I mentioned that Nate had gone on a hunting trip previously. Well here you have the actual man camp. He went out in the woods in an area called Murders Creek, very fitting, archary hunting for elk. Luckily they had bought a few extra tags because that was not all they found.
Here you have the elk Wayne shot. Nate was calling it in and I guess the plan worked out perfectly because we have a freezer full of elk burger.
I believe this is the second bear they shot. They shot it late afternoon and couldn't find it. When they went back the next day a mountain lion had found it first and had it buried up to it's neck in pine needles and leaves.
This is the bear Ezra shot down in a creek bottom.
Here they are hauling it back to camp.

Although Nate didn't shoot anything I know he had a wonderful time out tromping around in the woods. And I think you all know that I don't mind not having to find a place to hang another one of his "trophies". We missed him but we know there are few places he'd rather be than in the woods.

Birthday Bash

Taylor had a birthday last week and I'm pretty sure she is completely confused as to how birthdays work. She had been asking for months when her birthday was so it was highly anticipated. Nate still thinks I had a choice as to when I had her and complains every year that her birthday is during the best week of archery hunting. Well this year he took off for the week and hunted while we postponed Taylor's birthday party, kind of. The girls and I took off to stay at my mom and step dads for a while including the actual day, September 23 as Taylor will tell you. So pretty much every fun thing we did that week was for Taylor's birthday. We went to the beach which has been highly anticipated all summer. I wish I had pictures to post but I am having trouble getting them off my parents camera. This trip included shopping, beach frolicking and an ice cream stop on the way home. Tuesday, the actual day Taylor woke up and my mom told her that today was her actual birthday. Taylor's response was "well you had better make me a birthday hat then". Later that day grandma did bring her a purple tiara and balloons which continue to be a hit around our house, and Taylor got to choose where we ate, so off to McDonalds we went. We then went to Auntie Alex's soccer game vs the dreaded South Salem rivals and although they lost we all went to ice cream afterward. We came home the next day, Wednesday and daddy returned home very late Friday night. Sunday we had the closing ceremony as I like to call it. The cake was the end of the birthday week. Everyday, 6 times a day all I heard was "when are we having my cake?".

I'm really not sure who enjoyed the cake more. Below you can see Taylor's favorite present.

Being the daddy's girl that she is dad had her convinced that getting a bow and arrow for your birthday would be the best. So the last present of all was her very own bow and arrow, as you can see she was thrilled. It matched nicely with the great camo sweatshirt grandma Kelli made her. This was even more supported by the conversations that took place while Nate was packing to leave for his trip prior, but that's a whole other entry. The scary part is Nate bought this little set up last year for her and I convinced him she was too young. The box says for ages 8 and up, I guess 3 is better then 2. He was just too excited to wait any longer.

This is the outfit Great Grandpa Chuck and Bobbi got Taylor for her birthday. She calls it her birthday dress and I'm sure that everyone at church will be seeing it quite often. I have to admit she looks pretty darn cute in it so I can handle her wearing it often. Thanks Great Grandpa and Bobbi!!!

What do you think?

Well, nearly three undistirbed hours later I have composed something I am satisfied with. I love viewing everyone else's blog and was finally tired of being the boring blog on the block. Although I have a dozen things I should have been doing with my 3 hours of childless time, I throughly enjoyed dabbling in the world of blog design. I'm loving it, so what do you think?