A Milestone Reached

Ed and I had an interesting experience in church on Sunday- we found ourselves sitting alone. Reed turned 12 on the 19th and was ordained as a Deacon. This past Sunday, December 27, was his first day passing the Sacrament. It was an amazing experience to hear Colby bless the Sacrament and then to watch Parker and Reed pass the Sacrament to the congregation.

This is the first time ever that we have had two children in the same "group" at church with both Parker and Reed being in the Deacon's Quorum. It won't last too long because Parker will turn 14 in May, but I think they are enjoying it! This morning they had to be at Brother Lemon's house at 7:15 to go to the Temple to do Baptisms for the Dead. This was Reed's first time at the Temple.

Finally. . . a cougar!

We were able to spend the past few days at our cabin in Fairview.  Just after we entered SMR, I noticed an unusual bird soaring through the light snowflakes- I was stunned to realize that it was a Bald Eagle!  That is the first time we have seen our national bird in Fairview, so it seemed like a good omen.  I had a feeling that it was going to be my weekend to finally see a cougar. . .

This morning I was out taking photographs of the birds around the cabin when Parker came screaming into the driveway on the ATV.  He wanted me to jump on, but I protested saying that I wasn't wearing socks or a coat.  When he responded that there was a cougar treed on Birch Creek Road, I was on that ATV so fast it would have surprised any bystanders!  We tore down the hill and around the corner onto Birch Creek Road.  We had only gone about 1/2 a mile when we came upon a clump of cars.  We jumped off and headed to where Ed was standing.  I couldn't believe my eyes!  A real live cougar!  I only had time to take four shots before the big cat turned and ran down the tree and along the creek with the yowling hounds headed after him. 

The crowd dispersed and on our way back down the road, we stopped to talk to the people who treed the cougar.  They are the Adamsons of Lehi and Jake is their lead dog.  He's a handsome critter.

 

As we left them and headed down the road, the cougar ran across the road right in front of us.  I missed it, but Ed and Parker said it was cool to see him run.  He headed up the hill towards C loop, so we alerted the Adamsons and the dogs immediately picked up the trail and were tracking. We headed back up to the cabin and ran into the Adamsons on the middle road. . . they said that the dogs had just gone through towards the north.  (The dogs wear special GPS collars so that they can be tracked.)  I exclaimed that they wear heading right for our cabin!  By the time we made it around the corner, the dogs were headed on the other side of the road. . . and I needed socks on, so I went back to the cabin.

The first thing that I heard when I got off the ATV was Colby yelling at Lewis and Clark to be quiet.  He was quite frustrated with them and said that there had been a couple of dogs running by the cabin that got the boys all wound up.  Apparently one of the hounds even went under the deck!  I have to wonder if the cougar did. . .  After a few minutes we let Lewis out and he immediately headed north- up by our water wagon.  Parker chased him and found cougar tracks.  All I can say is that it was a very exciting morning!  A little too close to home, but exciting none the less!

I guess that it is a good thing that we have Ice Sword Reed around to keep us safe!

The Bests and Worsts of 2009

Reed

Bests

The Cruise- especially having as much CocaCola as I wanted, Hanging out at cabin, Turning 12 and going to the temple for the first time

Worsts

Being sick for so long



Parker

Bests

Killing my first varmint, Getting a shotgun for Christmas, Cruise

Worsts

Crashing on the 4 wheeler (I was not driving)



Colby

Bests

Cruise, Getting my Driver’s License, Turning 16 and getting to date, Being in the Marching Band

Worsts

None. . .



Ed

Bests

Cabo San Lucas, Colby getting driver’s license, Kaye winning City Council election, New water system at cabin

Worsts

Driving to LA to go on the cruise (major snowstorm), New water system at cabin



Kaye

Bests

Cruise, Winning the election, Watching Colby perform with the Lehi Marching Band, New deck at the cabin

Worsts

Having Swine Flu, Weeding the Dugout, Having a snake in the kitchen

Ut Oh.

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Join me in my addiction.

Shoot!

I have never really liked guns. I didn't grow up around guns, so they seem somewhat foreign to me. My only childhood memory of shooting a gun was at Bryant Pond Camp and I may have made that up. Ed got in a lot of trouble several years ago for giving me a gun for Christmas. I was not happy about that.

On the other hand, I am the mother of three boys, two of which have severe red neck tendencies. I have gotten quite used to buying Air Soft guns and I don't even have a problem with BB Guns. When you have Parker wandering around the cabin with a BB Gun shooting any rodent who dares to show itself, you kind of get used to it.But. . . Parker wanted a shot gun this year. That gave me some heartburn, but he is 13. The one rule is that it is locked up at all times in Dad's gun safe. Since none of us know the combination, it should be safe there. He was anxious to go give it a try, so we headed out towards West Canyon on the 26th. It was about 12 degrees. Fools. . . that's us.

We went to Wasatch Wing and Clay which is out in the middle of the wheat fields in Eagle Mountain and we used their throwers to shoot clay pigeons. What a blast. It is a cool set up and it was south facing so we didn't even freeze to death.

Christmas 2009

We had a great Christmas this year. Our festivities began on the 23rd with our annual Open House. We had a more manageable crowd this year because we didn't feel the need to invite the whole neighborhood. I think we only had about 50 people this year, but we had more opportunity to visit with our guests so it was nice.

On Christmas Eve we had a yummy, but simple ham dinner. I thought it was perfect because I didn't have to work so hard! At 9pm we had our Family Program and then we had dessert. Pumpkin Pie and Cheesecake from Costco were the choices. I am SO glad that Mrs. Costco is a friend!!!

Then the boys opened their early present and got their Christmas jammies. This is a picture of them all decked out.

Christmas morning we opened our stockings and a few presents before breakfast. Unfortunately, one of the breakfast casseroles that I made was disgusting, so we did a little foraging. Then. . . back to the presents.

Jim had so much fun traveling this fall that we bought him a new set of luggage.
Parker got the .12 gauge shotgun that he has wanted forever.
Ed got mostly clothes and gift cards.
Reed got a cool hat and a trumpet.
Colby got a euphonium case. . . but his favorite gift was the Magformers that each of the boys received. He has been making lots of creations and then takes pictures of them with his handheld video camera. I think it is funny that a 16 year old is having such a blast with magnets!

I got a new TV for the kitchen, some Philosophy perfume and a new bathrobe and slippers. It was a relaxed day, complete with naps, and we all enjoyed it.

But next year I am hoping for some palm trees!

Thanksgiving at the Cabin

There is nowhere that makes Parker as happy as Sanpete County. He lives to go to the cabin. . . and he loves turkey. . . so Thanksgiving was a hit this year! It was nice to have a few days to relax and enjoy each others' company.


Big Lew was quite photogenic this weekend. His new short hairdo is my favorite because I don't have to deal with picking a million stickers out of his coat. This is a rare photo because he doesn't have a tennis ball stuffed in his mouth.

We had a lovely feast with all the traditional family favorites. Basically we ate. . . and ate. . . and ate!
It was great having Judy here for Thanksgiving again this year. She had a lot of fun shooting at targets with Parker and Reed. I think they may have been surprised that she is a good shot!

On Friday, Ed cooked his traditional Prime Rib and a crowd showed up! We had enough people that we were able to move the hot tub from the trailer to the new deck. Now we will be able to get it working when we have some time to spare.


Clark loved snuggling with Aunt Judy. He was happy to sit with her anytime that she found her way to the couch!
Love these photos of Ed and Parker out on the deck. The sun was just setting and we were enjoying its warmth. It had been a lovely day, but as soon as the sun went down it got cold in a hurry. One cool thing that we saw this year was the Space Shuttle and the International Space Station orbit overhead. It was amazing how fast they moved across the sky.