Over the river and thru the woods

Thanksgiving seems to be different for us each year. This year was no exception. We headed up north to a cabin in Pinedale owned by Matt's uncle Reed. The last time we were there was when David was about two. Matt, Grandpa, Tommy, and Greg had an elk hunt in that area so we decided to hang out at the cabin while they went out hunting. Thanksgiving day and all day Friday was cold and rainy. There were even a few beautiful snow flurries. The boys ventured outside for a few minutes only to get nice and muddy and really cold which made the wood burning stove inviting. To my surprise Matt shot his elk opening morning. I had a 'proud of my hunny' smile all day. The rain let up long enough to get it hung and skinned and I was happy to be holding a camera instead of a knife. It ended up being the only bull spotted the whole weekend.

The Rhino really came in handy this trip.

After some creative rigging, the hoist was up high enough to keep the elk out of reach of the coyotes.

Danner and David can you pull that elk over here?

They needed a little more muscle.

Brad and Tom started skinning while Danner waited to hoist it up.

They finally roused Greg out of the cabin to join in on the fun.

He had the pleasure of cutting off the head to which he said, "I've always wanted to cut some one's head off." Teenagers.

Do you want a taste?

Danner took his turn skinning.

This was the look I got when I asked if he was going to lick his fingers.

This bull was missing part of his leg. The other hoof probably grew weird because of it.

Braydon giving Daddy two thumbs up.

The mighty hunter.

With eight boy cousins (not a single girl in the bunch) in one house things got a little wild many times. Lots of wrestling/fighting. Jason took the brunt of one head on collision. When they hit, Jason jumped up and said, "Kyler, are you OK?" Then grabbed his head and said,"Ow, my head."

I drenched it with lavender, peppermint, and chamomile oil then asked Matt to give him a blessing. We kept him up as long as possible but without having a nap that day he didn't last very long sitting still in my lap. By morning it was about half the size but only a little purple.

Regretfully there was also some childish fighting by the adults as well. I really did try to walk away when I felt myself getting out of control but unfortunately I lost my temper and allowed my children to see and hear me yelling with Matt's mom and sister. Matt came home to the boys and I taking a time out in the truck. Once again he had to be in the middle of my mess and I am sincerely sorry for that. I am so blessed to have a husband who sticks beside me no matter what and has the ability to calm me down. The rest of our stay was rather sour on my part but the boys didn't skip a beat. Luckily the weather became more bearable and they were able to get out to explore. Matt continued to go out with all the guys although it wasn't as exciting without carrying around his gun.

Jason

Braydon

David in '04

Banana cream pie leftovers with lots of whipped cream. Yum! Grandma Allen loves to be in the kitchen and there is always plenty of good stuff to eat.

On the way home we carried out the tradition of cutting down our Christmas tree. We started out in Heber but ended up going past Woods Canyon Lake. To the boy's delight we found some snow to play in. Matt was the only one who ended up looking for a tree, which ended up not being all that easy. They all looked good from the truck but once we got closer they were missing the back side or much bigger than the 10 foot maximum. It was almost dark when Matt found one. Instead of having the boys help cut it down, he told me to drive up the road and honk if I saw someone coming. The tree looks great so don't ask, don't tell.

Braydon is the hardest kid to take pictures of. He looks away from the camera and always pulls a face right before I click.

Braydon was having a hard time making snow balls with gloves so Jason would make them and give 'em to Braydon.

The boys were completely excited to get out the decorations. They were almost too excited for me and I found myself needing a breather. Once I reminded myself that anything that might get broken was just a "thing" and it didn't really matter, I did better. They tied their reindeer (puppies) to the sleigh (basket) and Santa (Braydon) flew (they pushed him so fast it was close enough) around the room. David tied a bell around his neck to be the lead reindeer but not Rudolph.