09 December 2018

The kids stayed the night at my parent’s house so that she could drop them off at school in the morning and I could go hunting.  Since we had three tags to fill, one for each of us (Felicity, Helen, and I), I needed to take as many opportunities as I could to go out.  Kevin and I got on the hill as the sun was coming up and I spotted a group of does and within a few minutes he spotted some larger bucks on one of the adjacent mountain sides.  We were way too far away so we hiked down and around to get a better view.  They were at a bad angle so we made the decision to climb a hill opposite the face they were on and got to a pretty good vantage point.  I won’t lie, it was a hard hike straight up and I was huffing and puffing pretty badly. 

We had to be quiet as we were right across from them.  I had a few minutes to get set up and take my shot, about 460 yards.  I hit him, but he didn’t immediately drop, instead he laid down in the grass.  I took a shot into the grass to get him to stand up, which he did, and then got behind a tree and we couldn’t see him anymore.  We watched and waited for several minutes and then made the decisions to climb up onto the top of the mountain he was on and come up on him from above.  That was an even harder climb.  We stopped to look for him every now and again, making sure he hadn’t moved.  By the time we got down to him, he had expired and mercifully rolled down the hill several yards.  We got him cleaned and packed and then took the arduous hike back to the truck.  My Fitbit said we hiked seven and a half miles and climbed 90 flights of stairs…yeah, it felt like it.  It was after one o’clock when we got to the truck and made the decision that we wouldn’t go back out Monday evening with Helen.

Helen had Activity Days on Tuesday and I was asked to help drive the girls to Sister Reina’s house; which coincidentally is right across from our place, to put on a holiday talent show.  The girls did such a lovely job.  There were musical numbers, dance bits, puppet shows, and Helen did a stand-up routine that consisted of Holiday jokes, she has a knack for delivering a punch line.  We had cookies and punch when we were done and the best part was Helen and I only had to drive back across the road to our gate to get home!

I got everyone off to school on Wednesday morning and I headed to work.  My mom called me around 10:20 to let me know that my grandpa Gene had just passed away.  I left work and met my mom over at my grandma’s house where my mom broke the news to her.  We drove out to the care facility where he was so that Grandma could see him and say goodbye.  We had lunch before heading back home to talk about the next steps.  While I profoundly miss my grandpa, we truly lost him five years ago.  I was and am sad, but at the same time feel gratitude that he doesn’t have to be sick anymore, doesn’t have to be confused anymore, and is free of a body that was failing him and robbing his very sharp mind of all traces of who he really was.  I’m so grateful for my knowledge of Heavenly Father’s plan for us; for the peace that that knowledge brings.  Knowledge that these goodbyes aren’t really goodbye.  They’re more like “see you later”.  I’m sure he was warmly greeted on the other side of the veil by a mother and father, a son, and many other friends and loved ones who went before him.  I have reflected on the work that I’ve done over the years to find the names of his family and see them safely sealed together in the temple and am again reminded of why I was sent to the family I was sent to.  I think that while there are tears on earth this week, there are smiles in Heaven and that’s the way it’s supposed to be.  I know when a new baby is born we rejoice and celebrate and it’s a happy event, but I imagine there are some tears and sadness when that little spirit leaves Heaven to make the journey here to join its new earthly family.  The same is true when the reverse happens.  We are sad to see someone go, but there is rejoicing and happiness on the other side when they return.

Grandpa Gene and the girls in 2010

Felicity had a soccer game on Wednesday evening at Corona, so I went to her game after getting the other kids home.  Her coach switched their positions to give everyone an opportunity to try something different.  Felicity was kind of a brat about being moved to defense, but she shook it off pretty quickly.  She had a good stop about half way through the game, but it resulted in her and the other girl falling.  She skinned up her thigh and elbow pretty good and bonked her head on the ground.  She got right back up though!  They ended up losing 0-1.

I received 27 hours of bereavement time off at work which was really nice.  Between that and the PTO I have left, I will probably not be going back to work until late next week.  On Thursday evening Helen and I went hunting one last time to try and fill her tag before her window of opportunity was up.  My friend Mike and his brother went with us.  We didn’t have to do any hiking, but we also didn’t see much.  A few does and that was about it.  It was windy and cold and rained on us a little bit.  We gave up when the sun went down and called it a day.  You know, Helen wasn’t horribly disappointed.  Over the last week she had the opportunity to hike a couple dozen miles and see some pretty incredible animals and spend time with her sister and I.  She got to feel the excitement of taking a shot and the disappointment of missing, but when all was said and done, every time we got back to the truck she had a smile on her face, so I call that a successful hunt.

 On Friday morning I went shopping to find the kids matching outfits for family pictures.  When they got home from school I drove them into Tucson to get their pictures taken.  They turned out pretty well, they are certainly growing up quickly!  They went with their dad when we were done for their visit.  I went home and finished painting Arlo’s bedroom. I really liked the way it turned out, although I probably won’t replace the baseboards for a few weeks.  I was then able to move all of his furniture back into his bedroom.

On Saturday morning I got my outside chores done and then went into town to buy our Christmas tree.  I like the ones at Home Depot and have always had good luck with them.  This year I bought a Nordmann fir, it looks like a noble fir, but is fuller.  It’s suppose to hold onto its needles better, but it seems about the same to me!  It doesn’t smell as strongly either which is kind of the point of a fresh tree so maybe I’ll go back to the noble fir next year.  I have all but made up my mind to buy an artificial tree this year after Christmas when they go on sale so I can have an easy set up tree in the living room and a fresh tree in the family room; we’ll see.  I set up the tree when I got home (which I’m almost an expert at doing myself).  Then I headed out to do my least favorite holiday chore: I put the outside lights up.  I love to have lights on the house…and a lot of them, but I’m afraid of heights so hanging the lights is always a little nerve-wrecking.  I was able to hang most of them with ladder and only had to get on the roof for a few dozen feet.  I put up lights in all the front windows as well and am really happy with how it all turned out. I did a little crocheting after hanging the lights. 

Sunday was Arlo’s 7^th birthday and it was a little sad that he wasn’t at home.  I called and talked to him in the morning to wish him a happy birthday.  We’ll have to celebrate next week.  Church was nice, I enjoy the Christmas hymns and I was able to teach Primary.  We’ll be moving to a 9AM meeting time next year and only a two hour block.  I still have mixed feelings about that!  After church I picked up the kids and Arlo got to open a few birthday presents and we decorated the Christmas tree, my next least favorite Christmas activity.  I hate that I hate it, but I do.  I didn’t set it up well this year, I just had the totes with the ornaments sitting out and within just a few moments there were boxes everywhere and the plastic forms that hold the ornaments were on the floor and it was hard to tell what boxes they’d come from so I will admit that I had a little breakdown/panic attack and sent the kids in the other room to put Arlo’s toys back in his newly painted room.  I unwrapped and reorganized everything and called the kids back in to commence with the decorating.  We have a full week coming up.  A band concert, a masonic final rites ceremony for Grandpa, celebrating Arlo’s birthday, and our 11^th annual Gingerbread House Family Home Evening.  So grateful for this busy time of year!

02 December 2018

December is here!  And so is the Christmas music and merriment making.  Well...almost.  On Monday evening we were at the school to watch Felicity play soccer and when she was done we picked up something easy for dinner and watched The Grinch as our Family Home Evening activity.  The kids love that I let them watch a little more TV this time of year so we can enjoy most of our holiday movie collection. 

I finished one of four hats that I'm crocheting for Christmas this year, far fewer than in years past.  It's a unicorn hat for my niece.  I really need to get moving if I'm going to make my deadline for getting everything done before Christmas!  Felicity had mutual on Tuesday night and enjoyed her self as usual. 

Several months ago, my mom picked up tickets to the Gaslight Theater for their holiday show.  It ended up being on the same night as Helen's band and choir concert.  So Arlo and Felicity went with Nana to the Gaslight to see Scrooge, and Helen and I went to the District Auditorium at Empire high school for her concert.  The band performed three songs and was actually not terrible.  Helen was pleased with how it went.  Then we heard a few numbers from the orchestra, and Helen sang with the choir.  They did some really cute pieces.  She's thinking of quitting choir next semester and just continuing on with band.  I'm a little disappointed, but I told her she had to finish out this semester before she made her decision.  When all was said and done, the show took less than an hour, which in my opinion, is perfect for elementary-aged kids!

Thursday evening was spent getting ready for our deer hunt.  I dropped Arlo off at my parent's house and the girls and I got our packs ready and headed to bed early.  I got a call from my mom that my dad needed to go to the ER because of an infection in his foot, so I ended up going back out to pick up Arlo.  Helen stayed home with him Friday morning and Felicity and I left the house a little after four.  We met up with Kevin at about 5 AM and headed into the Santa Ritas.  It had rained Thursday night, but it wasn't terribly cold, just a little wet.  We hiked up to a nice vantage point and were set up with our binoculars when the sun came up.  I watched a larger buck up on the ridge line for quite a while, but he was too far away and we wouldn't have had time to get over to him before he headed back over the top.  Kevin found a small buck closer and Felicity got set up to shoot.  She struggled finding him in the scope and eventually he went behind some rocks and she missed her opportunity.  We headed back home around 11 for some lunch, a nap, and to grab Helen.

My mom was able to watch Arlo in the evening and I took both girls back out a little after two.  We went into Box Canyon this time and again got to a good vantage point.  We saw deer almost immediately, but they were on the next ridge over, so we packed up our gear and hiked over a bit.  We found a few bucks from that area and Felicity found the one she wanted and took her shot.  She made a 354 yard shot around 5 o'clock across a canyon, so we had to hike down and then back up on the other side to where it had fallen.  The girls helped us quarter him and collect the meat as the sun went down.  We didn't finish until it was dark.  Felicity carried out two of her quarters and neither girl complained about the hike back to the truck in the dark.  Felicity was pretty excited because not only did she get a deer, it meant she could go to a birthday party she was looking forward to on Saturday.

We put the deer in the freezer when we got home and I took Felicity over to Nana's so that she could take her to her birthday party in the morning.  Helen and I went home and got to bed early.  We were back out before dawn on Saturday morning and hiked quite a ways in and then spotted animals quite a ways away, so we did some more hiking, but then weren't able to find anything within a good shooting range, so once the early afternoon hit, we took the long 3 and a half mile hike out of the desert back to the truck.  We went out again Saturday night and did a shorter hike, but much more of a climb to get to a little valley just out of view of the road.  Just as the sun was going down Kevin glassed a larger buck and Helen got set up to shoot.  She was nice and steady and shot at 500 yards, but missed by a hair.  Whether it was her, the scope, or the wind, its hard to tell.  But we had to make the very steep climb down in the dark empty handed.  I was so proud of her attitude though, she was still in good spirits.

We had stake conference on Sunday and were grateful for a day off.  I am quite embarrassed that I didn't prepare better for our hunt.  I am pretty out of shape right now and felt every inch of that on Sunday! 

25 November 2018

It was a glorious week...mostly because I didn't have work!  I was able to spend time on Monday morning doing my holiday grocery shopping and cleaning up the house.  In the evening Felicity had a soccer game and played really well.  She scored twice and missed once.  She was a bit of a sorry sport when coach substituted her out, so we had a conversation about that!

I had to pop into the office for a couple of hours on Tuesday for a meeting, after which, I picked up kids from the bus, dropped off eggs, picked up compost, and dropped the girls off at the church for activities.  Arlo helped me make the pie crusts for Thanksgiving.

Everyone was home on Wednesday and the kids helped me clean and prep for our Thanksgiving dinner.  Arlo and I went out together on Wednesday morning.  The little turkey snipped at his hair again with scissors and it needed to be cleaned up.  He really is too old to make that mistake twice, I was not happy.  I decided instead of being really grouchy about it, we would just make a morning of the need to go into town.  He and I stopped into Jerry Bob's and had breakfast together and then got his hair cut and did some shopping.

On Thursday afternoon we had our Thanksgiving meal.  I fried a turkey in the front yard and it was amazing, by far one of the best turkeys I've ever had.  My mom and dad came over and brought my grandma as well.  They stayed and visited for awhile after. 

In the evening my mom came with us to see Ralph Breaks the Internet at the Theater.  It was ok.  Just ok.  I asked the kids what they thought and they had the same reaction.  Everyone else I know who saw it seemed to really love it and my family was like "meh".  I don't know why that is.  We are big Ralph fans.  Wreck it Ralph was a movie that Arlo watched repeatedly when he was small and it is often quoted at our house.  So I'm not sure why we didn't love the movie, but we didn't.

Friday morning I took Felicity with me to the temple as that's what I normally do on Fridays when I'm off.  She and I did baptisms and man was it busy!  I don't know if the temple had anticipated that many patrons on Friday morning, but it was nice to see and a great experience for she and I.  Arlo went to stay with his dad on Friday night and the girls and I watched a movie together.

Saturday morning we met my friend Sadie's husband, Kevin, to go long distance target practicing and to sight in our rifles for our hunt that starts next Friday.  We had a good time and I was pleased that the girls are almost as accurate at 400 yards as they are at 150.  When we were done I drove them to their uncle's house where they were having Thanksgiving with their Davidson family. 

I got home and did some chores outside, mostly just trying to get everyone fed and cleaned up.  I went out in the afternoon for a little Christmas shopping, although I didn't find much of anything worthwhile.  I taught Primary on Sunday and enjoyed my meetings before picking the kids up in the evening.  Back to work tomorrow, it'll be a struggle, it's been so nice to be at home!