Yesteray Griz and I went on our first chukar hunt ever with a friend of mine and his dog.... I thought I was in pretty good shape but this hunt proved that theory wrong in a big hurry! I've hunted elk in some steep country before but that was at a fairly leisurely pace. Keeping up with two labs in that kind of country is a whole different story.

I have to admit that I was a litle disappointed with Grizat first because all he wanted to do was chase the other dog's tail (she was in heat) and although he is young (only 8 months now) you could tell that he was interested even if she was ignoring him. Things did get better though after we found a few birds. By the middle of the day we actually had a pretty good system worked out.... The other dog would hunt birds and Griz would tail her. We would watch and if the scent was strong enough for Griz to stop hunting a piece of tail and start hunting birds we knew we were about to get into them.

Even when we knew we were right on top of them, it seemed like I was never quite ready. I was either looking at my feet so that I didn't fall, or I was in the middle of a fall when a covey of those little buggers would come rocketing off the side of the hill! There were also several times that I would shoot at birds until my gun was empty and THEN the rest of the covey would take off!

We hunted like crazy and saw close to a hundred birds, if not slightly more than that, and after a few pointers from my buddy, I actually managed to connect on a couple. The highlight of my day though was Griz's frst ever retrieve of a live bird!

I knocked one down and it landed about 70 or 80 yards out. Griz ran over, picked it up, brought it back, and dropped it right into my hand like he had been doing it his whole life! After that I feel like I can officially call him a hunting dog and not just an overgrown lap dog!

Here's a picture of the end results for those who are interested.

paper dolls at preschool

We made paper dolls at Emma's birthday party. It was so enjoyable. Even Sam liked it. Actually Sam loves to craft. He can be hesitant about everything else but the kid loves to craft. Sam is a two year old that comes to our preschool.

Fall, My Favorite Season.... Followed Closely by Winter

Just wanted to share a few new pictures.... While we listened to conference on the radio today we took a little drive up into the hills behind our house. It was beautiful!










But the higher we got, the colder it got, until we found....




WINTER!















It seems that summer is just barely done and already I'm faced with the prospect of shoveling snow. It's a good thing it's so pretty.

Peace at Last

"Parents aren't interested in justice, they're interested in peace and quiet."

-Bill Cosby

After all of the requests for "dwinks," and "snacks," and "potty" are through and the requests for nightlights and socks or fans are through, they are pretty cute when they finally fall asleep. The boys sleep in bunk beds but no one ever sleeps on the bottom. It's so much cozier with two.

The hair is spring loaded.

Ahwoo and tattoo!

Noah is trying very hard to talk. In fact, he does quite well with single words, he was just a little slow to start saying them. I am under the impression that he was just waiting for the right time to lay this new talent on us because once he started talking the words came out pretty easily for him.... Single words that is. He still has trouble stringing multiple words together. So "I love you" sounds like "Ahwoo" and "Thank you" sounds like "tattoo".

With his personalty though I won't be surprised if he comes home one day when he's older and says, "Dad, check out this sweet tattoo!"

Long time listener, first time blogger

This is the first time I've posted to the family blog.... Just wanted to relate that all the training of done with "Griz", our new chocolate lab puppy is starting to pay off. He flushed and retreived his first bird today. That's good news for him because when we agreed to get a dog I told the kids and Amy that he would have to do more than just lay around the house, consume large quantities of dog food (as if I' not already spending large wads of cash to feed two growing boys and a girl) and poop on my lawn in order to earn his keep. Not bad for a puppy that's not even six months old yet!

Amy is much better at thisblogging thing than I am but I'lltry to do my part

The Joy of going back to school.

Or should I say the joy in Tyler going back to school. Tyler is so lovable and so hard to parent all at the same time. He is a wonderful boy. The same old question of "why" that he has always asked has been joined by "how, how many, how tall, where, what if, can I try that." The general answers are never enough. In fact for many of them I think I need to have an advanced degree in Zoology. Oh, boy. Daddy is a pharmacist and thus we refer to him as "the scientist" and when the questions become too difficult I just say, go ask Daddy. Oh, boy. My least favorite questions, as of late, have to do with our boy dog. All 3 of our children ask it, as do all of the neighbor kids: "What is that pink thing?" Which always leads to reproductive questions. EEeeek! I have become really good at the dodge though. I give them the simplest answer possible, and then ask if they will help me look for ripe tomatoes. Then we look for the grasshoppers that crawl all over our plants which we feed to our neighbors chickens. Subject changed. Awkwardness with a 6 and under crowd averted. I am prepared to deal with the "where do babies come from question" just not with every kid in the neighborhood and not with a 6 year old, 4 year old, and 2 year old. It just ain't happenin.

Anyway, it has been great(!) to have T. in school full-time. Last years 2 hours a day kindergarten was just not enough for that kid. All summer we have been on grasshopper expeditions and trying to figure just the right amount of water for the garden, and finding the perfect fruits of our labors in the garden. It has been a great summer for him.

Life really is beautiful

I've been stuck in a music rut lately. I just can't stop listening to Willie Nelson, Tennessee Ernie Ford and some other oldies. Waylon Jennings is one of my faves right now too. It seems so unlike me to so into it, but it's just got something about it that I need lately. Everything seems so confusing at some points and then things just seem to fall into place. Anyway, I was having some password probs. But will now be blogging again.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oX9E_D_HjBo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7vaYOIKWYY&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KMtdWoZqXSo

Griz, our little chocolate lab that we acquired while I was locked out of my blog is starting to be big. Still a puppy and yet...more like a rude little two year old. It's weird having Noah the actual almost 2 year old and a dog that act the same way. I love you mommy hold me love me/Do what I want and no one gets hurt/I want Daddy-he's my actual favorite. It's a speed cycle that really through me for a loop with Tyler, but after T & E, Noah doesn't stand much of a chance of really being a threat to me. Ya know? And poor Griz, he gets annoying and he's outta here. We just put him to bed and boom he's asleep. Being a puppy means you need to sleep and eat a whole lot. It's mind boggling. I don't think I can maintain a consistent stream for my train of thought right now. It's just after midnight which doesn't sound super late, but I've been up since 5am and likely will be again tomorrow. I have no idea why I binge eat. Actually I've been trying to live the China study and mostly I just feel like I'm starving to death. It's been nice, but I see how much extra food I've become accustomed to eating. Sort of disgusting really.

Does it get any better?

We wound up not bringing the bikes with us, but wishing that we had. It was so much fun to hike with the kids. At first Emma thought she couldn't do it, but with a little encouragement she was having as much fun as we were. Tyler is ever more adventurous and was climbing every climbable rock in sight. Noah most enjoyed the smores and hated the cold mornings. I think everyone did though.

People amaze me though. It's funny how anxious to be contrary humans are. We hiked to the emerald pools one day. In the summer these pools are truly emerald green. I think it has to do with the bloom of the algae. But right now they are really amber colored. Everyone and their kids were so quick to dismiss the beauty of the place. They never questioned the affect of the season on the color of the pools. We did get to see some cute little lizards though and and some amazing sites. And it's always fun to share the wonders of nature with little people.

Ah Spring Break

""Just living isn't enough," said the butterfly, "one must also have freedom, sunshine, and a little flower."" -Hans Christian Anderson


Ah, Spring Break! I guess its purpose is to prepare me for the upcoming summer months. Though hopefully there will not be any snow this summer. I think that it has snowed just about everyday this week. But tomorrow we are to be set free. I'll be surprised if the next couple of days don't somehow include a couple of fishing poles, but hopefully there will be a few days of sunshine mixed in with some smores. I just can't wait to strap the kids in and feel the open road rumbling along beneath us. We have some biking planned and enough hiking to make the long weekend feel productive. I hope the kids will ejoy the bike trailer and red rock.

Dinner out w/ the fam

We went to the hub for dinner with Suzanne and Fred tonight. Pretty fun. Breakfast and corndogs are good for the soul.


This picture is of Noah making a bedtime bear ride a dirt bike. He really is priceless.

Will it never stop being winter? It's snowing again. It has been snowing all day long. Oh, poo.

At least we can keep trying

""God has given us our memories that we might have roses in December.""
-J.M. Barrie


I find myself living in the mountains among people that I haven't known long and longing for people that I have known. I've decided to start a blog so that our family can keep in touch with old friends and family that we have all but lost contact with. I have no theme in mind other than sharing funny experiences and just laughing our heads off.

Anyway, I'll leave you with an old but goodie pic of the fam. More to come.

Love,

Amy