Out numbered!!

We now officially have two kids, two dogs and a kitten. What happened? Brayden got a kitten for Christmas last year, within about two weeks the kitten had ran away. We searched and searched, Brayden was pretty upset. Since then, he hasn't stopped asking for another kitten. The other day Brayden came walking out of his bedroom with his piggy bank in hand and said, "Mom, can I use my birthday money to buy a kitty!" Oh, how sweet! So I told him I would look around to see if I could find one. I looked and looked for free kittens and with much excitement I could not find any. So I told Brayden there wasn't any kitties right now, but that I would keep looking. He then said, "Mom, lets go to the pet store, they will have one." To smart for his own good. So we ended up taking him too the pet store, with his piggy bank in his hand he found the kitty he wanted he even put the piggy bank up on the counter to buy the kitty. It was adorable. Hard to say no!!

As for the two dog issue. As some of you know, we haven't had much luck with dogs. Our first lab Koda died of a terrible sickness one day before hunting season. Our second dog Missy that Nick got from the pound turned out too be a mutt that cant hunt and as Nick says, "serves no purpose". The third dog was also a lab but died from an unfortunate car accident one month before hunting season. And now even after much refusing from the wife we have a 5 month old German shorthair puppy that Nick swears will make it through hunting season. Don't get me wrong, I like dogs it is just too much heartache when one dies. Now the neighbors get to listen to a puppy bark all day and me yell at her over and over again to be quiet and stop digging.

Another Hunting Trip!! (Warning: some content may be inappropriate for all ages!)

What a fun weekend! Our family, and friends Jen & Jessie, went to Star Valley for a "hunting trip". Nick and Jessie got up early Saturday Morning and headed up the mountain. They were gone until 11:30 so we were sure they had finally got their bucks. After many hours of walking they came out empty handed. They then decided to take the easy way out and headed to Hal's land on their four wheeler and within 1 hr had two nice sized bucks. I personally enjoyed the tongue hanging out of Nick's Deer!

I think I was more bothered by the smell and blood then the kids were! "So Gross" It took Brayden a little while to be okay with touching the antler. (As you can tell by his facial expression)

While the guys were out hunting Jen and I held down the fort. The kids had a lot of fun playing on the swing, hiking in the forest and around the house. They also played a little golf and "drove" the golf cart. They had a wonderful time. Thank you Mom and Dad for lending us your house. The only thing that bothered my kids was that Grandma and Grandpa weren't home.

The kids were so excited to ride on the four wheeler. Thanks to Nick they were able to go on a mighty trail ride around Grandma and Grandpa's yard. They still loved it. We found a caterpillar and Brayden was the only brave one to touch it.

The Mighty Hunters!!

The boys had an amazing hunting trip this weekend. In below freezing temperatures and snow they hunted the Jackknife area. They had quite the man camp set up with a military tent, camp stove, kitchen and all. I think Brayden and Zach had the time of their lives. They felt so big and important carrying their guns and don't forget Zach's bow and arrow. Nick and Brayden rode one of the four-wheelers up the mountain and left it at the top as they hiked down a raven in search of wild game. They saw many Bull Elk and lots of Doe but unfortunately no bucks. As Brayden and Nick were hiking they saw in the far off distance a heard of Deer grazing. Nick knew they were too far to shoot but Brayden insisted Nick shoot at them. So to give Brayden the full effect of hunting he fired two shots and oh, was Brayden so proud. Brayden was exhausted when he got home but said he would do it again as long as it wasn't tomorrow.

Brayden and Nick! With their hunting rifles!

The Boys! Shawn, Zach, AJ, Brayden, Nick, and Grandpa Edwards taking the picture!

The boys again, notice the organized "MAN CAMP" they even have their kitchen sink set up. I am going to guess that organization and cleanliness came from Nick.

Shawn and Zach. What a cute pumpkin Zach makes.

SNOW ALREADY?!!

On Saturday October 11th we woke up to a good inch of snow. Thick & Wet perfect for snowballs and snowmen! Unfortunately it all melted before we could get out there to play; so when we woke up on Sunday to at least 3 more inches we were excited. Brayden couldn't stand it "Snow is my favorite thing about when it gets cold," he continually said all day. So after church we had to take a moment and enjoy the snow. Brayden and Nick built a fabulous snowman he was a little more squared then what snowmen usually are, but a snowman he was. Mr. Snowman was only with us a short while, Brayden couldn't resist the temptation of knocking him over. And then of course a snowball fight broke out. Nick cheated and used the shovel to dump mounds of snow on his kids, but Brayden and Jaycie were quick to retaliate with their fierce snowballs. Brayden kept running after Nick yelling "Oh no you din't" with quite the slang, and Jaycie just did all she could in her Sunday dress and tights. What a fun time. Kids are so much fun!!

Jaycie doing her first snow angel!!

Brayden trying to escape from Nicks shovel full of snow!

Brayden getting Nick back with one of his fierce snowballs!!Good for you Big B!!

PROUD TO BE AMERICAN!!

Nick's ETS (Ended Time of Service) in the Army was up November 14th 2008. He was counting down the days until he was out. And then the PLUNGE. With a bonus of $35,000.00 and a closer look at a fabulous retirement he was sold. After an already 10 years in, he decided whats another 10. On October 4th 2008 Nick reinlisted for another 6 full years of "FUN"!

Nick being sworn in!

Congratulations you have given us 6 more years of your life.

Nick officially signing his life away! We are proud of him.

HOW TIME FLIES!

Brayden had his first day of school today!! Yeah!! He was so excited. Jaycie was very upset she was not going to be able to go with him! She kept saying "Me Go" and when we would tell her not this year she would burst into tears. Brayden woke up this morning at 6:45 because he was so excited for school. He got dressed in his new school clothes and then of course we had to take his first day of school picture. How exciting. He will be going to Miss Suzy's preschool on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday all year. Mom will miss him but he is going to have so much fun.

The grand rock climbing adventure. We went rock climbing with a couple friends that live behind us Skyler Allen and his sister Memory. It was too bad Lacey was sick we missed having her there. It was a lot of fun, something we hadn't done in awhile. As we were getting ready to go Brayden came out thinking he was quite the stud. He had his Army pajama top on with some grey sweat pants that were tucked into his shoes. Very Nice!! We tried to encourage something not so DORKY but of course he thought he looked amazing. We all climbed the rocks including both Brayden and Jaycie. Nick, Skyler, and Memory made it up the first time with no problem. I struggled a bit the first time but then insisted on trying again, finally, I made it to the top. All in all we had a fun trip. Thanks for the idea Lacey.