Hooray!!!

Today, Jared got up much too early for normal people and met Wayne, Mike, and Mack over by Kamas, to hunt deer. The other 3 spent the night in a tent out there, and there were 3 inches of snow on top of it this morning. But, much to our mutual surprise and excitement, Jared shot a deer! On his first day out [WTG, honey], and it was a nice fat one. So, he got home this afternoon, and hung it up in the tree in our front yard. Then he skinned it [great anatomy lesson for the neighborhood kids, as well as our own] and started carving it up. The bulk of the carcass is now hanging in our tool shed, aging. Apparently that improves the flavor of the meat. I'm thinking if he just leaves the deer hanging in the tree till Halloween, we'll have an awesomely creepy decoration *and* the meat will have a chance to really age. :)

Jared's dad was here for a few days so he could go to a funeral. He left today, but he took the three oldest out for about 2 hours to play and eat lunch. :)

While I was driving to Walmart today, a big black dog crossed the street in front of my car *in the crosswalk.* And he stayed in the crosswalk across the entire 4-lane road LOL.

I heard somebody banging on the keyboard today, and went in to see who it was.

We got hit with a snowstorm this afternoon- put down about an inch in an hour. Then it cleared up for a bit, and now it's hailing. I think we're going to have nice cold weather for trick-or-treating again this year :)

Oh, and Happy Birthday to Jared- he's 34!!

free-falling

Myles is pretty fond of the outdoors; especially the dirt and rocks. He crawls around looking for disgusting things to put into his mouth :). Yesterday, I was outside with him, and Jared called. I turned my back on Myles while I was talking [first mistake], and he climbed our chain link fence. When I turned around, his feet were about 12 inches off the ground, and he was hanging by one hand. I got to him right as he fell. Luckily, he landed on his hands and knees, but his feelings were hurt.
He also had two teeth cut through his gums yesterday. I can still see one more tooth that is almost through, and I'm hoping once it emerges, my son's normally cheerful personality will emerge along with it.
Today's been not so good- Morgen's having difficulties with a piano piece [read: playing the same wrong note over and over, and crying when I stop her and correct her], and Walker stole some fruit snacks and lied to me when I caught him. *sigh* And it's raining, so I can't send them outside. When Cali's pups disobey her, she grabs them with her mouth and growls at them. Sometimes I feel like growling at my kids...

A beatiful place

to visit: Daybreak. They have about 45 model homes- basically a neighborhood of them- built by 10 different builders. And they're all decorated, and I *love* walking through them all. I went yesterday, and I think the people who work there are beginning to recognize me LOL. But I enjoy seeing the homes, and the decor, and imagining what it would be like to have a house with no scribbles on the walls :)
In other news, Jared took the puppies out to a gun/hunting range [has acreage you can run dogs around in to train them to hunt] and ran the 4 of them around. He took Hyrum with him, and they had a grand old time romping around :). The longer we have these pups, the harder it is to let them go to another family. Even if we trust that family to love and care for them like we would. *sniff*

Herding puppies

So, we've parted with three of our pups now- 3 still left, if you're interested in a fantastic bird dog to take with you on your search for pheasant/chukar/grouse. Anyway, Sunday morning Jared let Cali and the 4 remaining pups out in the backyard together [they've been separated from her so they'll be weaned]. Next thing I know, he's calling me over to the window, to watch Cali herd the puppies into their kennel. Then she jumped on top of the kennel to guard them. They would try to escape, and she'd herd them back inside. I think she's going to fire us as babysitters :), she noticed there were some missing...

Birthday Boy

We had an impromptu birthday party for Myles; my in-laws were up for a last-minute visit, to see us and to pick up their puppy, and Ryan and Julieanne came over for dinner to see them. Jared made cupcakes, and I picked up some ice cream on my way home from the Women's Conference I attended. Myles was a bit unsure about the cupcake at first, he poked it, and tasted it cautiously. Then Jared squirted some chocolate syrup on the cupcake, and Myles dug right in:
Since it was pretty late, and I took a lot of pictures, Myles got tired of the flash and staged a protest.
I had to share this picture- cleaning him up is always seen as a personal attack, although bathing is one of his favorite activities.
He did get some presents, but was completely uninterested in opening them that night. Sunday he played with the paper, and the toy that Gaileys gave him, and I got him a pair of pajamas with some of his birthday money. Not a terribly exciting birthday, but still fun :).

one down...

Jared's parents came up for a visit this weekend, and celebrated Myles' birthday with us. [I'll post pics of Myles' birthday later] This weekend we parted with one of our puppies. *sniff, sniff* Jared's dad took Blaze ?name subject to change? home on Sunday. While I'm happy to give him to a good home, and I know we'll see him a lot, it's still a bit sad to let him go.

Grandparenthood

I've decided that having puppies is a lot like being a grandparent. I'm not responsible for teaching them how to eat or use the bathroom, and I can give them back when I'm finished playing with them. Of course, I still need to feed them and supervise them when they're outside. And once we decide which puppy we're keeping, Jared will spend a few months training him/her to hunt birds. Actually, that looked fun- when he worked Cali he used a bird wing tied to a fishing pole. :)It's a lot of time and work, though.

The puppies' other "grandparents" came by tonight to choose out which of the pups they would be taking. That's their payment for letting us use Gage to get Cali pregnant. Hmmmm, maybe I should try that with my in-laws: ship off a child [the problem-making one, whichever that one is at the moment] as their "fee" for Jared getting me pregnant LOLOL! Okay, so they probably wouldn't go for it. Still...

Tall, taller, tallest

We went to the Utah State Fair recently, with a friend of ours. Checked out the children's farm thing, drove the "tractor" [really a tricycle], milked a pretend cow, and traded the 'produce' we collected for a treat. Here's Ben and Walker:
Morgen and Hyrum, who was too busy opening his treat to look up at the camera.
In other news, while Myles was screaming at me today, he let go of my pants and stood on his own. Oh, the screaming was because I torture him for fun. :)His two top teeth are coming in, poor thing!

random names

mostly because I was avoiding housework, and stumbled across this "naming game"

1. YOUR ROCK STAR NAME: (first pet & current car),
Cali Durango
2.YOUR GANGSTA NAME: (fave ice cream flavor, favorite cookie),
Chocolate Pumpkin
3. YOUR "FLY Guy/Girl" NAME: (first initial of first name, first three letters of your last name),
J-Gai
4. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: (favorite color, favorite animal),
Green Tiger
5. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, city where you were born),
Lee Pasadena
6. YOUR STAR WARS NAME: (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first),
Gai-Ja
7. SUPERHERO NAME: ("The" + 2nd favorite color, favorite drink),
The Blue Wassail
8. NASCAR NAME: (the first names of your grandfathers),
Sherm' Ellis
9. STRIPPER NAME: ( the name of your favorite perfume/cologne/scent, favorite candy),
Sunflower Tootsie Roll
10.WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: (mother's & father's middle names ),
Ellis Giles
11. TV WEATHER ANCHOR NAME: (Your 5th grade teacher's last name, a major city that starts with the same letter),
Ashton Anaheim
12. SPY NAME: (your favorite season/holiday, flower).
September Calla Lily
13. CARTOON NAME: (favorite fruit, article of clothing you're wearing right now + "ie" or "y")
Apple Sockie
14. HIPPY NAME: (What you ate for breakfast, your favorite tree),
Orange Juice Willow
15. YOUR ROCKSTAR TOUR NAME: ("The" + Your fave hobby/craft, fave weather element + "Tour"),
The Scrapping Rain Tour

Boo!

Okay, actually this face was because I put him down to take a photo of his decorations.

According to Hyrum, Myles got the markers out of the desk drawer, took them all [6 colors, I think] downstairs, and colored his face, neck, arms, and hands. Oh, and there was one red dot where his cowlick is at the back of his head. What? You don't believe Myles did that? Well, then, buster, explain who *you* think would have done it. [now might be a good time to mention the similar marker-colored patterns on Hyrum's face and hands...] Anyway, this whole experience did not meet with Myles' approval, and he crawled up the stairs to me, screaming the whole way, to register his complaints. Whereupon his picture was taken, adding to his unhappiness, before he finally got the comfort he was seeking.