Elk Hunt Winkle Ranch

This past weekend we went to the pasture at the Winkle Ranch to shoot a cow elk. The kids also shot their pellet guns, fished in the stream and went coyote hunting with grandpa Brent and Tyler. The pasture is so pretty and relaxing. There are alot of elk to see, but unfortunatly, I didnt come home with one. I really didn't get a chance to shoot. Our plans are to go back in a few weeks before the guided hunts begin.

The boys and grandpa leaving to hunt coyotes.



Payton getting a knife to widdle a stick.


Payton fishing in the stream.





Dillong fishing. I think he cought quite a few fish!

Here is a pretty picture I took of the stream.

Blake threw his fishing line a little to far and got it tanbles on a tree branch. He had to cross the log over the waterfall to get it unhooked.

Mariah finally got her braces on today. She has been waiting for years to get them on. I think they make her look much older than she is.

Back To School

The kids went back to school last wednesday. I am now home with no kids in tow. I get 5 hrs. of me time. The house is cleaned by 9:30 and so I spend quite alot of time cooking(trying new recipes), sewing, reading, running errands and hanging out on the computer. When it starts to cool down, I'll get back into the yard thing. Here are pics of the kids on the first day of school.










Mariah is in 8th grade.

Kylee's in 7th Grade

Dillon's in 3rd grade

Paytons in 1st grade

Payton on his second day in school decked out in Laker gear!

City Leage Baseball

The boys had a great year on their city league baseball team. Dillon played for the Pirates and Payton played for his favorite team "The Angels". Dillon played short stop and pitcher while payton played all over. My favorite position for payton was catcher. He was so cute!

Branding Cows

Casey took the boys to brand cows for the first time. The boys' job was to let a few calfs through the gate then pull the rope so one calf gets loaded onto the branding table.

On the 4th calf, Dillon's thumb got smashed in the gate, when the calf suddenly backed up. The end result? A broken thumb

After icing it for about 30 minutes, Dillon decided to go back and work. There wasn't anything we could do until the swelling went down, plus it was a weekend. On monday he got a full cast which he was to wear for 4 weeks. He thought it was cool, until he found out he had to forfit his spot on the All Star Team. Mom was bumbed!