4th of July Lumberjacking
First, the men (Jerry Sr. and Jerry Jr.) with the chain saws and orange pants cut down the trees. Then us grunts use measured sticks and pieces of red, um, crayon-like-substance to mark out even lengths for the logs. The measured sticks are also great for whacking extra branches off the trees (see Brennen demonstrate in the first picture, first row and Connor in the second picture, third row). Very satisfying. J Then the Jerrys-in-orange cut on the lines and we all load them up in the trucks. (You can see the trucks in the background of the second picture on the second row—that’s only about 2/3 of our haul.) The boys proved to be accomplished firewood hounds (first picture, third row) and were very helpful all around. Though we had a few injuries and Brennen scared mommy by wandering half a mile or so up the trial, by himself, to bring back a little bitty stick (see the fourth picture, third row), setting off a frantic (on my part) boy-hunt, at least we got to hike, roast marshmallows, and set off some sparklers.Demolition Derby
When the family station wagon finally reached its last leg, Jerry and Yvette (Jerry’s parents) hosted a family reunion (her side) and we all painted our names on it. Then Uncle Corey, Yvette’s brother, piloted it in the Demolition Derby at the Caribou County Fair. He had a HUGE cheering section. Cor-EY! Cor-EY! Ah, sweet victory. I can’t recall exactly what he won, but it came with two massive trophies that, alas, I neglected to capture on film… er, pixels? I was pleased to notice that our own names on the front passenger door (first picture, first row) were unblemished after all the whacking was over (see first picture, third row). If only we’d thought to protect the hood as well!
Hunting
Brennen had only been in school for a week or so, but we still pulled him out so he could spend a couple weeks with Daddy. Most of these pictures were taken the one weekend I brought the other two boys up to join the fun. Jerry and his dad each shot a deer, so we’re doing okay for meat, at least. Carl (Jerry’s brother) was there, too, with a bunch of motorized toys. He and the boys had a lot of fun riding (oh—very safely and slowly) around in a snow-covered clearing at lunchtime. After Carl got it stuck in the snow, the boys got off and started throwing snow at Carl, who kept them entertained for quite a while trying to hide from the snowballs. The second picture in on the second row is proof of how very worn out they were after that! Yeah, that’s Brennen on the bottom, with a nice warm Connor blanket.
With hunting over early this year, we actually got to celebrate Halloween as a family! We went to our ward’s Harvest Festival (the week before—complete with haunted house, which the boys didn’t seem to appreciate!) and had a blast. Paula, Carl’s wife, bought us both witch hats and stockings (one size does not fit all, by the way) and we had fun being the Weeks Witches. This was Carl and Paula’s first ward activity as members of our ward (though I don’t think they had quite moved in, yet). Their daughter, Kya, went as Fancy Nancy, which is one of those juvenile books I have no knowledge of, being somewhat lacking in daughters! We borrowed the boy’s costumes from a good friend in the ward, who has a whole closet-full of costumes. David and Connor were there for the selection and, of course, if David was going to be a knight, Connor had to be a knight, too! Good think Brennen was still traveling home from hunting! He seemed to like his clown costume, though—the hair stayed on almost the whole time. Jerry and Brennen got home from hunting just in time to leave for the festival, so he just went as a hunter. :) You’ll be proud to know that the jack-o-lantern is an original design. :):)
We got the call a few weeks ago that Jerry’s paternal step-grandfather, Grandpa Sherm, was soon going to be moving on to the next life. We rushed out to see him and enjoyed the visit immensely. He was a wonderful man, with a colorful history as a cowboy and a huge heart. All of his wife Gloria’s kids and grandkids and great-grandkids think of him as ours. (Especially since he’s been in the family longer than I have!) He passed away in his home the Saturday after Thanksgiving and we laid him to rest the first week of December. Jerry’s gonna make me get him a coffin just like Sherm’s! The boys seemed to handle the viewing and funeral okay, but during the last song in the funeral (O Divine Redeemer), Brennen started (quietly) crying for no discernable reason. Tears streaming down his face, resistant to all the usual tricks to calm him down. Jerry gathered him on his lap and asked him what was wrong and our little three year old said “Mi ga-pa.” “You miss grandpa?” Jerry asked. Brennen nodded and cuddled into daddy for a while. Earlier, during the viewing, Connor went out of his way to tell daddy that we’d see grandpa again. David was also very good and we talked a lot about death and what comes after. All three boys have declared that they have no wish to die. Good! We’ll miss you, Grandpa Sherm!
Whew! Now we’re all caught up and ready to blog about Christmas. Sometime in February. :)
