Duma

Okay - I'll answer all the questions.

Yes - this is a real cheatah.

No - he didn't shoot it.

Yes - it purrs very, very loudly.

This is a picture that I have hanging at my desk at work. I get asked the above questions all the time. Dallon is serving a mission in South Africa and he was able to pet this cheetah on a few different occasions. It's name is Duma and it's the star of the movie Duma. It's a very cute movie that I would recommend seeing. It's about a boy who adopts an orphaned cheetah cub and then when it grows to big for their house he returns it to the wild. Josh thought it sounded "tree huggy," but we really enjoyed it. There is a parrot in the movie that is hysterical - they should have given him more lines!

Back to the questions; I realize that no one would shoot a cheetah (it's a cat and we don't shoot cats!), but it really is my own fault that I get asked that question. I have the picture hanging with several pictures of Josh and his hunts from last year so I can see how people would assume that he shot the cheetah.

Dallon loves Africa. He has seen all sorts of wildlife: rhino, giraffe, elephant, water buffalo, monkey (in people's yards!), and lions - which he has also petted. He's not very good at sending home pictures, but I will try to post more in the future.

Josh's Deer 2008

Once agian my man has proven that he can take care of his family and keep meat in the freezer. This may be the smallest buck he has ever shot, but you can't eat the horns anyways. Isn't he so sexy when he has that "hunting grin" on his face!

Josh's Hunting Season 2007

Last year Josh had the best hunting season ever! It really was a good year for him. After seven years he finally drew his antelope tag for the Bookcliffs. He was so excited. We went out a few weekend before and looked around. We had a great time. Early in the day we saw a big one that other people had been telling us about, so we were excited. The night before the hunt he went out with his Grandpa, uncle, and brother and set up camp. Early the next morning they found the one he wanted. He had such a great time. I think he will treasure that memory forever. And he was so happy to have his family there to share the experience with him.

Then a few weeks later it was muzzle loader deer season. He really enjoys hunting deer. There has only been one year where he didn't get a deer and that was tough on him. He spent the year complaining about having to eat beef instead of venison. But he seemed to have a lucky streak last year and he shot the biggest deer he has ever gotten. *NOTE - Josh's deer is bigger than Dallon's elk!

His last hunt of the season was muzzle loader elk. That was the hardest hunt. He has hunted elk a few times, but hasn't had much luck. On the last morning he killed a 6 x 5 elk. He was so excited (I think he called his grandpa before he called me and grandpa was to his house before he could get there with the elk!).

With hunting season underway this year we are excited to see how well he does this year. It is nice knowing that he works so hard to keep our freezer full so that we don't have to buy meat. We even bought a meat grinder so we can grind up our own hamburger. Grandpa has some relatives in Minnesota that now call Josh "The Great White Hunter." He is pretty proud of that. Needless to say he had a great year last year. He can't put in for the antelope hunt for a few years because of state regulations, but he can hardly wait until he can go on another antelope hunt.

The Killing of the Shrew - All about the Zip

We have 3 cats. Pyro (age 8), Missy (age 5), and Zipper (age 3). They are my "furbabies." Each of them have their own personalities and each are unique. But I didn't know how strange cats could be until we adopted Zipper. We picked him out of one of my dad's patches of kittens; that was probably the first mistake. My brother had been calling "her" Spot, but we decided to call "her" Hope. I was always skeptical of that name, but my dad and husband assured me that he was a she. The vet told me differently. So while at the vet's office I chaned HIS name to Zipper. He just runs around everywhere! He has endless energy! And he is quirky. He's part packrat, part dog, part human, and part cat. When he was a kitten he was always packing stuff off and hiding it. And I mean anything. One day I was cooking potato soup and I entered the kitchen to see him pulling a potato down the hallway. And he chews on everything! He prefers boxes and paper towell rolls, but he also enjoys chewing on Josh's boots and cowboy hats. He also enjoys chewing on the toilet paper roll when I shower.

But he has his redeming qualityies. Everynight we would go to bed and I would hear a noise. We lived in an apartment so I never thought much of it. But a few nights later I finally go up to investigate. He was sucking his toes! He really does. When he is really happy he curls up in a ball and grabs his back foot and starts sucking.

He is also a great killer. When we moved to our new home a few years ago it had a mouse problem. Well for a little while it did. He killed like 24 mice in the first month we were there. He has also killed bats, rabbits, robbins, moles, and his latest killing was a shrew. I can't imagine my life without Zipper, but each time we think of getting another cat he does something to make me decide that we don't need another cat, because it might be like him!

Baby Cakes

I love making crafts. I don't know if I'm good enough to do it professionaly, but I love creating things with my hands. Of course there is scrapbooking, and I do that often. But over the last few years I have ventured out and tried a few other things.
One year I tied quilts for everyone in my family and gave it to them on their birthday. I did my dad's first (since his birthday is first in the year). That was were I learned a very important lesson. I did a quilt out of John Deere fabric. After we had it on the quilting stand and a few ties done I realized that half the tractors were upside down! When I had sewn the two strips together I forgot to make sure they were both facing the same way. After some debating we decided to just leave it. I'm not sure if my dad has even noticed it!
Another year I tried to learn to crochet. I made like 100 hotpads! So that's what I gave out for Christmas that year to everyone I knew (and even then they each recieved several)! Another Christmas I made floral arrangements for our grandparents. Last Christmas I made No-Sew Fleece pillows. They were easy - unless you decided to make 80! I found the pillows and fabric online. There was a problem with my pillow order and they came 4 days before Christmas! I was in a hurry to get all of them done, but I did it! Next time I get a wild hair to make Christmas gifts I think I will cut back on who gets them. All ready this year I have started to make some Christmas gifts, but I scaled back and I am only making a dozen this year. Sorry to everyone else who gets a store bought generic gift!
A few years ago I went nuts for Halloween and made several items. I made mummy heads out of Styrofoam balls and cheese cloths, a ghost out of string, another ghost out of a table cloth, spiders out of tea light candles and wire pipe cleaner, ghosts out of fabric (I didn't like how they turned out) and then my favorite was some No-sew fabric pumpkins. They were a lot of fun to make. You start with a toilet paper roll and wrap batting around them and then wrap and hot glue fabric on. I really got creative; some of them are actually filled with Josh's old holey socks! I made a ton of those so I gave them away as presents for Halloween.
My favorite thing to make is Baby Cakes. When we were getting ready for my Sister in-law's baby shower I wanted to make a shaped cake, like a stroller or teddy bear. So I went on line to look for a pattern. Instead I found a gift cake made out of diapers. So out came the ribbons and scissors and I got to work! Since then I made also made 4 baby girl cakes. Preston is the only boy I've made a boy themed baby cake for so far. They are fun to make and each has been a little different. But basically it's a layer of diapers, a layer of onsies, and then a layer of burp clothes or wash rags ( I did a layer of both for Preston since he is my nephew). Then I just attach various items like hair bows, brushes, socks, caps, binky's, and always a stuffed animal. Then I put them on a piece of cardboard and wrap them up in tulle.

Josh's Favorite Things

Josh is busy right now in college classes, but I read him each question tonight as he was driving home so that I could include a "Favorite's List" for him.

*Favorite Color? Camo
*Favorite Book? One Eyed Dream by Terry C Johnston
*Favorite Movie? Lonesome Dove
*Favorite TV Series? Criminal Minds
*Favorite Place to Go? The Mountains, especially Rock Creek
*Favorite Memory? When I killed my antelope and my brother, grandpa, and uncle were with me. Or when I killed my elk with my dad.
*Favorite Thing to Do? Hunt
*Favorite Daydream? Killing a record breaking deer/elk/antelope with my muzzleloader.
*Favorite Thing to Do with Savannah? Cuddle on the couch on a cold winter day and watch a movie.
*Favorite Music? Country - I love cowboy songs
*Favorite Food? Steak
*Favorite Drink? Cranberry Juice
*Favorite Dessert? Candy Bar Fudge that Savannah makes
*Favorite Family Gathering? Every April & October on the 1st Sunday my extended family gets together and has a big breakfast.

*Favorite Vacation? I really like to go camping, but my dream vacation is an Alaskan hunt.
*Favorite Smell? A pine forest just after a rain storm
*Favorite Sounds? The bugle of a bull elk
*Favorite Childhood Memory? Cattle drives and hunting with my dad.
*Favorite thing about where we live? Seclusion and the scenery.
*Favorite accomplishment? Graduating the Police Academy
*Favorite thing in my house? My trophy heads.
*Favorite time of year? Fall - and not just because of hunting season, but also because it is so beautiful that time of year. I love the mountains in the fall.
*Favorite time of day? Sunset.
*Favorite House work chore? Cleaning my guns - but I don't think of that as a chore. Savannah is too picky to let me do much housework. I do dishes on the weekend, but that's about all.
*Favorite Animal? It's a toss up between elk, deer, and antelope, but if I chose just one it would be deer.
*Favorite Webpage? gunbroker.com


Okay - here is a list of Josh's Least Favorites of some of the above items.
*Least Favorite Place to Go? Any big city.
*Least Favorite Memory? The day my grandma died.
*Least Favorite Thing to Do? Roofing.
*Least Favorite Food? I don't know, I'll eat just about anything.
*Least Favorite thing about where we live? I'm pretty happy with where we live.
*Least Favorite thing in my house? I don't like the floor plan.
*Least Favorite time of year? Summer - it's too hot!
*Favorite House work chore? Dishes
*Least Favorite time of day? Noon - it's hot!

Halloween & Christmas are coming

I've been playing around with a new picture program so expect to see lots of pictures! I love taking pictures so they will never be in short supply.

Halloween 2007- We had a family party and everyone had to

bring their own pizza with a jack o'latern face. We had a lot of fun!

Only 36 days until Halloween. I couldn't resist any longer and today I am wearing a pumpkin shirt and new pumpkin earrings I bought at the store earlier this week.

I don't get as excited about Christmas, but I did book Josh's first "Santa" appointment last night. It is for December 20th for some of his relatives. They would be his grandpa's, brother's kids. He went to their party last year. It is a big family (I think there is like 13 siblings and then with their kids and grandkids they manage to fill the school gym and cafeteria). He is excited to do that. I really need to get a Mrs. Claus costume so that I can go with him. It was hard to sit on the sidelines last year. Last year I think he did about 8 jobs. It was a nice way for him to earn a little extra money. I know he would love to do more this year, but we will have to work around a college schedule this time. Luckily he only has classes 3 days a week so hopefully we can book everything around those and keep them to the weekends.

Josh as Santa last year for UBTA-UBET.
This was his first job as Santa.

Favorite Things

Here is a list I compiled of my favorite things.
*Favorite Color? Pink
*Favorite Book? I can't name just one! Visions of Ransom Lake, Counting Stars, Gone with the Wind, Scarlett, I could go on for a while.....
*Favorite Movie? Phantom of the Opera
*Favorite TV Series? Everyone Loves Raymond
*Favorite Place to Go? The Mountains
*Favorite Memory? The 1st time I told Josh I loved him. He had been telling me for months and all I would ever say is "Thanks." We had just finished watching Ever After and I was laying on his shoulder. I rolled over to get closer and told him I loved him. He was so shocked he couldn't answer back!
*Favorite Thing to Do? Read, Cook, Scrapbook
*Favorite Daydream? How we will meet our Birth Mom and when we will get our baby. Right now I think Halloween would be the coolest day to have a baby placed with us!
*Favorite Holiday? Halloween!
*Favorite Thing to Do with Josh? Go camping and fishing, or if it's cold outside cuddle under a blanket and watch a movie.
*Favorite Music? Country. I really like SheDaisy and Taylor Swift
*Favorite Food? Grandma Vonne's spaghetti
*Favorite Drink? Dr. Pepper
*Favorite Dessert? I love to cook different desserts so it's hard to choose. I really like Decedent Brownie and Sugar Cookies among a few things.
*Favorite Family Gathering? Every April & October on the 1st Sunday Josh's extended family gets together and has a big breakfast. It's as big as Thanksgiving! We usually go to the mountains in the fall.
*Favorite Vacation? We really like to camp but a few years ago we stayed at a Bed & Breakfast in Cedar City. It was really nice. If I could take any vacation it would be on a cruise. Josh's dream vacation would be Alaska and I would like that too.
*Favorite Smell? Josh's deodorant and Cologne
*Favorite Sounds? A cat purring and Josh singing
*Favorite Childhood Memory? Playing with Barbie dolls with my friend. We had so much fun. I can't seem to let go of that part of my childhood cause now I collect barbie dolls.
*Favorite thing about where we live? The view - it is spectacular. And the night sky is so amazing.
*Favorite accomplishment? Being approved for Adoption. It is a long processs
*Favorite thing in my house? Our bed. It's a Tempurpedic and it is so comfortable. But I also love my books, my cricut machine and other scrapbooking items.
*Favorite time of year? Fall - it's so pretty and plus there is Halloween.
*Favorite time of day? When we go to bed. That is the best time to visit with Josh because there is nothing to distract us.
*Favorite House work chore? Vacuuming or doing dishes
*Favorite Animal? Cats - I have 3. Pyro, Missy & Zipper
*Favorite Webpage? 2ofus4now.org

Okay - here is my Least Favorites of some of the above items.
*Least Favorite Place to Go? The Dentist!
*Least Favorite Memory? My several negative pregnancy test.
*Least Favorite Thing to Do? Sit and wait with nothing to do, like waiting in a dr. office with nothing good to read!
*Least Favorite Food? I'm a very picky eater so there is a lot of things. I don't like Salad dressing, mayo, tomatoes, sourcream, the list goes on for a while
*Least Favorite thing about where we live? Last winter was horrid. We had snow drifts 8 feet tall in some spots on the road. It was a scary drive a few times. Sometimes it was so bad that Josh made me stay at my mom's overnight so I would get stuck somewhere.
*Least Favorite thing in my house? I would like a bigger kitchen and a jetted tub someday...
*Least Favorite time of year? I think winter is pretty, but I wish snow was a warm thing...
*Favorite House work chore? Cleaning bathrooms
*Least Favorite time of day? When the alarm goes off, I just want to go back to bed

Anticipating Halloween

I am so excited for Halloween! It is my favorite time of year. I love the fall colors and I love pumpkins. I think that is because my dad grew such a large pumpkin patch. He grew other things too like corn, squash, tomatoes, sunflowers, and various other vegetables, but I think most fondly of the pumpkins.

They were a lot of work although looking back I think he did most of the work himself. I remember pulling weeds some, but mostly we had to help pick them and then sell them. I loved working the pumpkin stand. I could always find the perfect pumpkin for the customers. I remember one little girl that was so excited about her pumpkin that she ran to the car without her change and I had to chase her down.

My dad grew all sizes of pumpkins and each year he would let me and my siblings pick out a big pumpkin to take to school. It would sit in the corner of the room all month and then usually the teacher would let us carve it during our classroom Halloween party.

Now that we live in a bigger place my decorating has gotten a little out of hand. Already this year I have bought at least a dozen new decorations! I keep trying to put off getting everything out, but my resolve is weakening and I think I will put everything out next weekend even though Josh wants me to wait until October is here.

About our Adoption Journey

In 2006 we started to seek some medical help for creating a family. We had been married for just over 5 years and realized we wouldn't be able to do it alone. We started small by just trying some fertility pills and a test to check my thyroid (my mom had that problem).After a few rounds of fertility pills a dear friend convinced me that we needed to have Josh tested. Our local hospital does a simple check, but we decided to head to Provo to have a more comprehensive test done. Josh hates going to the city so I had to bribe him with a trip to Cabela's. He claims I tricked him into it. I asked if he would like to go to Cabela's for our anniversary and he said yes. Then I said "since we're there, let's have you tested." I think he looks back on it the most uncomfortable anniversary we've ever had.It took a few weeks to get the results. They wouldn't send them directly to us; they had to go to my doctor. Apparently there was miscommunication on their fax number. When we finally got the results we had to look at them for several minutes. I thought there was a mistake; all the spaces were empty. Then at the very bottom there was a sperm count. Zero.This should have been devastating for us. It would have been if we hadn't of had some wonderful spiritual experiences in the weeks between the test and the results. Josh was driving home from work one night when an ad came on the radio for Hallmark Cards. It was about how they have cards for unusual special experience. It than had a lady that described finding a card for her sister who was adopting. He knew at that moment we needed to adopt. My experience was in the temple. Josh had gone on a Scout Camping trip with my brother so I got up early and did a temple session. I poured my heart out to my Heavenly Father. I left with the most peaceful feeling I've ever had. I knew that God was thoughtful of me and that he would bless me with a family. I just needed to pursue it down another path.We started the process in April of 2007. There is a ton of paperwork! They want to know everything about you. We are adopting through our church with LDS Family Services. We were finally approved in January of 2008 for adoption.We are very excited to adopt. We know that it is the right thing for our family. I don't think you can go through anything more spiritual than adoption. We are still waiting for a mother to choose us but we are hopeful.