Snow and cold

We have had a very cold week and it is white outside. We got about 1-1/2 inches of snow yesterday. No deer yet and the first of our shotgun seasons ends tonight. Our disabled friend Leah and her husband Jason arrived Friday from N. Carolina. Leah is such an inspiration to be around. She was in nursing school when she was 21 and was diagnosed with MS. When I first met her 6 years ago she could still walk but she is now in a wheelchair and only has the use of her right arm. She always loved to hunt and hasn't let her disabilities stop her. Her husband Jason is an angel in the 100th degree. We went to their home a couple years ago and they took us bear hunting. Jason will literally carry her up a 20 ft ladder stand on his back.She has 4 kids from age 6 to 16. Three years ago he carried her up in a tree stand, cocked her crossbow and then went to his stand. They communicate by radio. Boy was he surprised when he came back and she had shot a 250 lb black bear. If you are a Nascar fan you would love to live where they do. They are 40 minutes from Bristol, 1 hour from Charlotte and 2-1/2 hours from Martinsville. We took them to the Martinsville race the weekend we went bear hunting and had a blast. It didn't hurt that Gordan won the race either. They left right before noon for home today with the promise we would go over this spring and trout fish with them. We decided they would come next year and bow hunt when it is not so cold. Jason said he and the boys would come over and help build some handicap accessible blinds this next summer. Well I am back to the woods and hope to at least get a doe before the end of the day. Later

I've been blessed!!!

I have so many things to be thankful for as I have been blessed over and over this year. Just to name a few-my hubby of almost 36 years, my 3 wonderful kids, my 7 beautiful grandbabies, an absolutely wonderful Pastor and church, my kids all being near me once again, and God has continued to bless us with so much work for our business it is hard to believe at times.

Please pray for the safety of all the hunters hitting the woods this week for deer season. We have 2 disabled hunters joining us at the end of the week. I'll introduce them to you after their hunt. I probably won't be posting this week UNLESS I have a pic of a monster buck to show you, specifically mine!!.

My 3 "babies"

Boy am I going to be in trouble for posting this but I am so proud of them and they have been such a blessing. Love you guys!!! Maybe that will get me out of trouble. Yea right!

Heidi the skateboarder!!

Heidi showed us tonight that she was ready to skateboard. I was surprised at what balance she has. Isn't she cute?

Kelsey, Kaleb and Tristin's new friend

Michelle got the kids a new puppy. He is a boxer and his name is Ace. He is so cute. Tristin says when Ace gets bigger he is going to let him wear his shirts.

Kaleb is 10 today

Can't believe my little man is 10 today. Les and Rob moved to Indiana 10 years ago yesterday. Les was upset when I called her at 7:30 then next morning to tell her Kaleb was born. They didn't get to see him until X-mas. Now they are back and I am soooooooooo happy about that. We all went to Kaleb's mommy's house tonight for his b-day party. He is really growing up fast.

Les on the run!!!

Leslie actually gave permission for me to post this. She ran in a 5K benefit run Saturday across the river in PT. Pleasant, WV in 18* temps. Not me!!!!! A Marshall University student from Pt. Pleasant named Leah Hickman was murdered a year ago while at college and this was a benefit race for a scholarship in her name. It was actually run on Leah's b-day Saturday and they raised around $7000.00. Les finished in the middle of the pack of 156 runners so she did good.

Kaleb is the man too!!!

Bob brought Kaleb down this afternoon and he made an awesome 50 yrd shot and dropped this button buck. He and daddy were both still grinning ear to ear when they left to check it in. It's been a great "Yea God" weekend and so special to experience our grandkids getting their first deer with a gun. Both boys shot their deer from my hunting blind which is only about 100 yards from from house. Guess Mama has a lot of canning facing her in the next few days.

All for now.

Ethan is the man!!!!

Had a great day!!! After having only about 4 hours sleep due to a 2:20AM phone call we braved the 18* temps and headed to the woods with our little hunters. The phone call was from the Sheriffs Dept. Jay is a township trustee and for some reason when someone calls in about any animals out in our township the 911 dispatcher calls the trustees (Jay is 1st on the list) to get them back where they belong. This time it was horses out. Jay didn't hesitate to tell them it was their job first and if that didn't work then they could call for help. The alarm went off at 4:30 and needless to say we were sleep deprived. I took Kelsey to my deer stand , Bob took Kaleb and Jay took Ethan as Rob didn't get home from work until 3 AM. Only saw a few deer and we all came back in at 9:30. Bob took his kids home and Rob came down at noon. Also Pastor Greg brought his son Josh down to hunt the afternoon with Jay. Let me tell you about Josh. He just took his hunter safety on Thursday night where he shot a gun for the first time. Greg brought him down Friday afternoon to sight in his new gun and practice. They were out in the woods less then an hour when Josh shot a doe. Jay was so proud of him. After getting his deer field dressed and hung up Rob took him home. Jay then took Ethan to my blind and 30 minutes later Ethan shot a HUGE doe. Dropped her in her tracks. So Jay says he had 2 successful guided hunts in a couple hours time. We now have 3 deer hanging from 1 walnut tree. Jay got a doe a couple days ago. We now call it the deer tree. Jay says all we need is a rebel flag hanging from it too and we will be official "Hill Jacks". His cousin says that a Hill Jack is one step up from a Hillbilly.

In the meantime after several phone calls with the Marv Knepp family Me, Leslie and Brooke headed south to meet up with them at a Cracker Barrel. They were traveling back to Indiana from vacation in Virginia. We had a great visit and then me, Les and Brooke headed across the road to the mall. We weren't in there very long when Jay called to tell me about Ethans deer so we headed home. Ethan will probably be hyped for several days. Bob took Kaleb hunting at his place this afternoon. He missed a doe but Bob said it was 85 yards down hill with brush which would be tough for the pros to hit. I had our camera with me so the only pics of Josh's deer is on jays cell so I can't post them tonight but enjoy Ethan's. Later.

BEEN A WHILE

Yes I am still kickin in Southern Ohio. Can't believe it's been weeks since I have posted. Once the guys got back from their Elk trip we have been very busy trying to catch up altho we never really do. I have also tried to sneak in some bow hunting. Me and the big buck just haven't been able to meet up tho. Kelsey, Kaleb and Ethan are anxiously waiting for youth gun season which is this weekend. We have their hunting blinds all set up and ready. Plan to put little heaters in each one as the temp is to be around 18* Saturday morning. Don't know how long they will be able to stand the cold. Guess it will depend on if they see a deer and get their adrenaline pumping. We had to make a round trip to NW Ohio on Sunday as one of Jay's favorite uncles died. We picked up Leslie at 8:15, stopped by Jay's dads to see him and then on to the funeral home about 25 minutes west of there. We got back home at 7:30PM. Lou and her crew went thru our are Saturday afternoon on their way to Virginia. We may try to meet up with them on their way back thru this Saturday. I-64 is about 20 minutes south of here. Sounds like they are having a cold trip. The weatherman is predicting snow for us next week and again for Thanksgiving. I don't have any pics to post right now but will this weekend after the "Big Hunt". All for now.

Time off almost over!!!!

I can hardly believe the guys have been gone 10 days already. I have managed to get a lot done on my list but not quite everything yet. I did get my office moved to a bigger room and am getting close to having all my papers sorted out. I have done some major fall cleaning. Igave my truck a thorough cleaning. The biggest accomplishment was completely emptying Jay's truck, sorting and organizing it. I don't know how he ever finds anything in it. Of course now it will take him a while to find things as nothing is in the same bin it was before. He is usually pretty tired at the end of a long day and material doesn't get put back in an organized manner. He called today and I sounded kinda winded and he asked if I was out hunting. I told him I was desperately hunting for the bed of his truck. All I need to do to it tomorrow is finish vacuuming the inside and cleaning the dashboard and I'll be done. I do this every year while he is gone. It's kinda therapeutic in a way. They will be packing up camp in the morning and heading home. The first few days were abnormally hot(70*) which is not good for Elk hunting. Then it cooled off and they got a little snow. They all saw several elk but just couldn't get a shot. I had hoped to get my big buck while they were gone but no luck so far. I did have a few new big ones on my camera but they are still pretty nocturnal. I figure here in about a week the does should be coming in heat and bucks like men act kinda crazy around a hot female. They aren't as careful as they have one thing on their mind. I just hope I get the big one before Jay does. Well I must get off here or I won't get done what I need to. Love to all.

Finally allowed to post some pics

Les finally allowed me to post some pics of their house. It is still not completely done but they are getting there. Rob has been putting up the trim and crown molding and doing an awesome job. As soon as the garage is done(hopefully this next week) they can move a lot of boxes out there for storage. Once the garage, new roof and new siding go on I will be sending more pics your way.

The exploding squirrel

I was shocked when I checked my trail camera a couple days ago. The 1st picture was this squirrel on all 4's eating, then standing up, then this. He evidently was jumping on the tree the camera is on and it captured him mid air.I thought it was quite funny. Looks like he is ready to explode but he actually is a normal size squirrel.

The 12 Pointer

My goal while the guys are gone is to take this big boy to the taxidermist. He was on my camera last Sunday morning and boy was I pumped. I plan to hunt Saturday morning as a cold front is coming thru and hopefully they will be moving. Sue -make sure you show this to your men and Melissa make sure Jordan sees it.

Off to Colorado

The guys left out for Colorado at 6PM Monday evening.They were in 2 king cab trucks with 3 guys to a truck. They make a bed in the back seat of each truck and as they rotate drivers the one who just drove sleeps. Jay, Bobby and Kevin were pulling our Cargo trailer with a load in it. They were exactly 1 hour on the road when the water pump went out on Kevin's truck which in turn caused other mechanical problems. I found a Chevy dealer for them and called a towing service. They transferred everything in Kevin's truck to the trailer except for overnight bags and hooked the trailer to the other truck. Bobby got in with them and they went ahead. The tow truck took Jay and Kevin to a motel. A friend offered the use of his truck so Amy and I prepared to deliver it pending on what the diagnosis was on Kevin's truck. We ended up leaving the next morning with the loaner truck. Kevin's truck couldn't be fixed for days. This threw Jay and Kevin about 16 hours behind without the 3rd driver. They drove to Kansas City, got a motel room and slept about 5 hours and then drove the rest of the way in. The first crew decided that since they had 4 drivers they would drive straight thru (25 hours). Jay said it was kinda nice having everything set up at camp when they arrived. He called last night. They have to take a 4-wheeler up above camp to get a signal to call. He called again this morning. He said it was a little chilly but sunny. They are expecting a storm and snow so hunting should be good. Please say a prayer that they have a safe hunt and a safe trip back. They won't be back until the 25th.