SNOW!

Well, they said the snow would come and they weren't lying. Went into work for 45 minutes and decided that it wasn't worth it. I grabbed Elayna from day care and came home. As I shoveled a grass path for my mailman, Elayna tromped around in the snow. She did okay until she saw that it wouldn't come off her shoes... After the drama, I took her inside and gave her a nice warm glass of strawberry milk. Hopefully it will let up enough that we can go build a snowman!

Glasgow 2010

Well it took a while, but here it is. Ryan, Ed, dad, and I went on our annual hunting trip to Glasgow. It took a couple of days to get up there, but once there the fun began! Ed and I took the high blind watching out both sides of a hay stack for several hours when out walked a nice 5x5. Ed took a shot and the buck fell. Ryan also took a shot at one later that same evening, but it proved to be too far away and lived to see another day! Dad shot his buck the next evening. He and Ed were waiting in a ditch when all of a sudden several does and a couple bucks came out of nowhere and started jumping the ditch they were in. He looked around and a nice 5x5 was approaching. He took a shot and the deer fell. The next morning, I spotted the freakishly big 4x4. I scoped him and as I was about to take a shot, he walked behind a tree and disappeared! I had an angle on all directions of the tree, so unless he was walking away directly behind the tree, I knew he was still there. I finally spotted his antler, he had bedded down behind the tree. I attempted to move to a position where I could get a body shot and he bolted upright and ran away. In the mean time, I found Ryan and the two of us split and chased the deer through the trees. As I was glassing a nice 3x3 buck, I heard movement off to my right and saw 50+ deer running around the trees. I saw my freakish 4x4 and took aim...but he didn't stop running and soon disappeared into the forest. I looked at the remaining deer and spotted another large 4x4 and wasted no time in aiming. I took one shot and he disappeared. Knowing I hit him, I sat there as buck after buck jumped into the forest. Ryan eventually caught up to me and to his luck there was another 4x4 still in the field. He took aim, but the deer never stopped moving and eventually got away. As we walked up to where we thought I shot mine, we saw that it had run 20yds or so and fell over. We called out to our driver to come pick us up and all of a sudden Ryan's 4x4 came running back at us at full force. Ryan ran for the nearest ditch in hopes to cut it off. When he got there he ducked down and started pulling out his rifle. The buck did not see him and almost sat on op of him...needless to say, Ryan also got his 4x4! This was his first big game kill! All-in-all it was a great trip, lots of hunting, laughs and stories to tell. Some are shared for all to hear, but others follow the golden rule "what happens at hunting camp, stays at hunting camp!" :) Here's to next year!

Trunk or Treat

As is tradition, the Jolly family went to the school carnival as themed characters. The past two years we told Hannah what would be a cute costume, leaning her towards the direction we wanted her to go. This year however, she was adamant that she was going to be a princess! Ed and I didn't know what to be to compliment a princess outfit. Two years ago we were Scooby and the gang, last year we were all football players and Elayna was the ball. So, finally it hit us! This year we were characters from Super Mario! The hardest part was getting a costume for Elayna. Turning her into Toadette was much harder than it looked. In the end, she was very cute! Mom made Hannah's princess dress. We tried to make Hannah look as close to Princess Peach as possible. She was very happy with the way it turned out (eventhough she still claims she is Sleeping Beauty).
Once the actual trunk or treat started, Hannah and Lilly (the cat) held hands the entire time! It was so adorable. Hannah walked her through the line to each car helping her pick candy out. By the time we made it through the line Elayna was almost asleep. My kids go to bed at 7 and two nights in a row it has been pushing 8. It is amazing how they both turn into pumkins after 7! Here's to another year!

Carving Pumpkins

Tonight was Elayna's first night carving pumpkins. The veteran Hannah kept giving her positive feedback, and how to's! It was very cute and fun! When Hannah first carved pumpkins, she was hesitant to reach into the pumpkin guts, and didn't really enjoy touching them. However, she eventually did and actually started tasting the pumpkin. Elayna on the other hand wasn't just hesitant, she flat out refused to put her hand in the pumpkin. As we tried to reach her hand in it, she almost started screaming. She did eventually touch ONE seed and the lid. She was more content to lie under the table and play with the pumpkin sticker rather than anything that was ooey and gooey! Once finished, we sat the girls in the living room and took many pictures! They were loving the photo shoot. However, all good things must come to an end and at an hour past bedtime, we took the pumpkins and put them on the table. Hannah, understood and started getting ready for bed, but Elayna was enjoying the CLEAN pumpkin way too much. She threw a tantrum and screamed and yelled for the pumpkin! Of course, I thought it was cute and took a picture of it. With little effort we were able to calm her down and both kids crashed in less than 15 minutes. All-in-all it was a great night. Can't wait to show everyone our costumes tomorrow!!!

First Kill!

Well, sadly I didn't get to go bird hunting this year. The season was only one week long. However, that didn't stop the boys from taking the day off and enjoying a much more successful day of male bonding. From what I understand, Ryan took the first bird down just after the got there. Not bad for his first kill! Later, dad was walking and a huge random rooster flew out almost over his head. This left Ed feeling a little jealous (although he will never admit it) and wanting his bird even more now than before. So, dad and Ed headed out on a huge trek through the sage brush to try and get Ed's bird. However, they had no luck. In the mean time, Ryan was sitting on the top of the ridge waiting for them to circle around. Again, from what I understand, Ed and dad made it to Ryan where they briefly talked and turned towards the truck. Apparently, not more than 20 feet from where Ryan had been the entire time, another sage hen flew up and Ed was able to take him down. A successful day for all...and Ryan became a huntersman!

Oh, the random picture is of two sage hens who apparently took off and ran into each other in the air!