Boys Annual Pack Trip

Shawn has started an new tradition with the boys, the last couple of years they pack back in on horseback and stay over night for a few days. They decided to go to a new place every year. This year the went up to Painter Basin in the high Uintahs. They even talked grandpa Douglas into going on the ride. They rode back in about 4 hours before they found just the right spot to camp.

They hobbled the horses and just let them graze. Some spots in the river were so deep that they all got their feet wet, even Kolt! (he thought that was pretty cool.) In the back ground of this picture you can see the lake that they rode into and stayed. Shawn said the boys had a blast fishing. He said they were catching them left and right all day long everyday they were there. Kyle was excited because he got a lot of practice in with his new fly pole.

My three favorite cowboys!

This was the crappy trail they rode in on. You can see the little narrow path where the rocks were moved. Shawn said the trail was so bad in a few spots the horses were having to jump over the big rocks. He said I probably would have had a melt down. I guess it was really steep and rocky with a bunch of little edges hanging off the mountain. Yikes, good thing it was a "no girls allowed" trip.

Our New Puppy- Kaycee

Kolt & Kaycee Kaycee is a German Short Hair

Kolt has been saving his allowance and doing extra chores around the house for over a year now, so that he could save enough money for a puppy. We told him that once he had saved atleast half, then we would pay the rest. He has had it saved for a little while now, but there were no good dogs with good hunting bloodlines until now. Kolt has had Shawn look at KSL daily for puppies and they finally found some. It actually worked out perfect, because Kolt wanted a darker one with more liver spots and Kyle's is the exact opposite, white with brown spots! Kyle and Kolt are so excited to have their very own hunting dog!

I Miss You Mom

I can't really believe it has already been 12 years since my mom passed away. I can still remember that night just like it was yesterday. It amazes me how often I think of her, I really do think of her almost everyday if not everyday. I read a book one time that said whenever you look at a clock and the time shows 11:11 that a angel is looking over you, I get chills up and down my spine when I look at a clock and it shows 11:11 on it. It's really weird how often I glance at one and it really is exactly 11:11. For some people August 6th is just a regular ordinary day, but to me it will never ever be the same. On Thursday, the boys and I had some errands to run and so we stopped by to get some flowers for the grave and then stopped to get a bite to eat before we took them up to the grave. As we were pulling up to Pizzeria, there was a funeral procession that was just starting from Myers Mortuary (the same place my mom went) the boys asked, "Mom, what are they doing and why are they stopping traffic?" a really weird feeling came over me as I was explaining to them, that all those people in the limo following the Hurst and the trail of cars with their lights on, well their life has just changed for them and it will never ever be the same. It makes me so happy that the boys are so willing to go up the the grave with me and pay their respect to a Grandma that they never knew. Kyle was only 18 month when my mom passed. I use to think that cemetery's were so scary but now I get such a feeling of peace when I go visit her. I know that with her condition, she is in a much better place.

Thank Heavens Ü

Star Valley-Jackson-Grey's River

Kolt my little "snuggle bear!"

Shopping the old down town Afton,Wyoming

Soaking up some sun at the pool in Star Valley.

This was a little baby bird that was up in the eves of the building that had the showers. When we would walk by in the morning to take our shower the mommy bird would dive down at us and scare us half to death but her little chubby baby sure was cute!

This Moose was right down the road from our campground.

Kolt and Kort thinking they are some cool dudes!

It's not Jackson hole unless you go and see the Bar J Wranglers. We always have a great time when we go there. We all like the old twangy music and the jokes are always funny too. If you have never been before I definitely think it's worth a try. Our traditional Jackson hole photo with the antlers in the back ground. (I bet if you have ever gone to Jackson you would have a few of these too)

We went to the amphitheater program hosted by the Forest Ranger at the campground we stayed at in Jackson. The program was about Mountain Lions.

We had a fun time on our little vacation. We started off in Star Valley Resort for a few nights where the boys could swim, play tennis, shuffle board, bike, baseball-pretty much anything they wanted to do and I got to enjoy the nice full hook-ups! Then it was off to Jackson Hole where the boys went down the Snake River and I got to go shopping Ü We also stopped in to see the Bar J wranglers. Our last stop was the Greys River. Shawn has a Wyoming hunt coming up so we thought he could scout a little and it would be fun for the boys to just hang out, fish and shoot some pot guts and birds. We had a fun time just relaxing and going for drives in the evening looking at the wildlife, the kids thought it was fun to ride in the back of the truck and shoot sling shots and goof around. If you are wondering who the 3rd little boy is, well that is Kort he is our neighbor (kinda, their property and our property meet at the back field) Shawn was good friends with his dad all through Jr high and High School and now our kids are the best of buds. My boys are so outdoorsy and so is Kort so it works out really well. We were gone for 7 days so it was really nice of his parents to let him come with us. Finally a little payback for all the favors they have done for us in the past.