Brayden & Paula's Deer for 2009 (One big, one small)

Well we both got deer this year. Mine took all three seasons and just a couple days before the close of the rifle hunt. I must say that I had a blast hunting deer this year. I have not enjoyed it this much for a long time. Brayden was a trooper and would stay home with the kids while I would go looking for deer. Brayden found one spot that was my honey hole. I was on deer about every day and saw some really nice ones (170-180 class bucks). I came within 80 yards of a beautiful four point during the bowhunt, but he winded me and took of. Man I still have a lot to learn about hunting. I finally shot this two point at about 250 yards while he was trotting away. I was standing up and shot him free hand. I must say again that I LOVE Brayden's gun. He went down after a few steps. The kids were with us on this hunt which was really fun. Autumn will still out of the blue say, "Mom shoot a deer?"

Brayden's deer is obviously much bigger than mine. He shot this beauty on the Pansaugant during the muzzleloader season. We all went camping as a family and endured 20 degree nights, cold windy days, and a trip to the emergency to patch up Porter's forehead after a stumble in the trailer. The twinners were super troopers and went hunting with us every night. They did so good and hardly complained about spending 4-5 hours a night in the truck. After one week of hunting, on Friday night, we were all sitting in the truck watching a water hole. It was amazing the amount of deer that were coming into the water. This nice buck came in three different times and on the third time Brayden decided to take him. It had his back leg shot off by another hunter which was the final deciding factor in shooting him. I got the shot on video and in the background you can hear Autumn, "Daddy shoot a deer." It was so fun to have Autumn and Porter with us. I'm glad we stuck it out through the cold and were able to see dad shoot this awesome buck.

Hanging out in the trailer.

Porter at the hospital.

Porter looking AWESOME in his thermal PJ's.

Brayden glassing for deer.

The beauty himself. . . deer or man, you decide!

The whole family.

Speed Goat Hunt '09

October 9-11th we went hunting by Loa for doe antelope tags that I drew. The weekend involved A LOT of driving, but it was a very fun hunt. We brought our tent trailer to camp in. Let me tell you how much I love that thing! It makes camping with the kids much more comfortable for multiple night camping. It is one of my favorite purchases. We didn't see much on Friday night, so we came home to some yummy dinner and just hung out until bedtime. Saturday I got up bright and early and hiked up the hill by our camp. We had seen some antelope there the night before, just before dark, so I thought I'd try to find them in the morning. No luck this time, so I headed back to camp. We ate breakfast and headed out in the truck to see what we could find. We drove for a couple of hours and around 11:00 we found a herd about 1000 yards away. I grabbed the gun and my pack and went after them. Luckily they were in terrain that had a lot of rolling hills so it wasn't too hard to sneak up on them. I got within 450 yards and something spooked them over the next ridge. They weren't looking at me when they spooked, so I thought I'd continue my stalk. I reached the place they were before they spooked and was able to peek over the hill. There they were! I was so excited. They had no idea I was there. They were 340 yards away. There was one that had a collar of some sort. Brayden really wanted me to shoot that one if I had a chance (so did I). I set up next to a tree and made a steady rest with my backpack. The collared goat was wide open. I took my shot and she dropped in her tracks. I didn't even see her move after I shot. The rest of the herd ran about 100 yards up the next hill. Since I had two tags I hurried and set up again where I could see them. They were now 440 yards. I found one standing alone and took the shot. She dropped in her tracks. I was so pumped. Two shots within about three minutes and they both went down in their tracks. I love Brayden's gun. It gets the job done. The hunt was a blast! Brayden's parents and little brothers, Dylan and Chase, came that evening. Dylan and Chase had drawn the same tags as I had. We went out with them the next day with no luck, but still had a good time.

As a side note I was on this hunt when I found out about the death of my step-sister Heather Christensen from a phone message from my dad. I was shocked and my heart went out to my step-mother most of all. She is very close to her children and I knew it would be very hard for her. Heather is an amazing person and I had a great time living down the hall from her in college. She knew how to have fun and loved to laugh. She never compromised her standards and along with her roommates was able to keep the spirit in their apartment. I spent most of my time in their apartment because I liked how I felt when there. After college years she always greeted me with a huge hug and smile. Then she'd update me on the old roommates. She was very motivated and knew what she wanted. She showed a lot of dedication and it paid off. She was doing what she wanted when she graduated to the next stage of life.

More Pics from Blanding - Sept. '09

Brayden and I took the kids glassing for elk one night. They had a blast playing in the dirt and running around the bushes. I hope they grow to enjoy the outdoors as much as their mom and dad. So far it's looking good.

Grizzly Bear, Spike Elk, and Football

Well the time finally came for Brayden to go on his Grizzly Bear hunt in Alaska. He has dreamed of hunting grizzlies since he was about four years old. Luckily this year he drew the hunt at Orem's SFW banquet. It was their grand prize for the evening, worth about $10,000.


He shot a beautiful grizzly on the third day of the hunt. They had chased the bear about 20 miles over two days before he was able to take the 300 yard shot. Brayden is known for his quick shooting and he had two more bullets into the bear before it went down. Even though it was a guided hunt, he packed out the head and hide to get the full experience. He absolutely loved the hunt and said it was everything he could have wanted.






While Brayden flew off to AK, the kids and I went to Blanding to hang out with the Richmond's and try my luck hunting elk during the archery season. On Wednesday, Sept. 2nd, I headed out to South Elk Ridge to the same water hole Brayden killed his bull last year. I arrived around noon to about 10 moo cows taking a drink. My hopes were squashed of ever seeing elk in this water. I had no other ideas so I went ahead and set up our ground blind and sat for the rest of the day. After two hours of sitting I heard some very loud animals walking behind me. I peeked out the window and saw a herd of elk! I was surprised that they came in so soon after the cows. There was one small bull with them that was fun to watch. The elk came right in without hesitation. I thought it was going to be the shortest hunt in my hunting history, but it was not meant to be. I drew back several times trying to get in the right spot so my arrow wouldn't hit the blind. Finally I was able to take a shot, but it was no good. I didn't see anything else for the rest of the night.
I headed to camp by myself and got settled in. I heard a bear growl about four times 50 yards from camp. I debated on going home, but the bear got quiet so I stayed and had a peaceful night. The next morning I headed back to the blind and got settled in. There were elk bugling above and below me. I love to hear elk talk. As I was listening to the bugling I looked up and saw a spike, cow, and calf headed into the blind. I got set up and as soon as the spike gave me a good shot I took it. The arrow hit its mark and he layed down on the bank of the pond. Since I was on my own I felt overwhelmed on what I had to do, but that didn't last long. I was worried about getting the meat taken care of since it was getting warm quick. I snapped a few photos with the timer and got to work. It took four hours to quarter it and pack it to the truck. After five trips it was done! Well kind of, I still had to cut up the meat and freeze it. I admit I felt good to have done it on my own.

Porter and Autumn enjoyed going to many football games with Grandma and Grandpa Richmond. Porter loves football and would get very excited every time we mentioned going to a football game. Autumn also loved going. She likes to move around constantly switching laps. It was a great week for the Richmond family.

Reading Time

Autumn and Porter got really quiet during playtime so I got a little nervous about what they were doing. When I checked on them this is how I found them! It is too cute to not share.
Here is more random cuteness.

Our solution for hunting with the kids!

I discovered last year that kids can really put a damper on your hunting season. Brayden came up with a way to just take them along with us!

Okay, not really! But aren't they so cute!?!

24th of July

We were home in Beaver for the 24th of July. Brayden was gone somewhere and for the life of me I cannot remember where he was. Anyway, we went to the parade and Autumn and Porter loved running around getting the candy. We ate a great lunch at the park and enjoyed the festivities going on. Later we went to the horse races which the kids loved. Each time the horses came by Autumn would say, "horses running fast." I love the expressions of amazement that they get with new and exciting things. That night we went to the Rodeo with the awesome Limb family who let us hang out on their truck trailer. Porter loved eating all their popcorn which they were nice enough to share with us.

Enjoying the park festivities.

Porter hanging out at the rodeo.


We had so much fun at the horse races the first day we went again the next day. They loved it again until the last race when they discovered a wasps nest under the railing they were standing by. They both were stung about four or five times and there was a rush of people from the stands to get them away from the wasps. It was very sad and to say the least it freaked the poor little ones out. They actually calmed down a lot quicker than I expected, but they still remember that they don't like wasps whenever they see anything that resembles them flying around.

The top two are at the horse races the first day and the bottom three are pics of the wasp stings from the second day at the horse races. Autumn got a pretty fat lip from one of the stings. It was a very sad time and I felt horrible for letting it happen!

Petting Zoo

Back in early June we went to Thanksgiving Point's Animal Farm with Sierra and Savannah. Autumn and Porter loved looking at the animals. This was back when they didn't talk as much as they do now so it was a special treat to hear them saying the animal names and sounds. They really liked the ducks, the baby calf, and the horses (from a distance). When they went on the pony ride they did okay for the first minute, then they both got terrified and cried until I finally took them off. I'm not sure what triggered their fright, but it happened about the same time. Autumn and Porter love their cousins and had a great time with Sierra and Savannah (Nana).

They really thought the white peacock was cool.

Fishing Fun

We took the kids fishing a few times this summer. We always have fun, but we are the worst fishermen in the world. We rarely catch anything but moss and weeds. We still like to go and enjoy the beautiful lakes. Autumn and Porter love it too and so far we've been lucky and they haven't fallen in!

I love Porter's face in this pic. He is such a cutie.

4th of July Week - Non Stop Fun

Last week's fun-omoter was sky high. We had a great time in Blanding with Grandma & pa Richmond and all the cousins. It was non-stop fun for the kids and I loved the free time I was able to enjoy. I'm sure Grandma was ready for us to leave when Sunday came around, it was a full house.

On Tuesday the kids had the farm tour. They saw pigs, goats, and sheep, then topped the outing off with rides on ponies. Autumn was reluctant at first, but loved it after she got the hang of it. Every time we got her down she would repeat over and over and over, "turn," "ride horse," "turn." She was quite persistant. Porter didn't like it from the start and didn't end up liking it at all. We had him go one round with Liz where he didn't cry, but he was very uncomfortable. After naps all the kids put on swimsuits and played in the backyard water park. They had a kiddy pool with all kinds of toys to play in. Autumn and Porter loved sharing the pool with all the cousins, as long as none of them dumped water on their heads.

The week was full of other random events. Wednesday they went to the Dinosaur Museum in town and then made hats that night. Thursday was a free day. We took Autumn and Porter fishing and had fun catching 3 inch bluegills. Autumn liked to touch the fish, but Porter only liked to look at them. Friday Liz was baptised. All the kids posed for pictures afterwards which is always entertaining with 10 kids 9 and under. When it was dark enough we had our own little firework show. I found out I am not a good lighter. I would use about two matches on average for every firecracker. I also threw a crackling ball at Jamie who had to jump out of her chair and dash away. Someone else should take over that job for next year.

On Saturday, the 4th, we enjoyed Blanding's celebration. The parade was fun. It was fun to see Autumn and Porter catch on to getting candy - well kind of. They were really slow and there wasn't much hustle from piece to piece. Still they had fun stuffing their pockets with candy and watching the floats. Brayden, Robby, Laurel, and I went for a ride up to Arch Canyon while awesome aunt Jen entertained Autumn and Porter at the carnival. It is a beautiful canyon and well worth the drive. In addition it was hilarious watching Robby rally Regan's Land Cruiser.

That night we watched Blanding's fireworks display. They did a great job and we had fun watching Autumn and Porter play with their glow-sticks.

The Kid's First Archery Shoot . . . This Year

On Saturday we went to an archery shoot at the Timp Archers range in Provo Canyon. We love this range and have spent countless hours shooting here. If there is one thing we miss about living in Pleasant Grove, it is archery leagues and weekend shoots.

We took the kids along for the first part of the day and they walked with us through the first set of targets. They loved identifying which animal we were going to shoot. On about every target Autumn would say, "Shoot that elk." Only one of the 14 targets were an elk, but to her when you shoot at all it's at an elk. She actually did really good at identifying the animals. She got the mountain goat, sheep, deer, and bear right.

On the second round we were joined by Regan, Mori, Sierra, Savannah, and our good friend Dave. Dave ended up being the babysitter and packed all our kids around. He is such a trooper and a great friend.

Dave & Regan packing kids and me in the background with Porter.

Autumn & Dave

Dave and all the kids (except Savannah who was in Regan's pack) Ahhh cute!

Dave packing Autumn and helping Porter. Also shown is Mori and Sierra.

It felt so good to be shooting again with Brayden. We have many memories of fun shoots with good friends made along the way. I look forward to doing more of it with the kids. I hope they like it as much as their mom and dad!

The Best B-Day Present Possible

As a warning, this is going to be a long post.

As some may know, for my birthday Brayden surprised me with a trip to Kauai, HI. He announced it on Thursday (May, 21st) and I had to be packed and ready to go early Saturday morning. So I had one day to get everything ready. Brayden's sister Jen had this trip to hike the NaPali Coast Trail planned for months in advance. I knew about it, but I had no plan of going. The group included Carol (Brayden's mom), Marilyn (Brayden's aunt), Jen (B's sister), Carrie (B's sister), Robby (B's brother), Laurel (Robby's girlfriend), Janice (Jen's friend), and Phil (Jen's friend). It was an awesome group and we all got along great. Carol, Marilyn, Carrie and I arrived the evening of Saturday May 23rd. We didn't have time to do much besides grab a bite to eat on the way to our rental condo. It was dark so we didn't see much.

Day two we woke and packed our backpacks and left for our three day hike. We hiked 10 miles, four to Hanakapi-ai waterfalls and six to our campsite for the night. It ended up raining half the day and we were drenched by the time we made it to camp. Not only from the rain, but from multiple river crossings where everyone (except Robby) at least slipped ankle deep in the river. One good thing about Hawaii is when you get wet you don't get cold, just wet.

The next day we split up and Jen, Phil, and I went to check out the Hanakoa waterfall while the rest of the group went on to the beach. The falls were beautiful and well worth the two mile detour to get there. There is a known band of "hippies" that live on the beach year round. We could hear them not to far off on the way to the beach. We were invited to join, but decided to head on down to the rest of the group. I'm sure I could have had more exciting things to write about if I had joined! Our group of three arrived at Kalalau Beach at around 4:00 p.m. The rest of the evening was full of relaxation and exploration. It was an amazing beach with an unbeatable panoramic view. I had a great time standing ankle deep in the ocean and lying on the beach soaking up the sun.

On our final day of the hike we woke bright and early and hit the trail by 7:00 in the morning. I was not looking forward to hiking the 11 miles out, but surprisingly it was not near as bad as I thought. Jen, Janice, and I broke ahead of the rest and made great time. There was no rain and it was a beautiful day. We ate lunch at Hanakapi'ai Beach around noon and waited for the second batch of hikers (Robby, Laurel, and Phil) to complete the two miles left. We completed the hike around 2:30 p.m. It felt really good to be done and to take my backpack off for the last time. I was sweaty, tired, and had a stench I had never smelled on me before, but I felt amazing!

The next couple days we hit the tourist attractions and just relaxed. We hit a luau on our way out of town where Robby proposed to Laurel. It was a fun ending to our stay in Kauai. I was sad to leave, but I was very excited to get back to the family.

Panoramic View of Kalalua Beach

The Napali Coast Beauty!

The Napali Coast Hikers

Needless to say this was an amazing vacation. I love my husband for being so generous with this birthday present. It was a great get away. It was my first time to leave the kids, and I missed them. I'm glad I was able to do it though. Also thanks to Jen for planning and arranging the trip. She did a great job. She is definitely the adventerous one in the Richmond family.

T-Ball

We bought Autumn and Porter a T-Ball set. Porter LOVES it. He will play with it for a long time by himself playing hitter, pitcher, and catcher. So far he has a pretty good swing. He is showing promise to becoming a great ball player. Autumn likes it, but nothing like Porter. She will hit a few times then she's pretty much done. She also still lacks the coordination to make much happen.

The Biking Duo

We finally got Porter and Autumn little tricycles. They have loved zipping around on them. So far they just scoot with their feet, but they can get going pretty fast. It's fun to see them having so much fun together.

My Little Musicians!

I am hoping Autumn and Porter will grow up loving music, so these first signs do my heart good.

Autumn playing her princess piano.

I was watching some of April's LDS Conference (I know I'm way behind) with Porter and Autumn in the room. I didn't think they were paying attention, but while they were eating a snack Porter started singing and waving his arms around. I couldn't figure out what he was doing then realized that he had watched the conductor leading the choir and was copying him. Autumn then copied Porter. It was super cute to see. Here is some video of them in action.

Easter Outfits

So what else do you do when you get new outfits for Easter besides WRESTLE! As you can tell Autumn is not thrilled about the idea. . . .

but that's okay, because there is always the after wrestling cuddles.

Porter is like his mom when he watches TV. He gets sucked in and transports into another world. He likes his new duds though.

He's usually a happy kid.

Autumn is excited that she got to tackle dad and be victorious.

Here is her cute new dress and her pretty hair. She was so excited when we put her dress on. I told her she was so pretty and she walked around with a big smile and I could tell she agreed with me.