Fall 09 in Show Low Az

WOW it sure has been awhile since I have been on here. Lots going on! Most of you know I got let go from my job at the Boutique (I guess 130% increase in sales wasn't good enough to satisfy some People). I was pretty devastated when that happened. My paycheck was what fed our family. I had to convince my self That God had better plans for my life. It took almost a month before I found another Job. With some coaxing and advise from My husband and My mom I decided to put My application in at Picture Me Portrait Studio inside Wal-mart. I had no Idea if they were hiring. Well they were and they were looking for a manager to run the place. Couldn't believe it when I got the Job. My paychecks are almost double what they were at the boutique and I get benefits; quarterly bonus,and a percent of all sales. Best of all I LOVE MY JOB!! I forgot how much I love being in the studio and taking pictures. I started the third week in August. I found out this week from a announcement on the companies web site the My studio is # 5 in Sales in the country. I was the only one in AZ that was in the top 5. I was so excited.That's not to bad being #5 out of over 3000. So anyways thing are going really good at my new job. The down side is I will only get one day to shoot my bull elk. My husband and I both got drawn And the hunt it during the studio's busy season so I can't take any time off. oh well I guess that's life. I better make that day count.
The girls are doing great in school and they have become quite the little bakers. since I work every Saturday Marty has been letting them Make things. I came home Sat to the best brownies ever. Katie can also make a pretty tasty omelet. They have become quite self sufficient. they even do their own laundry!
Well it is definitely Fall here in Show low and I think This year everything is so pretty. I don't remember it being like this last year. I took a few pictures and a few of the girls. They seem so much older this year.
The weather has been beautiful and we can't wait for the snow!

Spare Time

Now that I am not working I seem to have more time to smell the roses or whatch Humming birds fight . I did manage to get some pretty cool pictures though.

Life's lessons

LIFE’S LESSONS
Written By Regina Brett, 90 years old, of The Plain Dealer, Cleveland , OhioTo celebrate growing older, I once wrote the 45 lessons life taught me. It is the most requested column I've ever written. My odometer rolled over to 90 in August, so here is the column once more:
1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.
2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.
3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.
4.. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends and parents will. Stay in touch.
5.Pay off your credit cards every month.
6. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree
7. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone.
8. It's OK to get angry with God. He can take it.
9. Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck..
10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.
11. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.
12. It's OK to let your children see you cry.
13. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it.
15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don't worry; God never blinks.
16. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.
17. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.
18.. Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger.
19. It's never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else.
20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer.
21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don't save it for a special occasion. Today is special.
22. Over prepare, then go with the flow.
23. Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple.
24.. The most important sex organ is the brain.
25 No one is in charge of your happiness but you.
26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words 'In five years, will this matter?'
27 Always choose life.
28. Forgive everyone everything.
29... What other people think of you is none of your business.
30. Time heals almost everything. Give time time.
31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
32. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
33. Believe in miracles.
34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn't do.
35. Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.
36. Growing old beats the alternative -- dying young.
37. Your children get only one childhood.
38. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.
39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.
40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's, we'd grab ours back.
41. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
42. The best is yet to come.
43. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
44. Yield.
45. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift.
Friends are the family that we choose for ourselves.

Elk Picture

Marty Got drawn for Deer bow hunt that starts Aug 21st. We have been scouting the area for deer. We went out on Friday just before dark and saw a few bull elk.

We also saw a field camera and borrowed a couple of pictures from it

A visit from Smokey

So when life gives you lemons you go camping. For those of you that haven't heard I lost my job on the 28th of July. very shocking but should have seen the signs. I thought I was going in for a meeting about the Girl who was Making gift baskets for the store and boy was I ever wrong.I guess that Is what happens when the big boss finds someone she thinks would do a better job then you.. oh well, such is life right?
I guess there is a first time for ever thing. I have never in my life been fired from a job. I guess it stings a little bit. I was so proud of what I was doing and what I was a part of I poured my heart and soul into that job.
Well any ways I needed a break from reality and just so happened to have some extra time on my hands so we went camping in our favorite place, Bear canyon. We have been going camping there for years even went bear hunting in Bear canyon and never got a glimpse of a bear. That all changed this weekend. I was up before every one else so I decided to spend some quiet time outside and think about what my next step in life would be. I was sitting facing the forest watching the sun come through the trees when I saw something move. To mt surprise it was a bear. I was so excited and a little scared at first. I woke up Marty but the bear had all ready moved on.
So we decided to take the girls on a little four Wheeler ride before all the trails got to busy.we Locked up the camper except for one window we left open a little bit so the camper wouldn't get to stuffy. we were on our way back and some one stopped us and told us a bear broke into our camper. we of course expected the worse.The bear had gotten into the window we had left open. he broke the screen and climbed in. Our camp neighbors scared it out but not before it made a huge mess. Bears apparently like peanut butter cup bars. there was a half a pan left and he licked it and bit it clean. He must have been thirsty after that because put holes in Leigha's water bottle and emptied it. That wasn't quite enough for him so he went through the cupboard and found the hot chocolate. He must not of liked it to well (It was sugar free) he dumped it out all over one of the seats. Then he went back to find the marshmallow's. We know because there was hot chocolate paw prints on everything all over the counter top and he even got hot choco drule on the cups in the cupboard. He even tore the bottom of my purse to try to get my glucose tabs. very exciting times!! After some time we got the huge mess cleaned up,Garbage all over everything. We locked the camper back up and headed for town to get more marshmallows. When we got back the bear had tried to get in for seconds, we had nose prints all over the window and claw marks on the propane tank cover where he had tried to get on top of the trailer.. Thank goodness he wasn't that big he was a juvenile bear the ranger figured about a yearling. He wasn't very afraid of people. Marty and I let him get about 10ft from us before we blew him with the air horn. He didn't go very far i think he just went off to take a nap and gear up for round three. we went for anther ride on the quads. This time he climbed all over our truck. we had some nice paw print on the windshield of the truck to look at on the way home. Quite the adventure. I will hopefully have some pictures to prove my adventure. The people next to us said they would e-mail the to us.

In Memory of Rascal

I was going to talk about all the wild life we have been seeing around our house, well I still might being that is how we lost Rascal. He was our little Schnorkie. (Yorkie/Schnouser mix) He had just turned Four years old. He was the best dog that we have ever had.

A couple of weeks ago He had an encounter with a bear. We figure it was probbly headed for our bird feeder and Rascal went after it . The bear picked him up with his mouth and threw him. believe it or not he survived. His back end was full of slobber and he was shaken up a bit but he was ok.That happened in the middle of the night so we figured we should keep the dogs in the house at night to keep them safe. All was well until about a week later (07/8/09) an hour before it got dark , we heard the dogs barking like mad. We went out to see what was wrong. Marty ran out first just in time to see a fox grab Rascal and bring him down the hill. It was a horrible sight as well as sound. in our panic I ran in the house to grab the gun (22). Marty shot the fox to get him off Rascal but it was to late, he had been hurt to bad.

We burried him in Our favorite spot in the forest.

The hardest thng was telling the girls. They were just finishing their vacation in Mn. We told them on their way home. The did very good at taking the news. We have told them that living where we do something like this could happen.

And poor Rockett, she had seen the whole thing happen, her best buddy was now gone.

We couldn't bare to see that happen to her and she was so sad not having Rascal around

WE decided to let My Parents take her back to Minnestota with them. They have a shelty named Zena.

Rockett just loves her. She perked right up When My parent, our girls and Zena got here.

So now we have no animals, a little sad, but Rockett will live happily ever after!!

Now for the wild life pictures.

This snake was found by the doggy door one night.

A few days befor the Fox attact on Rascal WE found a Grey fox and her four kits.

When we reported to the Fish and Game what had happened to Rascal , they told us that pound for pound they are the most agressive animals in the forest.

WOW!

catching Up

I have really been slacking on My blog. It has been a long time since I have updated things. My excuse: My days off have been few and far between and when I do get a day off I want to spend it outside or I spend it catching up on bills and house work.My parents came down for almost the whole month of May. I was so glad they got to spend some time with us. Marty and I won't be able to go to Minnesota this year becase of work. We both have new job and no vacation time yet. This is the first summer that I have worked for a while so I was wondering what I was going to do with the girls. They love coming to work with me but I think by the end of the summer they wouldn't have enjoyed it so much. So antways To make a short story long, They whent back to Minnesota with My parents for the summer. They were pretty excited to go. They coudn't wait to spend time with all their cousins. Grandma even made some arrangements for them to have their own horse while they are there. It is a 16 year old Arabian Gelding Named Sugar. (The girls thought that it was pretty funny for a boy horse to be named sugar)While My parents were here My dad built us a bird feeder. It was pretty neet to see how many different birds came.

My Brother and His wife and two of their three came to visit and trade vehicles with us so we now have another toy. They traded our truck for their jeep. Being that they have Three kids They all couldn't fit in the jeep anymore and I realy wanted a jeep so it was a good trade.

Their kids Had fun while they were here. Wyatte seemed to be lizzaerd hunting all the time. They did pretty good being that they were cooped up in a jeep for 30 some hours.

And last but not least here is a picture of the fish that my dad and Marty caught held by the newest addition to our family.

I know its been forever since I have been on here. i have been so busy with work .
any spare time I have has been spent catching up on house work.
We did manage to take advantage of the beautiful weather wheelers and go out on our four wheelers We have been seeing a lot of mule deer and elk but not this time.
We we putting along and Kateland saw a bear. I honked my horn to get Marty and Leigha's attention. and the bear stopped about 100 yards from us. It was huge a lot bigger then I I need to get a smaller camera to take out in the woods with us . mine is too big and bulky.(Nikon D80)
Marty and I finally got drawn for elk this year. We have bull elk tags. This will be my first elk hunt and Marty's second. I can't wait. The season is end of November /beginning of Dec. We have decided that any bull we get no matter what size is going on the wall . We have no dead animals on our walls. We need to get busy and shoot something. LOL
My parent will be here in a bout a week. They are planning on staying till the end of May. I can't wait for them to see our new house. They are planning on taking the girls back to Minnesota with them for a while. This will be the girls first time away from home with out one of us . they are looking forward to spending time with all their cousins. I think it will be really fun for them .
I think it will be hard for me having them gone with out me. At least they will be with family though. This will be the first time in 11 years that I won't be able to go back to Mn. This is the first time in 11years that I have had to work during the summer. This is the first time in 11 years that I have had to have a full time job. I think I have been a little spoiled.
I guess I can stop rambling on.
I will try to post some pictures on here in my spare time ( not sure when that will be).

Marty's fishing trip

Marty finally got to go fishing again. He went to Roosevelt lake with his new boss. He said he caught around 50 fish. Sounds like fun! I can't wait to eat them. I have been craving fresh fish for so long. He is cleaning them as we speak. My favorite way to cook them is to put them in a pan with a little butter and some Natures Seasoning on them . Mmm Mmm Good.

One of the fish he caught still had Lunch in his mouth!