Total Craziness!

The last two weeks have been total craziness for us. Saul left to go deer hunting on the 5th. He hiked in the day before the rest of the group so he could help clear the trail for the horses. There were 10 of them total that went in. It wasn't real successful, Saul got a shot off at one, but didn't hit it. The others came back out on Sat., but Saul was still sick with the flu and just didn't feel like hiking out. They offered him a horse, but he just didn't feel like making the effort. So they left him in there to hike out by himself the next morning. I know Dad and David both were really worried about him. Saul made it out OK and had just called to tell me he was in Alpine and on his way when Dad called and said that he was going to go back down there to pack him out. We were all relieved to know that Saul was out and OK.

***Ariel's birthday was on Wed. She is the big 17 now! We had her dinner and cake just in time for them to all head to YM/YW. It is hard to believe that she is already 17. She is such a good kid.
***One thing I love about our little community is that when someone is in trouble we all pull together to help. Thursday night they had a big fund raising dinner for my cousin, Jason Willis, to earn money to help pay medical bills. He is having heart problems and needed a valve replacement. He had that surgery before, but it didn't work. It worked much better this time and they are hopeful. They made Navajo tacos and had a raffle. There will be a volleyball tournament this next weekend also. Karlie came from Tucson and it was fun to go with her. There was a lot of other family there also.

***Friday night was the Winter Formal dance for Ariel. Of course she took Sheldon. The couple that they were going to double with bailed on them last minute and they couldn't find anyone else, so they didn't really do anything big. Since we make them double date then they were thinking about taking Justin with them, but they ended up just eating at a small pasta place here in town. I feel bad for them. But they really enjoyed the dance.
***On Sat. we went to help haul wood with Dave and Dad. Mom had a hair appointment for 3:30 so she wasn't wanting to go. We all guilted her into it and I promised her I would bring her back early for it. Saul and Justin wanted to stay and go calling afterward, so Karlie took her truck so we could bring Mom back. On the way out we got a flat tire on her truck, so I thought we had it out of the way and there wouldn't be anymore problems. Well, we got dad's truck loaded, then stopped to fry hamburgers for lunch. About 1:00 we decided we should head out to have time to get her back. Since the road was pretty bad Karlie asked David to drive her truck just down the hill for her. Mom was in the truck with him and Karlie and I were walking behind. David ran over a stick which broke off and punctured the sidewall of the tire. Karlie and I heard a 'pop' and then SSS! We just looked at each other and said "NO WAY!" Since she had got a flat on the way in she didn't have another spare. I ran and got Saul who had gone back to cutting. We figured out that our spare for the 4-Runner fit. But being on the hill, the truck kept slipping off the jack and we had a hard time getting it changed. We finally sent dad in with Mom in his truck full of wood. Needless to say, she didn't make it to her hair appointment- I feel terrible. We finished loading Dave's truck and headed in. With three different sized tires on Karlie's truck and a small load of wood, we took it slow coming home. We decided to stop in Heber to check the tires. We got out and first thing we heard was SSS! NO WAY! We had got another flat tire. I couldn't even believe it- 3 flat tires on one little trip. There was no tire shop open so we left her truck at a friends house and piled into the truck with Dave. After we got home we found another spare (Dennis had one that fit) and Dave took her back to Heber and got her truck home. She is still here waiting for a tire shop to open in the morning to get 3 new tires. That was an expensive trip for wood, especially when she is from Tucson and doesn't even need it.
***Saul and Justin headed out calling after we left with the wood. They made a couple of stands, but didn't get anything. On their way home Saul stopped and put Justin in front of the 4-Runner with a shotgun and then played his 'Johnny Stewart' call out the window. Justin ended up shooting at 3 fox, killing 1. They both had a blast (no pun intended) and Justin was thrilled to get a fox.

IN LOVING MEMORY- Verna Josephine Stoffers Eggleston

We got a call that Saul's Grandma was not doing very well and was not expected to live much longer. It was not a very fun week, calling every day to get an update, just waiting for the not-so-good news. We got the call on Tues., Oct. 20th that she had passed. We headed up to Ogden for the funeral which was on Fri., Oct. 24th. Saul got to speak, which he did a wonderful job. It was nice to see a lot of family and friends, just not under those circumstances. Saul is having a pretty hard time with it since he was so close to his Grandma. She was more of a mother to him.

After getting home from Utah early Sunday morning, we slept a few hours and then Saul and I packed up to go hunting for my white tail hunt. We went and picked up James, our friend and neighbor who had the same hunt, and headed out. When we got down there, we decided to try to hunt before setting up camp. We set James at a water hole and Saul and I went to another spot. Nothing. James saw a couple deer, but wasn't sure if they were mule deer or white tail. The next morning we all sat at the water hole- nothing. We hunted hard for the next few days, but still nothing. Saul built another blind around the water hole, hoping that we might have some luck there. It was such a good blind that several guys would stop to glass right next to him and didn't even see him (he was close enough to reach out and grab them). We named it the 'invisible' instead of the blind. We set there a couple more times, but still nothing. My sister text me and said that Meatloaf was gonna be playing at the state fair. With no luck hunting, I was ready to go to the concert. Saul was sick and not doing well. James was discouraged and ready to go also. We headed for home Wed. with nothing. Thurs. morning I found out that Meatloaf was sick and cancelled. Saul decided he was feeling better. Sean called and said that he wanted to go help us find one. So we called James and headed back down there. We all felt good about going back, thinking that everyone else had moved out and things would have quited down. James and I got set up in the 'invisible', and were just getting our hopes up that something would come in when we heard a huge ruckus. It was the forest service cutting down trees to take samples to see how dry the forest was. They blew any chance we had. Saul went and talked to them and told them we were still trying to hunt there. After another 45 min. they finally left, but we still went back home empty handed.

Saul and Ariel headed out for her elk hunt Sat.morning, the 18th. They went to a water hole where they hunted last year and sat in a blind. Nothing came in except some guys on a 4-wheeler. When Saul went to tell them that they were hunting there, he found a pile from where someone had shot an elk opening morning. They decided to wait and see what happened. Then a couple came and took down a tree stand- obviously they were the ones that got the elk. Saul and Ariel decided to try somewhere else. They went a little further down the road and found another place. Sunday morning they called and said they had one and were on their way home. Good job Ariel, it was a big cow elk.