Hunting Season 2017

It is that time of year again!  The time where we pack up for a weekend so that I can go hang out with my dad for opening day of hunting season.  I only get one day to try and fill my tag.  We don't hunt on Sunday so we just have Saturday to try and fill it and sadly this year we were unsuccessful.  But oh my goodness do I always have a lot of fun with our huntin' buddies!

For the first time we had to get permission slips to go hunting where we usually go, up in Coupeville on Casey Road.  That is where I got my buck last year.  This year we didn't see any legal bucks at all - just a bunch of does and some spikes.  When you hunt in Washington the buck you shoot must have at least three points on one side of it's rack in order to be legal to shoot (unless you have a special permit).  We had no luck in drawing special permits this year.  Right after we took this photo a doe and her fawn walked right up behind me.  I wish they had photo bombed the picture!

My mom had a shoulder surgery so she was unable to watch all the kids.  The past few years Logan has come hunting with us and taken some video footage.  This year he stayed home to help with the kids which I thought was oh so kind of him.  We talked about not coming this year for hunting and he helped make it a possibility, despite being really busy at work.  He sent me this photo while we were out of the kids getting ready for a prayer for lunch.  When we came home there was a giant blanket fort covering most of the living room, they had breakfast food for all three meals, and Elsy's hair was a little bit of a rats nest but they all had had so much fun.

Logan sure picked the year to miss though.  My sister Riley, my Dad, and I sat on a hillside for quite a long time and got colder and colder and colder.  My uncle Josh caught up with us later and decided to freeze with us.  The last time I remember being that cold while hunting was when we were hunting elk near Ellensburg when I was like 14 years old.  When we stood up our feet were like frozen stumps and Riley and I had a good laugh as we staggered about trying to get the blood moving.  In fact, we all had a good laugh for most of the time we were up there.  My dad and his brother Josh together are just absolutely hilarious.  I thank maybe the reason we didn't see anything was because we were laughing so hard.  Riley laughed so hard her tailbone popped and that just made us laugh all the more.  Just try whisper-laughing - it truly makes everything funnier.

Since we didn't see anything most of the morning we decided to head back home for lunch.  Ever since I was little, all my dad ever packs for us when hunting is a bunch of baby Snickers bars.  This year he had some Paydays too... which was too bad because it was so cold out I felt like I was breaking my teeth on them.  I still remember our buddies Ryan and Randy always pulling out big sandwiches and other fancy things to eat and they always felt bad for us and shared with us.  Sure enough, this year Ryan gave Riley and I some Gatorades and shared his crackers with Dad.

We came home just in time to help Logan get the kids settled for naps so he could change the tires and then Dad and I left Riley home and took Carl with us to hunt up past the Hanford Site.  It was absolutely gorgeous up there! 

The land is just so big that we sometimes don't even see a single deer the whole time we are there, but when we do it usually is a monster buck.  We have found some really nice bucks in some of the canyons up there.  Sadly, we only happened to bring two sets of binoculars so most of the time I just was taking pictures and just enjoying the view because I couldn't glass for horns very well without my own pair.

The grass was exceptionally long this year and I couldn't stop thinking about rattlesnakes.  A few years ago we ran into some so I always get a little uneasy when we are near the rocks.  We finally saw some does at dusk and one buck that was actually legal! but we never got a chance as it ran off just as we discovered we could take a chance on it.  We told ourselves it was getting to dark anyway to make ourselves feel better since we only had about 10 min of shooting time left.  (Shooting time goes from a half hour before sunrise to a half hour after sun down).

We came home exhausted but some breakfast burritos Logan and my dad made and some Tillimook ice cream really hit the spot. ;)

It was a short trip but the kids played hard until they dropped.  Logan had to intervene on the group hug with Ezra and Asher as we were trying to leave for home on Sunday evening because it got quite fierce.

This little boy has energy.  And you won't understand at all unless you try to hold him for a story, watch him jump up and down as if the couch were a trampoline while he watches TV, get him to lay still enough in his bed so he can fall asleep without pinning him down (although I sometimes do pin his arms down...), or get him in a ready position for a prayer.  He is everywhere and is always talking of motorcycles, robots, superheros, or ninjas.  My favorite word of his right now is "spakeedoes" for "mosquitoes".  We are having big obedience issues and are starting a little incentive for him tomorrow... but honestly I don't think it will work.  He loves climbing and jumping.  This picture I took of him was after he had dragged his forehead through the sand on his hands and knees for quite a while.  While he gives us a run for our money, I couldn't love him and appreciate him in our family more.

This girl is just the sweetest.  We went to the mall today and she was fascinated by all things Wonder Woman.  While I have toned down my craft ambitions for Halloween this year, I did start working on Elsy's costume yesterday.  She insisted she be Poison Ivy from DC Superhero Girls.  This is the GOOD Poison Ivy, not the bad one haha!  I guess I better get used to seeing her in green because she is even sleeping with her green arm band sleeves I made her. 

We felt like we should tell Elsy about how it is important to talk to us about things she feels uncomfortable with.  I shared a story of us reading the Friend magazine last week.  She has continued to break down in tears at random times to tell us of different scary dreams or things she thinks of.  While I am so glad she is being open with us and honest about her feelings I am starting to wonder if because we talked to her about it she is starting to blow some things out of proportion.  She is getting upset about things that didn't use to scare her and so we are now trying to explain to her how to judge the different feelings she feels.  It is all rather complicated and yet so simple.  But nothing beats the look of relief on her face as she tells me about the things she has been holding inside.  The other day she came home from Preschool and gave me an extra long hug, which I thoroughly enjoyed.  When she pulled back she had little rosy-bashful cheeks and her lips puckered.  She told me about her friend Ella, who had her toenail ripped off and had a bloody band aid at school.  I could tell it made her uncomfortable and I was so proud how brave she was when she told me about it.  I hope soon she will feel more comfortable opening up and not feel so worried or embarrassed about it.  We always come out having a good conversation (in that instance we talked about how amazing our bodies are and how they can heal themselves) and she is always smiling.  She is so pure and I am so grateful to have her in our family.

Just a quick snapshot of life here at our home...

Today we went to Bellevue Square to meet some friends for a play date.  After we walked through some stores.  The kids loved the Fireworks store with all its oddities like finger hands and Unicorn Snot (glitter they got to try on their cheeks).  We had a lot of fun together!  

So one of my goals from General Conference is to level up my scripture reading.  My desire and habit to read the scriptures daily started probably around the time I started Young Women's.  I have been diligent since then to do my best to read from my scriptures or a conference talk almost daily. (I often slack off on weekends - yikes!).  But after conference this year I realized that life is for making improvements and if I have spent this many years just reading a chapter or a talk a day then I am not making the necessary improvements for gaining knowledge here on this earth.  Don't get me wrong I have bursts of times when I delve into my scriptures in more depth.  But the picture they showed in conference of Russel M. Nelson in what appeared to be early morning hours with his scriptures and notebooks and things spread across the table just really inspired me.  He talked of how he tried to follow President Monson's call to action for daily reading of the Book of Mormon by intensifying his study time.  I realized if Elder Nelson needed to intensify his study of the scriptures, I did too.  So for me, my small thing has been to pull out my journal and write down my thoughts as I read, to not worry about finishing a chapter in the allotted time, and to just seek spiritual enlightenment, rather than a quick read and check off.  It hasn't been very long but let me tell you! I have learned so much already!  I have felt more uplifted throughout my day as I take the time in the morning to study.  And writing it down in my journal has intensified what I have been learning.  I have thought to write one thing down and as I do, I start to write something completely different that answers a question or helps finish an open thought.  It is amazing!

On scripture that I especially learned a lot from this week was from 2 Peter 1:5-7 - "Giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; and to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; and to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity."  I learned so much as I focused on each step of the progression in these scriptures.  You can not skip one of these steps on your road to becoming one with Christ, they each progress through each other and work together cohesively to bring us closer to being charitable, which charity is the pure love of Christ. 

Salmon Days

What a beautiful week we had, inside and out.  It was a gorgeous week and such a good one for learning and growing together.  I really loved it.

In Relief Society at church a few weeks ago a girl in our ward, Megan, shared how she and her husband were taking turns going to the temple every week and how that sacrifice they were making was really changing their lives.  I was really touched by her example and talked to Logan about it after.  Although we aren't able to make it weekly, Logan and I talked and decided to set a new goal for going to the temple more frequently.  We mapped it out and figured out how we would accomplish our goal.  We decided to try fitting it into one night and taking turns, one of us doing a session and the other doing Initiatory and then switching for the next time we go to the temple.  This last Thursday was our first time trying it and although it was a little busy it ended up working out beautifully.  We were still able to eat dinner together as a family in between our turns which was something I still really wanted to be able to do and wasn't quite willing to sacrifice.  Eating dinner together as a family has been a priority for us and I didn't realize until now - as I write this - how smoothly it all worked out.  I am grateful that the Lord blessed our efforts.

Friday evening my sister Kelsy and her friend Sierra came to stay at our house.  They had tickets to the Imagine Dragons concert and we were their way point.  We didn't get to hang out much because they had busy days planned but it was so nice for the kids to see them and we had some yummy meals together.  I was bummed I forgot I wanted to get a picture until they were driving away.

This weekend was Salmon Days, here in Issaquah.  They celebrate the Salmon run with a big farmer's market/street fair and and carnival.  Our entire family had so much fun.  There were bounce houses, fire trucks for sitting in, kettle corn (I had to get some in memory of my mom!), and such wonderful smells!

Both of the kids talked about getting to sit in "Heat Wave" over and over again.  Heat Wave is the Rescue Bot that turns into a fire truck.  Elsy and Tommy love to pretend to be Heat Wave (Elsy) and Chase (Tommy) who is a police car.

Logan and I loved seeing the salmon run!  We stopped at a bridge that went over a stream and we could see the salmon swimming, laying eggs, and even the males fighting to fertilize them!  If you know us, we are Planet Earth enthusiasts and we just loved getting front row seats to the real deal.  I asked Logan if he thought we would get in trouble if we brought a net and went down and scooped one up.  Haha, they probably wouldn't taste very good anyway, thought because they were all at the end of their life span.  A few dead ones were already floating near the banks.

Our cute little Tommy has started getting very distressed when we leave him.  We have noticed it has been since Elsy started preschool.  He is just my little buddy and wants nobody else, not even Logan sometimes, to help him or watch over him except for me.  They brought him to Logan on Sunday when he was in nursery.  They said he just started crying and asking for his mom.  I was playing the piano in primary so Logan took him on a little walk around the temple to help him relax.  I think Logan likes those walks as much as Tommy sometimes! Haha!

We have been talking about what we can do to help him not be so attached to me.  He has been getting very tearful quite quickly on occasions and my poor sweet little boy just needs to learn how to manage his emotions I think.  So we are working on it, working on me stepping back and letting others take care of him even when he isn't happy about it, that sort of thing.

We went on a walk to the lookout near where we live on Sunday.  It was just beautiful outside.  Logan helped the kids to learn about storm drains and the Ninja Turtles who live in them.  I thought they were so cute as they all peered down to look.

One of the things Logan and I have been talking a lot about lately is if we should buy a house or not.  Our lease ends in February and we always have this talk at this time of year.  Last year we stressed, hunted, and talked about houses for months and then just ended up renewing our lease in our same apartment.  We have been doing the same thing again this year, only we are not planning to renew our lease.  We are just ready to be in a house.  We are ready to have a yard, not have neighbors below us making us feel like we can't run or jump off the couches (I say we but I mean the kids haha!).  We are ready for more storage space and more living space and would just love to have a garage for Logan to do all his woodworking projects in.  So we will for sure be moving into a house, even if it is to rent.  But until then, Loan is working on getting all the pre-approvals ready to buy a house just in case we find something in our budget and in an area we feel happy with.  We are ready for the house lifestyle!

I took the kids to Lake Sammamish park on Monday morning on a whim and I am so glad I did.  It was beautiful out and the kids played and played on the toys and then I took them to the sand to play some more.  I love those kinds of moments where the kids are having a blast and it is so peaceful out.

We got some good news at Tommy's physical therapy appointment yesterday! They measured his arm and said he has gained almost 10 degrees of movement since we started there almost two months ago.  Stacie, the physical therapist, and I were so excited about that.  Visually it doesn't seem like he can move all that much more, but when you get down to measuring it, that is hard evidence and proof.  We will continue to keep working with him.  Last time I went to the doctor's office they said if he didn't improve we would need to do another surgery where they re-break his arm, pin it again, and cast it again for 4-6 weeks... basically square one without the trauma of falling and an ambulance ride.  I didn't want to have to do all that again, and I am sure Tommy wouldn't either! so I was grateful there has been small improvements.

This morning we went to the church building where there was a fellow with a huge truck full of apple boxes.  He was selling them for 50 cents a pound.  We bought 20 lbs and are excited to make some cider and applesauce!

It has been a wonderful week and while we still have our struggles that we are facing and worrying and praying and wondering over, we are grateful to be doing it all together as a family.

General Conference = A Good Week

If I could put this week into three words it would be:  Really, really nice. :)



Here is my buddy Tommy.  Tommy no longer calls me "Mommy" but "Ma-iii"... basically pronounced how you would say "My".  He says, "Mai, Mai, Mai! Can you get me a drink?" Or "Mai, I can't reach it!"  Sometimes he even shortens it to, "Iii".  It drove me a little bonkers the first day he started it but now I am used to it.

Oh, and "Dad" is now "Da-ii".



We had an amazingly warm Thursday, the weather was in the mid 80s.  Knowing this must surely be the last hot day of the year we all climbed into the van after an early dinner and drove to Rattlesnake Lake.  Logan and I had such a great time canoeing on our date the other week we decided we wanted to share it with the kids.  It was so much fun (even though Elsy tripped and fell in the water before we even got on board.  Luckily I had brought her swimming suit... which she wasn't in yet... so she just wore her suit for the rest of the evening).

Later in the evening she insisted on swimming.  She tripped again (luckily she had her life jacket on) but got a really cold rush that may have caused her to cry until we got back to the car where there was a blanket for her to wrap in (Logan had used the towel to dry off the kayak).



I didn't realize until the end of our excursion that Tommy had been crawling all over Logan and been causing quite a stir.  I felt bad that we didn't take turns with the wiggle wart of the family but Logan was such a good sport about it.



I am finally starting to fall in love with the mountains of Eastern Washington.  I used to see them as walls blocking the sky and the cause of all the rain.  Their beauty is incredible and it is so wonderful to be out in them with my family.

I found a Spiderman costume at Small Threads and Tommy wore it for a few days straight before I kind of tucked it out of sight.  It was complete with gloves and a mask that Logan said creeped him out a little to much.  Tommy originally wanted to be Link again for Halloween but now he wants to be Spiderman.  I don't know if I should feel bummed that I don't get to make him a costume this year or relieved.  While Elsy still wants to be Poison Ivy, she found this black tutu my aunt Kaylene gave me a while ago and paired it with a mask to become Cat Woman while Tommy is in his costume.

I let them stay dressed up when we went to Zumba but after that I told them they couldn't wear their costumes out of the house anymore.  I don't want them to get dirty and mangled as they don't go through the wash very easily without getting even more mangled.  And it is also nice to get them into real clothes for a while each day I think.



We had a really windy evening so as a family we went to Grandview Park to fly our kite.  The sky is always amazing when we go there - just so big.  It is my favorite park for when the mountains are feeling a little to close.  We already knew the string had somehow gone missing for our kite so Logan expertly made a new spool... however when we got there one of the sticks for the kite was also missing!  Logan searched our car to no avail so we improvised trying out different types of sticks from the trees and shrubs around.  We had some good laughs as Logan ran around trying get the kite to catch the wind.  The sticks were just to heavy or curved no matter what we tried.  The kids were content to run around the path with the kite tails tied to some of our sticks we found instead.



We had a really special General Conference this time.  In the past we have had some friends over on Saturday morning for a big breakfast but after talking it over we decided we had enough questions and problems we are going through that we didn't want to make it a social event but rather an opportunity for the Lord to speak directly to us.  I am so glad we did (although I missed all the fun of spending a morning with our friends!) because every talk was so inspiring and powerful and Logan and I both were able to find what the Lord wants us to do next in our lives.

We didn't really know what to do with the kids.  We did playdough, drawing, stickers, magnet toys, puzzles.... and then resorted to Rescue Bots on the laptop in the other room.  On Sunday they watched Planet Earth.  Elsy surprised me by sitting next to Logan for a lot of the last session and watching him take notes.  Logan draws a lot as he listens and she just loved watching him draw helicopters and brooms with birds on them to help him remember the stories that were told during the talks.  I love Logan's drawing style, it is so unique and he is such a good artist.



During the Priesthood session we met our friends, the Humes, at McDonalds for some ice cream cones and a lot of playing in the indoor play place (since it was a bit stormy outside).  It was a lot of fun!  I have been having a good time getting to know Rachel and it is always fun to find someone who has some of the same opinions as you. ;)



I had no gas in my car on Sunday so we couldn't take my car out.  Logan was such a sweetheart and woke up at 5:30am and filled up my car before work!  It seriously made my day.  Sadly, his day was not made.  He was all up and ready to go to work early when his car wouldn't start.  The battery had died and he pushed the Mini across the parking lot all by himself.  I felt so bad I hadn't noticed he tried to contact me from the lot while I was getting the kids breakfast.  I hurried out but he already had everything set... except my van battery is poorly placed and he had to completely remove it to reach the connector.  Poor guy!  He is so handy though.

I couldn't resist a before and after of the kids when I took them to get flu shots this week.  However, my after shot was so quick because I felt bad and needed to comfort them that you can't see Tommy's bawling face. :(  I almost started crying myself!  I had told them that all it would feel like was a pinch (because in the past it has!!) but they both were sobbing so much and Elsy later told Logan, "Mommy said it would feel like a pinch but it hurt more than that!"  I felt so bad when I got one the next day.  It sure did hurt!  For quite a while after! And my arm is still sore!  (Logan just now walked through the door from getting his haha!)  Both of the kids arms swelled up and got itchy and painful and super hot to the touch.  Today they are a lot better although I wish I had thought to take the kids temperature on their arms!  We have one of those sensor thermometers so I could have tested it on their arms to see how hot they were haha!   It is always so sad to see your kids in pain but I am so grateful we are all shot up for the year!  We all had the flu last year and it was so absolutely miserable and long I would do shots again tomorrow if we had to to avoid that.  Get your flu shot people!!

I was going through spare papers and found a piece of paper from our last trip to Tri-Cities.  It is advice my Grandpa Volmer wrote for his posterity for the 60th anniversary celebrateion.  He woke up in the middle of the night and decided to write it.

Advice @ 3am

1 - Get married on your birthday (that was what they did! Haha!)
2 - Let the gospel of Jesus Christ be your moral compass.
3 - Be free by avoiding addictions.
4 - Love everyone
5 - Be of service to family, community, church, and spouse.
6 - Be true to your spouse.
7 - Regular temple attendance.
8 - Always remember your desires, appetites, and passions are to be kept within the bounds the Lord has established.
9 - Avoid all debt (except for the mortgage on your house - and pay it off in 15 years).

I loved his advice.  Those who are older than us have experienced more of life and have gained wisdom that can only be achieved over time.  I was grateful for his advice.

Elder Robert D. Hales passed away this last Sunday.  He was a great man.  I have been grateful for the wisdom that he to has shared with us.