Camping!

 I feel like there have about a million billion trillion gazillion things going on!  Life is super busy and crazy and FUN! We are loving it so much!  And this post is long over due and I have other posts that are just going to have to wait.  Too many things and not enough time I guess.  But what a blessing it is to be busy and to be close to family, and just enjoy the craziness of life! I LOVE IT!!!  We have been doing more guided hunts, BOTTLING BOTTLING AND MORE BOTTLING!, Getting loads of wood, doing hair, going to football games, LOTS OF YARD WORK, taking pictures,  and just hanging out with family!  I know I'm missing half of the list, but thats what I remember right off the top of my head :)

So this post, I've been meaning to put up for quite a while now.  About a month ago we had a fun time going to our family cabin and hanging out with our good friends Gordon and Trisha and John and Nancy, and of course their adorable kids!  The are such good friends to us, we've all decided that we are pretty much family because we spend so much time together during the summer, and we're all so comfortable around each other......maybe the boys are a little too comfortable!!  Haha!  And I love Trisha and Nancy to death, they are some of my very best friends.   I'm so glad they are there for me during the summer, in the moments when the summer seems long. 

The above pic is of our sleeping arrangement! haha! We decided to pile in the loft upstairs of the cabin, and we actually slept pretty good.  Better than I had expected, but I think Trisha may not have had the same experience:( because she was up with Camden a bit.   The best part of the night was before we actually went to bed, all the kids were to sleep and the adults just stayed up talking about all of our crazy adventures together!  I love when we all get laughing and can't stop! :)

 We had a lot of fun!  We kicked off the trip with a good camp fire and some smores!  It was a nice weekend to go! The weather cooperated very nicely.

 Josh and Tyler in their jamies after they woke up.

 Kade helped Josh catch his first fish!  They were pretty happy boys!

John and Nancy and their family enjoying the paddle boats!

 Gordon and Trisha and family taking a 4-wheeler ride!

 Kade and I hanging out by the pond, watching Shilo swim.

 So.......this was quite the tramatic experience for Sydney (Nancy's dog).  Shilo had caught two mice in the pond earlier that day, she would sniff them out of their holes, and they would jump into the pond and swim for their lives....well, she loved the game and would jump in and grab the mice and bring them to shore.....LIVE BAIT!  And of course, we encouraged her to "get the mice!" and she would do it.  Well........John decided to throw Sydney into the water to see if she would swim (Sydney doesn't seem to like the water).  Well as soon as Shilo heard the splash of Sydney being thrown into the water, she was all over that idea, and pretty much tried to down Sydney!  She must have thought Sydney was another mouse or something :( 

 Poor Sydney :(  She's like half her size when she is wet!  She's a little fur ball when she's dry. 

We took a long 4-wheeler ride up over the cabin hill, which was really fun.  Shilo ran the entire way up the hill along side the 4-wheelers, which is a huge hill!  She looked like she was going to die when we got their! But she sure has a lot of endurance.  So I let her ride next to me on the 4-wheeler on the way down, and she didn't hesitate for the ride :)

Good times!  Definately going to have to make that a yearly trip, if not more :)

Guided Hunting

 The past week, Kade and I were able to go and be guides with a friend for a CWMU unit.  There are hunters who come from all over and hunt, and we happended to get some really fun hunters, Gary and Dave.  They were a blast!  We had lots of fun!  I was the camp cook and Kade helped guide them during the day. And on the down time, when the elk are sleeping, the pellet guns came out and there was some competitions that began, with pepsi cans, bottles, and squirrels.......

 I was able to take Shilo with for the week, and she was my BEST buddy!  She followed me around wherever I went and was so good!!! She even laid down by me while I cooked and didn't beg for food :)  GOOD DOGGIE! :)

There is a european elk mount hanging on the tree at camp, that was kinda cool.  Kade decided to shoot his bow while we had some down time, well, he's pretty much Robin Hood......he split his arrow straight down the middle.  The knock was even pushed down the shaft.  So we decided to add to the decor at camp and put his arrow up on the elk antlers!.....adding a nice finishing touch :)

 This is actually elk number 2 that we got for Gary.  Nice bull! Way to go Gary!!!!! 

 This was actually on our drive home, and not the greatest pictrure, but I snapped it in front of Kade's face, out the window, as he was driving.  The colors are just amazing! I seriously can't believe how beautiful it is right now!

 This was our little home for a week.  They are the warmest little cabins ever.  I didn't get cold one of the nights we where there!  They are so well insulated, that they stay so warm in the night and so cool in the day. 

 As the camp cook, I'm alone about 6 hours of the day, so I have lots of things to get done, like reading, movies.....and whatever I bring to do :)  One of the days, I noticed some antilope walking by camp, so I decided to watch them.  They are so pretty I think.  I actually really love their coat.  Very unique.

This was our camp site.  I love how its tucked into the trees.

 Inside our little cabin.  During the day, I would mostly read and watch movies, while Shilo slept on the floor by me, on her blanket.  She was a great pal to be with!

I seriously can't get enough of the fall colors. They are just beautiful! Amazing! Stunning! LOVE IT!

And this was elk number 1 of the week.  Way to go DAVE!!!!!!!  Wahooo!!!  He was with Kade when he shot so it was a pretty cool experience!  This was also a very nice bull! :)  Good times being home, thats for sure!  I'm loving the mountains, being with the family, and just being able to be in our home.  It feels really good and I'm ready to be here for a while! :)

Hunting

 Well, we have been having a lot of fun since we have been home.  We have been hunting a lot!  I always love hunting season! Its super fun to go hike around in the mountains "Church" style :)  The Church's always get up early in the morning, around 5:30 to get ready to leave by 6.  We are usually in the mountains until dark or after dark most times, depending on if they see the elk or not, so we always prep our hunting packs with lots of water and food for the day.  And if the elk quiet down, we just lay down and take a nap wherever we want.  Good times!

 If there are a few of us, most of the time, we split up and go to differnt ridges.  One of the hunting days, there was Kade and I, Tyson and Karissa, and Dennis.  So we split up and went to different places.  I got to hang out with Kade all day :)

 I love when we see the back country like no one ever sees it!  We see stuff down in the deep dark parts of the woods :)  I love all the water that trickles down the mountains, that you would never know existed.

There is SO much beauty that I feel like I would never see if I didn't go hunting. I really love to hike around in all the cool places......don't get me wrong, its hard work hinking out, but I think its always so worth it!

Me and my beautiful sister-in-law after the hike out:)  Fun times with the family! :)

Horse Pics

 I've been wanting to do some fun, cowgirly, horse pics for a while now, because I get these crazy ideas, AND I LOVE my horse, AND he's pretty much part of the family! LOL (Kade would disagree).  So Cassidy and I went down to the farm and did some.  The "stink weed" is in full bloom and really pretty so we thought we would take advantage of that! And the rainbow in the background was a nice bonus that we hadn't planned for!  Now I have some pics with my good ol faithful stead :)

Golfing

 I'm playing a bit of catch up with my blog, since I've been running around so much.  I feel like this week has kinda settled down a bit.  So as you all know (those who read my blog :) I went down to South Texas to be with Kade for a while.  I flew down there on July 31st.  It was nice to be with him again.  As time went on, we were trying to figure out rides home, because we didn't have a car there, Kade had dropped off the car when he came through from California and he had ridden with Aaron.  It ended up that there would not be enough room for Kade and I to ride home from Texas together so I planned to come home with Aaron on the 18th(because he had to leave early for school).  I had planned on that for about a week and then there was available space for Kade and I to ride together!  I swear things change so much with this job!.....you never know what to plan on! LOL  But since I had been planning to go with Aaron that whole time, I decided to just stick to my plan, that way, I could go home and get things ready for Kade to come, and he would only be 2 more weeks! So thats what I did.  We left on the night of the 17th (Friday) and drove straight through (24.5 hours!)  YUCK!  It wasn't that bad actually but I was so ready to not be driving anymore! 

Well, now on to the pictures!  Before we left, Kade had promised Aaron a game of golf, so we made it happen.  It was fun for me because there was a golf cart......I love the golf cart, but I HATE golf!  I think it is such a BORING sport! LOL  

 I happened to catch the golf ball right as Aaron hit it! I couldn't believe it, especially since I wasn't even trying too. 

 I was surprised at how many critters were running around on the golf course! There were ducks, rabbits, and these funny little squirrls!  They were all playing with each other so funny! They would wrestle and pounce!  haha!

 And when we would get close, they would scramble back into their hole, but only seconds later, their heads would pop out and they would begin to get brave! 

Nice swing Aaron! :)

This and That

 I met a really neat friend out here, her name is Rakel.  She is one of the wives out here in the office.  We have a lot in common, and when I say in common, I mean we are both going through the exact same experiences in our lives right now, pretty cool.  So we have hung out quite a bit since I've been here.  We went shopping the other day together and we went to the pool and we went and visited this Bird Sanctuary place.  It was pretty much the ONLY thing to do, besides shopping, or driving an hour to the beach, so we thought we would check it out.  It was a really neat place! Very unique.  I guess people hold weddings here and they happened to be setting up for one as we were there, but they assured us that we would not be in anyones way.  We walked through the gardens......but there weren't any live birds! HMMM.....a bird sanctuary that doesn't have any BIRDS???  Interesting :)  But it was still really cool! Still fun to see something new. 

 Outside the bird sanctuary.  There was a 1/2 mile trail that went all around the sanctuary so you could see the different (statues) of the creatures that roam the land around here.  So we walked the trail and it was......HOT! Too hot!

 There was a lot of nature things to see, but no birds! So funny to me!

 Kade and I have been having a lot of fun lately living the hotel life.  Sometimes we start to go a bit crazy!  We've had a lot of crazy moments......hmmm, that's unusual! :)  Its fun to see him make faces through the peep hole when he gets home.  We even have a code knock so that I know its him before I get to the door.  I try to have dinner ready for him right when he gets home because its always so late anyway......and I think he likes that.....judging from the picture above! 

We have this bathroom door that does NOT lock no matter how hard you try, it just won't lock.  And sometimes you think you have locked it, but NOPE its not locked! haha!  So there have been some funny instances with this bathroom door! A lot actually!   LOL  One day  I snuck in on Kade to scare him when he was in the shower........and I was SUCCESSFUL!.....he was very scared! :)

We all live in the same complex of extended stay units so we are all really close, which I love!  And  Aaron and I play Uno at LEAST once a day...haha! Yesterday, I beat him 6 times in a row and he had to play until he at least won once, and he finally won, and then acted as if he was the champion of the world! hmmmmmmm :)

My next door neighbor is one of the guys in our office out here and his wife went home, so he has the dog still.  I told him I could watch her for him cause she just sits in the hotel room by herself so I thought, we could keep each other company.  It only took her about 30 minutes and she felt right at home! haha! She jumped right up on my lap and snuggled up while I was on the computer (right now)! Funny dog!



South Padre Island!

 On Sunday, we decided that it was time to visit South Padre Island!  It was a lot of fun!  I didn't want to leave.  This top picture and the one below are NOT my pictures, I took them off line so that you can get the idea of the location that we where at.  I obviously could not get photos from the air...hehe!  But it kinda gives you a better idea of what the island is like.  Its bascially on the very south end of Texas by the boarder of Mexico, and its a huge island the runs really long and skinny north and south, along Texas.  There is a HUGE bridge that connects Texas and South Padre Island, which is pictured below.  Its a huge resort spot.  There were some residential areas but mostly vacationing.

 Big...long...bridge that connects Texas to South Padre Island.

 This was before we left, in the back of Aaron's "GANGST-A" car! LOL! Its been so nice being with my other half again! :)  And......he still has a hard time taking a normal photo!  I would be a little worried if he actually smiled decent.....something might be wrong with him!...its funny how I have accepted his crazyness as normalness now.....

 This was pretty much the best shot I could get of the bridge and island in the distance from the car.

 This is Rhett....preparing for the photo below....he had to hurry and do push-ups so that his arms looked bigger in the picture! hahahahaha! 

 What do you think? Do his arms look bigger! LOL

 Before the beach:)

 At the beach.  Its a pretty popular resort spot.  I didn't realize this until we got there.  It was pretty crazy that we found a parking spot really easy right across the street from the beach.  We found a nice little spot on the beach and just hung out and played in the ocean!  I LOVE THE OCEAN!  Kade said, "It kinda feels like we are back in Hawaii again hu!"  It did kinda feel like that only Hawaii's water is more blue I think and Hawaii is just gorgeous!   I feel like even though there were a lot of people, it didn't feel crowded, like when we walked across the street there were never really any cars coming, which was kinda strange to me. 

 We kept telling Aaron to take his shirt off while he was swimming but we could nevr get him to! Haha! We gave him a hard time about being so white :) ....but he laughed right along with us.

 It was a lot of fun watching the boys play a little football, well I guess it was just catch.  They would take turns throwing the ball to the group and the guys in the group would try to catch it.  I loved this shot of Kade! Way to be aggressive!!!

 haha! I thought this one was funny too.  I think that competitive Church blood is coming out :)

 Kade's turn to throw.

 There was some craziness that went on!  Some collisions and great dunks.

 I told them to flex.......Some did, some did NOT!  Jeez KADE!!!!

 We stopped at this shopping place that had a big shark as the entrance.  It was huge!....and we were just a couple of little bites in its mouth.

 Aaron holding onto the teeth.

 South Padre entrance.  It seemed pretty popular to get a picture by it, since a lot of people were stopping.  This was on the way back and no one was there when we got there, but right when we were done another car full of people came to get their pics done. 

Kade was nice and took their pics in the hot sun.

 Having fun at the beach.

 This is what I truely look forward to in the summer is being able to have fun new adventures with Kade, seeing new places and making new memories.  We have really grown fond of the beach and have had lots of beach time, but we love it!  And it never gets old!  I feel like I lost a lot of my tan being home for a month, I didn't really take anytime to lay in the sun when I was home, but that's pretty much how it goes, I get tan in the summer and white in the winter :) But I guess there's nothing wrong with that!!!

After South Padre Island we were headed home and we were realizing how HUNGRY we were! haha, so we decided to go home and make Nacho GRANDE's!  We put rice and beans, green peppers, onions, tomatoes, salsa, cholula, and JALEPENO'S!!  Kade was cutting up the jalepenos and I was cutting up the rest of the veggies, and I had no idea how many he put in.  He put TWO in the pan, with the seeds and everything.  The funny thing about jalepeno's is you never know what kind of batch you've got, wheather they are hot ones or mild ones.  THESE WERE HOT ONES! HAHAHA!!  The food was delicous, and very spicey! We were all sweating from the spice but poor Aaron seemed to be EXTRA sweaty! I couldn't stop laughing.  In the middle of watching the Olympics, I would just bust out laughing because I could'nt help it. It was just funny to me that we were all so hungry and the food tasted good, but we were DIEING WITH SPICEY HOTNESS! haha!  Good times!!!!!!!!!!