Verboten

Or, why my posts will have no [current] pictures for a little while. And this is really all in my head, because I have a less than perfect understanding with my computer right now. :) One of my Christmas presents was a new internal hard drive to supplement our old 40-gig hard drive. I filled that one completely up with itunes and digital photographs. My dh [who is pretty much capable of anything, I've discovered] installed the new drive- there was a spot for it, but no hardware to attach it, so he figured all that out, too. Now we're backing up all the current memory, and then we'll switch the pics and tunes to the new drive, and *gulp* erase them from the old drive. So, while all the backing up is going on, I have not downloaded or saved any pictures. And I have taken a few since our trip to LV. Mostly this is because there really is NO ROOM left on the old hard drive. Partly it is also because I'm afraid if I add anything before the [long and extremely slow] back-up process is complete, the whole darn thing will have to restart.

So this is a summary of the last few days: Friday we drove down to a hunt club, and FINALLY took the kids out for a pheasant hunt. [we stopped along the way to see Nate and Caitlin & their boys, and played with all Saxon's new cars] We hunted the gully [that's a very small canyon, BTW] right next to an access road, which meant that Jared and the dogs walked in/near the gully to look for birds, and I walked along the road with any kids that weren't following him. LOL, I have now held 2- yes, TWO- dead pheasants. Oh the things I will do for love ;). Jared was the only one with a gun [thank goodness], and we made sure we stayed behind him, so he knew where NOT to shoot. We ended up with 4 of the fattest pheasants you'll ever see. Or maybe you won't, depending on the whole picture/hard drive thing...

Left the hunt club, drove to my parents' house for games and dinner, and ended up spending the night, which was probably the safer choice. Saturday was a pretty laid-back day; pancakes for breakfast [thanks to my mom, who is an awesome cook], and lots of snow in the yard. Jared spent most of the morning outside with Kyle, Emmeline, Cassie [she's the honorary canine cousin], Alyson, and all our kids, building a huge snow fort. Actually, it is an igloo- it has a roof, and it's tall enough to stand up in. I did go outside and try it out, and take some pics.

We drove home by way of Provo Canyon through Heber, and checked on my grandparents' house- it's for sale now, which is kind of hard, but understandable. We also stopped at the cemetery [kids were all asleep in the back seat- late nights and lots of outdoor exercise, I guess], and Jared shovelled a path from the road into Myles' grave, and my grandparents' and great-grandparents' graves as well. We brushed off the snow, and tidied things up a bit, then headed home. We made it home in one piece- no accidents or close calls- and fed everybody and went to bed. Yesterday was a normal church day, and we had roast pheasant for dinner. Yep, we eat our kills. Anyway, because they're farm raised, and fed like chickens, they basically taste like chicken. I just need to comment that Jared and I came to an agreement early in our marriage: he shoots it, he cleans it, and he prepares it. I'm happy to taste anything, but I do not prepare wild game of any kind. So, yes, Jared cooked the pheasant ;)

Today, we're slowly working our way through a normal day- chores, school, etc. At least, that's the plan. Who knows what might happen?

Gratitude List:
* heat! Oh I am so glad I have a furnace that works :)
* warm oatmeal [with brown sugar and cranberries] and hot cocoa for breakfast. The cocoa isn't exactly healthy, but it feeds my soul, so it stays.
* kids who are old enough to have morning chores, like 'put the dogs outside and feed them.'
* good church meeting yesterday
* my kids
* my husband ;)
* my family and friends
* having my own set of scripture [I mean, 200 years ago, I'd be lucky to know how to read, much less own ANY books at all]