Hunting, Sarah's, Jill's, Thanksgiving at Shay's 10/2011 - 11/2011

We got back to Emmett in time to get Terry ready to go hunting in Idaho Falls with our son, Shay.  I stayed home because Heidi and all the kids would be in school all day, so there was not much for me to do.  This is one of the few times Terry and I have been separated in the last five years!  It was pretty tough, but we survived! 

They had quite convoy after they got the 4-wheelers in the pickup and on the trailer, and everything hooked up.

They went hunting up by Mackey, ID, where Heidi's aunt lives.  They park in their yard and have electric hook-ups.  These are some of the hills they hunted.  They got up as far as the snowline.

Shay, coming home off the mountain, with nothing but his rifle attached to his 4-wheeler.  That was about the same story every day.  They saw lots of does, some moose and antelope, but no deer with antlers!  Oh well, they keep saying that they go mostly for the experience of the hunt!  Now they don't have to cut up any game!

After Terry got home from the big hunting trip, we made ready to head out for the season.  We were planning to spend Thanksgiving at Shay's, and since Sarah's husband, Ryan, was going to be in Korea for a couple of weeks in November, we decided to go to Grantsville and park  in Sarah's driveway for a few weeks to be there with her and the kids while Ryan was gone. 

It was lots of fun being being so close to them, and yet having our own home so we weren't under Sarah's feet all of the time.  The kids would pop in and out a lot and we spent quite a bit of time in their home.  Sarah fed us a lot and we had them over to eat a couple of times.  Lindee came over to show us her little pumpkin.

I got the kids started on "looming."  Luke is in the middle of making a stocking hat.  He did a good job.  Jenna made several scarves for herself and some friends.  It was a fun project.

We got to be there for Halloween and helped out with the pumpkin carving.

All of the pumpkins turned out great.  Here are Jenna, Luke, Lindee, and JT showing off their masterpieces!

JT got his face all painted up, getting ready for his Dracula costume.  He came over to the Condo to show us.

After they all got dressed in their costumes, Terry and Sarah took them out trick-or-treating.  I stayed home to hand out treats to all of the goblins who came visiting.  It was a fun night!

The kids had a few days off from school in November while Ryan was in Korea, so we loaded them up in Sarah's van and headed to Burns, WY, where Jill and Dan moved to.  We had never been there before.  It is just about 20 miles east of Cheyenne.  This is their back yard.  They bought a 1/2 acre lot and put a modular home and little shed on it.  There is plenty of room for their camp trailer and their trampoline.

This is the front of their home.  Like most roads in Burns, the town road in front of their home is not paved.
It will look really nice when they get some shutters put on the windows, a circle drive put in, and their lot lined with trees.  They need the trees for a wind block because the wind blows so much there!

There was still some snow on the ground when we got there.  The kids had lots of fun playing in it.  Here's Jenna, JT, Kamber, Luke and Boe making snowmen.

The boys were up for a snowball fight, but I don't think the girls thought it would be much fun.

Jill and Sarah out relaxing on the back deck.  There was kind of a wind block and the sun felt good!

Jenna, Kamber, and Lindee all dressed for more fun in the snow.

Some of the kids got sick while we were there, but Terry, JT, and I got to go to Cheyenne to watch Boe compete in a wrestling meet.  Boe took JT and let him set with the team during the meet.  JT thought that was great!

When we got back to Utah, we ended up getting snow.  Sarah kept the driveway clean for us, anxious for Ryan to get home to take over some of the chores!

Jenna, with her new short haircut, made a great snowman.

Jenna hadn't had her hair this short since she was really young.  I think it looks really cute on her.  She looks so grown-up!

Well, Ryan made it home from Korea and Thanksgiving was upon us!  Terry and I headed out for Shay's in Idaho Falls the day before and Sarah and her family got there that night.  We made a stop in Malad City, ID, to see my Dad's brother, Bill.

We hadn't seen Uncle Bill for a lot of years, but he hadn't changed much.  He lived with out family several times when I was just a little girl.  He has never married and lives by himself.  We bought lunch with us and had a great time visiting with him.

He is quite a collector and has a lot of things in his home.  I told him he was a good housekeeper and he told us he had just dusted everything that morning because we were coming!  He had a lot of knicknaks and has quite a collection of old dolls.  He showed us a music box that had belonged to his grandmother (my great-grandmother) and it still works

Uncle Bill has a nice little home and is really proud of it.  He will be 90 years old this September 30 and is  the oldest living relative on my Dad's side of the family.

He has a really nice big back yard.  He takes care of it all by himself, grows a garden, has fruit trees, and has seven cats!  We saw all of them!  We promised Uncle Bill that we would throw him a big birthday party in his back yard in September on his 90th birthday.  He seemed to think that would be a great idea.  It will be a great time! 

We had a great time at Shay's for Thanksgiving.  We took Emily a loom and she also did a good job making some scarves.  And then Marissa got this crazy idea that her ducks, Thelma and Louise, needed sweaters.  So I took some old yarn they had and tried to come up with a "duck sweater." 

 The next day, Marissa put the duck, dressed in the sweater, in a stroller and went out for a walk around the neighborhood.  She had several curious neighbors stop for a look!  How fun!

Before we left Utah to head south, we were able to get a bunch of our extended family together on my Mom's side of the family.  It was so good to see all of them--my cousin Vicky and Ken, Terry and I, my uncle Terry and Nancy, Aunt Eulala, Aunt Anna, and cousin Jo and Merle.  We had a great meal, but not nearly enough time to visit.  We will have to do it again!

We were also able to see our friends, Dutch and Gail, who live in Ogden.  They have land down in Wikieup next to my Mom's old place.  I have known them my whole life.  Dutch went to school with my Dad in Samaria, ID.  It was so good to see them feeling well and doing good. 

This is a picture of the Salt Palace that we would pass each time going home to Sarah's.  I took a picture of it with my phone and had to learn how to get it onto the computer for for BLOG.  So, this was an experiment!  When Sarah and Jill were 17 and 18 years old, we were in Utah and we dropped them off here for a New Year's Eve dance.  It was a little scary doing that because they thought they were more grown-up than I wanted them to me.  But they had a great time and everything went fine.  I always think of that when we pass by here.

We had a fun time getting to spend time with three of our kids and their families, and getting to see extended family and good friends while we were parked at Sarah's.  Thanks to Sarah and Ryan for all of their hospitality.  It was great, but they were probably glad to have their driveway back and their life return to normal as we pulled out and headed south to find some warmth and sunshine!