Rebekah's first deer

Our freezer is full of deer meat this year, thanks to Seth's successful archery season and Rebekah's successful rifle season.

Saturday, October 13, Grandpa Dennis, Grandma Susan, Seth and Rebekah jumped in the truck and headed out on the desert to try and fill their tags. From the way I've heard it, Grandpa Dennis was opening a gate when Seth spotted a couple of 2-points in the road just ahead of them. Everybody jumped out of the truck, and Rebekah fired first, hitting one of them. Grandma Susan hit the other one (all accounts confirm that she's a dead-eye and dropped it immediately). The group tracked down Rebekah's, and everyone came home smiling.

Rebekah and Grandma Susan with their bucks. 

Miriam at General Conference

As per tradition, we took the newly baptized 8-year-old with us to a session of General Conference in Salt Lake October 5-7. After Seth got home from work and the kids got home from school, we dropped the kids off at the grandparents' house and took Miriam with us.

We got dinner on our way down, slept in our fancy hotel room, and got up Saturday morning in time to find out that the breakfast buffet was NOT included with our stay (yikes!), walk around Temple Square for a while, watch part of the Saturday morning session in the visitors' center, then listen to the rest of it outside once they started piping it out there.

 Miriam and Andrea by the temple.

Miriam and Seth creating an epic moment on Temple Square. 

Miriam taking pictures of me taking pictures. 

Miriam and Seth taking in the Square. 

Miriam looking at the Temple from the Joseph Smith Memorial Building.

Then we grabbed some lunch at City Creek and walked to Pioneer Memorial Park for a picnic.

Miriam and Seth at Brigham Young's grave. 

Miriam catching up with her sisters via Seth's cell phone at the park.

We ran back to the hotel to get the van and drive out to the Salt Lake City Cemetery to find our ancestors and the prophets.

Of the 18 ancestors Miriam has buried in this cemetery, we found 16 of them. There are two that are supposedly buried there that we have yet to find.  

Of the 17 prophets of the restored Church, 12 of them are buried in this cemetery. We found all of them (they're pretty easy to find :-)). 

We also found these two hanging out in the cemetery. 

And we saw this sweet note at President Monson's grave.

We had a little time before dinner, so we asked Miriam what she wanted to do. She opted for a visit to the Church Art and History Museum.

Writing down her feelings about the Book of Mormon to add to the wall.

Virtual tour of the Whitmer home.

Origami birds with Seth in the children's room.

Then we enjoyed a meat-lover's dinner at Tucano's, then went back to our hotel for the night.

Miriam checking out the picnic table swings at The Gateway. Tucano's told us we'd have a 1.25-hour wait, but it turned out to be more like 30 minutes. 

Sunday morning, we packed everything up and rode TRAX to Temple Square so we could watch our session of Conference.

 

 Miriam checking out the view from our hotel room window Sunday morning.

Andrea, Miriam and Seth on the terrace level waiting for Sounds of Sunday and Conference to start.

It was a pleasure to hear from President Nelson and the other leaders of the church.

On the ride home immediately following the session, we ate Uncrustables and listened to the afternoon session, hearing about the 12 new temples in the driveway of Grandma and Grandpa Scott's house before coming in to see the other girls.

Winnie is 6!

This energetic kid turned 6 this year, just a month after starting kindergarten. We had family over to celebrate with us on her actual birthday this year (Thursday, October 4).

Drinking juice with her monster face straw during dinner. We had watermelon, bread sticks, pizza and Caesar salad.

Opening her Elsa and Anna jewelry box from Grandma and Grandpa Scott. 

Andrea taking pictures of Winnie while Miriam holds up two presents (the doll Winnie got from her parents and the money she got from Grandpa Dennis), Seth and Analee watch, and Oakley checks something else out. (?) 

Bennet, Winnie and Miriam checking out a clue. Analee made a treasure hunt with clues as a birthday present. The treasure was a bag of caramels. 

Winnie reacts to opening a caramel. 

Winnie with a mouth full of caramel. Winnie received a Starfire Barbie and a My Girl doll from Seth and me; a box of bracelets, a necklace, a puzzle and other odds and ends from Miriam; a personalized trading card and treasure hunt from Analee; and money hidden in a headless mermaid from Grandma Susan and Grandpa Dennis.

 Winnie beating her piñata. It had been hanging up quite nicely, but the duct tape handle ripped. So Seth pitched the piñata for a few people to hit it, then Winnie waled away on it (and broke the suckers in it)

Miriam, Analee and Winnie find their goody bags in the wreckage of the piñata while Andrea checks out the pictures Rebekah took and Seth puts the bat away. 

Winnie with her Hatchimal birthday cake. She also wore her Hatchimals shirt (and underwear ... shhh!) and made a Hatchimal piñata. Analee helped Andrea make the cake and fondant. Winnie wanted a cake that was both chocolate and vanilla, so we swirled the two batters together.

 Analee lighting candles on the cake while Andrea videotapes and Bennet and Grandma Susan watch.

There was no school on Winnie's birthday (the principal of another elementary school in our district had died in an accident the weekend before, and his funeral was on her birthday), so I got to go to her class the day before and share some pictures and information about Winnie. The kids loved the pictures of the family, our dog and hamster. One girl though the picture of Winnie at the White House (when we visited Aunt Rachel's family in Virginia when Winnie was 6 months old) was Winnie at a temple.

Winnie loves dancing and tumbling, reading books and playing outside. She will often ask if she can play in Peach's yard, and then I won't see her for an hour or more while she makes up her own little games. She is a great helper around the house and keeps up with her older sisters extremely well for being pint-sized.

Winnie eating a birthday ice cream cup with her kindergarten classmates.

Hike #6 (for me): Lower Palisades

Because the girls are in school and we're not, my parents and I decided to hike to Lower Palisades Lake on Friday, September 21. The fall colors were amazing, there weren't throngs of people (like I hear there often are on that hike), and I made it back in time to eat dinner with my husband and girls.

Hike selfie by the lake.

 Grandpa Scott skipping rocks. My parents had brought a Ziploc bag of rocks for each of us to skip on the lake. I had joked that we'd be able to find rocks AT the lake, but the ones we brought were actually much better.

 Grandma Scott skipping rocks.

Hunting camp x3

We spent three weekends in Island Park during archery season: August 31-September 3 (Labor Day weekend), September 14-15 and September 28-29. Along with the usual walks to the quarry, four-wheeler rides, snacks, card games, etc., Seth shot a nice, big doe the last weekend.

Weekend #1 (the long one)

 Uncle Jim had brought up a bunch of construction scraps to burn, but the girls found better uses for them. Miriam and Analee build Barbie houses.

 Winnie paddling her "boat."

 Analee and Miriam break out the bubble guns I had brought for passing the time.

 Seth and Bekah getting ready to go out for the evening hunt.

Cooper and Miriam playing checkers. 

Kelsey and Winnie making Barbie houses. 

 Cooper, Miriam, Winnie and Kelsey going for a walk.

Peach, Miriam and Seth at the top of the quarry. We found out that we actually get reception there. 

Miriam listening to her books. 

 Seth with his dinner plate.

 Rebekah during Sunday dinner. We attended church in the Island Park ward, then came back to camp for the traditional Sunday Dutch oven dinner cooked by Grandma Susan and Grandpa Dennis.

 Analee.

Winnie and Andrea. 

Winnie, Marin, Ellie and Miriam on four-wheelers.

Weekend #2 (the short one)

Rebekah and Analee singing/playing music.

 Winnie checking out her pop can.

 Miriam the forest ninja.

Tav, Winnie and Marin listening to Bekah and Ana while Mack makes his own music with pop cans.

Weekend #3 (the successful one)

Seth and Roscoe with Seth's doe. He shot it Friday night while we were driving up to camp (he had spent the week in Island Park with his dad), and we found it Saturday morning. Rebekah stayed in Idaho Falls so she could go to Darby and help the stake build the new cabins. Winnie and Miriam went with Grandma Susan to Cooper's birthday party. So Analee, Seth, Grandpa Dennis, Uncle Doug and I got to search for the doe. It didn't take long to find it. It had fallen less than 100 yards from where Seth shot it, and Roscoe found it right away.

 Analee holding one of the back legs while Seth guts it.

The deer hanging from trees in camp.