Winterizing, an election, a possible return to Portugal and hunting

 Well this has taken a long time to get this written. I spent a lot of time preparing for our hunting trip. Meanwhile we have also got everything ready for winter. Well I decided to wait until Wednesday November 4 to leave and because I was still home on Tuesday I was here when we got word that we were getting a new mission call to leave in March. So Jim Thomas and went up on Wednesday and set up a nice camp. There wasn’t much snow yet. We were able to drive to the top of hells half acre and make calls. There were some awesome clouds on the mountains. Dale and family showed up Monday but we also had snow. The deer were not as plentiful as last year and Danny and family came Wednesday. Jaden Dale’s grandson shot a small buck and Danny’s boy shot one a little bigger. Late Friday nite Logan showed up and on Saturday we saw several deer, but no luck getting one. In the afternoon julieanna shot a really nice one. Sunday morning we got ready and left at 10 am Sadie JJ and I headed home in the famous gray jeep. Because of the snow it took extra time to get home arriving after 6 pm. It is interesting to travel with these girls as they know all the words to all of my songs and sing along as we drove along. As we were driving outside salmon there was a large sign with flashing lights warning of wildlife on the road. Of course there were no animals. It sort of reminds me of how we get our hopes up when they contact us about returning to Portugal. Isn’t life interesting?

Two Birthdays

 Well it has been two weeks since we had our exciting hunt in Soda Springs. Back at home we started our search for a car. Meanwhile we started preparing for winter. Grandma’s dad came and spent a few days with us. We kept test driving cars and finally bought one. We had church Sunday including staying for Sunday school. Come Monday we headed for Soda Springs for Caleb’s birthday. We had a good time then on Tuesday we went to see Drew, Gail, and John. What fun. It being kenna,s birthday we headed to their place. Kenna got a guitar for her birthday they had a real band. We spent the night and then headed home. We stopped at Cabbela’s and I was surprised to see how little inventory they have. All we purchased was some things for Christmas for the girls. I drove home all the way. We had a great trip. We had a trip to the dentist but everything is really good. It has turned off really cold so I go for a walk in the afternoon. I try to spend an hour each day on a cleaning program. It is hard to get rid of stuff instead of just moving it and reorganizing things. The wind has really picked up and the bottom has dropped out it was 15 degrees this morning. It being Sunday we don’t have to go anywhere. I found some great pictures from the trip to horse creek hot springs.

Soda springs hunt

Since it was possible that pat and Laura’s kids might not be able to go hunting in November I decided to go hunting on opening day with them down by their house. Arriving at their house before sunup on the opening day a Saturday we geared up and headed out. Not having much knowledge of the area I went on a drive pat suggested. We could only shoot bucks so our chances were somewhat limited. We started seeing deer real soon but n bucks. Through the day we were able to see 31 deer. About 9 am a fellow flagged us down his uncle had shot a moose and needed help. So, we helped drag a big bull moose off the hill. The kids thought it was good fun. We ate lunch and the kids got their initials in a tree. I cooked supper consisting of the famous potatoes, burger, noodles, and tomato soup. This with toast and brownies with ice cream for desert. We stayed over and went to church ate lunch and came home. I hope the pictures work out.

13 nights camping out

 Since my last post I was busy getting ready to go hunting. It was a bit of work but as usual I was able to prepare and get away. I left right after church and arrived while it was still light and had most of my camp set up in time for bed. Late at night Logan showed up and slept in my tent. The next day we went out and picked up my jeep and at 4:30 in the afternoon we started walking in to a place 7 miles in logan and Barry Heath rode horses and 4 goats carried the majority of the gear. As darkness fell I arrived in camp not long after the others. It was downhill all the way so my knees were a bit tired. We ate and I attempted my first time sleeping in a hammock. The sleeping bag I had was so tight around my shoulders I was unable to zip it up all the way. By putting on both my jackets I was not cold, but due to the unfamiliarity of trying to sleep in a hammock I didn’t sleep once. Next day I discovered that since we were camped in a hole anywhere we went to hunt was climbing. I rested up for the walk out tomorrow. Lest you think it was all bad it was amazing to see the pretty country we traveled through. This night I wiggled into my bag and lay on the bare ground. I slept better I haven’t slept on the bare ground since I was 14. Next day up and after 5 hours of hard hiking we arrived back to the jeep. I thought about kissing it. Grandma came up for her birthday and I had cake with candles and ice cream. I am good. Logan’s family all came so we had a party. Well for the first time I didn’t hear any elk bugle. I was thinking of staying for several more days but after it rained for a couple of days I came home early. I had a nice camping trip not so good hunting my phone storage was full so not many pictures. The deer and elk pictures are in Montana. Blow them up to get better detail.

Good times and Bad winds

 It has been a busy time. On Friday sept. 4 we traveled tp Jordan and Skye’s and when we arrived Makenna made me promise to start my blog again so here goes. On the way there we stopped off at cabelas so I could buy some new boots. While walking around I was surprised to see so many empty shelves no ammunition few guns even the boots were a bit limited. We arrived and thank goodness we got the basement as their ac was out. Sat was Hallie’s baptism it went very well. We had a great lunch and had time to visit and just relax. I walked 6 miles again today. Well sunday and we had a good sacrament meeting and then after a few games time to head home. We had a wonderful time visiting with jordan and family and the Gneitings. The drivve home was good and we had time to unpack and straighten up a bit before John had Drew and Gail bring hm for his first visit. We had a lot of fun with them. John is a real cutie. Before they left the wind started to blow. It broke one of our big pine trees and it fell on my trailer. Limbs were flying over the top of the house as the window was completely from the north. And then it got worse. Down the road it took down power poles and tuey canceled school there is a lot of damage. Logan’s family has no power and so they came over. In the afternoon it stopped blowing so hard and Logan’s family helped,us haul tractr loads of limbs of it was like a tornado had hit. The trailer was damaged but I sort of put it back together ready for o go hunting next week. All the kidds slepy over as they still have no power and school was canceled again.

Let me off the roller,coaster

 Two weeks have come and gone and I am confused. I drove up with Logan and family to the Selway again. It is still bear hunting, but I went along to give a ride to three of my grandkids and spend some time with them. The weather was not real good, but I have a great tent. Saturday it mostly rained so I spent a fair amount of time in the tent reading. We drove down to Paridise and I  have included pictures of the memorial of those guys who drove into the river 2 years ago. Sunday it didn’t really dawn as the sun didn’t shine it was raining. We picked up and drove home it is still so green  and really nice to see. Now it got strange. Our mission president had been trying to contact us wanting to know if we wanted to go back . The next  4 days we sent papers got new prescriptions packed and then we were told to forget it all. Thank goodness we were having a family activity  Saturday. It was great to see everyone together. Good job Drew and Gail. Today Sunday our mission president called agaln but this time to apoligize for getting our hopes up. It will be a while before we get to try again. Then we got a call from the missionaries who stayed in Portugal they are still stuck in the apartment after all this time. It is good to still be here. I forgot to include pictures of Zoe on her motorcycle. So now no more drama just trying to enjoy life.