Happy Birthday!

Yesterday was Bryan's big day and he spent it doing what he loves. (Warning: Pictures below are graphic and not suited for the coyote and jack-rabbit lovers out there.)

His friend, Jeff, drove out from Utah to hunt in Eastern Colorado with Bryan. Bryan was as giddy as a school girl to be going on the hunt. Guns? Bows? Freezing cold weather? Greasy food? It was a dream come true for Bryan. To kick things off, Jeff drove out in his wife's Prius. It's a beautiful ride and very economical, just not the typical vehicle when going out for the kill...or a blizzard that dumps 14 inches. Wah, wah...wahhhh.

After they dug the Prius out, they made it to their secure location, on top of the grain silos. Serious? Yep.



That is where Bryan spotted this guy. He shot him at 275 yards, on the run. This is Bryan's birthday post and details like that are very important in a man's world.

The hunting had just begun...much to this "Wascally Wabbit's" dismay, Bryan tracked him down as well.

Not a world that I understand, but I'm thrilled that it makes my husband happy. The hunt wraps up tomorrow. He is hoping to get a deer so he can make jerky from the meat. Fantastic and it sounds DEEE-licious. I can't imagine anything better for Christmas (Blah!)...good thing it is Bryan's birthday!
Happy, Happy Birthday!


P.S. Bryan is planning to submit this photo to "Bowhunting Weekly" for their vehicle of the year.

Hello!

Well, after a month of absence, we are back on the blogging grid. Here is the recap on our past month.

We were able to stay in Colorado and celebrate Thanksgiving with Bryan's brother's family and in-laws. It was nice to only do a day-trip and avoid the airports this time of year. It was an enjoyable day in which Bryan was able to shoot guns with thy guys, Luke tried to keep up and run around with all of the other kids, and I kept myself on "quality control" of all of the delicious food. It was a nice, relaxing Thanksgiving.

The following week or week after (it is a blur) Luke came down with a nasty case of croup. I heard him cough that awful, barky cough a couple times in the day, but thought I would just watch him---he didn't seem too bad. Well, suffice it to say, I was tricked! I woke up to hear him struggling to breathe at 12:30 that night. I flipped the lights on only to see my little man working so hard to breathe. I had flashbacks to my intensive care days and thought, "we intubate kids that look like this." NOT the reassuring thought I needed at the moment. I hollered at Bryan to put some sweats on so he could take Luke outside, Bryan was on "red alert" and I've never seen that man move so fast. After the cool air, we tried the steam from the shower, but Luke was still working too hard to breathe. ER, here we come. (I really thought our first trip to the ER was going to be related to that box we pull Luke around in, wrong...again!) After steroids, a few whopper breathing treatments, and 5 hours of observation we were able to go home.

Luke's bed in the ER. He was so sick/tired.

Monitoring his oxygen levels.

My bed...it was so comfortable.

After two more visits to the Dr.'s office and one more visit to the ER (per the pediatrician's request) we are recovered from croup...and on to the next battle of a current ear infection. I love winter. :)

Luke's New Ride

Our friends, The Claveries, built a great toy for their daughter and shared the "blueprints" with us.

A Pamper's diaper box, rope and duck tape.

Luke watching the magical transformation.

Giddy-Up!

I'm already setting aside some moo-lah for the first ER visit related to Luke's new ride. Until then, I'm putting away the pediatric nurse inside of my brain that is saying...SLOWER! :)

Book Club

Last night I hosted our church book club. I really enjoyed the book that we read, Unbroken. It is a true story about a WWII POW and his amazing journey of survival and then forgiveness. I would definitely recommend this book, but be warned that this is a war book, not necessarily a light read.
We had a fun night of visiting and eating some fall treats.

                                                   Lydia                                                              Janet

                                                     Diane                                                     Sarrai and Bonita

The spread.

I attempted my first pumpkin roll. I watched several videos on YouTube for some pointers. It turned out okay, it at least looked like a pumpkin roll! I might try a recipe with a little more pumpkin spice to it next time.

Homemade jalapeno jelly (thanks to Alysa!!) spread over cream cheese.

Apples and Skor dip.

Hard to go wrong when every dish has cream cheese in the ingredient list. :)

 

The Folks

My parents came out last week for a visit. I was pretty lame-o and didn't plan too much to do. One of the highlights was making caramel apples with my mom.

Waiting for the caramel to reach that perfect stage...maybe we should have started this project sooner than 9:00 PM!

YUM!

 12 caramel apples...4 people...fantastic.

My dad killing some time with genealogy work. I'm always impressed and grateful for how much he is accomplishing.

The 13-inches of snow that we received in one night contributed to us laying low.

Bryan and I had our first full night away since Luke was born. Enormous amount of thanks to my parents for watching Luke. Grandma Kotter showed Luke how to be a big helper in the kitchen. He is now the master of our kitchen sink. I don't even think about turning the water on without first getting our Higness his step-stool. :)
When I dropped my parents off at the airport Luke had fallen asleep and woke up when we were getting the bags out. He was slightly dazed and confused, but when he saw his grandparents walking through the doors, he snapped awake and lost it. I was chopped liver. After some comfort food and a good nap, he was feeling a little better about the world. Definitely a coping mechanism learned from his mother.

Boise

We filled our week in Boise with various activities. Grandma and Grandpa Nielson had the perfect Fall back yard. We had a lot of fun playing in the leaves with family.

Trying to get an actual Fall pic of Luke in the leaves wasn't happening.

A pic with Gracie (trying to wake up from her nap) and Luke (ready to go down for a nap) wasn't really happening either. Too bad. I loved that little chair and setting with the leaves.

 

...I decided to turn it into my own photo shoot. Cue the fan and blowing leaves.

Luke discovered a new love on this trip.

His father is very proud.

Bryan and I rediscovered a love for the recumbent bike that his parents own. This bike is awesome! It was so comfortable.

Again, cue the fan.

There are so many things that are hilarious to us about this picture. Is it the outfit? Bryan's form of a 90-year-old man? His facial expression? All of the above?

To quote my husband, "You don't mess with a man in tapered jeans."

Noted. :)



We were able to catch up with family while in Idaho.

Visited Grandma and Grandpa Nielson. Luke was too fast on this pic and managed to escape before we snapped the camera.

Meeting Aunt Helen and Unlce Roger and loving every minute of it.

Visited Grandpa Kotter and ElNora. Grandpa let Luke push his walker around while we visited. Luke was out of control, making it very entertaining for half the crowd and sheer panic for the rest of us.

And, of course, loved spending time with Grandma Nielson.

The night of the open house.

The stars of the night.

I loved how Jasmine did her hair. She looked just as gorgeous as she did on her wedding day.

Luke looking dapper (minus the white socks) for the evening.

Molly * Greg * Tiff * Gracie

I made his tie with a friend for the open house. The pattern was pretty easy. I would definitely recomend making one if you need a certain color. I think it cost me about $2 to make.

Staying up late at the open house and waking up early made for an "adventurous" flight home. Luke fell asleep right as we pulled up to the gate in Denver. Perfect timing. :)

Family is truly life's greatest blessing.

Wedding Galore

Bryan's brother, Rick, was married for time and all eternity to his beautiful bride, Jasmine, in the Draper Temple. We were able to attend the sealing ceremony and all of the fun festivities that followed. A **H-U-G-E** thanks to my mom for watching Luke that day. It was a much more enjoyable day for all of us. On our way out of Brigham City heading to the wedding, we ran into a slight delay...

Good ol' Brigham City.



The Happy Couple

Katelyn * Me * Mandi

Nielson side of the family.

The handsome groom with his dad.

After the sealing we went to the luncheon/reception at Millennial Falls in Draper. This place was a gorgeous setting. It was the perfect Fall day, amazing.

Jared * Mandi * JoHana * Charlotte

Two of our sweet nieces Haley and Molly.

Luke had a great time playing at my folks place. He was in heaven with Grandma Kotter...and her four-wheeler.

Sunday we hitched a ride with Bryan's parents up to Boise to spend a week with them and then attend Rick and Jasmine's open house. We had a great time and that post will happen hopefully sooner than later. :)