20th Month Pictures... now that Magnus is 21 months!

Getting Close to Nature

Looking all stealthy in Joe's fluffy camo.

Looking all warm in Joe's fuzzy mask.

The essentials. Shotgun, Bible and bag of snacks (chocolate).

You need to click on this photo & make it bigger - it's some kind of cute!

The beaver.

I have spent two afternoons in the woods since shotgun season opened Saturday. Joe kindly volunteered his wonderful babysitting skills so I could go enjoy some one-on-one with nature. My, what fun this hunting business is! If I actually do kill a deer I'm sure I'll be a hopeless addict. =) Although, my "cravings" for the woods stop short when the wind chill gets a bit, um, chilly. My first day out was a true delight. Along with the 70 degree weather, I enjoyed much wildlife that included 7 deer, 4 raccoons (mom and 3 young ones - awww, so cute!!) and many neat things in the sky - such as a partial rainbow, a Bald Eagle, a Red-tailed Hawk, a Crane that sounded like a duck with a bad cold, and some very amusing woodpeckers of several different varieties. The second day I went out, I took my camera in hopes of seeing my little raccoon buddies again. As you can see from the photo, they still live in that nifty tree-house! Such cute little rascals, and it was fun to watch their "mom" tell them to stay in the tree (which they obediently did, only poking a head or some little feet out occasionally) while she went around digging in the mud and washing her face - right under my tree stand. I also saw 2 deer on that second day (no bucks.. which was fortunate for them!) some squirrels, and tons of little birds that made a terrible racket behind me all day long, including a little Tufted Titmouse that perched on a limb about 4 feet above me and eyed my bag of goodies, chirping loudly as if he thought he could scare me away from the food stash long enough for him to grab a bite. (I had dark chocolate in there, so it wasn't going to happen!!) Two beavers also came out at dusk and crunched away at limbs as they swam through the water. All I saw (besides a cute little animal) was a lush fur cape draped around my neck... Those little critters are tops on my most wanted list, and if you ever see me curled up in luxurious beaver fur, you'll know where I got it. Hopefully I can figure out a way to clean all the swamp cooties off of it first. =)

Pig Roast Friday

Melvin posing with Wilber before he turned to BBQ!

The chefs - they started the pig at 6am and cooked him for about 12 hours!

Wilber looks much tastier now! mmmm!!! Swimming in BBQ sauce.

Part of the church people (and other friends) that gathered - here we played "rythym".

We had a great pig roast of Friday (sponsored by our very own Grace Bible Church) in spite of the occasional rain. Some people got here early so we could let them have horsie rides on E-Z and I gave some super-fun cart rides, courtesy of Jake. There was more food than could fit in our little barn's apartment kitchen, along with a 160lb. (dressed weight) pig to eat too! (We even had enough pork leftover to have BBQ sandwiches on Sunday for the church's meal.) We had a small bonfire that we roasted marshmallows & Smores on, sang songs along with the guitar that Kris brought & then we played a couple group games. It was such a good time! Can't wait to do it again. I'm sure all the pigs out there are trembling at the thought! Run, Wilber, RUUUN!

Family Time

Awww... we're all growed up!

Watch closely as the mighty male lion prepares to devour it's young in a single gulp!

Happy times with Nanna and PaPa

Our threesome.

Happy Fall, Ya'll

Somebody stole my horse!! Oh, what am I gonna do??

I know! I'll just rope me another 'un!

The Buckaroo Baby

Yeehaw! This is the most well behaved horse I've ever ridden!

Nifty Nifty... mom is __!!!

Can you guess how old she is?? You certainly can't go by looks - many times people have thought she was my sister. You have to decode my easy-peasy riddle from the name of this post. =) Since I've given away her age, I guess I better give mine away too. I turned 27 on my mom's birthday - October 29th. Now, wasn't I just the mostest specialest birthday present anyone could possible think of? She's the only person I know that can give kids out as a birthday gifts. =) She gave Dad one first, then 15 months later she got one too! (And for the last 28 years, Dad and Mom have been giving gifts to Eric and I on THEIR birthdays. I know that doesn't really seem fair, but Eric and I never really complained about it much, and neither did they.) I was thrilled to get to spend our birthday in NC with them this year, and we ate lots of good food, had a day of some great shopping, and just enjoyed being together. I was spoiled rotten, as usual, and got some cool birthday gifts, including one that Joe designed/made himself - pics of that to come later. (It's not quite finished!)