My Friends are AMAZING!

The people I work with aren't just my work friends. They are my best friends outside of work also. They are amazing! This year for my birthday they SPOILED ME!

They brought in chocolate cupcakes. CAMO plates. 6 layer dip. Yes 6 layer. No onions.

And a great birthday hat!

Oh and did I mention Caramel Caribou ice cream!!

My other awesome friend got me a new Wii game !

And look what they did! I had my moms car because mine was in the shop (don't worry mom I washed it and cleaned it good)

Yep they took the time to blow up about 50 balloons. Seriously. It was full of them! But look how sweet a 12 pack of Dr Pepper under all those!

Honestly there had to be 50 balloons. I took them into the house for Kennedy to play with. She said "Mom that's exactly what I wanted for your birthday! Balloons!!!!!"

Thank you! You guys are absolutely the best ever! You made this birthday amazing and I am so blessed to have such wonderful friends! Love you guys!

Mine and Kinlies Bdays

Mine and Kinlies birthdays are one day apart. Hers is on the 24th and mine is the 25th. We celebrated them together this year. Mom is still off in Alabama with FEMA so it was just us girls and Dad.

My dad made and decorated the birthday cakes. The cake he made for me was FABULOUS and cracked me up! It was too perfect!!!

Here is Kinlies cowgirl pet shop cake

We were both spoiled! My parents got me a new fishing rod and reel.. Pink.. a pink tackle box and pink power bait and pink jigs haha! I think if my dad could have found pink hooks he would have bought those too!

Kinlie got a bunch of new pet shops

Elysha and Dane got me this cute sign for Kennedy and I's room in the apartment

Kinlie got a DS from her mom

And a cowgirl hat and shirt from Aunt Jessy and Kennedy. She has been NEEDING a cowgirl hat. She has one at her dads house but said she cant be a cowgirl at grandmas house with out one. After she opened it she said "Jessy I knew you were gonna get me a cowgirl hat!!!"

Grandma and Grandpa got her a stick horse that makes noise

Time for cake!

Liz got me some awesome Crackle nail polish I'd been wanting. I got 3 crackle colors and some clear coat.... so of course us girls had to do our nails!

Elysha and her new brown hair

Liz doing her toenails

Liz couldn't do her left hand.. and Elysha couldn't figure out how to paint them facing her...really... so this is how she figured out to pain Liz's nails for her haha

I was absolutely spoiled! Thank you!!!!!

'

Thank you to my wonderful family!! You guys sure did great! Love you all!

Wiikend

We had girls lunch at Olive Garden. Hailey and I went in style. She rode her Buddy 125 Scooter and I took my motorcycle..

Kennedy once again got into my make up.... a whole brand new tube of waterproof mascara. She may not be allowed to go to the bathroom without an escort from now on....

And this weekend was also our 5 year Anniversary.

It was kind of weird.. Anticlimactic.. Technically I guess we made it 5 years since we are still legally married. It was strange to not say "happy anniversary!" to have big plans. To not think about it all.

So with it being our anniversary and my birthday in a few days I did something I don't normally do..

...

I bought something for Kennedy and I..

...

Something kind of big..

..

Something I never really thought I'd buy.

..

Yep that's right we got a Wii! It was way cheaper than I thought and I just had to.

At our apartment we don't have cable or any form of TV besides movies.

I wanted something for us to be able to do besides sit and watch movies. To get up and play. Exercise and have fun.

Kennedy had a BLAST playing the boxing and she did pretty good too!

I took it up to my parents today and my Dad, Sister and I had a blast playing all kinds of games and I'm pretty sure we're all going to be sore in the morning!

Im a mess!!!

Its that proverbial 'if its too quiet they're into something moment'...

Followed by Kennedy yelling "MOM I'm a MESS!!!!!"

and strangely the running of bath water....

I walked into the bathroom and found this...

Its hard to tell but from her shoulders down she is SOAKED in cold water from the bathtub.. she was cleaning herself up... Eyeshadow is all over her face, on the counter, on the hairspray, on the diffuser, on the tub.. all over

She filled my diffuser with make up brushes and bobby pins. She filled the sink with the little toothpick things and water because "they were her babies and they are going swimming"

Look how beautiful her make up is! She always wants to wear eye shadow and eye liner and mascara... I guess she just decided it was time!

Luck of the Day

My dad went out turkey hunting this morning. I got off work at 4 am and even though I was so sore from the day before I really thought about going with.. but Kennedy had spent the whole day prior being sick so I didn't go and stayed home.

I couldn't sleep. I tried and tried but my body was too ready to go hike and my mind kept thinking I KNOW because I'm not going this morning my dads gonna get a dang turkey! Well I tossed and turned until Joe dropped Kennedy off at 630 am. I walked back into the room and saw I had a text from my dad.....

 

Congrats to my dad! He got a VERY nice tom. He had a 9 inch beard!!! He was in the same area we had been in and just snuck up through the trees and caught this guy on the ground.

Way to go dad!

70 Degree Angle Hike

So the morning after the 'Almost' post my dad and I headed out bright and early again at 430 am and got to the parking lot about the same time. 4th time out is a charm right!?

First time I went out I didn't see anything..

The second I heard them but didn't see anything..

The third I saw turkeys but didn't shoot one...

So by all ideals this should be 'the day' right....???

Dad and I head through the hills to the same spot I was yesterday hoping they are there. We get almost there and hear GOBBLE GOBBLE! Yes! They are there this is gonna be a good day!

We set out some decoys.

Hide down in the trees and wait.

Two ducks fly in right next to us and a hen duck lands about 15 yards from us.

They are talking a lot but not as bad as yesterday. We can hear a couple of toms and a couple of hens. Its about 15 min before daylight. They are still in their roost in the trees in front of us. They are gobbling back and the hens are talking and chirping also. They are being stubborn and not coming out of the roost.

Its shooting hours now.

They're still in the roost.

I can see one or two faintly through the trees hop down off the branches but they stay buried in the thick.

It starts to snow!?!?

Light flurries start to float down like cotton swirling in the air. Its nice and warm outside. Its mid may!

Well these dang turkeys are being stubborn so dad and I decide to hike up the hill kind of around them and see if we cant come into them.  So we start hiking up the hill. Not bad.

We come to the top of the first little hill. Dad says I think it clears up a little bit further. Ok we go up the hill some more into the thicker trees. Its still snowing pretty good by now.

Then it gets really thick. Lots of trees and branches and bushes. We're having to climb up this hill using the branches from the bushes to pull ourselves up. Its so thick they're snagging your feet and catching all over. Ive got probably 15 lbs worth of stuff in my backpack. Plus carrying my gun in one hand.. and the weight of my gun.

Well after clawing and crawling our way up this mountain dad ends up jumping 4 of the turkeys that took off. They sail down the hill and he gets a shot off at a jake but misses. See that flat spot down there in the thick of the trees.. that's where we started.

We could see the same 3 doe I saw the day before out in a clearing also. We could see where we parked the truck at. We could see all the way to Logan. And I'm pretty sure we could see Russia from there.. Just sayin..

Its hard to tell but really this hill is about a 70 degree angle. We hiked up it. This wasn't quite the top of the hill we got to.

We always tease that my dad is part mountain goat. Really. I think he is. I'm pretty sure he jumped out of the womb and took off hiking up a mountain to go hunting. If you've ever gone hunting with him you know exactly what I'm talking about... and that I'm serious. I'm not complaining by any means... just giving a little insight.

After climbing and fighting all the brush we made it to a clearer spot. We were pretty high up from where we started and worked our butts off getting there.

Hi mom! We stopped a few times along to rest.. and catch our breath.. and not die. Mom called one of the times. She's still workin hard in Alabama with the tornado victims. Its funny you can be on the top of a mountain in the middle of no where and talking on the phone.. I checked my facebook while he was talking to Mom.. Technology!

Then we started down a ravine. You really cant tell in the picture very well but this is a good 75 degree angle. I'm not kidding. Its pretty straight down and covered heavily in dead fallen weeds and grass. It blankets the ground all over up there. This is looking up hill. I could face uphill standing still, reach out my arm straight and probably touch the hillside thats above me.

And this is dad downhill.

The pictures really do not do ANY justice to the angles and degrees that we walked. By the time we hit the bottom my knees were jello. They were so wobbly I kept having to stop before they buckled. Out of all of the hikes I have ever done or gone on with my dad this had to be one of the most strenuous out of all of them and that's saying a lot! A lot of uphill and steep hills and thick thick ground covering. But hey we did it!

We didn't get a dang turkey. We were headed back to the truck and I was teasing my dad after hiking our asses all over this dang mountain I bet the turkeys would be waiting at the truck for us laughin..

We were about 5 min from the truck and a turkey started gobbling. I'm pretty sure he was laughing at us. We got into the truck and started for home. There were 3 hen turkeys out in the field next to us.. laughing.

Almost!

Sunday morning I headed out to find me some dang turkeys! I got to the parking lot about 515 am. It was still pretty dark. I started hiking down the hill into the canyon. It was kinda scary Im not gonna lie! Its creepy all by yourself hiking in the dark. I found the trail and started into the wooded area when I heard a grouse drumming.

If you havent ever heard it, it sounds almost like a lawn mower trying to start.. its them flapping their wings back and forth really fast. It was about 5 feet off to my side and scared the crap outta me. I climbed up the hill and into the next wooded area. By this time its almost light enough to not have to use a flashlight.. I was about 5 min from the spot I was headed when I heard GOBBLE GOBBLE.

I stopped for a min and decided  keep going.

GOBBLE GOBBLE!

Well its gonna be light in about 15 min...maybe I'll sit and wait for a minute and see if he keeps talking. So I drop down next to a tree and for fun start calling back. The hills CAME ALIVE. About 4 Toms gobbling away. Several hens answering back too. I am sitting just downhill but there is a hill blocking any view. I drop my stuff and walk up the hill some just taking the call and my gun.

GOBBLE GOBBLE!

GOBBLE GOBBLE!

Im creeping through the trees trying to be quiet but the ground is covered in dead fall. Limbs. Leaves. Weeds and other crunchy things.

GOBBLE GOBBLE!

I keep sneaking my way up and am in some thick trees so far. Its almost light enough to shoot.

The Toms are answering my calls before I even finish calling. Its like the hens and I are fighting over them

GOBBLE GOBBLE

GOBBLE GOBBLE

GOBBLE GOBBLE

A flock of geese fly over and the turkeys are gobbling back at the geese.

A rooster pheasant is answering the turkey calls also.

My bloods pumpin at this point. I'm not quite into a good clearing to get a shot. All of a sudden I hear 4 or 6 sets of wings flapping and see about that many turkeys fly down out of the trees and land right on the edge of the clearing up the hill from me. Right on the edge of the treeline.  A tom puffs up big and his head turns red. I dont really have a clear shot. There is still a bunch of branches in my way. Im about 40 yards from them. I use my call a time or two more and they answer back.

Im trying to quietly sneak through all the crunchy ground covering with out spooking them to get into the cl clearing. Im almost 30 yards from them at this point and can see 5 or 6 turkeys. But no one is puffed up and my dang binoculars are in my bag I dropped in the trees. I cant tell which one has a beard and they are side- hilling it across the mountain.

The sun comes out.

I finally am in a good spot to shoot and they are off into the trees at the base of the hill. I call a few more times and they ignore me and head up the hill.

I tried to make noises to get them and turn and look at me. Anything but they just ignored me and kept heading up the hill through.

I hiked all over and never heard anything more. Didn't see anything else. I did see a hen pheasant and 3 doe. But I know where they are now and can only hope they are there when I go out with my dad the next day. 

Sleepover Follow up

Well... the sleepover...um.. I think it might not have gone so well~

My dad said Kennedy was running around like a bat outta hell and then all of a sudden at 10pm she instantly got fussy. He told her to stop or go to bed. She wanted to go to bed and fell asleep instantly. She slept til about 1am and then started crying...and crying...and crying. Liz and Kinlie were laying with her and she wouldn't stop crying for mommy.

Then she puked...

In the bed...

With Liz and Kinlie....

Kinlie said "see mom! that's why I don't want kids! They puke all over and cry all the time!!"

She cried on and off all morning. Joe finally went and picked her up about 10 am. She was doing ok by then. Tired but no big deal. He dropped her off to me at 1pm and about 20 min later she broke out into a good fever. She had some Tylenol and just kept getting worse. I had to call in sick to work. I was afraid she was getting another kidney infection. Her fever was about 101 and her heart rate was around 190. It was going so fast I couldn't count it. When she gets like that the ONLY thing that will touch her fever is Children's Advil. Not Tylenol. Not Motrin.

She was not doing well and I was worried so Joe left work and went to Walmart to get her some medicine and popsicles. Before he could get to my house her fever spiked to at least 104. Her skin was on FIRE. It hurt me to touch her.

I had to give her a cold bath. That is the worst torture ever. Listening to her scream because not only is she feeling cold from a fever but she's naked in cold water. He showed up then as she was screaming and we gave her medicine and a half a popsicle. I love Advil. Her fever was down in about 10 min and she was out. Her heart rate was down and she slept.

She broke out in only one other small fever about 100* one more time that night. She was good by about 8pm. Still slept a bunch but was playing and eating. We were watching her Dora the Explorer Movie and she was almost asleep. At the end of the movie they say "what was your favorite part of the adventure?" Her half asleep reply was "When my Grandpa took me camping.." aw!

 I dropped her off to Joe at 4am and went hunting. 

She came back around 1pm and was fine. Just fussy but no fever. A little run down but that was all. We slept on and off most the day and I took her back to Joe when I went to work that night. She was just fine and I had planned to go out hunting with my dad in the morning. Kennedy was just fine. No fever. Playing and all good.

Joe dropped her off at our friends house at 630 who was watching her. They have a little girl who is 4 and her and Kennedy love to play. I picked her up by 930 am.She was having fun laughing and playing. Threw a fit about going home. She wanted to stay and play with Lexi. We got back to the house and were there maybe 20 min before she puked all over my bed... Ugh..

She and I slept on and off most of the day (it was my night time) She threw up again..We slept some more. And slept. It was time for me to go to work and I woke her up about 30 min before I had to leave. She threw up ALL over herself and the bed. Great. Had to give her a shower. Clean the bed. Clean the sheets. Love on her and poor peanut still felt horrible. She kept asking for Dr Pepper so she got one.

I went to drop her off to Joe so I could go to work and while we were waiting for him to get there she puked 3 more times. No fever at all today. And half the time is bouncing off the walls :(

So much for her first overnight camping trip with Grandpa!

Archery Set Up

My dad volunteered to take Kennedy camping this weekend. She has been asking non stop to go and they spent today setting up the Brigham Bowmen Primary Childrens Shoot   at the outdoor range in Mantua.

He had Kinlie and Kennedy as his helpers. They were so good for him during the day..we'll see how the night went in the morning  :)

I went up in the evening to visit and eat dinner. All of the campers were starting to come in for the night and they were getting the fire pit ready when I had to leave for work dang it!

Alan showing Kennedy and Kinlie his dogs

Sarah and Hunter.

Picnic time at Gpas camp. Kennedy was showing Sarah the worms her and Kinlie caught during the day.

Kennedy and Kinlie werent eating their burgers... I told them to sit down and eat and Kinlie said I cant Im full.. and my burger is gone. Yeah yeah your burger is gone.. Sure it is. We turned around and sweet little Hunter snagged Kinlies burger. She ate way more than Kinlie did and loved it!

Dad showing Sarah how to make his special salsa. She doesnt cook. She doesnt cut onions or anything like that. She chopped and onion and cilantro! Yay Sarah!

Kennedy and Kinlie helped Alan set up his 'tent'

Dad doing what he does best. Cooking for everyone!

Here ya go mom!! I thought you might be missing out so I took as many pictures as I could before I had to leave for work!!