the hunts (not for the faint hearted)

We purposely choose fall to visit Idaho every year so we can spend time doing one of our great family traditions- hunting. I grew up going bird hunting with my dad and brother every year. I wouldn't trade any of the moments spent freezing in water up to my thighs waiting for ducks, or dripping with sweat as I climbed up a rocky ridge looking for chukars for anything. Every year we renew our love of the great out doors and our family by hunting in Idaho, and of course Rhone comes too.

We made it in time for Sharptail opening morning. Our dog, Ace, did a great job and even I got a bird.

Rhone waiting by the truck for everyone to get ready

Ben and Rhone during the hunt

The views are amazing, it's one of the reasons I love hunting.

Olin and a pile of Sharptail grouse.



Ben and his brother Erich met for a day of Sage Grouse hunting too.

This year Ben added deer hunting to the trip. It has been years (since we actually lived in Idaho) since he has been big game hunting. Ben, my dad, and brother all filled their tags opening morning. There were two 4 points and one 3 x 4. Then followed 3 days of cleaning, cutting, marinating, and smoking meat. We made some delicious deer jerky, but it was a LOT of work. I will stick to my bird hunting, all the enjoyment and a lot less work.

Ben sent this photo to my phone.

My mom and I loaded Rhone and Olin into the old International Scout so we could see the deer. They are such cute hunters.

Ben and Rhone with the deer

Brock and Ben with their deer (they were already cleaned by the time we made it to the mountain).
Rhone on the Scout

All three bucks skinned and curing. The tractor really came in handy.

Ben and I quartering one of the deer. He can never say that I didn't help.

Rhone helped mix the jerky marinade

....and sprayed the racks....

...and we filled and filled racks with meat......



....until we had a smoker full of free range, organic venison :)

A special thanks goes out to my Dad for being an amazing guide!

ben's family time in ID

We consider our time in Idaho to be fairly sacred. We only go as a whole family once a year. It is so hard to squeeze everything in and see everyone, but we do our best. This year we were able to see Ben's parents, 2 of his sisters, and his brother. It is always so much fun to catch up and enjoy each others company. Now that there are more grandkids its fun to watch cousins develop relationships we each other. We met Ben's sister Liz at a park for a quick visit. She is the closest to Ben's age and I think it's fun to watch them interact and tease each other (she can call Ben things I could never getaway with). Thanks for loading up all your kids and meeting us Liz!

Liz and her 4 girls.

A slide full of cousins!

Rhone really warmed up to Emmie. I was surprised he let her carry him around for half the night- oh the life of a little boy with big sisters.

We headed over to Ben's brother's house in Twin Falls. They were gracious enough to even have us for the night. Ben's parents and sister met up with us too, so it was a full house. We are delicious food, let the little boys jump at the bounce house, and watched the big boys shoot guns. Thanks for having us guys!

Jacob and Rhone finally warmed up to each other.

We all played just about as much as the little boys.

Rhone watching Ben and Erich play like brothers do.

Ben, Jacob, and Erich at the gun range.

Jacob and Rhone playing with their new dump trucks from Grandmommy. They are pretty cool and Rhone is really into dumping. He will dump out anything imaginable and then with a proud look of his face say, "Mum, I dump" like he as really done something great.

Park City Getaway

For some reason I have had such a hard time getting motivated to blog about Idaho. Not because we didn't have a great time, but because I think writing about it will make me miss it too much, especially with Ben gone. So finally here's the first installment of our Idaho trip and it isn't even about Idaho, it's about Park City. Months ago my parents were gracious enough to offer to watch Rhone so Ben and I could have a little get a way. We settled on Park City since the drive was short and we were hoping for weather that would allow us to be a little adventurous since we wouldn't have a little boy in tow.

The weather was drizzly, but we still managed to ride the alpine slide, the alpine coaster, and take a trip down the zipcord. We rode the ski lift up and did the alpine slide down. It is basically a huge slide that goes down the side of the mountain and you ride on a little cart. It was fun and a little scary (at least for me). Next we did the coaster which was, far and away, our favorite. They pull you to the top of the coaster on a cable. Then once at the top, they release you and you ride the roller coaster based on gravity. We got going so fast, we did use the brakes a few times (it's all rider controlled). The scenery was gorgeous, the company was cozy, and it was the smoothest roller coaster I have ever been on. The weather didn't hold out for the zip line that day, so we headed to the hotel. We scored an amazing deal at the Waldorf Astoria. It is definitely the nicest hotel I have ever stayed at (but not the most expensive). We had a view of the changing aspen trees and our own fire place to snuggle up to. It was pretty magical (and I'm not really a romantic).

That night we got a couples massage at Aura Spa and then ate dinner at a quaint restaurant called the Purple Sage. The concierge recommended it so certainly that we didn't think of eating anywhere else. She was right, the setting was just what we had in mind. Later we enjoyed the whole outdoor hot tub/ pool to ourselves with outdoor fireplaces. It was one of the most enjoyable and relaxing days I've had in a LONG time. We did some shopping the next morning and hoped the rain would stop long enough for the zip line to open. Luckily it did. We had such a great time, we might have to make it a yearly thing.

Riding the ski lift up the slope

Getting ready to slide, there were no lines since it was drizzling.


An idea of what the alpine slide is. Even the white at the very top is the slide.


Right before was started on the roller coaster. Told ya it was beautiful.

Dinner at the Purple Sage. I had a huge basket of fries that had herbs fried with them. They were delish.

Hotel hot tub/ pool area. I love the open fire pits they had everywhere.

Ben in the hotel lobby.

Getting ready for the zip line. The guy didn't give us any warning. He just opened the gate and away we went!

I'm starting to think this doesn't look like that much fun anymore.

But I did it anyway.


You gotta check out the video to get an idea of how steep the zipline is and how high we are above the ground. It's basically a zip lining down a ski lift. I'm glad I did it, but next time I would just ride the roller coast 3 times and skip the other stuff.

Halloween Galore

It seems like Halloween went on for a long time at our house. I guess it did since we started celebrating before Ben left. I had a pumpkin party for Rhone and his friends (plus their moms are my friends). We painted pumpkins, went on a pumpkin hunt, made treat bags, played a pumpkin/ghost game, went trick or treating, and ate snacks. It was a marathon with 5 little boys. Hopefully they had fun.

Some of the boys and Tami laughing. Rhone had been saying "cupcake!" all day waiting for the party to start.
Rhone and Damon painting pumpkins.

This was the little boys favorite game. They had to make the ball land in the bucket. I made a jack o'lantern face on a orange ping pong ball and put ghosts on the white ones.

It was a feat to get this picture. At least you can see everyone's face.

Our church had a little Halloween party on Friday night. There was lots of food, trunk or treating, and an authentic Amish hay ride (I even took a picture of the Amish boys in case you are doubting me).

Rhone the train engineer (he absolutely refused to wear his monkey costume) and his friend Travis who was the cutest Nemo I have ever seen.

Just pretend Rhones eyes are open. It was a fun hay ride behind the 2 huge horses.

We didn't hit too many trunks, but Rhone was really impressed with the flying bat at this one.

Rhone and Travis could have sat in there all night just enjoying their candy together.

On Saturday night the base held trick or treating and they had a little festival too. Rhone and his friend Tyson hit a few doors then we headed down to the festival. There was a bounce house, orange cotton candy, a hay ride behind a tractor, and even a horse ride- all for free. It was a hit!

I am a cowgirl- pretty easy costume huh. We are accompanied by Bart and Marge. Tami looks great, don't ya think? Just pretend our eyes are open again.

At their very first door.

Playing while the adults hand out candy.

Rhone and me

Hay ride on base.

Horse ride on base.

On Halloween day Rhone and I made sugar cookies. We decorated them in front of the web cam while talking to Ben. There were sprinkles were everywhere, including in the keyboard. My friend Amy invited us over for dinner. She made pumpkin bread bowls that were so adorable. I gave the boys one last "treat"- a glowing swords. The amazing part was that no one really got hurt.

Rhone and Tommy with their pumpkin bread.

The boys fighting I mean playing with their swords.

Doesn't he look really fierce with that sword. I have no idea where he came up with this, but it was funny.



Decorating our cookies. We made pumpkins, planes, and trains (he was an engineer).

We saved our "great pumpkin" cookie in the freezer for Ben. Maybe one year he and Rhone will get to be together for Halloween festivities, in the mean time, we are extremely grateful for good friends to celebrate with!