ELK HUNTING

We went hunting at Elk Ridge this past week and a half. Brad had a limited entry bull elk tag and Bradley had a spike or cow elk tag. They got up at 4:00 in the morning every day and stalked the elk. They saw some nice ones on the opening day but they didn't want it to end so quickly and hoped to see bigger elk so they let them go. They hiked for hours each day, They saw a few bears and alot of bear foot prints(that made me and Brookie a little nervous at night)Brad shot a 6 point Bull elk On Saturday morning, it took 7 hours to get it quartered and packed back to camp. He's gonna have the head mounted ( I haven't seen him this excited in a long time) He shot it with his bow and arrow.

Bradley shot a spike right before dark on Saturday evening, ( He was sooo excited) they went and looked for it for a couple of hours but couldn't find it, they got up early on Sunday and could only find 2 drops of blood, they found the bloody arrow,they looked for a while then had to give up because we had an 8 hour drive home. Bradley is really bummed about leaving it but we really didn't have a choice. He can still hunt for elk for a few more weeks so hopefully he can get one.

We camped in the dirt for 11 days and 10 nights (except for the one night I drove with the kids for 2 hours into town to get a hotel room, take a shower do laundry and sleep in a real bed) We have never camped that long before, it was dirty but we had alot of fun, Hopefully the kids will always have good memories of this trip. We were really excited to have lyman come up for a few days. He has a tag like Bradley so he got to hunt too, Maybe him and Bradley can hunt together .

Brian's cast

Brian went bridge jumping about 3 weeks ago (after I told him I didn't think he should go because I had a feeling he would get hurt)He climbed on the bridge then up the steel beams above the bridge and got attacked by bee's, he lost his footing and fell on the bridge instead of in the water. He came home with a fat lip, bruises, and cuts, he complained about his wrist for a couple of days but didn't want me to take him to the doctor. I called the doctor and they didn't want to see him for at least 5 days so the swelling would be gone, They found 2 fractures and decided they better cast it because he's so active. He can't go to the skate park or get it wet. They are only gonna make him wear it for 4 weeks. Hopefully next time I have a bad feeling he'll listen to me. They go bridge jumping alot, but I just didn't feel good about it that day. It's hard to give your kids advice then watch them make mistakes when they don't listen. We are thankful that he didn't get more hurt, It could have been alot worse!

Bear Lake

Brad & the kids had fun burying Austin in the sand

We went to Bear Lake for a few days with the Coles. As always we had a blast! we thought we'd get some 4 wheeling, sun and boating in before the kids start school. (Brandon & Brookelyn started on Tues.)

Happy Birthday Brookie!!

Brookelyn turned 11 on Wed. we had a little family party for her. On Sat. she had a party with her friends. She had alot of fun. See her blog for more pictures of her birthday.

http://brookelud.blogspot.com

Happy Birthday Brian!!

Brian turned 16 today! He didn't want a party or anything so we tried to make it a good day for him. ( We might do something next week for him, we'll see)He's almost done with his road drives, he did his freeway drive today, they made him drive all the way to park city. He should have his license by Wed. or Thur. He's such a sweet boy. He can always make us smile! We Love You Brian!!

Bradley

So Bradley started on his mission papers today(gasp) I can't believe it!! We only have 6 months left before he goes. This past 6 months has gone by sooooo fast, I feel like I'm running out of time to do all of the things I want to do with him before he goes. I am so proud of him and the choices he's made, He's such a great example to all of us. I just wish I could slow time down. ~ Jodi~

Elk Ridge

We went camping at Elk Ridge over the 4th of July weekend, Brad & Bradley got elk tags for the hunt this year so we went scouting for elk. They saw a few big ones. Brad also spooked up a bear as he was riding the 4 wheeler, he chased it down the road until it jumped off the side of the hill and ran away. Lots of deer, doe with there little fawns and great big bucks. We always have alot of fun camping as a family and with the Coles.

We got eggs

the big egg is a normal sized egg

We found our first 2 eggs on Saturday. We are so excited! They are tiny, little brown eggs, but they'll get bigger each time they lay. when they all start laying then we should get about 10 a day. We'll have to share because we can't eat that much.