Thanksgiving in Island Park

The Lake House in Island Park.  It's the best! We were lucky to spend Thanksgiving week up there and as usual we were in heaven. 

Besides eating a ton of yummy food, here's some stuff we did:

Bracelets on the Rainbow loom:

Millie made darling little clutch purses for her friends for Christmas gifts:

Even Will wanted to sew :)

A little rest and relaxation:

A lot playing outside in the snow and on the frozen lake:

Games with cousins:

A Thanksgiving Feast:

{Best Dad and Mom EVER}!

Pumpkin pie in a jar:

Shooting and more shooting:

Kirk and Quincy

Grandpa passed down his 22 to Sambo!

Coyote hunting:

{got skunked}

And that's just to name a few!

We all had an awesome trip and it was even better having Cambree with us!

Thanks Uncle Shad!

Here we are on the drive home.  Quincy LOVES her new "Seat belt Pet!"

These kids are the best travelers ever!  Always have been!  I guess when you travel a ton they don't know any different.  We feel very blessed to be able to travel to so many places so often!

Deer Hunt {easy style}

Another deer hunt success!  This year was extra good because the boys had their motorcycles to ride up and down the trail.  Well, not quite the whole way.  At one point the trail gets too rigid and rocky for dirt bikes.  But it cut the hiking time by more than half . They needed an easier route because

once again the boy's football play-off games were the same weekend.  BS took Sambo and Will up Friday morning, came down for the games Saturday, then back up to the campsite, then back down Sunday afternoon.  The boys were grinning from ear to ear!  Football mixed with motorcycling mixed with guys only camping mixed with hunting and shooting?  Priceless!!

Will was obsessed with getting some flint and stone!
And he successfully started a fire with it {after 20 min}

 

No buck this year.  Darn {yeah right}.  The deer hunt has turned into more of a mancation than an actual hunt.  If a HUGE buck happens to walk into camp then someone might claim it.  But they do a lot of target shooting and the boys are hoping and asking for a 22 rifle of their own.

I love that I don't have to worry for a second about my little guys.  I have complete trust in BS that he will keep them safe and taken good care of. 

I'm so glad that these 3 have each other:

The Clark girls kept the tradition of driving up to the trailhead to greet our boys back on Sunday after church. We are always so happy to see them, but mostly do it so the kids can ride the horses. 

I LOVE these pictures.  Quincy is in absolute HEAVEN!

Man Camp 2012

Third grade football threw a small wrench in the 2012 deer hunt aka “man camp”.  BS coached Wilbur’s team, and a perfect season/first round bye in the playoffs was at stake.  Knowing this, BS tried to figure a way to cram both activities into a 72-hour period.  After a small stroke of genius, he searched the internet for the perfect transportation up and down the mountains to lessen the hours of hiking for both he and Will.  Sure enough he found what he was looking for,

a 1965 Tote Goat.

Ready to start up the mountain trail!

Before

After.  It is powered by a lawn mower motor. Wow.

 After a couple of nights working on this beast, it was ready to go (or so he thought).

As tradition would have it the boys would leave Friday morning, and return Sunday afternoon.  Sambo followed this plan, and stayed up with Grandpa and the Uncles.  BS and Will would go up Friday, come back for the game Saturday at the crack of dawn, and head back up about 2pm after the victory was in hand.  This seemed like a great plan.  However:

Problem #1-In rebuilding the engine, BS didn’t use lock tight on the bolts.  The goat only ran about ¼ up the mountain trail before bolts started vibrating loose from the engine. This ¼ of the trip was on Friday, so on Saturday they would have to hike the entire thing (it really is a long/tough hike).

Problem #2- The game that was supposed to start at 10:30 and end at noon, went into double overtime, and wrapped up at 1:30.  The hike back to man camp would start late, and BS would have to carry 10 pounds of taco soup in his back pack.  It was all good though because double overtime ended with Wilbur sacking the quarterback and jumping on the fumble to win the game!

Just before heading back up on Saturday after their big win

After rolling into camp a little before dark, the boys carved sticks, shot their new pistol bb gun, told and heard the same deer hunt stories that grandpa has told for the last 30 years, and got to practice being manly men.  Most importantly BS got to spend time with his best buddies Sambo and Wilbur.  It also didn’t hurt that the weather was perfect.  BS said that it was the warmest he could remember it being.

Man camp success is measured in two ways: 1) if everyone returns home safe 2) if a deer was NOT shot.  The 2012 man camp was a success in both of these areas.

Whittling by the campfire

They found the trees where they carved their names in 2009:

Even  Chops got to go and carried his own dog food and water!

Traditionally, the women and kids drive up the canyon to greet the boys home at the trail head.  This year it was raining so the kids took a quick ride on the horses and then we went to Grandpa Judy's for some showers and dinner.

Sadie and Quincy.  She was in absolute heaven.