Halloween

Ok, I think that I am caught up on my blogging after this post. For Halloween this year we went to our ward Chili cook off/Trunk or Treat and a few days later we went to our friends party too. Kris was a cowboy, I was Pippy Longstocking, and Denzil was Frankenstein. My favorite part about my costume was that the young girls had no idea who Pippy was but they liked that my hair stuck out.

Nana came to visit!

Kris' mom came to visit us for a week in October and we had a great time. Denzil decided then that he loves horsey rides courtesy of "mama horse."

We went to a little farm place that had a hay ride with multiple destinations. There was the petting zoo part (Denzil loved all the animals being so close but they were a bit out of control if you ask me...probably because we were the only people that came that day so they were hungry;), then we went and did a hay maze, a little fairy land thing, and finally we got a little pumpkin at the end. I think Denzil had a blast and we did too just watching how much fun he was having.

Denzil held a wooly worm which peed on him because he was just a little rough;)

We went to Mrs. Hanes Moravian Cookies bakery and watched how they hand make all the cookies. They said it takes them about 4 months to figure out the texture that the dough needs to be and how to roll it out and such. The lemon ones are my favorite.
We went to the Biltmore Estate. Denzil did pretty well in the backpack but he was pretty upset when I wouldn't let him down to play on the piano there.
He also got upset that I wouldn't let him get into the fountain.
We travelled to Colonial Williamsburg, VA. In the cabinet makers shop they were nice enough to let Denzil play on the harpsichord that they had made as a replica. He was a lot easier to handle after that.
The Capitol Building

Uh oh! Luckily no one had rotten food to throw at us.



This caterpillar has become a great toy. Denzil loves to be "caught" by it and wrapped up in it. He had a great time with Nana and we were all glad she could come and visit us.
Denzil had a full head haircut. We did a trim on the back in August because it was getting mullet like but he was in need of a full haircut. He did really well until the hair started to tickle his face and make him itchy. Kris did a great job and there are only a few long hairs around the ears.

Denzil has started to like the bath again so we are all stoked about that one.

But he isn't a fan of having the hood on his head.

The Great Smoky Mountains

So, Denzil and I ventured to the Smoky Mountains to meet up with some of my pals from my growing up years. We had a blast despite the chilly weather. It was near 40 at the top of this mountain and Denzil was cold. I hope I learned my lesson to pack warmer clothes when camping in the middle of October in the Smokies. It was beautiful and I was able to set up our tent most of the way by myself and I took it down myself. I realized how much I rely on Kris when we go camping but we managed.

I "Zorbed." If you don't know what it is, I didn't either until we got there. Apparently there are only 6 zorbing places in the world and this one is the only one in the US. They put some water in the bubble and I slipped in and off I went down the hill. It was pretty fun.
But, Denzil wasn't too happy about me leaving him at the bottom and having a wet mom that wouldn't hold him tight when I was done.
Thanks for inviting me to come along and have some fun Ryan & Scott. Let's meet up again sometime! It's kind of crazy that we met there in the first place because Scott lives in Cali and Ryan in Minnesota. It was a blast from the past;)

Kris' 31st Birthday & Apples on the Blue Ridge Parkway

For Kris' birthday we had dinner at home and a delicious yellow cake with chocolate frosting and don't forget the candle with and airplane. I am so glad that Kris was patient enough to wait for me to grow up and that we get to grow up together, I mean, grow old together. He is a fabulous dad and Denzil just LOVES him! He walks around saying "daddy" all day long.

Denzil and I went to get apples in Virginia and then take a drive on the Blue Ridge Parkway with some ladies in our ward. Denzil did really well and was very excited to be able to move around when we stopped. The apples were delicious and quite cheap so it was definitely worth the trip and who doesn't love being with great people too?!

Mabry Mill along the Parkway.

Denzil these days

Did I mention that Denzil likes to climb in things??

He makes so many cute faces. He makes the same face my brother Eric use to make when he was little but I haven't been able to snap a picture of it yet. We did go through some old family photos the other day and saw a pic of E when he was 2 or 3 maybe and Kris and I thought Denzil looked similar to him.
If you turn your head for a minute you may find him in some type of drawer pulling things out.
This is a typical Denzil on laundry day. He loves for me to push him across the room really fast. He can now tell me when to go.
Denzil is always a big help with laundry. He just figured out how to climb into the dryer so if he isn't "helping" me fold the clothes (throwing them out of the basket so he can get in) or helping me load the dryer (also pulling the clothes out as I put them in) he is happy as can be just hanging out in the dryer.

First Steps

Denzil took his first steps today. Yeah!

Denzil's words

The things that Denzil can say right now are toys, shoes, socks, blocks, peek a boo, story, daddy (he says it all the time), mommy, cracker, cookie, eyes, honk, beep, bee, baa (sheep), moo, please, thank you, pumpkin, this, that, hat, fish, cheese, Jesus, Denzil, baby, car, truck, bus, plane, ball, bird, squirrel, uh oh, buzz, cherrios, snack, bye. He loves trying to repeat back words that we say.

He is growing up so fast but still not ready to walk on his own. He loves climbing up on the kitchen chairs or any chair for that matter. He is so proud of himself. He has only fallen off once so far but he didn't get hurt. He loves to play with his caterpillar and have you wrap him up in it. He is a big fan of legos and blocks. He loves looking at pictures and he likes having his picture taken sometimes but especially if he gets to look at it afterward. He loves playing with cars and trucks and he loves the air plane that is hanging in his room. He loves to dance when music is playing. He loves to play outside too. He is a sweetheart. He gives the cutest kisses and sometimes the wettest but that's cute too right?! We are having a great time with him and watching his personality come out.

Utah Big Bull Elk Hunt 2010

This was the sunrise on the first day up in the mountains in Utah. We had 2 days to scout before the actual hunt began. The fall colors were beautiful and over the 7 days we were up there the leaves changed a lot.

The hunter. The weather was very nice every day we were out. I had way too many layers of clothing for this type of weather but who wants to be cold if you have to sit somewhere for a while to wait for the animals to come.
This is a tree that my dad carved our names in back in 1996. I just thought it was fun to see and think that I have been doing this for 15 years. I love getting out and hiking around and hearing the elk bugling in the early morning. The great thing was that on the day I shot my elk he was bugling in the middle of the day. Oh, the joys of the rut.
So, the first 2 days we hunted we were on private land. We had permission and it was the same area that my dad and uncle got their big bulls a couple years ago. Opening morning we got really close to a bull but I decided that I didn't want to shoot him so we let him go. That may have been a mistake because we didn't see or hear another elk the rest of that day. We hiked a lot and covered a lot of ground but nothing.

So we took Sunday off and Monday morning we went after them again in the same place. Early on we heard a few bugles far away but didn't see anything. Then about 9:30 am we could hear one not too far away and he sounded good so we started sneaking to get close to him to check him out. We were able to get within about 20 yards and after glassing him we saw that his left side was a nice 6 point and the right side was gangly. So, we passed him up. No one wants a gangly elk on their wall, at least not when it takes so long to draw out for this tag.

After stopping for lunch and a little nap in the woods we decided to split up and meet back at the truck about 4 pm. As we were walking my dad said to me "wouldn't it be nice if there was one right in these trees?" Not 2 minutes went past when a bunch of cows spooked. I got ready just in case the last one would be the bull. But, after 13 cows and calves went by, there was no bull. So we kept walking. A few minutes later I saw the hind quarters of an elk go through the trees and 4 cows running up above. So, we didn't get one there.

Back at the truck we decided that we'd take the 4-wheelers and drive over to Birch Creek canyon to see if we could hear or see anything there. We stopped to listen at south Birch but we didn't hear a thing so we went over to the north side in a slide area. We sat at the top and were just glassing the area when one bugled. I looked down at the bottom of the slide and there was a small 4-point bull laying down rubbing his antlers on a small sapling. Then we started hearing more bugles and they sounded like they were really close. Then we heard cows chirping but they never came into the clearing to be seen by us. When it came to deciding where to go for the next day's hunt I decided that we should come back to that spot in the morning and see what we could find.

Tuesday morning didn't disappoint. We sat back in the slide and the elk were bugling a bunch for us. We decided to try and go for the one that sounded like he might be the biggest. After a while we were able to get pretty close to him but we never did get a real look at him but we could see his shadow in the bushes and then the wind turned on us and he ran away just out of our sight. My dad thought that maybe they had gone to bed down in some pines a little farther away so we walked a little ways and sat and ate our lunch. We were just getting started walking when we heard some barking so we went toward the sound and came up on a small 5-point bull. They bark as a type of warning. He barked at us several times before he turned and ran away. We started walking back toward the slide area and decided that we would take a little nap and wait to hear some bugles to determine our next move. This was about 11:30 am and I decided to see if I had cell reception, which I did, and I sent Kris a short text about our hunt that day. Shortly after that an elk bugled. My dad was still snoozing so I decided I'd wait to see if he did it again before I woke my dad up. About 5 minutes later the elk bugled again so I woke my dad up. Then the elk kept bugling more and more so we decided to go after him and see if he was a shooter. The terrain is quite steep and there are a lot of logs and bushes so it makes it a bit of a challenge to sneak up on an animal but we were able to be fairly quiet. We got to where we knew he was just in the trees close by and my dad could see a calf. We stopped and then a cow started going down the hill parallel to us and we thought they were all going to spook. The cow stopped parallel to me and just stood there looking and listening. Then a small 5-point bull came out of the trees above her and after a minute turned and ran back into the trees. Again, we thought they were all going to spook but the cow started making her way down to the others just eating and not moving real fast. About this time I caught a glimpse of the bull. I put my gun up and had him in the scope for a split second but he moved out of sight again. I stood with my gun up for about 5 minutes and my arm was getting really tired. I couldn't sit or even kneel because the bushes were too high and I couldn't see. I thought I could see the bull's legs but I didn't have a view of the head so I wasn't about to shoot. This whole time he was bugling every 30 seconds or so. Then my dad said he could see the bull and that I should shoot him when I was ready. I used my hip as my rest and took a shot. The herd started moving out and my dad told me to get ready to shoot again. The second shot was the killer. He dropped right there but rolled a few yards because of the steep terrain and this is where he landed. My dad had me walk down to the area where I shot him so that he could keep an eye on the spot and direct me if I got off on my way down. When I got to where he went down and saw him I thought he was dead but there was no way I was going to get close without my dad right there with me.
He landed right in a raspberry patch. They were small but pretty tasty.

He is a 6-point bull but I don't know what he scored. My dad thought he was bigger than he is but I told him that it was big enough for me. There always is a bigger one out there.


I shot him about 1:30 pm and we were finally heading back to the 4-wheelers as the sun was setting.
Wednesday we went back with the horses to get the elk out. Thank goodness my cousin Chad and his son Caden were able to help us out. It took all day but it would have been longer with just me and my dad. We had to carry out the antlers because they weren't wide enough to sit on the horse without poking him and there were too many trees to have them upright.
This pic doesn't show the steepness really well but it was very steep.




Our own little butcher shop. We let it hang until Saturday then my dad cut and my mom and I wrapped steaks, roasts and whatever else.
Denzil got to hang out in the garage for a while til he was too cold and we moved him to the sun. He was so good during the whole trip. He really liked Grandma and Grandpa and aunt Justine. He did well with everyone pretty much.

Saturday night we ground some meat, 45+ packages that were probably around a pound each. My mom bottled 14 quarts of meat on Sunday after I left to come back home.