House Updates and Christmas

Our house came this morning around 11 am. I waited outside for half an hour to catch the truck coming off the highway with half of it. And I am so excited, because...oh my goodness I can actually in vision myself in our home now!

Below-Autumn got a baby for christmas. We thought she could use the practice for her sibling who is coming :) In the next picture she is feeding daddy her christmas morning banana. And she loved opening her stocking later. Yes she still drools like crazy!

OH Baby! Expecting a second!

We are expecting an addition to our family some time early in August. We tell autumn, but she just has no idea what we are talking about. And she probably won't care until she has a hard time sitting on mommy's lap or she gets the shaft because there is a baby in her place. We are so excited anyways. And its just as fun being pregnant the second time because you know that they turn into the cutest kids (Autumn is just so cute we had to have another). We are so blessed...we got a house AND a baby coming. Yay! So... Bring on the morning sickness. Bla!

New House in Progress

It is true! We are expecting!... A new house! The foundation for our home is being put in as I post this. On monday the construction workers started the process. And today they started pouring the concrete for the foundation. What is kinda funny about the whole thing is that the Amish are doing the whole foundation! But as far as I can tell it looks great and we are so excited and blessed to be able to have a home.

Fun Stuff

Autumn in her snowsuit getting a christmas tree in Colorado.

Below-Jonathan, Colby and Nevin in the making of a FrankenFreak movie. And who is FrankenFreak? Oh ya, that is Brittani with some green makeup. It was fun though!

Autumn's Birthday

We finally celebrated Autumn's 1 yr. birthday. Finally?, it seemed like it took forever but it also came and went so fast. It's amazing how fast time flys, but even more amazing how fast Autumn is growing. She can walk like a pro now and has the strongest personality. She is a handful of fun and laughter and sometimes a temper tantrom thrower, but she still makes us smile through it all. Here she is eating her birthday cake.

Wedding and birthday

Charity and Pj were married on the 13th at the spokane temple. It was raining and pretty dark but it was real lovely anyways and so was my sister. Charity Thompson is now Charity Sager.

Then on the 20th Autumn turned one. Can I believe it? No I cannot. She grows more every day and she can walk pretty good and is getting better at it. She is so cute and remains my sunshine and happiness.

Halloween Pictures

We carved a pumpkin at the cabin during the last hunt.

Autumn loved to eat the guts.

We went to a costume party and we got all scary...except for Autumn. She was cute.

My first BULL

We were on our horses for not very long when we came upon a bull and some cows. It was just getting light, so we tied up our horses and started sneaking. About half an hour later Jonathan and I were settin by some trees with gun ready. And a 5x5 bull came right up to us at 40 yards and screamed right in our faces. He was just asking to die. Jonathan asked if I wanted to take him, and I said "It's only been little while and I want to work for my bull." So we went on and chased some big boys around. Then the wind hit us and we saw a storm was coming. It was 3 in the afternoon so we went to get our slickers from the horses. Alas, when we got there, no horses...uh...what do we do now? We decided I should keep hunting because it was my only day. So it rained and sleeted on us. And my feet started hurting. Yes I complained a little. But I wanted my elk. Around 5:30 we came to a clearing and the wind was hitting our faces. We looked and saw elk. And there were 10 cows and a 5x5 bull with them. So got all sneaky like and got down to them. The bull's vitals came above the rise on the hill he was on. We scooted through some little trees and sat on a rocky edge. I got all set up and BOOM!!!! He hunched up his shoulders and froze. Oh ya, my .270 got him! The cows all ran past him the opposite way. Lets just say he went about 10 to 15 yards and died. It was a perfect shot right behind the shoulders and I can happily say that I was so glad because I was already tired of walking. And I didn't want to go looking for a wounded bull. All that walking was hard especially at 10,000 feet and I am a happy camper. He is a perfect first bull for me and I wouldn't have done anything different. We got back to camp late and we found our horses by the cabin. My feet were pretty sore and we walked about 10 miles that day. But I would do it again and again if I could do the same thing each day. All of you hunters out there who knows what I am talking about, there is no greater feeling in the world and we know it! Thank you Grouse Mesa Outfitters for my awesome hunt. Hunting Elk is WHAT WE DO!!!

The awaited HUNT for ELK

Finally it is my turn to hunt and nothing is more nerve wracking than being in 150 yd proximity with 340 class bulls with camo and a rifle. Rest assured I have been practicing and working with my nerve relaxing skills. We shall see if it all pays off because my hunt begins the 1st of october. The elk will be screaming at each other and be deep in the rut. Every time I hear a elk bugle it takes my breath away and I cannot imagine being so close to one. Will I have what it takes to harvest a bull? We will see. All I have to remember is to breath, focus behind the shoulder...breath...one, two, three...

COMING UP: Brittani's Elk hunt on the Brazos with Grouse Mesa Outfitters

Tis the Fall

Here we are up at the cabin and Autumn is eating her gourmet chess piece. Check mate! Unfortunately her hair has not grown in yet and I fail to see when it ever will. She is doomed to look like a boy the rest of her life. Bring on the pink!

Not only is Autumn eating chess pieces but we are eating elk! Jonathan's first archery season was a total success. My man is an outfitter officially! I am so proud of him and what he does.

The Working Man

My man is a working man. I can't think of a single thing that he can't do. He is very much a blue collared worker and I wouldn't have it any other way. He fixes the tractors, he brands and ropes the calves, he bucks the bales, he breaks the colts, he builds the fences. Sure he is a busy guy, but with all that work he is buff too!
Yup, I wouldn't have it any other way.

What we do.

Watch it! I'm DRIVING!

Is that even legal? Good thing we are in the mountains going up to the cabin when we took this picture.

Water Baby

Another Sand Dunes video. The last one was very poor quality for some reason.

Sand Dunes

Here we are at the Sand Dunes. Autumn loved the warm water and sand. She did have a full diaper of sand when we were done and she was sure tired. But lets just say a sandy bottom isn't enough to keep this baby from having fun in the outdoors. A little suncreen and a lot of fun can go a long way.

Outdoor Fun

At the Great Sand dunes National Park. Oh yes we had lots of fun getting sand in the diaper.

Girl in the Grass

This picture makes me appreciate not only the children that God gives us, but the beauty of the world and the nature around us.

Sky High Baby

We went up to the lease to run fence last week and we got distracted throwing Autumn in the air. It was such a nice day and the hike was very good for us. It was really good for me because I am running the pioneers day race in July.

She looks happy though doesn't she?

I think this is a cute picture except I look like a man because of my arms. Autumn is my workout.

Pictures pictures pictures

MMM! Autumn is eating her cake all by herself. But what a mess for mom and dad to clean up.

Our cowgirl in the saddle again.

Kisses!

In the mountains Autumn resides in her basket.

Crawling and other Advances

Yup Autumn is crawling now. More like scooting and army crawling. But she gets better every day. She is 5 months old coming on six soon. She loves her bananas and apple juice. Only, she will not drink anything from a bottle to save her life. So, she drinks apple juice from a cup. Sure it is messy, but its so cute anyways. Oh! She also has her two bottom teeth already as well. She is in a hurry to grow up much to my despair. She is the master of wiggles and she is over the 100th percentile in heighth in the nation as far as babies go. So she is a tall one.

Some more pictures

Autumn and Mommy up in the mountains. We brought lots of blankets!

Autumn and Daddy taking a horse ride. We chased bulls down the road. Autumn ended up falling asleep on the way back.

Here is Autumn showing off Jonathan's goggles. We use them because it gets so windy here and it keeps the dirt out of the eyes.

Whats new here...

It's official, we have cows! We have purchased 71 cows either paired or bred and we have been pretty busy! I have some video and pictures of the semi trucks coming to drop off the cows but I need to get them off the camera. Things just keep getting better and better. Autumn is growing so fast, she now eats a little rice cereal every day. The weather is getting warmer and yes, I have a redneck from the sun! I guess that is what you can expect when you live at 7,000 ft. We got our cattle brand which is exciting too. Jonathan keeps busy with cows and his outfitting business. Mabe I can get some pictures up later today after we go to the bull sale.

Busy Busy Busy

Jonathan is gone to Penn to the largest Sportsmans show in the world. He has a booth there and is, along with Matt, trying to sell hunts there. He is gone til the 15th I think. Whilst I stay here on the ranch and try to stay busy busy busy with Autumn and cows. I'm pretty tired so I think it is working :). But I do love the cows. Autumn is getting big and can roll onto her back from her tummy. And she is getting chunkie too.

Camo!!!

She is ready to go hunting!

Story: last saturday, Autumn went chasing mama cows up the road. Well, I was holding her but I think she enjoyed it. And we saw the horses run to the east field. Aunt Katie led the way riding her faithful steed Coco. A couple hours after running the cows to the corals, the first calf was born. Yay! So Jonathan and I are taking the 2 a.m. calf shift. We get up and go check the mama cows. I don't mind tho, I really like it. And since I am up with Autumn around that time anyways, it works out real good.

Sunday Outfit

She is in her 3-6month clothes already and she is two months old! She is over 12lbs and she had her shots last week. In't she cute?

StockShow 2010

Mama and Baby at lunch. We are watching the prize breeds being shown in the arena.

And Daddy too!...

Brittani, Jonathan, Autumn. And Jennifer, Mathew and Robert.

Here we are at the stockshow in Denver. Notice Jonathan and Matt are wearing Grouse Mesa Outfitters shirts. I am wearing mine too but I'm wearing a sweatshirt over it.

2 month and still growing!

So our "little" girl? weighs 11 lbs and 7 oz today at her apt! Since when did we say she could get bigger? She is still eating like miss piggy and I can hardly keep up with her crazy eating sprees. Its cute, but when she throws it all up sometimes, I feel like saying "Child! I worked hard to make that for you, how dare you waste it!" It is so cute, she just looks at me with a stare that says, "Please mom, may I have s'more?" Then I have to blame Jonathan because he's the biggest eater I know and he passed that trait onto our daughter. But at least she is healthy and I am happy to nurse her as long as she stays that way. I hope to get some pictures up soon but I had to say something about her appetite for life and for delish food! We are back in Colorado for good now and we are going to the Stock Show in Denver on Monday so we are so excited for that. Plus we get to advertise Grouse Mesa Outfitters with some cool shirts and hats there.

Gett'n so big!

Our dancing little girl. We think she would be a great hula hooper. She has grown so fast. She is 7 weeks today and so beautiful! We can't believe her two month appointment is next week. Autumn is our sunshine.