Uncle Eric

Jocelyn

Jocelyn was blessed on Sunday.   My parents and Corinne and Dave and their family were able to come down from Salt Lake for the weekend for the special day.  It was so fun to have them all for the weekend and enjoy the time with family.  (Thanks again guys!!)  And Robert and Shaliece were able to attend sacrament with us as well.  Let me tell you, there was some fun going on in our pews on Sunday!!

Those that stood in the circle for the blessing were Jacob's father, my Father, Robert, Dave, Bishop Whetmen, and Jacob.  (Posterity effort :)    Jacob gave a beautiful blessing and Jocelyn slept the whole time.  She looked adorable and the spirit was very strong.

                           

And important part of her blessing was that "she would be able to hear the words of the prophets and follow them."  This is so important because we have been very concerned about Jocelyn's hearing.  She failed both of her hearing screens at the hospital and the subsequent one 3 weeks later.  So we had to follow up with the audiologist.  We met with them 3 weeks ago and the test had to be scheduled because of equipment malfunction.    We have been very nervous over the last few weeks as we still see very little response on her part to noises. But we just continued to pray in faith that all would work out.

Yesterday was her second hearing test.  And I am so happy and relieved to report that while the news isn't perfect, it is extremely good.  The test showed that she is hearing but the responses time of the hearing is delayed.  The doctor said this could be for one of two reasons most likely.  1 - She still has fluid in her ears.  If this is the case, they will continue to dry and all will be just fine.  2 - She has partial hearing loss.  If this is the case, we would be looking at hearing aids and eventually all will be just fine as well.

So we will be redoing the test in 3 months and hoping for outcome 1 but being just fine it if is outcome 2 as well.  When you were concerned about deafness and the life that would mean, hearing aids don't sound bad at all.  I can't being to express how grateful we are for this little miracle in our life and I am so happy that the results were so positive.  We are truly mindful of the Lord's hand in our life and grateful for all of the prayers that were given in Jocelyn's behalf.

It had to happen sometime!!

A few weeks ago we had another one of those "I can't believe she did that" incidents.  And of course, it involved this little stinker.

Kami is the first to do many things in our house that none of the other children ever tried.  She was the first to color all over my couch, she was the first to eat markers, she was the first to hide in my bathroom and attempt to put mascara on her eyes and end up like this . . .  (and she has done this like 5 times now :)

And now . . .  She is the first to stuff something up her nose and not be able to get it out.  She came to me the other day just howling and shoving her finger up her nose (only lodging the item even further ) and when I looked all I saw was bright green.  I called Jacob, who was at work, and he said to try with some tweezers and if I couldn't get it out, call Dad, and if he wasn't home to bring her in.

Well the tweezers did not work at all.  Not only could I not get a hold of the item, I didn't have enough hands to hold onto the tweezers and keep Kami's hands from swinging at me.  And then I attempted to call Dad who was up the mountain, so I was down to the last option of taking her in.  So I called Mom, who thankfully left Wal-Mart to come sit with the other kids, (Could you imagine how awful it would have been to take them all in) and took Kami into so Daddy could come to the rescue.

And he did.  We were in and out of the clinic in about 2 minutes.  (I am so fortunate that my insta-care is  truly instant!!!)  Kami was fabulous, she laid still and let her Daddy dislodge one necklace bead from her nose.   Good Times!!!

Halloween 2011

Halloween!!  What can I say??  This always seems to be a holiday that my children love and I tolerate. Oh well, what ya gonna do??

Every year we do pretty basic pumpkins.  You know, the face that takes about 3 minuites :)  Well this year the kids asked for something a little more detailed.  And, since I was trying to find a way to like Halloween more, I decided to give it a shot.  So we got online and found some pretty cool patterns and we set off to cut out some fancy pumpkins.

The "we" part quickly turned into the "I" part when the kids decided it was to hard for them and they would rather just play with the leftover pieces of pumpkin.  I on the other hand, was concentrating pretty hard for something as simple as pumpkin carving. (hence the tongue out :)

This was the end result (but the picture was taken two days later so some of the pieces are beginning to shrivel :)  They aren't perfect, but the kids were happy.  Using just a kitchen knfe was hard on some of the curves.  ( I already went and got a decent set of carving utinsels for next year, got to love the half off day after Wal-Mart sale :)

This is everyone right before we loaded up to go to the ward Trunk-or-Treat.  They had a lot of fun!!  Except for when a glow wand exploded in Kristian's face leaving him with some major stinging eye's, but daddy took him home and washed it out and then he was back to collecting candy :)    I have to say I am not a huge fan of Trunk-or-Treats, but that  is just me.  (I won't get into as it only contributes to the "Why I just tolerate Halloween" issue :)

Afterwards we all got together and sorted the candy. (and sadly, the candy in the picture does not represent all the candy)  Probably the part of Halloween that I really enjoy!!  I just think it is so fun to put things into like piles ;)  And the candy bar pile and smarties pile have switched in size since I was a kid :)  

So that was our Halloween!!

Deer Hunt 2011

Doug, this is for you (sorry Char, mostly Doug here).

We started off uneventfully at Dad's house.  Mark and Robert decided that we needed to take both ATVs and Robert Didn't want to pack his stuff twice so we took three trucks up to deer camp.  Spencer and I drove my truck.  Robert and Dallin took his and Mark rode with Dad.

The road to Kolob was especially bumpy due to the snowstorm we had two weeks ago.  I don't remember washboard that bad and coming around blind corner I almost hit a lady on an ATV.  She scowled at me as if I should have known she was there.  Dad and Mark were in the lead vehicle and decided to drive as fast as they could so we had to stay 1/2 a mile back for the dust to settle a bit.  Of course when we finally got on top they decided that 5 mph would scare the deer so we got out and pushed the trucks instead to keep the engines quiet.  Mark and Dad claim they saw a bunch of deer, including a three-point, but their stories were unsubstantiated by the other 4 of us suffering behind their constant stopping.

We arrived at camp and found that the table had been smashed by the winter snow (actually Mark and Dad already knew that as they had been up earlier in the day).  As you can see Spencer was great moral support, he takes after his dad.

The evening was enjoyable as always.  Robert warmed us up some stew and cooked some rolls in the dutch ovens.  It was good, but the cheese we brought up was a bit moldy and may have given some of us a bit of the runs, but that's a story for another day.  He had to do it the old fashioned way (in the coals) because he forgot the propane tank for his camp stove.

During dinner the adults and Dallen ate around the campfire while Spencer ate behind the tables.  He said he hadn't earned his spot around the campfire yet because this was his first hunt.  

As the clock his 6:00 dad decided he had been up too long so he went to bed.  I think in the future I'll put my camper on the truck and just set up a bed back there for dad so he can sleep on the way up.

Spencer went to bed around 8 (he was pretty excited about the next day), but didn't actually get any sleep for at least another hour as Dallen went in to join him at 8:15 and the two of them played around a bit.  Mark decided to wake up dad around 9 and we got a good laugh.

The next morning we left camp at our usual time with walkie talkies in hand.  I soon found out that my radio did a great job of receiving communication, but nobody could hear me unless we were close enough to talk to each other anyway.  After listening to some kid on the other side of the hill chat with his dad for 5 minutes I finally turned it off.  We did our usual route of the mountain with dad walking straight up from camp.  Upon arriving back at camp Robert reported that he had walked the whole top of the mountain and seen nothing.  I had seen a couple of does, while dad had taken an easy up and back route (he did say he made it to the top, but I'm not so sure) and shot at two bucks and saw a bunch of does.

I went down in the oak alone while breakfast was being cooked, but didn't see anything.  Breakfast was great and while we were eating it Doug Urie and his wife drove up to get some wood.  They brought Pug up with them so it was good to see them.  

In the afternoon we went down to Hog Wallow and hiked over to the south fence while dad took a nap.  Saw a bunch of does but nothing to shoot at.  We were becoming a little discouraged.  After another short rest at camp Spencer and I decided to take the ATV back down to Hog Wallow and sit for a bit.  I think I made it 15 minutes before I had to go walk around a bit.  I chased a doe for a while and heard two gunshots in the distance.  We rode to the south gate then back to camp where we learned that Robert had fired at a big 4 point, but missed.  He had Mark do some target shooting with the .243 and felt worse when Mark his a soda can at 30 yards (maybe 40 or 20 I can't remember for sure) on 2 of 2 shots.

We did one more sweep in the oak below camp south to north, before heading home.  I did see a deer that I think was a 2 point at the north end of the property just above the gate, but I couldn't see for sure if the deer had antlers so I didn't take a shot.  We drove back to town in the dark with Dad again sending up a 50 foot wall of dust.

Fast forward one week to Friday morning.  I awoke at 5 AM in order to get to Navajo before sunrise (having to go through Parowan and Brian Head really cramps my style).  This time I was alone as Spencer had school, Robert has a real job that requires him to work like normal Americans, and Dad is in Texas.  I got to the property about 30 minutes before daybreak which was a bit early so I sat in the truck for 10 minutes before getting out to head down to the meadow.  As I was walking down the road to the meadow I heard a bunch of deer down on the hillside.  I froze and stood in that spot for 20 minutes waiting for it to get light enough to see.  

I made my way down the hill, off the road now, and proceeded to follow the sounds of deer along the hillside between the cabin and the meadow.  About halfway across the hill I heard something and saw a deer make the turn North around the hill.  I continued my pursuit and saw that it was a doe.  I made the turn North around the hill then backtracked from the other side to the peak to the West of the cabin when I heard deer jumping down the hill.  I raced down through the bit of oak on the hillside and waited.  Off to the east of me I saw a doe and fawn trot down the hill and into the meadow.  I watched them through the scope for another minute as they crossed in front of me and headed across the fence to the west and down into the gully.

At this time I decided to loop the property so I headed down the west fence to the bottom and turned east from there.  I saw and heard nothing back in the pines, but it was very enjoyable just to be up there anyway.  When I got to the meadow across the fence on the east side of the property I saw a deer coming down the hill from the trailer.  Another doe and behind it a fawn just like before.  It may have been the same two I saw earlier, but they would have had to make a big loop to get back to that side of the property.

I proceeded North up the fence.  Past the pavilion and through the thick pine until I was within sight of the main road whereupon I turned west again with a plan to hit the road and head back to the truck.  As I crested the short hill before the truck I heard something and looked up to see two bucks trotting through the trees toward the road that goes to the cabin.  They were both big bucks at least 3 or 4 points.  I followed closely and saw them once more as they turned south toward the cabin, but couldn't get a shot off. 

I hurried up Uncle Steve's road an stopped at the point where the old road had connected.  I could hear them and then I saw one up on the ridge just beyond the trees.  I knew there were two so I raised the gun to the place where I had seen the deer and hoped that he was the first rather than the second deer.  Just then a big buck entered my sight and I fired.  I didn't see it fall so I reloaded and went running up the hill (isn't that what dad does anyway, he's killed a lot of deer).  I knew if I made it quick I would be able to see them before they made it down the big hill to the pavilion.  Just as I got to the top I saw my deer laying on the ground with a shot through the neck.  

I cleaned him where he lay 50 yards from the cabin and pulled the truck to within 30 feet of him.  In all my excitement I forgot to tag him, but remembered just as I locked the gate to leave the property.  Good thing I had some suture in my bag for that.

As if the deer wasn't reward enough I plan to reward myself by getting some new orange when it goes on clearance in the next few days.  Especially a new hat.