The Hunt

For a 2nd time in a life time, J.D. drew out again for the hunt! It was for the west side of Southern Utah, so we hunted in the fields of Holden. Now I may have mentioned this in a past post, but just in case I can't help but truly believe that anytime any of us Shelley girls have ever gone hunting with the boys, it is then when they actually get something. J.D.'s first buck, I was with him the 3rd and final night that he was able to hunt....and yes he got a buck. This time, I chose to go again on the last night he was able to hunt. We had chose to sit in a spot right where the deer would come out. I finally told J.D. that if we stayed there the deer wouldn't come because they'd smell us, so we'd better move. So we did, and what do you know.... within 15 minutes here came a buck right where we had been sitting. J.D. shot once, missed! Shot twice, hit! BUT we thought we missed because the buck took off back into the brush. So, as the buck was headed back into the brush, J.D. shot a third time. 

Luckily J.D.'s brother Chet was scoping out the brush for us on top of the hay stacks, so he called and said J.D. had hit the deer the 2nd time and to go start looking before it gets too dark. So we had back to where we saw the deer. We found tracks, but no deer. J.D. had me stay by the tracks as he went around the little hill. I didn't exactly stay put. I started up the hill, and as I did WHAM! The deer jumped up right in front of me! I yelped...quietly. Then I started panicking and clapping for J.D. to come back. I didn't want to talk in fear of scaring of any other deer that might be headed towards the field. J.D. comes running back and we both start up the hill again. We found him, a 3 point. Although his hip and back legs were completely busted up and bleeding, he was still dragging himself away from us. However, we couldn't put him out of his misery because we wanted the others to have a chance at getting a buck if there were any coming. So, we followed him slowly. Finally 20 minutes later, with no other buck in sight, it took 2 more shots to put the deer down. Then, they started gutting it....so gross, foul smell, being pregnant, I just turned around and looked at the stars. 

Here is J.D. holding his buck in the background, Tim (a friend), Chet, and Parker all holding the coyotes J.D. killed while looking for a buck. 2 of the them are J.D.'s, and the last one is Parker's. 

J.D. took his little man Dawson hunting too. Dawson was so excited, woke up at 5 am with J.D. and hunted all day with him without one complaint. Dawson had a blast because he got to help shoot the coyotes! He was so stoked! AND he even got to wear his new camo that Uncle Choc gave him for his birthday!

 The night I went hunting with J.D., Dawson hung out with Molly and Lucas and their family. He ended up in a Jedi costume! SO here's our family picture with a Jedi, 2 coyote heads, and a buck.

 Here's our little hunter next to his first coyote kill!

 The last day of the hunt, Parker was still in need of a buck. So J.D. took him out, and this particular deer was so far away from where they were sitting that Parker didn't think he could hit it. So he gave J.D. the go ahead to shoot for him. One shot and he was down. However, they could not find this sucker anywhere! So J.D. went looking one more time the next morning and found him.

 All in all it was a good season. We made $100 off the coyote heads, and got some deer jerky. J.D. and Dawson had such a great time, I had fun with J.D. when I got to go, and we were all pretty proud.

Griddle Coloring

Often times...well every minute of the day Dawson is wanting me to play with him or just do something with him. After building an awesome car track and playing with those for a while, I finally said it was time for a change. Dawson suggested coloring. I love coloring, but just felt like doing something a little different with it. I remembered griddle coloring with my mom growing up; she did this every year with her preschoolers. SO I called my mom to find out exactly how to do it. All it takes is tin foil, a griddle (on low), and crayons. 

My mom had also sent a pic of cookie monster in the mail for Dawson to color (she did for all the grandkids) for National cookie Day, October 1st. We decided that it was time to color the cookie monster and send it back to Grandma Shelley. Here's our results of the griddle coloring!

Dawson LOVED it! He colored SO MANY pictures!

 

J.D. had never heard of such a thing, but had to try it out once he saw how much fun Dawson was having. Needless to say, J.D. enjoyed it just as much as Dawson. lol! He's a kid at heart 24/7. 

Pumpkin Carving

October is finally here and we had to start the season off right by carving pumpkins. J.D. actually got extremely sick that day, so Dawson and I went over to Chet and Bobi Sue's to carve pumpkins with them. It's so nice to have family close by to be able to do fun things with. We had so much fun over there for a family home evening activity. Chet baked the pumpkin seeds for a snack, and we also had pumpkin pie after we were all done. (SOOO YUMMY)! 

Here's the little man so proud to light up his pumpkin for Halloween season!

For J.D. not being able to carve with his professional skills, I think I did pretty good for a substitute.

 

Happy Halloween!

Cutting logs

As you may know J.D. makes log furniture from scratch. This year we are making a log swing again for Chet and Bobi Sue for Christmas. So before the weather turned we headed up the mountain to get the logs. Dawson wore his camo (which he wore for almost 3 days before I finally forced him to get them washed). He looks so dang cute in it!

Here's my hunk of a husband! I love watching him work, especially in the mountains because he's so happy doing what he's doing.

 

It was so much fun, and SO peaceful. It's so nice to get away from all the busy cars and noises in the cities. Dawson loves to explore and is the easiest to take care of when he's in the hills or camping or just doing some boy thing. I love it!

Carnival

One evening in Orem we went to Orem Elementary's carnival with our friends the Reynolds. The kids had an absolute blast and we enjoyed watching them have so much fun! It was so cheap and had a TON of games and rides for the kids. We only got this pic because we were so busy having too much fun. Here is one of the many rides, ponies!

Twister and Shooting Doves

One thing the Stevens boys and girls do every year is hunt. Dawson truly enjoys it with his dad. I love that Dawson knows about gun safety and how/when to use a gun so early on. He takes it more seriously and is more safe since he understands guns and what they can do/or used for. 

Here's Dawson and J.D.  practicing shooting at doves in Holden.... between all of the Stevens' we got quite a few that day. :-)

J.D.'s dad had a horse who gave birth to this beauty, or as we will call him, "Twister." 

That's the name Jetta picked out.

 

He is the BEST kid horse ever! He's still a colt, and yet he is so calm and is so gentle with the kids. The kids will even hop on him bare back because he's so easy going.

Funny Things Dawson Says

One early morning-

Dad: Dawson didn't you love soccer?
Dawson: Um, no. I just want to play with friends.
Dad: Well you did really well at soccer and you did make friends.
Dawson: Ya, I just wanted to pretend sick everyday so I didn't have to go though.
Dad and Mom can't stop laughing.

Driving to Chet and Bobi Sue's to play and hang out-

Dawson: Taylee is my bestest cousin
Mom: She is a pretty fun cousin uh?
Dawson: Yeah....but sometimes Taylee makes the boys cry.
Mom: Why does she make the boys cry?
Dawson: Cuz she just makes them wear dresses and high heels when we play with her and I don't want to.

The Farting -

Dawson farts and mischievously grins..."Can you smell that?"
Mom and Dad: That's so gross
Dawson just dies laughing and sticks his bum closer to us. Seriously how boy can you be and where the heck did he learn that!?

After a morning of watching "Daniel Tiger" I was a little frustrated from just sitting down and J.D. calling me into the office for help. So I finally come in saying "What?!" with sass and annoyance-

Dawson: Mom you need to calm down
Dad: Ya mom, calm down.
Mom glares at dad: I don't want to calm down, I was just finally relaxing.
Dawson singing: Mom, when you get mad and want to roar, just take a deep breath and count to four. one, two, three, four, and then you won't be made anymore. Okay mom?
Dad laughing: ya mom, just count to four.