February 2018

February was a fun, quick month! 

We wrapped it up with some fun basketball and a sweet mom and dad getaway!

As usual, Whit made some fun projects!

The big boys and their technology!

The boys met this hunter dude at the hunt expo.

Whit loves to make stuff!

Rett had to be in Salt Lake the 14th for meetings. So we arranged for Grandpa and Grandma to stay with the boys and had a quick getaway. We went to the Jazz game and stayed in a hotel right in downtown. I was able to go to the temple while Rett was in meetings. It was a wonderful quick getaway for us!

And the next day Rett had meetings in Ogden so we took the boys with us to swim at the pool!

We finished up rec basketball. Crew's 2nd grade teacher who moved away came to watch him play! It was the sweetest thing!

Drake'srec team lost the championship by 2 points. Kind of rough.

Crew's rec team was able to win their championship in a very exciting game!

Whit has decided that sleeping on the floor with Zink is awesome!

Crew was so proud of his first kill shot with his pellet gun. Now he can't wait to go deer hunting!

The boys started a competitive league for the small Southeast Idaho schools. At the first tournament both teams won the championships! Drake was lucky enough to get to play with the 4th graders this year since they don't start it in 3rd grade.

Deer Hunt

Rett woke up one morning and headed outside to let the dogs out before work. He came back in and said there was a little two point in the back yard behind the shop and wondered if he should get the boys up to shoot it. (Yes, he did have an archery tag!) The boys were excited and were able to watch from the bedroom window as Rett put a little stalk on the deer, shot him, and then had to hurry to work. When we found him, he hadn't gone far. And it was a nice easy load onto the four wheeler and back to the shop. No, he's not a trophy, but he was the easiest hunt Rett's ever had! And it was great for the boys! Plus, there aren't too many places that you can shoot a deer in your back yard! It was a fun little hunt.

Archery Elk Hunt

Rett got an archery elk tag this year and planned to take the week off to hunt with his Dad. He didn't get a chance to do much scouting beforehand, but they have hunted this area a lot in the past, so he was just planning on seeing if he could find out where the elk were at, and maybe getting close to them at some point during the week. He started out early Monday morning and got right in the middle of a herd! Lucky man! He was all by himself, so no one got to see him bask in his glory. But his boys were sure excited when we got the text message and saw that Daddy shot an elk with his bow! Rett shot it way up in the hills, and couldn't get a four-wheeler to it, so he had to do quite a few trips within two days to get it packed out. He was a tired boy, but that didn't stop him from going back to work on Wednesday. He got to save three days of vacation since he got the elk so early in his week! Yay for Rett. We are so excited for our mighty hunter. This one isn't as big as the one he shot when I was with him, but any animal is a trophy when you're bow hunting. Although, he made the "mistake" of telling the boys that if he shot one they could put it on their wall. And that is the first thing they said to me when they saw the picture! Crew was ready to take things off the wall, and thought he was getting a full shoulder mount. When he didn't see the cape attached when Rett pulled in he was a little disappointed. And we had to explain to him what a European mount was. And we'll see....I'm not sure that it will even fit on their wall! It's also nice to have the meat. And Rett tells me this is actually pretty inexpensive meat since he didn't really buy anything but the tag for this hunt. Crazily enough, we just bought half a beef for our freezer. So it's a good thing we have another one. We just have to clean up and organize the ducks that are in it! Anyway, we were excited for Rett and his hunt. And really excited that he came home early to be with his family!

Crew's First Duck Hunt

Last Friday, the last day of the waterfowl season, Rett took Crew out on a little duck hunt. Rett said Crew played around a lot while they were just hanging out, but when he saw ducks flying, he did really good at sitting quietly and still. I know, you probably can't believe it, but he doesn't have any camo to wear. So, he's just in his regular snow pants and coat. While they were out, Rett put one of his snow coats on him, so he was hidden better with the white, but apparently it was just a little too big and bugged Crew. But it's still cute. Crew did pretty good and didn't complain about the cold too much. They got two ducks, a drake mallard and hen. Rett had a little sex ed lesson with Crew to explain that the boys have green heads and the girls are brown. Then they stopped on the way home and Crew got to pick out a treat at the store. He was super excited about it when he got home and had to tell Drake all the details. I'm still not sure if Rett or Crew was more excited. I think it's cute that they both were. Crew was happy to do something with just he and Dad and Rett was excited that Crew was excited. Very good bonding time. This pic is from Rett's phone, so not great, but I was glad he thought to take a picture. I'm glad they are finding things they can both have fun with and it seems like it's just a glimpse of what the future will be like with my boys!

Rett's Elk

We picked up Rett's elk from the taxidermist a couple of weeks ago. Rett was so excited. It was so cute. Just like a little boy on Christmas morning! I was just happy that he was so excited. Of course, we drove home from Utah on Sunday evening and the power was out when we got home. But that didn't stop the guy from wanting to hang it. Luckily the power wasn't out for very long, so we got some lights on, and got the elk hung on the wall. We had the elk at the taxidermist last year, before we sold our home and everything, so it just so happened that our new home has the perfect place for the elk to hang. If you don't remember the post about the elk, Rett and I were together when he shot it with his bow last summer. We were super excited for his first big game bow hunt that turned out so exciting! Here's a reminder picture of the hunt itself.



And this is one of my favorite things about this elk. He has this cool rhino point.

I know there are friends and family out there that think I'm crazy for being involved in the hunting stuff and letting animals hang on my walls. I actually don't mind it at all. Rett and I had so much fun on this hunt together. We created lot's of great memories and were active while doing it. We were able to enjoy the outdoors and some beautiful and amazing parts of nature. And as far as the animals on the wall, they are just a reminder of those great memories. And seriously, if you still can't get over it, I will just say, if that's the worst thing I have to put up with in my marriage, then I feel pretty good about it!

I'm glad there are simple things in life that make Rett so happy. Like slowing down over bridges to check the river for ducks or geese. Or stopping on the side of the road to show the boys deer or elk. Or training his dogs and learning more about how to make such a great dog. Rett is a big outdoorsman, and I wouldn't change that for anything. I love that he has such a great appreciation for animals and the outdoors. I love that he has passion about things in life. And I love that he is teaching those things to his boys as well.

Big Bull Down!!!!

SO, Rett and I hiked our butts off on Saturday. We left at 5am and got back to our house trailer at 10pm. That's a long day of hiking and looking for elk! Anyway, Sunday morning came around and we were going to hunt the morning and then go pick up the kids from Rett's mom. He kind of wanted to sleep in, but it was my last day to hunt with him, so we went out anyway. And I had a hard time sleeping that night because there were elk bugling all night long, and it gave me the elk fever! I have wanted Rett to get this elk SO bad!

We went out, hiked in about 3 miles, and heard an elk bugling. Rett asked if I wanted to go after it, and of course I did. We started through the bushes and realized it was a lot closer than we thought. We set up, with me forty yards behind Rett, and him closer to the bull. I started cow calling for him, and then the elk bugled right back, but didn't come right away. Rett decided to cow call back to me the next time, and this got him moving. He came fast! Rett was standing behind a cow elk decoy and the bull stopped for a second, and Rett shot him at 40 yards. He said his arm was shaking so bad that he had a hard time getting it right on the spot. Then all of the sudden there was a huge crash. I assumed the elk went down, but didn't know for sure. I couldn't really see because there was so much brush between all of us. Then Rett came back towards me and said he got him. I was so excited! I was jumping up and down! I was so happy for Rett, and really happy that I was the one with him when he got it. Plus, I get some of the credit, because I called him in!!! Anyway, it was an all day affair getting him out, but all worth it! Even though it almost killed Rett to pack out the head, antlers, and cape! We packed out the meat on horses. It was a blast! And the elk had it's ivory teeth too, so we're checking prices on rings! We got the meat taken care of, it was almost 300 lbs of meat!!!! Then we got the head taken to a taxidermist today. It's so nice to have it all taken care of. I have a lot of friends that say, "You're such a good wife for going with him" like they feel sorry for me, but I have to say, that I had a blast and loved every minute of it! I'm so proud of Rett. He's put in months of hiking and scouting and practicing with his bow! He is my tough hubby! And I am so glad I was able to spend the time with him and share in his exciting hunt! Crew loved seeing the elk and we're so excited to get him back and hang him on the wall!

Elk Hunt, SO Far...

So far, the elk hunt has been a ton of fun, and we've seen a lot, but not actually brought anything home. We're leaving today, and Rett has all of next week off, so from tonight until the 11th when the hunt closes, will be the hardest he's hunted. Hopefully he'll bring a big bull home! But we've seen a lot and had a lot of fun so far!

My mom was in town a couple weeks ago and watched the boys overnight so that I could hike my butt off with Rett while he hunted. It was a lot of fun. And I'll be honest, I was worried my old camo's wouldn't fit. I hadn't worn them since before I had the boys, but I was able to squeeze into them!! Thanks mom, it was so fun to go out with Rett!


These pictures are from Rett's Stealth Cams. This one's a little buck!


And it looks like a bear visited the water hole one night! Yikes!


And this cow elk was there for a long time, I think it took over 20 pictures of her, but the second one's kind of cute. She was splashing!




And this is what we're actually looking for! Only, he's not come in more than this one time!!




And this is Rett climbing the tree to check the cams. Isn't it kind of funny that he hauled all his work stuff up so that he could climb while he wasn't on the clock? Is this guy insane!?! No, really, it's cool that he was able to do it himself!


So, we're off again! This weekend we're taking the kids to Rett's mom's and he and I will be able to hunt together this weekend. We're picking up the boys on Sunday, and will head back down, but the boys and I will stay at the trailer for next week. Wish us luck! Hopefully we'll bring home a big one!

My Little Elk Boy

Lately Rett has been watching quite a few elk hunting movies because he drew this elk tag. Well, Crew wants to be just like Rett, so he's learned to bugle like an elk does. He's actually pretty good. It's really funny.



He really does sound quite a lot like an elk!

Rett's Elk Hunt

So, The other day, Rett was checking his voice mail and started yelling all excited about something. He was so loud that it scared both boys and they started crying! Anyway, it turns out that a friend from work had called and saw his name online. He drew an archery bull elk tag that is pretty hard to get. He was very excited. Now all of his coworkers and friends want to go on this hunt with him because it is pretty lucky that he got it. He is very excited and has already shown Crew where his elk is going to hang on our wall! Because he can also get a deer buck tag over the counter, he also has decided where his deer mount will go. Crew will walk by the spot and point up and say "deer". I think it's funny. But, now we have plans for camping all summer long, so that Rett can scout for his elk! There really are a lot worse things that he could be interested in doing rather than hunting. I'm not sure if there's much that's more expensive...but I will support him anyway!

Rett's Canada Trip

Rett went on his trip to Canada in October.  It has become a yearly trip for goose hunting.  He really enjoys it.  And he gets to see some pretty cool things too.  He is an avid waterfowler.  He took his dad this year, and they enjoyed the time together.  He also took Chief.  Chief apparently did really well.  The time he spent at the professional trainer must have paid off.  It was hard having Rett gone for over a week.  And he works hard enough to deserve to get his time away on a fun trip! MAYBE in the future, I will get a girls week out of it when the boys go to Canada with their Dad!!