Pumpkin Patch!

I love fall, and one of my most favorite things to do is go to the pumpkin patch! I love seeing all the pumpkins, and I don't know how many of you notice, but just the warm colors that surround a pumpkin patch! The sky and everything around it just seems to be "warmer." I don't know what other word to use to describe it, but I love it! To a photographer, they might say "great lighting!" And, I guess it isn't just the pumpkin patch, but just the way fall is! Anyways... so we went this last week and the kids had a ball! They loved running through and trying to find a perfect pumpkin. Sydney was a bit scared, but after a little, she was picking them out too. Brevan loved it and would run from one to another saying, "I want this one, no, this one!" You get the idea! It was so cute. We went with ShaVon, Keldon, Brinley, and little KamBree. KamBree and Madisyn stayed in their carseats on the haywagon! They were so good to just watch and not cry during the time we were out there. Brevan and Sydney both liked the haywagon ride and the train that they pull with a tractor. They had so much fun! I"m glad that we have one close and that the kids are able to have a little fun around this wonderful time of year!

Stories...

This is a picture of Brevan and my dad up camping on the mountain! Not the best pic, but one of my favorites still!
Just a disclaimer... family stories ahead, proceed if you want to read stories about my dad's family! They are quite fun, but you don't have to read if you don't want to. I just wanted to get them written down.

So, as it is hunting season, I have been going out with my dad quite a bit. It has been fun to hear some of the stories that he has to tell from when he was a kid. I wanted to get them written down before I forgot them all, although I am sure I have forgotten some of the details on a few of them.

One that he was telling us was when he was out hunting with his brothers. The were riding down the road when they saw a deer quite a ways in front of them. They started arguing about how big of a buck it was. They kept saying, " What is it?" "How big is it?" That type of thing. Well, Orlo got tired of that pretty quick, so while they were still asking questions, all of a sudden they hear a "BOOM!" They all look at Orlo and he says, "Now you can see what it is!" I thought that was pretty funny!

My dad is the youngest of 7, and I think the oldest is about 20 years older that my dad, but it is fun to hear the stories about his older brothers. Unfortunately, I didn't really get to know 2 of them, they passed away when I was quite young. The same for my dad's dad. He passed away when my dad was 8 years old. I asked him this weekend if he really remembered anything about his dad. I was quite surprised when he turned and said to me, "Stupid goats!" "What!" I exclaimed. He proceeded to tell me that one day my Grandpa Dale brought home 2 wild goats. He said he was so excited as he proceeded to hook them up to a wagon and put my dad in the wagon for a ride. Dad said those goats took off and drug him under the grain bin. He said that those goats used to lead the sheep everywhere they weren't supposed to go until one day, my Uncle Dale, had enough and when he went to bring the sheep and goats back, the goats didn't come back alive. He'd had enough of chasing after them all.

We were talking about my grandma and what a job she had when Grandpa Dale died. He said that she got $108 dollars a month from social security to raise her kids on. Dad says he remembers her working in the store, but that she probably only made about a $1 an hour, so she came home with about $8 dollars a day. He said he remembers buying levis, and they only came in one length, so that is why they were always rolled up, because they were always too long.

My grandma got remarried to a man named Ken, and he became a great dad to my father. In fact, my 2 brothers are named after him. Jarad's middle name is K. in honor of Ken, and Taylor came from Ken's last name, Taylor. Anyways... last night we were driving past a place where Ken and his brothers used to camp, and I asked my dad if Ken and Grandpa Dale had been friends. He said that he imagined they were. He said that they used to all pitch in on the farm equipment, like balers, and that type of thing because nobody could afford them on their own. He said everyone would pitch in and share them during the year. He also said that Ken was the meat cutter, and that every week they would butcher a cow and share it between the families. One week you would get a hind quarter, the next a shoulder, the next a backstrap, etc. I thought that was pretty interesting to hear. I knew that there was an old wheel and hook for cutting up meat at my grandma's house when we were kids, but I didn't realize that Ken was the meat cutter and that is what it was for.

I know I've probably told some of these wrong, or I forgot a couple he told me. But, I really enjoyed hearing the stories. I wish I could have gotten to know these great men a little more, but I'm glad to have my dad and hear the stories from him!

The things kids say...

So.. a couple of weeks ago, my dad took Brevan and me up with him to look for deer. We were driving along, and we told Brevan to watch out his window for some deer. He looked at us and said with all seriousness, "I can't see the deer, my eyes are too dark." It was the funniest thing! He said it a couple other times before the night was over. It was just funny!

About 2 weeks later, we took him again with us one night. My dad had walked down into a patch of trees where we knew a buck was. He had me and Brevan sit on a ridge watching a couple of the valley's. The deer went out a different canyon this time, so Brevan and I raced to a different ridge to see down into the trees while my dad started to walk these trees too. I was out and ready, but the deer came out a different direction than what I expected. He never made it to the top of the hill, I could just see his horns and the very top of his back. I fired, missed, and the deer ran off. Later the night we were talking to Taylor about it, and Taylor asked Brevan why I had missed. Brevan said to him, " The deer didn't want to be dead." If only it was that simple! It was just funny! He is starting to say the funniest things that make us laugh for quite awhile!

We went hunting elk this weekend, and of course the weather was awful! My dad, Brett, and I rode up on a ridge opening morning while some of the others scattered around. The elk were spotted just below us, so we were volunteered to walk the trees down to the others. By this time it was snowing, but it was a really wet snow! We walked the trees and when we were finally picked up, we were drenched! Thankfully we had taken some extra clothes with us that morning! We just went up each morning and back down at night. Brett's parents watched the kids for us! That morning we didn't see any spikes, but Kevin got his cow later that day. Taylor and I got to finally shoot the next day. Taylor got the spike after a crazy chase and maneuver around other hunters! There were some hunters in front of us, and the didn't see the elk running across the flat, so they were going really slow! So Taylor took off around them on a washed out road and beat them up the hill until we were pretty much right beside the elk. We got out and shot a few times before he got in the trees. We knew he had been hit, so we had to go and find the blood trail. We finally found him about 40 yards in the trees. Taylor spooked him and was able to get him this time. I hate when they have to suffer, so I am glad we were able to find him quickly. It will be nice for them because they will have meat for the coming year.

We haven't really been up to much other than the hunts right now! Brett was helping his brother for a couple of weeks with his big bull hunt on the Beaver. Rustin got a nice one at the very top of the highest mountain over there. So, they had a fun weekend pulling that off! They enjoyed it though, and they had a good time!

The kids are growing and Madisyn is being a little pain right now! I can hear her crying upstairs when she should be napping. She has probably woke up the others! Wonderful! So I better get going! I will post some of our fall pics that we took last friday! They turned out really cute! I'm glad my sister in law wanted hers done too, because then we had someone to take ours too! We took turns and had a good time while we were up there!

We hope everyone is doing well!