Bear Hunt Part II

Let me just say that this totally FREAKS me out!!! I am not going to try and hide the fact that I am totally terrified by this! Colby went up to put out more bait for the BEARS and to swap out the SD cards on his tree cameras. When he got home he jumped on the computer and this is what he found....... Yes your seeing this right! A MOUNTAIN LION!!!!! All night I kept dreaming about Colby and a mountain lion, I told him about it this morning and he told me there is NO need to worry.

You can see the food on the ground, those are donuts which are out in the open and then under the logs, that is pumpkin pies. On the ground there is meat that Colby takes up and burns and then leaves for the bears.

Do you remember that I said I went up to the bait site with Colby the other day? Well right by the donuts is where I was sitting! I told Colby that I am NOT going back up there with him. All of the kids thought this was the coolest thing, I really don't understand what is so neat?!?! It just scares me! Colby missed seeing the mountain lion by only about an HOUR! He is hoping that next time he sees it or a BEAR!

Wish me LUCK!

Erika

Prom

I know, I am so bad at getting photos up. But I did take a bunch of pictures but when I down loaded them to the computer I found out that the pixels in my camera are going out so I have a bunch of white dots floating around the pictures. UGH! So I guess I will need to get another camera. But here are a few....

This was Kaid before he left the house, you can tell he is Colby's child! No smiles! They had gone bowling and ice cream earlier in the day, then came home to get ready for the dance.I know Brenda will kill me for this, BUT I just could not resist! Natalie was worried about sticking Kaid so she told her mom that she needed to put on the corsage. Here is Nat, pretending that she is putting on the corsage. I had to go over to their house to get photos because Kaid said that they were not going to come back to our house. The needed to get the other couple. So luckily I ran across the street and got to take some.

Here they are just before they headed out, I think both of them were ready to leave the house and get away from all of the camera's there was myself, Kimberly (her sister), and both of her parents....I told you my camera is bad, but this is at Promenade, the dance was at the Provo Library and everything was inside, and it was total confusion and craziness. But I went over with Cindy, and got pictures. This is the group, Brooke, Taylor and Kaid, Natalie. They all looked so cute and grown up. They went to dinner after this and then went back to the dance, and later watched movies. I think they all had a good time.

The Turkey Hunt

Well, Kaid got a turkey tag for the Beaver area this year. He was so excited. When he drew out he realized that there was one small problem. The hunt started on Prom, he decided he would go to Prom (which I promise I will get photos of that soon) and then head out on Sunday to see if he could get a turkey. So he an his friend Scott loaded everything up in the truck and headed out for Cove Fort to set up camp. On Sunday they said that they saw a few but did not have any luck at getting close enough for a shot. So they got up bright and early on Monday to head out, they found the one that Kaid had seen on Sunday and they waited and waited, they decided that they would go back out after them in the afternoon, late evening. Kaid was where he wanted to be and he started to "call" in the turkeys. He had this one talking to him and he got it in closer to him so the shot was about 55 yards, and he decided to take it.

He was so excited, this is the best picture I have because it (the turkey) is now in the freezer waiting to head to the taxidermist. Yes, I will be adding to the collection at my house of dead, stuffed animals.

The stats on this kill are as follows: Kaid called it in, a 55 yard shot, and a 9 inch beard. And a happy child. What more could a mother ask for?!?

Erika

The Bear Hunt

On Easter we decided to head up with Colby to go check his tree cameras and see if there had been any bears come in to the bait. So Brett and Colby headed up on the hike, and Brock and I stayed in the truck. I was trying to study for a test and Brock was decided that he was going to get out and play with his trucks in the dirt. I told him that was fine. He lasted about 10 minutes then he jumped in the truck and said that he was bored... Great I did NOT want to get out. We are in BEAR territory. I tried to distract Brock with games on my cell phone and on the palm pilot, he was totally BORED! There was no escaping it, so I told him that we could go for a little walk, but not far because I did not want to see a BEAR!

We walked just down the trail about 100 yards to the water, and Brock wanted to see if we could walk across it like Colby and Brett had done, I told him that we were not going to get wet but we could stand on the rock in the middle of the water and take a picture, so we did. Brock wanted to get one of me, I think he was hoping that I would fall in and then he could get wet.

After we had spent enough time at the water I told him that we needed to start back to the truck. He was kind enough to make a trail for me in the snow, he would stomp around so that I did not have to get snow in my shoes. In some places it was still 6 or 7 inches deep. As we came up the trail I saw a............

I bet you thought that I was going to see a Bear. We saw a bunch of turkeys, so we started to walk closer to them to see if we could get a better picture of them. As we were walking towards them, Brock was telling me all sorts of instructions on what I should do to sneak up on them. As we got closer to them the toms all took off and there was this one and one other that stayed around. Brock was determined to get closer so I stayed where I was and he decided to go around and see just how close he could get. He was so cute, he would walk close to the ground and then he would get behind trees and then do his turkey call and he had the patience to just wait it out. It took about 3 minutes for him get this close.That is right, that is Brock's hand on the turkey's back he was petting this turkey!

I can't figure out the last photo to make it big it was done on a cell phone. He was so excited just as he had made his way to the turkey and was petting it, Colby and Brett came back and got to see it. These were not tame turkeys but Colby said that there might be something wrong with it to allow humans to come that close and to touch it. But Brock did not care, he was so excited and he KNOWS that it was all his own hunting skills that he has gotten.

Erika

Life Updated

Wow, these past few days have really flown by, with the funeral and Colby's birthday, getting ready for the BEAR hunt, and Prom life has just flown right by me.

Like I said it was Colby's birthday, he turned 35! We went out to dinner and to Cabela's to get him another camera and a tree stand. I think he had a great day...at least I hope he did.

Kaid sent me a text yesterday of this picture, the text said "Look at my art work hanging in the display case at school" I had to ask if he was pulling my leg, he assured me that he was not he said you can see the light in the reflection of the glass.

I have absolutely zero artistic abilities. But they get it from their great grandma Davis, she was an excellent artist. It is really nice to see that he is using his talents and awesome to be able to have it displayed, I can't wait to actually see the photo in person. He used water colors in the top half for the sky, and I can't remember what he said that he used for the log and the birds.

Goodbyes

I have always told Colby that he is lucky because he never cries, I can cry over TV shows. It is really bad. But this weekend I had to say good bye to my grandma, Maurine Malmberg. To my kids she was grandma M & M. She was my mom's mom. She lived in California most of my life so I did not get to see her as much as most. But she was a very strong, faithful, caring lady. I remember going out to California several times to visit and picking lemons off of her tree in the back yard. We stayed with them a few times when Kaid had to have surgeries at the hospital out there.

I had the opportunity to go to the hospital once my mom was told that she would not be surviving, I went over and was able to spend several hours with her and my cousin's, it was a very special time to be able to feel the spirit and see the power of the priesthood. I know that she and my grandpa are having a joyous reunion. While it is hard to say goodbye, I know that I will see both of them again.

Erika