Things that I am thankful for from A to Z.

Thanksgiving is tomorrow. So I started thinking about all the things that I am thankful for. Then I heard this idea on the radio. Write down something that you are thankful for beginning with each letter of the alphabet. Some of the letters are harder than others. Here is my list.

A - Ability to work - So I am able to make a living and support my family.

B - Blessings from God - We are constantly blessed with much more than we deserve.

C - Creation - All of creation is so beautiful and wonderful to explore.

D - Daughters - They are so fun to have around.

E - Emma - My first born child and a great joy to watch grow and mature.

F - Free country that we live in. - Our great country that has provided up a place to live freely and prosper. We are greatly blessed with the freedoms we have in this country and that is a big part of the Thanksgiving holiday.

G - God the father - The reason we are here and the reason we are so blessed

H - Home - A warm place to live and enjoy life

I - Internet - Our only source of news and info since we do not have cable or get a newspaper.

J - Jesus my savior - Giving me eternal life.

K - Knowledge - Not that I have a lot, but I am thankful for what I have learned and the knowledge I have gained throughout my life.

L - Leah - Our newest bundle of joy.

M - Mom - For being my mom and raising me in the best way she knew how.

N - No cable TV - Canceled it after college football last January with the intention of getting it again for this football season, but it was so nice not having the distraction, that we decided not to get it again. We just have to go to someone else's house to watch the beavs play.

O - Outdoors - Its just way better than indoors, as long as it is out in the woods, not it town.

P - Physical Health - I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

Q - Questions - Especially ones posed by any one of little girls in our house, which either make you think, or make you laugh and wonder what their little brains are thinking.

R - Riah - She loves to snuggle up with me to watch movies together (gotta love Vegitales). She is kinda cute too, especially the freckles.

S - Sarah - Our 3rd daughter and constant source of amazement and entertainment.

T - Trials from God - Helps me grow and gain more knowledge and understanding.

U - Understanding - So we know why things are the way they are. Not that I have a lot of this either.

V - Vacation - A time of relaxing and doing fun things with the family.

W - Wonderful Wife - Loves me, takes care of me, the kids, the house, and homeschooling.

X - XXL - Clothes that fit are kinda important, right.

Y - Yesterday - Experiences had, lessons learned. All part of building that knowledge and understanding.

Z - Zion National Park - Looks like a fun outdoorsy place to go on vacation sometime.

Deer hunting 2009

Well, deer season is over for 2009. Here is a picture of what I was able to get this year.














As you can see, I did not get anything again this year. The only thing that makes this season better than last season, ( see last years post) was that, while I did not get to see a legal deer during the season, I did not put out any effort this year. I put out so little effort that if I had got a deer I would have almost felt bad about it, because I did not earn it! I did get to see some deer this year and saw some elk while taking a friend elk hunting. I did see 1 legal buck that I could have shot, but it was elk season and I was on private property. Then I did see 1 doe that wanted to get shot, but I was on the wrong side of hiway 20 for my tag, so I let her live. I am sure someone else has probably shot her by now unless she was really not a gawker and was actually a runner that knew I did not have a tag. In that case she would be able to tell if other hunters will shoot at her with or without a tag and won't stand there pretending to be a gawker.
I still have hope for meat in the freezer this winter though. I have an elk tag for January, so I will hopefully get one in the freezer. I only need 1 gawker to stop and gawk at me once the season starts, so stay tuned.

Hunting season 2009!!!

Deer hunting season for 2009 is starting this weekend. I was not really all that excited about it after last season.(see post from last year) But, there is nothing like seeing a bunch of bucks standing around asking you to shoot them to get the old buck fever juices flowing and make you forget all of last seasons woes. So now I am back in the killing mode. Have gun, tag, bullets and am ready to go throw some lead around and put some meat in the freezer. There is no way I can have 2 seasons in a row as bad as last year, right? So, after a trip to visit mom in Paisley last weekend, and seeing this

I am ready to go out and set myself up for more disappointment and discouragement. It cannot be any worse than last year though. If I just at least see a live animal running off in the distance, it will be an improvement over last year. The pictures are fuzzy because I was drooling over the deer all over my camera.(ok not really, I was taking the pics through the screen door of my moms house.)

Granted these deer are in Paisley, and I will be hunting in the cascades by Sweet Home. It still boosted my confidence that there will be meat in the freezer come November. It is amazing how seeing nice bucks this close to hunting season makes your bad memories go away. Check in later to see if I am successful at finding some more gawkers standing around wanting me to shoot at them.

The Tornado

Sarah, over the last couple months, has earned herself a new nickname. She is now affectionately known as "The Tornado." She is all over the place and never slows down. Things are usually knocked off the wall or table or wherever, as she blows by. She could not even sit still long enough to get a clear picture the other day.

Here Riah is about to get hit by with the full force of "The Tornado." We have had her rated as a catagory F3 tornado, so it may build into a stronger one yet.

Salsa

We are making our yearly ration of salsa. We ran out way too soon last year, so we decided to make a bigger batch. We should end up with 25-30 quarts!! Here is some of the tomatoes and serrano peppers that we are using from our garden. But, we needed to get more stuff from the store and Brooke found some free tomatoes somewhere.(70 # worth!!)

Here is most of the ingredients. 70 #'s tomatos(various varieties), 40 cups diced green peppers, 32 cups diced onions, 10 various varieties of hot peppers(serrano, habenaro, pablano, banana, etc.), and a few spices to finish it off.

We are going to make 2-3 pints of "special" salsa as well. This little guy is one of the key components of that mix! Do you like your salsa extra spicy?