Flooded House a Blessing?

A couple months ago our washing machine 'decided' to 'wash' more then just the clothes that were in it.     

I had started a load of laundry and then the girl's and I headed down to the fairgrounds to watch a rodeo. Thankfully,  during this time, Judy decided to stop by our house to see the new bed that we had built for Marisa.  When she opened the door she got quite the surprise....water!! and lots of it!  The water never shut off when the machine got full so it continued to run and run and run until water had reached our dining room at the far end of the house from the utility room!!!  

That evening we used every towel in the house and the mop to get what we could and then the next couple of days and weeks we started removing our laminate flooring and the old vinyl underneath and then some of the subfloor-it was not a good thing......or was it!?

We also filed a claim with insurance which ended up taking a little over a month before we found out what they were going to help with.  They were willing to cover the costs to replace the laminate but not the carpet so we decided that we would pay the difference to get the living room floor replaced too since we were doing floors and I was pretty sure that the water stains in the living room were not going to come out.

Picking floors can be lots of fun or a headache; there are so many options but thankfully we had a lot of time to think about what we would want so when it came time to go ok at options we had a rough idea of what we were looking for.

  Finally, during the first week of November our floors were installed!!   We decided to go all vinyl in the living room because of maintence/upkeep reasons.  There will probably never be a shortage of 4 legged furry critters around here and messes are much easier to clean up this way.  The Kirby and Rainbow sales people will not be impressed.

  Here is the kitchen. I can't believe the difference that the stone look makes -I love it!!!

  And this pic is just because.  We were hoping that we were going to be able to replace all of the floors but the pennies only stretch so much.  We are hoping to be able to do the bedrooms maybe this next year.  We'll see.  Looking back, this incident was really a blessing.  We needed new floors and even though the timing was not 'ideal', when is it really?  

Wild Flowers

Even with this on going drought this year, there were still some wild flowers that managed to make an appearance.  Most of these, of course, were found in a canyon that has water in it most of the year so the affect of the drought wasn't quite so severe there.  On years that we get a wet winter and spring though, the entire desert seems to bloom-maybe that will be the case this next spring.

   This is Lupin.  Most common color is purple and shades of purple. The butterfly's really like this one and its something that you can easily grow in your own yard.

  Indian paintbrush.  Very bright red or sometimes orange bundles of flowers.  All sorts of insects seem to like it.

   I think these were Lupin also coming up between the rocks.

  Honestly don't remember what this one was but I do believe they turn out to be some sort of berry later on in the year.

  These bushes are elderberry full of blooms.  I keep telling myself that I'm going to come up and pick the berries later to make jam but that has yet to happen-maybe this next year.

  Amazing where they start to pop up and if your not looking for them they are easy to miss.  Such delicate looking little blooms!

 These are a common little flower found out in the more 'desert' areas, in this case, up where we were going to be cutting firewood in April.  As you can see the grass is already very dry-not much for new growth.  After a couple good wet winters and springs, these flowers are everywhere up here along with many others that I wasn't able to find this time.

Another common flower that I have seen frequently up where we cut wood at. Not sure of its name but it makes me think of sunshine!! 

" As for man, his days are like the grass-he blooms like a flower of the field; when the wind passes over it, it vanishes, and its place is no longer known.  But from eternity to eternity the Lord's faithful love is toward those who fear Him, and His righteousness toward the grandchildren of those who keep His covenant, who remember to observe His instructions. The Lord has established His throne in heaven, and His kingdom rules over all."   Psalm 103:15-19

Costume Fun

Besides hunting and getting the house ready for new floors, October was also the last month that Jessie had a show with the Nevada Bandits.  This of course also added more for us to do since Jessie needed to practice the patterns and of course keeping herself and her horse in shape but we also had to get a costume together for the costume contest-fun, fun, fun!!!  

We got the idea for the costume from a jacket that my sister had-a skeleton.  So, I got online and found Jessie a head to toe realistic skeleton costume and then found a book that had great outlines of a horse 'inside out'. 

I studied this book and made an extra effort to run my hands over her horse to get a bit more of a 'feel' for her bones and then a few days before the show we started drawing her skeleton with washable marker.

   Then, on the day before the show, we started painting the horse.  The girl's had a blast with this and did a super job.  Turned out to be a great opportunity to learn about the 'boney' structure of the horse.

 Before we new it, a couple hours had past and we had her done.

 

   We decided to only do one side of her do to lack of time.  The tricky part was now getting her not to lay down before tomorrow's show.  We moved some panels and made her a small pen which proved successful-we had a clean horse the next morning that only needed a couple places touched up.

 Ta-Da!!!   The finished costume!!  It turned out really well and was a lot of fun!

   Jessie and Nina won the costume contest for their age group.

 After the costume contest it was time to get changed-if they wanted to- and get ready for the rest of the events.  Jessie has continued to improve with each show asking a little more from Nina and in turn, turning in faster times. 

  Practice paying off.  This was something that I was really hoping that Jessie would pick up and learn this year-a little effort, practice and not giving up when it gets a little tough and trusting in God for the results.  She did too!!   She won high point in her division for the last 3 shows but because we missed one show she didn't get over-all high point.  She still brought home a beautiful headstall and many other goodies and memories from a great experience.

    In the mean time, Marisa thought that the mornings were a little cool but she still had fun hanging out with Jessie and I and all of our friends and family that came to watch.  I still can't talk her into competing next year but that's ok, its not her thing.  So, for her since she wasn't able to play soccer due to her braces, we are going to do lots of baking and sewing per her request.  :)

October Fun!!

Well, here it is November and its been over a month since I've posted anything but believe me, it wasn't because I had nothing to 'report' on.  October was as 'crazy busy' as I thought it would be.  October, as you know, is when we really start thinking about fall and all that there is to get done before winter.  The days are usually beautifully warm and colorful which makes its hard to stay inside, at least for me and since we we're suppose to be getting new floors put in soon, we had a lot of 'indoor' work that needed to get done.  Bryan also had to spend the last week of October in Carson City for a class so that meant that we had even less time to get stuff done before the floors were installed. 

October also means hunting season!!!  Bryan and I were not blessed with tags ourself this year, but my dad, Sara, Tony, Becky and Jessie were so even though I didn't have a tag to fill, i had a lot of 'hunting' to do-oh darn!!  

My dad likes to hunt with his muzzle loader so actually 'hunting season' for us started in September.  His tag ended up taking a lot more effort then we initially thought it was going to.  The first 2 days that we spent out, we didn't see any deer at all and actually very little wild life in general.  The drought is really taking a toll.  The areas that we hunted at first have always been good areas to go to but not this year. 

The weather also played a roll to on our ability to get out,however, the rain was very refreshing and welcomed-(as if i could control it anyway).  In an effort to try to get to an area before another t-storm came in, we were able to see what a flash flood had done the day before which had made the road un-passable and then almost got caught in another down pour; the lightning that we got to see was the most amazing I've seen to date!! 

So, we waited a couple days to let things dry up and bit and headed back out to where we wanted to go.  The persistence and patience paid off and after a couple miles of hiking my dad got his deer!..........in the bottom of a 'nice' rocky, steep bowl.  Little did I know that this 'work-out' was 'light' compared to what Jessie was going to be blessed with.  She had the same area as my dad and I planned on bringing her up here in October to hopefully get her first buck. 

   October has officially arrived and Jessie and I have the hunting bug; Bryan has the 'oh no, where are we going to hike and how big is it going to be and out of what kind of terrain' bug.  Well, on opening day, Sara, Jessie and I decided to do a 'girls day out hunting' since Bryan had to work and we really wanted to go out.  We weren't able to get out first thing in the morning since Sara had to coach a soccer game so we headed out as soon as she was done.  We decided to go somewhere close by since we didn't have all day.  This proved to be unsuccessful as far as harvesting a deer, but was still a great day out and a good 'warm up' for Jessie.

  On October 7th, Bryan, Jessie and I got up early and headed out to where my dad and I had went to get his deer.  This area has become our 'secret' spot.  God's hand in this day was amazing to me. I know that God is with us everyday and we are surrounded by His blessings but quite often we get to caught up in worries and cares that we don't look for them.  This day it was hard to ignore!!!  It started off with an amazing sunrise-they can be just as amazing as the sunsets for all of you that don't like to get up before the sun  ;).   When we had almost got to our destination, we got to see a bull elk-my first ever that I've seen first hand in the wild.  When we got to our spot, we grabbed our gear, talked about the tentative rout to hike and took off walking.  There was sign everywhere but after a couple miles, we hadn't seen anything.  I could tell Jessie was getting a little concerned but we kept encouraging her and kept on.  Before long we were sneaking down into a rocky draw and ended up spooking 3 cow elk-again, a first for me and Jessie. 

  We kept on going and after a few hours of walking and sneaking we had made our way back to the truck.  We decided that it was time to eat some lunch and come up with another plan. 
   After getting our bellies full, we unloaded the ATV and decided to take a road that we had seen to another area and then go hiking some more.  We had already hiked 4 miles, so a couple miles on the ATV was nice.   After the first mile or so, Jessie and I hopped off and went walking to glass another ridge and ravine/ditch/ steep, rocky area-whatever you want to call it.  Nothing there, so back to the ATV and down the road a bit more.  Got to another spot, stopped,and off we went.  This time we didn't get to far before we saw our first deer-3 does.  At this point Jessie was getting tired and was tempted to fill her tag this year with another doe-I objected and told her we would find her a buck.  It was early in the season and we were gonna keep trying.  So, we kept hiking and did about another mile back around to the ATV.
   We went a little further and I decided that we needed to stop and take a better look into this other ravine before we went the other way up over another hill.  So, off we went.  It was now after 1:00 so I knew we were going to be looking for something 'bedded' down.  I told Jessie to keep here eye on the shadows especially up against the rocks.  She listened and at about the same time, her and I spotted this beautiful buck!!   We quickly knealed down and she got set up to take her shot.  Bryan was behind us but couldn't see the buck.  Jessie looked at me and said, "mom, I'm shaking"!  I encouraged her to take a deep breath and focus on a good shot.  Click!!  the gun didn't fire!!!  The buck didn't move.  Being right by her, I grabbed the bolt and chambered a different round and told her to try again.  Bang!!!   A perfect shot!!!

  Jessie just got her first buck and its a beauty!!   I think I may have been shaking as much as she was!  What a blessing!  Bryan and I were very proud of her but especially because the first words out of her mouth were thanking the Lord!! 
   After, we had given each other all hugs, Jessie and I headed down to go see her buck as Bryan went to see how close he could get the ATV-retrieval was going to be tough!!  The rocky, steep bowl' that my dad got his buck in didn't hardly compare to this 'ditch'!!   Her shot was just under a 100yds and the 'drag' to get him to the ATV was a little over 100yds-almost straight up and did I mention that he was BIG!!  Glad that Bryan and I have been working out because it paid off getting him out of there!!

 So, we successfully got us all back to the truck.  Boy were we tired!!  Jessie and I had hiked a total of at least 6 miles but it was well worth it!!

   We hadn't been in the truck headed back home for to long before Jessie was out!!  This great day was ended with an amazing sunset to top it off!!  God is good!!

  Two deer down and a few more to go!  Next, I was hunting with Sara.  She had a different area then everybody else but still an area that I was familiar with.  Between work schedules and days that grandma could babysit, we got out 3 times.  Her and Tony were able to go out a couple times too but unfortunately, she wasn't successful in harvesting a deer this year. 

  Our trips out though, were never disappointing if you ask me.  The country that we were in was amazing.  We hiked around 15 plus miles over 3 days and saw between 10 to 60 deer each time-all does though.  We thought that it was weird to see so many does and no bucks, but that's how it was. 

   Sara looking good looking for that buck!

Me, not looking to bad after many days of little sleep and on the go now for over a week!

  On our last day out, we started on the top of the mountain, spotted some deer a long way away and ended up in the bottom of a canyon hoping that there was a buck in the bunch.  There wasn't but the colors of the trees were breath taking!

  Sara ended up being the only one that had tag soup this year.  Tony was able to get a nice 4 point and Becky got her doe.  This year proved to be educational I think for everyone.  Droughts really have a major affect on wildlife and we got to see it first hand from seeing no deer in areas that usually have them to seeing does that are very under weight due to the fawn at there side and very little vegetation  to seeing an entire heard of around 20 plus does and almost no fawns at all. Ultimately for me though, I realized even more that God is our provider for all things-even the deer that is in our freezer.  He gives us the ability to hunt and all that that entails and 'success' is made possible by Him. If we are not 'successful' by our standards, this is also made possible by Him and we should still give thanks even when we don't understand. For me, the days out hiking with my family and getting to see the wonders of God's creation made each day a success.

Bear Camping

This year we were able to make the trip up to Bear, Idaho to go camping.  Some friends of ours bought some property up there a few years ago and we have gone up almost yearly to help them get their 'camp' set up and just to simply enjoy the beauty of this area of Idaho. Well, last year, another piece of property came up for sale and my dad jumped on it!!  So, now we made the trip to help him get things set up-his eventual goal to have the place livable almost year round but in the mean time, we'll make trips for a week or 2 at a time.  Its beautiful up here.

   On our way up, we stopped in Rome, Oregon for lunch by the river and to let everyone stretch their legs. The total trip takes about 8 hours so its good to break it up, especially with little ones.  I think its actually good for the 'big' ones too!!

  Nathan and Melody are each others shadows and were almost the entire time we were gone.  This age is so much fun, watching them explore and learn and discover new things-things that we usually take for granted.  A good reminder not to take anything for granted but to always be thankful!

  Here is the camper that my parents put up here and the snow roof that he's constructing.  The roof was the main task at hand to get done on this trip as winter will come earlier up here then it does in other places and hopefully there will be a snow load to put the roof to the test.  Last year there was only a couple feet-not good.

 Since obviously, we were not going to all fit in the camper, we had the tent area for 8 of us among 3 tents.

 Nathan out exploring.

 Grandpa working hard-as usual  :)  Eventually, he is planning on building a cabin up here but that is down the road a bit. There used to be a cabin on the place from back in the 20's-there is a little bit of it left but not much.

  Becky and Dan having..................a toothbrush/water battle

 Time to play 'inside' for a bit while the rest of us get ready for the day

 Sara the 'flap jack' maker!

 She's a messy 'flap-jack' maker too.

 Grandma relaxing enjoying the mountain air and no yellow jackets for the moment.

  Marisa-paused long enough to get the photo

 Jessie-having to 'pause' for a moment too.  The trip up there was very relaxing despite the work that we all worked on. Lots of progress was made in cleaning up dead brush and trees and the roof was finished.  My parents stay up a few days longer then the rest of us and got the joy of having to deal with a bear that helped himself to the coolers one night. He enjoyed the berries and coffee creamer-can't say that I blame him.  We're looking forward to having a place to be able to 'get away' for  a while in the future-the out door activities are endless-hunting, hiking, trail riding-yes, I plan on taking horses up one of these years-, etc......