Unfortunately, the house that this girl lived in happened to be infested with earwigs, for some odd, coincidental reason. Fortunately, she managed to avoid them, for the most part. Except the one night she was sitting there and suddenly felt a tickle on the back of her neck. She thought it was the tag of her shirt and reached up…and an earwig landed on her lap. She had a mini-freak and jumped up…and the stupid earwig disappeared!! She felt very creepy-crawly, and changed pajamas (from the ones she had on) and went to bed.

But fast forward now. One time her father had had an earwig in his ear. So when she was laying in her bed, her hands curled up by her pillow, and felt a tickle on her hand…and looked in the dim light onto the evil form of an earwig…which had been BY HER PILLOW…she almost decided to sleep somewhere else. But telling herself she shouldn’t be so silly, she positively couldn’t bear the thought of an earwig in her ear. She imagined the scenario: “AHHH!! MOM! THERE’S AN EARWIG IN MY EAR! I FEEL IT TICKLING!!! GET IT OUT!!!!!!!!” No way. So she rolled up a square of toilet paper and inserted it into one of her ears. And did the same with the other. And slept very peacefully.

The only downside was, she couldn’t hear the guy talking on the radio very well.

Oh well.

Then she brings me down this brown lump on a saucer. It was steaming and looked slightly odd. Then I tasted it, and I didn’t care if it looked odd. It was GOOD. Fresh, moist, rich chocolate cake. It tastes kind of like pudding cake, but with the pudding mixed in.

Cake in a Mug
4 tablespoons cake flour
4 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa
1 egg
3 tablespoons milk
3 tablespoons oil
1 mug

In the mug, mix flour, sugar, and cocoa.
Spoon in egg.
Pour in milk and oil, and mix well otherwise you’ll get little pieces of egg white in your cake!
Put in microwave for 3 minutes on maximum power (1000watt).
Wait until it stops rising and sets in the mug.
Tip contents out of the mug onto saucer and enjoy!

Beth read that if you use all-purpose flour, it’ll work, but just be a bit more dense. I liked it the way it was! And I thought a glaze would be good on top…or whipped cream, if you’re so inclined, or it would be really good with vanilla ice cream.
Oh yes and I forgot…Beth substituted coffee for the milk in mine. ^_^

*insert technical spiel* Sorry for the lack of pictures…the gallery I was using messed up and was too hard to redo so I’m uploading my pictures to Facebook (since I usually do anyway) and discovered a plugin for my blog to insert my Facebook photos. So you can have pics now! Yay! *end technical spiel* (if you didn’t understand it, that’s alright…the point is, I can post pics!)

Without further ado! (If you click the link it’ll take you to my Facebook gallery…the larger pictures were too big for my template! And evidently it didn’t work to click the individual photos…so click the Facebook gallery link below! Hover for descriptions…if none pop up, don’t panic, it means it doesn’t have a description! And there are a few more in my Facebook gallery that aren’t posted here.)

(Thank you to Mr. H. for a few of those pictures!)

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus.
For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.

It has been almost five weeks since Grandpa’s exit to Life.

Homesick
Mercy Me

You’re in a better place, I’ve heard a thousand times
And at least a thousand times I’ve rejoiced for you
But the reason why I’m broken, the reason why I cry
Is how long must I wait to be with you

I close my eyes and I see your face
If home’s where my heart is then I’m out of place
Lord, won’t you give me strength to make it through somehow
I’ve never been more homesick than now

Help me Lord cause I don’t understand your ways
The reason why I wonder if I’ll ever know
But, even if you showed me, the hurt would be the same
Cause I’m still here so far away from home

I close my eyes and I see your face
If home’s where my heart is then I’m out of place
Lord, won’t you give me strength to make it through somehow
I’ve never been more homesick than now

In Christ, there are no goodbyes
And in Christ, there is no end
So I’ll hold onto Jesus with all that I have
To see you again
To see you again

And I close my eyes and I see your face
If home’s where my heart is then I’m out of place
Lord, won’t you give me strength to make it through somehow
Won’t you give me strength to make it through somehow
Won’t you give me strength to make it through somehow

I’ve never been more homesick than now

Everyone was glad Mom and Joe went. Everyone was also glad to have them back.

Dad, Ben, Elle Janie, and I ended up going; we left on the 19th, sometime after 8pm. We left at night, so the baby would sleep! Which she did; she actually did very good.

Our kind dentist loaned us a Buick Park Avenue, a few years old but awfully nice. Mom didn’t think Dad would take Dr. Wagner up on his offer, but the dentist phrased it somewhat like this (I wasn’t there to get the exact words, but I guess this is a paraphrase!):
Dr. Wagner: I have this car that really misses Portland.
Dad: Oh ok, you need it dropped off?
Dr. Wagner: No, it wants to come home after a few days.

Well, it was a really nice car and we took it. It had so many bells and whistles that I’d never heard of! The windshield sensed rain and turned the wipers on automatically. There was a head’s up display that showed the mph on the windshield. It was really comfy. Anyway, the dentist wasn’t joking. As soon as we got into Oregon, the windshield wipers started going enthusiastically! All by themselves. It was funny!

When we got into town we went to Grandma Kathy’s. Aunt Laurie was looking through pictures because they were making poster boards with pictures of Grandpa on them. Joe let me look through pictures he had on his camera. Here’s some from the two and a half weeks he was there without us (minus the food pictures, which will come another time!):

Grandma Kathy in the hospice

Joe while driving

Paul (left) and John

Mom

A very picturesque picture of the river to which I added a few effects

Papa making Mom and Joe breakfast

Joe’s reflection (I thought it was picturesque!) in a birdhouse hubcap…birdhouses were made out of different things; this one was made out of VW Bug parts

Mom (right, in the blue skirt) and Aunt Laurie doing puzzles in the hospice

Paul (left) and John

Left to right: Joe, Gramma Kathy, Mom, Aunt Laurie looking at the pictures for the posters

We had lunch at Grandma Kathy’s, and looked through pictures and stuff.

Mom and Elle Janie who was so glad to see Mom that…(see next picture)

…she orbited around Mom! She kept her hand on Mom and walked around her in a circle for a long time, not letting go!

Dad rocking out with his acoustic guitar!

Dad and I

Dad, Aunt Laurie, Mom, Elle Janie, and Ben looking at pictures

Me writing as always! This is what I was doing while they were looking at pictures

Later on went to Grammoo and Papa’s for dinner. We got there about six. Grammoo made us an awesome roast dinner, with all the milk we could drink. We (the six of us; Grammoo and Papa don’t drink milk) drank a whole gallon at the one dinner!

Dad read a few Pat McManus stories. He got a few Pat McManus books as a surprise for when we went hunting, then we didn’t go!

Friday we got up at 7…Grammoo made breakfast (hash browns, which Joe made; bacon AND sausage, and blueberry muffins). After breakfast, we left to the Mausoleum to see Grandpa interned.

We were the first at mausoleum (after thinking we were late, we were early!) so we waited for Grandma Kathy and family. Aunt Jeanie and Uncle Earl came too. Grandma Kathy’s dad (who I guess is our great-grandpa Peterson!…he was only three years older than Grandpa, actually) came and Grandma Kathy’s oldest and youngest sisters Karen and Paula (respectively). We realized they are our aunts!
Anyway. Once everyone came we went inside and stood in the entry way, then went and sat down in a little living room thing. After a while a man came with the urn, and we followed him out to the mausoleum.

The earliest date we saw was 1914. The walls and fronts where the caskets and urns went was marble. Some spaces were caskets in sideways; some were in longways, with their ‘head’ showing. Grandpa’s is in one of the longways places because Grandma Kathy wants to be in a casket, so she will be interned with him when she dies.

We followed the mausoleum man through the halls and to the elevator, then up a floor, and to the open crypt. The square marble slab was off. It reminds me of that one verse where Jesus compared the Pharisees to a white washed sepulcher. That’s what it was! The marble and brass and ornate finishings merely were decorations for the concealing of dead people. It was a weird thought.

The man put the urn gently in the cavity, and let us say words. Dad read the passage from 1 Thessalonians, and Grandpa Peterson told us about this song, something about seeing Jesus in people, and he said he saw Jesus in grandpa, there was no doubt. Then we all said the Lord’s Prayer, and kind of stood around. Grandma Kathy went around and hugged everyone. Then Mom asked the guy if we could see where her mom and brother were interned. Entombed? Encrypted?
Anyways. So he asked the desk and got directions and we saw their crypts. On another nearby wall were Grandpa’s folks, in caskets. We stood there for a while. I couldn’t help thinking of the state of the bodies. Grandpa’s parents were in the sideways caskets, so the bodies were there, whole, instead of ashes. I thought I should feel creeped out to be surrounded by dead bodies, even if they were behind marble, but I didn’t…but I thought if I were alone, at night, perhaps I would have been creeped out…especially if there was a creepy guy chasing me around! That would be scary!!

After looking for a bit, we left. Everyone except us, Aunt Jeanie, and Uncle Earl left; we talked to them, then they went home and we went to Grandma Kathy’s. We weren’t there very long, then we went to the church. When Leo got there (he is…a family friend) we practiced playing “In the Garden” which we were performing at the memorial service later on. Leo played a 12 string guitar; Joe and Dad played guitar, and I played piano. Leo had actually never played it before, the song, but he did great.

After practicing we hung out until the service.

Aunt Jeanie had reserved three pews for family, but we ended up using seven! Aunt Jeanie’s sister and brother and their spouses were there too (along with her unmarried older sister); and Grammoo and Papa, Uncle David, Aunt Fran, and Cody; and Uncle Pat, Aunt Laurie, Nick and Amanda came…we hadn’t seen them (besides Aunt Laurie) in forever! The service was really nice, and afterwards was a cookie reception.

Dad, the tall dark and handsome

Leo, who played guitar with us

Me

Left to Right, Aunt Karen, Aunt Paula, and Grandpa Peterson

Left to Right: Mom, Aunt Laurie, Aunt Karen, Grandma Kathy, Aunt Paula

My cousins Amanda and Nick

Uncle Hap (Grandpa’s brother’s wife’s sister’s husband)

Papa

After the reception was a private dinner, served at Grandma Kathy’s, so we went there. Some ladies they knew prepared an awesome chicken/broccoli casserole!

Grandpa Peterson, one of the neatest, Godliest men you could hope to know

Aunt Jo (Uncle Hap’s wife; she is Grandpa’s brother Earl’s wife Jeanie’s sister)

Aunt Paula holding pies

One of my very cool brothers…Ben!

Aunts and Uncles…left to right, Uncle Earl (Grandpa’s brother), Aunt Jeanie, Uncle Hap, Aunt Jo, Aunt Shirley (Aunt Jeanie’s oldest sister), and Aunt Verna and Uncle Harley

Uncle Harley

Aunt Verna

Left to right, cousin Nick, Uncle Pat, Aunt Laurie, and Uncle Pat’s mom (Amanda had to go back home)

Paul

Aunt Jo and I (I’m really not taller than her!)

Aunt Jo and eeek who’s that face?!?

Me

After that we went back to Grammoo and Papa’s. I had a hard time getting out the door…I was saying goodbye to Grandpa Peterson (who is only about my height!), and he was like “Here, I have to show you something!” after I’d hugged him. He dug around in his wallet…and pulled out a family picture of US! Joe had given it to him! He was tickled to learn he had twelve grandchildren he didn’t even know about! He started bragging on us (while I was there) to Aunt Karen, who’d already heard all of it. “They make their own knives and bullets, and play music…!” he was going on and on. He showed me also a laminated paper with his other grandchildrens’ names and birthdates on, and said Grandma Kathy would make him another one with our names and birthdates on it. He hadn’t even met the rest of the kids!

Finally I said I really had to go, otherwise my family would leave me behind! I even got called a social butterfly, which was a first, because I can be pretty anti-social! Maybe I was just acting…

Anyway, we were going to leave first thing in the morning, but it was late, and we didn’t feel like packing the van, so we decided to leave second thing in the morning…which turned out (after a big breakfast and a lot of packing) to be about 10:30 am!

We got home at 2 am…stayed up for half an hour telling some of the stories and stuff…then went to bed.

Here’s a final picture of Grandpa Peterson and Grandpa…and a funny story about Grandpa.

When we came in June, a lot of the times someone else and I would help Grandpa stand, as he had a little trouble having enough ‘ooph’ to get out of his chair. Sometimes he would be a little wobbly, and we’d hold him until his legs were strong enough to walk.
One time he was being wobbly after we helped him; kind of bending his knees and stuff.
“Are you ok?” we were asking him, rather worried.
“I’m just doing my exercises!” he said.

Grandpa Peterson and Grandpa…two of the best men I’ve ever known

However, there is hope. He is a follower and disciple of Jesus Christ, and we will see him again, which makes the parting not quite so hard. There’s a really neat Mercy Me song called “Homesick”, and here’s the bridge:

In Christ, there are no goodbyes
And in Christ, there is no end
So I’ll hold onto Jesus with all that I have
To see you again
To see you again

If you could be praying for everyone involved and related to Grandpa, that would be very much appreciated. For the disciples of Christ, that they would be good witnesses…even though we have the hope of seeing Grandpa again, the parting is still sad. For the unbelievers, that they would realize they are lost and mortal and realize their need for a Savior.

For us, it’s been really strange not having Joe and Mom around (especially since this is the longest we’ve ever been away from them), and we miss them and they miss us. When Grandpa does die, Dad, Ben, and I will go for the funeral.

Anyways; prayers are very much appreciated all around, and I thought you might like to be updated on what’s going on.

Grandpa and his (living) children when we visited in June: Aunt Laurie (far right), Mom (far left), John (behind, left), and Paul (behind, right)

The title of the post is from a song called “Grandpa, Tell Me ‘Bout The Good Old Days”.

10:00 a.m. And we’re off! Got out the door sooner than I thought. Feels like 12 though!

1:00 p.m. We’re here. We stopped on the way in and got some hamburgers to eat (from Burger King!!), and some stuff at Walmart. I hadn’t ever been to that Walmart before! It had freezers that had motion sensors on them so when you walk down the aisle, the lights turn on ahead of you! It was neat. Ben said the ones at our walmart do that too, but people are always in front of it so you never know!

Bear Mountain

The van and the girls’ camper)

left to right, Eric, me, Ben…man I look short

5:10 p.m. We just had cheez whiz, summer sausage, and Ritz and Triscuits for celebrating Mom and Dad’s 24th wedding anniversary. And we had sparkling cider, sparkling white grape juice, and sparkling red grape juice. I liked the red grape best; it tasted like the grapes we picked! That was our surprise. Later we will have ding dongs for dessert ^_^ they don’t know about that quite yet though!

Rase eating Triscuits

After setting up camp, we took a turn around the Loop, then just been hanging out at camp. The season doesn’t start until tomorrow, so we have a whole day to do nothing!

Joe let me use his old film camera. It’s harder, but fun. I’ve taken a few pictures already; hopefully they will turn out! I can’t post them until they get developed though. Too bad!

Me taking pictures with the film camera

Joe posing

It’s kind of windy, and the wind is chilly. The smoke keeps getting in our eyes! Mom said “Smoke follows beauty!” but Dad said “Smoke goes to the one with the pink underwear!” So we kept teasing the boys, when they got smoke in their eyes!

Em was holding Elle, whose fingers were cold, so since Joe was closer to the fire, he offered to take her. She didn’t want to go! So he pretended he had some stuff in his hand, but that didn’t work so he got a flourescent earplug out of his pocket and pretended to eat it! Elle wanted it, so Em was saying “eww, icky!!” Elle didn’t like her saying that so she leaned over and pinched Em’s nose!
I told Joe, “You sure make earplugs look tasty!”

We’ve already had our traditional candy-swap.

I’m tired.

Jay wanting to swap candy with Joe

Elle Janie

Elle Janie again…her expression cracks me up!

Duke, watching candy-eaters intently

Dad’s perfect marshmallow

6:30 p.m. I laid down for a while…chilly! Dinner’s ready though.

8:00 p.m. Dad can’t get the heater on…good thing I brought my ‘cloud’ blanket! It’s soo nice and cozy!

8:20 p.m. Dad’s gonna read Pat McManus. Hunting (or camping) standby!

9:25 p.m. BED.

Sunday

6:05 a.m. Most of us are gonna go to our stands. Well, all, I guess, just Beth and I are last cuz we’re closest!

6:20 a.m. Still an hour to shooting light; I think I’m not going out quite yet! It’s pretty brisk out there…not as cold as some days, but pretty cold! It was sleeting earlier, Dad said. It’ll probly get warmer later!

We’re at the spot in the meadow, because there’s a fence across the old spot. I mean, where we’re camping. It looks like nobody’s driven down to the old spot in a long time, and there is a lot of snow covering the road. This spot is closer to ‘my’ spot, but the other spot is nicer because it’s cooler for hanging deer!

7:25 a.m. At my stand now, looking at the creek I drowned a deer in once. It’s getting light fast now. I suppose I should get the camera ready! I plan to shoot with my rifle before I shoot with the camera, though!

There’s a cold wind!

At least my mouth is feeling better!

1:45 p.m. Ben’s going home now :(

At about 9 (we were supposed to meet back at camp at 9:30), I saw Joe walking on the hill across from me, and down the hill on the right. He walked back up, out of my view behind some trees, then into a clear spot in front of me. He started dancing!! It was sooo funny! He did an egyptian thing, and peekaboo’d (he said…I didn’t catch that part!). Then he left and Beth came up to meet me, and we went back to the campers.

Evidently, just after we turned our backs on the hill, three guys popped up where Joe had been dancing and were scoping us and the trailers and stuff! I was pretty mad at them! Abby kept calling them “stupidheads.”
Joe and Eric came up to camp, and we told them about the “stupidheads”, so they took off in Joe’s pickup. We saw the boys walk up to the guys, then the boys walked away. They didn’t come back for a long time (the guys left shortly after the boys talked to them), until Ben, Dad, and the twins came back. Joe and Eric were walking! Joe’s pickup had broken down or something.

We had some cup o’ noodles, then Ben and Eric took off. After a bit, the rest of us (including Mom and the little ones) did a turn around the Loop. We didn’t see any deer, but did happen upon Ben’s unlocked pickup, windows rolled down, with a nice .22 rifle in the gunrack! So we snitched it.
We got around to where Joe’s pickup was, and he got it going (with Dad’s help). Dad gave him a pull out of the place he’d been backed into (it was downhill so he couldn’t get up the hill or out of the mud or something), then we got to camp. We’ve just been hanging out.

Ben and Eric came back a while later (around 12:30). Both got one! Ben got a little buck, and Eric got a doe. Ben used the knife he made and Dad sharpened. Ben had whittled a 2×4, then used it to gut his deer. He said he cut through the breastbone (not along through the ribs) one-handed, like butter. He was pretty proud of that!

Ben’s .44

Ben warming his hands after gutting his deer. Smoke follows beauty!

Dad carrying Ben’s microcompact .45

He’s left now though. He’s actually going to work, then home tonight. Sounds like Mom and the kids are going home tonight. Which would be nice because it would mean more sleeping room…Tess was next to me on the big bed (which was left to right, Kate, Tess, me, Beth…Em slept on the floor), and she kept putting her feet under my rear and wiggling her toes!! I had about four hours’ sleep or so. After I woke up at like 1:30, Duke kept making disgusting mouth noises, and someone (I think it was Kate) kept grinding her teeth really loud! YUCK!!!
BUT, it’s fun having them here, and we’ll miss them if they do go!!

I’m sooo tired!!

We’re gonna do the Loop now. It’s just after 2.

7:30 p.m. After the Loop, we came back to camp, kibbutzed a while, and got out to our stands. After shooting light ended, we met back up…well, Beth and I were walking cuz we were cold…we met Joe and Eric (Joe was driving..he got a doe!)…had to tell all our stories, of course! Then Dad and the twins came up, and the stories had to be retold! Back at camp now…waiting for hamburgers!!!

10:00 p.m. Yay bed. Dad was reading but I was asleep mostly!

Dad reading

Monday

6:20 a.m. We’re up…shooting light in an hour. We slept nice and long! I had weird dreams.
Last night Dad said “Do your sleeping where you should…on your stand!”

1:30 p.m. Well, I didn’t sleep on my stand, but I tried to! Nobody saw deer today, at least deer not on private property. Kate and Dad heard a mountain lion, and Em saw a bear!

After meeting back at camp at about 10, we went around the Loop, then went to the other Forest Service entrance, then back to camp. A game warden was checking our three deer and very interested in Ben’s because he wasn’t there!
We’re just hangin’, waiting for 3 when we’ll go back out.

4:45 p.m. We did a Loop, and are at our stands now.

It’s Mom and Dad’s 24th wedding anniversary today!

Mom and Dad in our sweet hot rod hunting rig!

Sounds like Ben’s gonna come out tomorrow, too!! We miss him!

7:35 p.m. I’ve gotta watch the clock very carefully; we’re timing the ‘pop’ biscuits. You know, the kind in a can thing that you unpeel and they go “pop”. I love those! Except I don’t like opening them!

At our stands, I saw the babies of the mama doe Joe shot yesterday (Joe said they were making a whistling noise, which only the babies whose mamas he’d shot made that noise!), but they were spooked and motating. And I’m not that desperate yet!

Beth and Eric saw a moose walking up the creek!

Tuesday

6:55 a.m. Shootin’ light at 7:25…Dad and the twins and Ben went out to their stands already. They had far to go, though. Eric’s going in his spot; I’m going in mine; Beth’s going to where Joe shot the doe the other day, and I don’t know where Joe’s going.

3:10 p.m. After the morning stand, we went around the Loop. Ben left at quarter to two. We’ll see him Thursday.
Gonna go out again soon; Beth and I are going to walk.

9:10 p.m. Oh man I’m TIRED! Beth and I walked for like two hours. We saw the little bull moose they saw yesterday! OK so he isn’t exactly LITTLE…but his rack is small for a moose! We were walking up a little trail, and there was a Y in the road. Suddenly the moose came crashing out of the brush about 20 yards away in the right fork! We scoped it a bit and stuff…it was totally unconcerned, looking at us and eating and stuff. We were scoping it and saying like “You are so dead moose!” I told Beth, “He’s probably thinking ‘those are the weirdest looking bears I’ve ever seen!’”

Bedtime!!

Beth

Beth keeping tabs on our actions!

Wednesday

5:30 a.m. Beds are all made…not sure where we’re going this morning. No fresh sign anywhere, soo…anywhere’s as good as any I guess!

Yesterday when Beth and I walked at night, we walked from the gate in the meadow to the beginning of private property, then up the road (and off two side trails, that’s where we saw the moose) to the van. We had to cross the creek…Beth went first and got her pants wet, so I said I did NOT want to get my pants wet, so we went downstream, and I found a log to cross so I crossed on there.
We saw a bit of fur on the barb of the fence; Dad thinks it was coyote.

Well, we’re gonna have breakfast.

Em

Em again!

No, this isn’t Em again! This is Kate

7:30 p.m. Let’s see. This morning we went to our stands. I was just down the hill from the Big Rock (where Joe and Beth had been the other days, and where Joe had shot his doe); my back was to the road, and I was like five feet down a steep hill so I couldn’t see the road. Well, this jogger lady came by. I’m so paranoid; I thought she was a moose running down the road! Then I saw this big black rear end wiggling around over a little rise; I thought it was a bear! Then I saw orange on its neck and thought it was Beth, crawling around on all fours to scare me! But then I seen it was a dog, and another dog came up.

After the morning stand we went back to camp, ate, and went on walks. Dad and the twins went up Red Lodge Creek Trail; Beth and Eric went somewhere (and got kind of lost when the mountains moved from the south to the north…how uncooperative!), and Joe and I went up an old two-track. We walked FAR! We got almost to the top of a huge hill (not labeled a mountain, but I say it was!). There was like a steep half mile to the top, and I didn’t want to go up! Joe said “If Eric or Ben or Dad was here they’d climb up it with me!”
“Yeah, but guys LIKE to conquer mountains!” I said.
I had great cell reception up there, so I suggested calling Mom to tell her I was on top of a mountain, but Joe didn’t want to. So I checked my voicemails! LOL (none :( )

The wind was blowing in some clouds, and it started to sprinkle, so Joe and I pert’near ran down the mountain!

Beth and Eric almost got lost really because the compass on Eric’s new watch points North every direction he is facing! But then they got unlost!

So Joe and I got back to the pickup. On our way walking, Joe had said he wanted to see a moose. So we’re going along the road and all of a sudden two moose jumped out in front of us and walked across the road and went to our right! We watched them for like 10 minutes! It was the small bull and the medium bull.
Dad and the girls saw two cow moose and a calf, so that was cool too.
Anyways, as Joe and I were going back to the campers, he seen a deer in the road, so he jumped out and went up the hill a little, and shot twice. He thought he hit it, and saw a spot of blood on the snow where it had run by, but it was too spry and he couldn’t find it.
Dad and the girls came by, and we told them about the moose, so they went up and got Eric and Beth, then went up and saw the big and medium bulls, and took pictures (with the film camera…hope they turn out!!) and videos!

Then we had our evening stand (I listened to my mp3 player! it kept me awake!) then back to the campers. I made the fire. Boy scout fluid FTW!! (that means boy scout fluid rocks)
We had our traditional backstraps and fried potatoes last-day dinner. Dad added in some really yummy sausage. Sooooo good!! We saved some for Ben for his lunch tomorrow! We had yogurt and granola for dessert, then Dad read.

Good backstraps and potatoes!! That sea of ketchup kinda ruins it…I prefer mayonnaise…but oh well! It wasn’t my food!

9:10 p.m. We’re going to bed. It’ll be soo nice to get home tomorrow! It’s fun here but it’ll be good to be home!

Thursday

5:30 a.m. We’re gonna have breakfast…

11:10 a.m. Going to leave for home soon.

When we left this morning for our stands, Joe and Eric went out to the Deer Jump meadow, Dad and the twins walked up Red Lodge Creek Trail I think, and Beth, Ben, and I went to the other Forest Service entrance. Beth and I walked along one fence to a little valley, and Ben walked somewhere else. There were two little deer, but I’m still not desperate enough for those! Beth and I walked just over the hill, and sat there in the morning. I was so comfy I didn’t want to leave! But finally we got up and walked to the pickup; Ben met us, thinking we had gotten something because we were taking so long!

Then we went to camp…had lunch…it’s now 11:50 and the campers are being hooked up and we’re gonna leave!

Eric was doing interviews of us on video, that’s why it took so long to get that all spit out! He is a great anchorman…he used words I didn’t know were even in his vocabulary! O:-)

Eric interviewing

Eric interviewing

My interview

The twins’ interview

Ben’s interview…yes, eating is the normal state of Ben!

Joe and Eric

Eric being interviewed!

Joe goofing off with the camera!

Joe interviewing Eric

2:25 p.m. HOME!!

On Friday we processed the deer, and two goats from Mrs. B. in exchange for pizza. It was worth it! And we’re promised her awesome homemade pizza next time we come home from hunting! Yay! And no, we didn’t butcher goats on helloween on purpose; we forgot it was helloween! And no, we didn’t draw pentagrams or anything like that either. And yes, the pizza was awesome!

And now since it’s the official start of NaNoWriMo and I am officially done with this post, I can go start writing! YAYNESS!!

Wait…cell phone?

Last night we were sitting there, Mom and I at our computers and Dad and Eric downstairs making ammo (everyone else was in bed; it was like 10:30). Suddenly, and I mean without warning, everything totally shut down. Pitched blackness! Mom and I were like “uhhh…” I dug in my pocket for my phone and flipped it open. Light!

We looked around for Mom’s cell phone with the little light my phone provided, then we got the bright idea to call it. Like, no duh! So I called Mom’s phone so she had light. We don’t have flashlights (except for hunting); the batteries all ran down! So we went to light a candle. It was broken so I had had to cut the broken part off, and Eric was having trouble lighting the stump, so I held it tilted so while he was lighting it the match wouldn’t burn his fingers. Beth had come out of our room when the lights went out, and was holding my cell phone so we could see what we were doing.

Of course, since it was late-ish, once the candle was lit and the lamp was lit, everyone decided to go to bed so we blew them out anyways.

And there you have it.

The twins were in heaven, I think. They must’ve spent more than two hours on the backs of those horses!

Yeah, I got on the horse! Dad made me pose with the too-big hat that flew off my head right after the pic cuz it was so windy!

Me and that hat again!


Me and one of the wilder kittens…yes, she was happy, and cuddling under my chin, actually! They were soooo cute! There were 6 tamer ones, and they played with me and cuddled up to me and slept. ^_^ And played with the strings on my hoodie.

Beth and Abby; Abby was riding the (very patient) pony Shandy.

Ben posing with the hat!

What you do with your baseball cap while wearing a cowboy hat

Ben riding the horse…he looks awful happy for not liking horses!

Beth riding

A very cool pic of Dad!

Proof that Dad rode!

Em…she looks pretty much at home, doesn’t she!

Joe, trying to pose with no smile and not quite managing it!

Joe again; I don’t think he was posing for this one though!

Joe riding!

The twins running their horses

Kate on the left, Em on the right

Rase riding the long-suffering pony…Katrina V is leading him (they’re the same age)

Tess riding the pony

Rase pushed a little V twin in this car…the smirk on the twin’s face was soo funny!

Mr. V. and his peanut butter-frosted cake (that was sooo good!!) and his little twins, Micah and Amos (and I don’t know which is which!)

Well, that’s all for now! I’ll get some other posts posted as soon as I write them…like, the visit from the Suarez’s…and the twins’ birthday…and Elle Jane’s birthday…and Rase’s birthday.

Before

After

To Make You Laugh

True Scotchman…
Whenever I’m asked “what’s for dinner?” I say “Food,” and they say “what kind?” and I say “Yummy kind.” Well, the other day the conversation went like this:
Jay: What’s for dinner?
Anne: Food.
Jay: What kind?
Anne: Yummy kind.
Jay (eyes big): Haggis??

On Independence Day
We went to a park to watch fireworks on the 4th. You know how fireworks leave smoke, well, it was kind of windy and the smoke was blowing, and each new burst illuminated it. “It’s lightning stains!” Jay said.

Grandkids…and at her age??
Abby and Beth were talking.
“I want a TV bug,” Abby said.
“You mean VW Bug?” Beth asked.
“Yeah, so I can take my grandkids around!” Abby replied.

How Country Kids Play Baseball

The other day, the boys demolished the railing on our deck.

The Pitcher (Ben…Eric’s on the left)

The Batter (Joe)

Smelly Story

One day, Kate was looking out the window and she saw a family of skunks on the other side of the gully! Pretty soon, a few more came strolling over…there was like eight or ten skunks in all! Ben and Eric got the shotgun and ran outside. The skunks went onto the neighbor’s property, so the boys came back in. Then a few of them came back on our property, so Ben and Eric went back out. Eric called me, or I called him, I don’t remember which, and I gave him a running commentary on what I could see, because they were above the skunks on the hill. Ben shot at them, and killed two (and he thinks he wounded another). Eric never got a shot, though, and the skunks never reappeared.
We were talking to another neighbor, and she said one year they had 17 skunks! They live-trapped ‘em and shot them. Man!

Livin’ High

Yesterday, the boys installed window air conditioners into the girls’ room, Beth’s and my room, and Mom’s and Dad’s. It’s kind of nice looking out your window and having a breeze…but the a/c makes it a lot nicer to sleep in! Well, last night, wouldn’t you know it…there was a storm. And I mean a storm! Torrential rains, all that stuff. It was leaking in my room! So I put a towel in there.
That wasn’t the least of the worries, though…Dad got quite a scare!
He was driving up a hill, in the pouring rain, and he couldn’t even see the car in front of him. He went to change gears, and couldn’t find the next gear. He looked at his speedometer…it said ZERO! He was rolling backwards down a hill in the torrential rain! Thankfully he got it in the right gear, though.

Aaaannnd…I was going to post some pictures of Elle Janie…but the person with the camera needs to unload them!! *hint hint*

Nothing.

I went to the kitchen, and turned the light on. To the left of the island, under Ben’s barstool, I saw Pi. You know how cats are, when they are hurt, they act weird and try to get away from you? Well, I said “Pi, kitty kitty?” and she glanced at me, but was creeping towards the garbage can. Suddenly, she bolted towards it, and I looked around the right side of the island.

In the doorway, staring back at me, was Pi. Or so I thought. Her ears were back, her yellow eyes glowed, and her tail was all fluffed out.

It was the creepiest thing I’ve ever seen. I think I’ve read too many Alfred Hitchcocks and listened to too many weird, scary stories.

That cat wasn’t Pi.

It couldn’t have been, because Pi was going around the corner towards that cat! Two Pi’s?!?

I didn’t know what to think.

The thought of, “Is this Pi’s evil twin?!?” did cross my mind.

I was about to freak out, when suddenly Pi leapt at the other cat, and chased it off. Remember I said hot was a clue? Well, the door to the garage was open, and so was the big garage door. I went to the doorway and saw the other cat running off down the driveway. I was afraid Pi was chasing her, and would get lost, so in a quavery voice I said “Pilot? Kitty kitty?”

To my relief, Pi came out from under Dad’s car, looking very pleased with herself. I closed the garage door, and went back to bed. I had a hard time getting back to sleep, though!

Somebody has to watch the house while the dog’s sleeping. Might as well be the cat!