the deer didn't know that I was close by I would be able to climb the small ridge myself and possibly intersect the two as they were feeding along and down the other side. I had tried this tactic before thinking that I could "cut deer off" and it had failed me in the past but I figured that since this was the last day in the area I would give it a shot and see what came of it. I very quietly followed the game trail that led over the ridge. I come up and over the ridge and....nothing. I didn't see a thing. I continued to follow the game trail I was on and very quietly snuck up and over a small burm in hillside I was walking. As I came up ove the burm I spotted the doe...and she spotted me. She bounded off a little ways but stopped and looked back. I pulled out the binoculars and glassed her guessing to be about 40 yrds away. As I was glassing I saw a slight movement in the sage brush in front of her and I saw some antlers sticking up. My blood started pumping and I started to get excited since I knew that it was probably that same buck that I had seen on the other side of the hill. I quickly guessed him to be about 25 yrds away. He was bedded down on the other side of the sage brush and I had no shot. The doe kept looking at me and I thought she would bust me any time and head for Dodge. However, she never took off. She just kind of paced back and forth not quite sure what to think of me. I thought however that the doe was going to bust me and that buck would stand up at any minute. I got down on my knees hoping it would be less conspicuous and drew my bow back and held on the sage. I moved a bit and snapped a twig and that buck all of a sudden stood up and ran about five yards and stopped. I held still trying not to move a muscle and to keep my bow steady on his vitals. He had run about five yards so I moved to my thirty yard pin. The buck calmly walked in front of some sage brush and stood still. He walked a little bit more finally out of the brush and giving me a broadside shot. I made sure my aim was true....and I let 'er rip.

It all seemed slow motion. I saw that arrow head straight for the kill zone.... and BANG!!!!!! I knew my shot was true! I heard the hit and heard and saw that buck take off. I waited five minutes or so not wanting to be too anxious. I walked up to the spot I thought the buck was standing when I shot him and...I saw nothing. No blood, no arrow....just nothing.......but then I kept walking and noticed all the blood! I had hit the buck perfect. It was an awesome shot. I continued walking the blood trail, being as how the sun was fading fast and if I wanted to recover that buck in the light I knew I would have to move. A blind man could have followed the blood trail. About 30 yards from my shot I found my arrow....soaked in blood from tip to tip. I kept walking and about 60 yards from where I had shot the buck...he was DOWN! I couldn't believe it. He had gone no more than sixty yards before piling up in the sage.

Well, the fun part was over and I got down to the dirty work of gutting the little bugger. I didn't have much light left and it was not too fun finishing up in the dark but finally got the business taken care of and started the HIKE. It was all UP hill. It wasn't just some little tiny hill either but a whole lot more steep than I thought it would be! After dragging that bugger up hill about 1000 yards or so I was ready to never shoot anything ever again....ha ha ha. But I finally made it to the road and called my wife to pick me up!

Now, keep in mind that I don't currently own a truck! So, Megan picked me up in the good 'ol trusty Nissan Maxima (that I have dubbed our 4x4 Maxie) and stuffed the dead body in the trunk! Got the deer home, out of the trunk, and hung in the garage! For my FIRST deer, I couldn't have asked for a better night! He's not KING KONG or anything, but to me he's perfect!

WHAT A NIGHT! ! ! ! ! !

Labor Day Weekend Update

Despite Luke and my mom heading out of town for the weekend, I had a pretty good time! I did end up doing all of the things I wanted and having a great time. On Friday, I went to the zoo with Michelle, Taytum, Hannah, Brock, Noah and Mia. We had our hands full with kids but it was still really fun! And the zoo has seriously improved over the last few years.

On Saturday morning, Sahara got into another porcupine (the third time in eight days). Michelle and I had to literally wrestle her to the ground to get the eleven quills out. We both got really muddy, but survived. Hopefully, Sahara will wise up and quit sticking her nose where it doesn't belong! That afternoon, I met Chelsie and Hannah at Liberty Park. The fountain was closed for repairs, but we had a good time on the swings and just letting the kids play on the grass. We are thinking about getting together in a play group fashion once a month until the weather is too cold, and then maybe we'll move it inside. Feel free to join us!

Sunday, I went to church and wrestled Noah all by myself. We had great Sacrament Meeting talks about the temple and the Sunday school lesson was about the Army of Helamen and their mothers. It was good to be at church! Sunday night, it started raining like crazy and did not let up for about 10 hours.

After Noah went to bed, I got cozy and kept reading Breaking Dawn. A loud rainstorm is perfect for reading a vampire novel. I think I read for about 4 hours straight. And my thought: I liked the book and liked the ending, but I was seriously bugged by a few things. I won't give any spoilers out, but the biggest annoyance was the lack of research. Let's just say that some characters are going hunting and they happen upon some elk. The lead hunter get's really excited when they spot a big buck. A buck elk? I've never heard of such a thing! Hello! It's a bull! And it is not weird that I know this kind of stuff... Robyn knew about the typo too! I just want to write a letter to the author and correct her so she doesn't make such a horrendous mistake again!

Luke came home on Monday afternoon after a very wet weekend. His hunting group woke up to about 4 inches of snow on Monday morning. That is some cold camping! I told him he should blog about it, but he declined. So, I will share his camp picture (without permission). Isn't he such a cute hunter?

breaking down

Nope. That's not a typo. I finally broke down and got myself a little copy of Breaking Dawn. I was blog surfing the other day and accidentally read a spoiler of the book. So I appreciate all of you that have let us know that your posts contain spoilers. I was going to wait and buy the entire boxed set in October, but I just couldn't wait any longer.

(http://sweettangerine50.wordpress.com/)

So, I am going to spend my Labor Day weekend cozied up with the book. Luke is hunting and my mom is on her annual canoeing trip with friends, so it's just me and the boy. I have other plans, too! I am going to the zoo with my sister and her kids and going to spend time with Chelsie and Hannah. Noah and Hannah actually played the other day at Grandpa Steve's birthday dinner. Usually Hannah just mows Noah over (even though he is bigger... she's faster). But Noah has figured out her tricks and chases her back. They were so cute, so we are going to take them to the park or something.

And lastly, I am going to work on some sewing projects. More to come on that... I have lots to share!