Western Hunting and Conservation Expo 2010

We had a great weekend at the Western Hunting and Conservation Expo in Salt Lake City. We attended Feb. 12th & 13th. My awesome sister Tamara took care of Autumn and Porter so we could just relax and enjoy our time there. (Not that we don't enjoy the kids, but all you parents know it's good to have alone time every now and then!) After applying for hunts, attending seminars, and helping John Bair, our good friend and auctioneer, we enjoyed a yummy dinner and a concert by JoDee Messina. Saturday we checked out the booths and attended more seminars. One was by Carl Malone. He was pretty funny to listen to. He didn't have anything written down and he was all over the place with his topics of discussion. It was almost like a sermon. He gave his views on service, raising kids (for him whippings are the key), Mormons, and a little bit of hunting. The best part about Saturday was attending the newly formed Full Curl Society, a fundraiser group with wild sheep as the benefactors. At this I drew a DALL SHEEP hunt! It is a hunt worth about $20,000, and will be fully guided. For those who do not know what a dall sheep is, here is a photo.

Needless to say I am a little bit excited. It will be an awesome experience and will challenge me physically and mentally. Here we are at the Saturday night dinner before the Josh Turner concert. I am on cloud 9 from winning the dall sheep hunt.

Here is the handsome Josh Turner performing. He was really entertaining and we had a great time. Brayden even asked me to dance a couple times which made the night even better.

Happy 3rd Birthday Twins!

On January 25th Autumn and Porter turned three years old. It really has gone by so fast. I was looking at their baby pictures and I cannot believe how fast they are growing up. I love my babies. They had a fun birthday party with their cousins Sierra and Savannah, and their friends Trevon and Tatum. We had a camping themed cake to go with the sleeping bags they received from us. Autumn helped make the cake, at least she helped to make a bigger powdered sugar mess. I was pretty happy with how it turned out.

Grandma and Pa Richmond were at our house the week before their birthday and gave them MegaBlocks which they absolutely love. Porter really likes to make bridges for his car track out of the blocks. They also received puzzles, golf clubs, walkie-talkies, footballs, and play dough. They loved opening their presents and eating their cake.

Christmas 2009

This Christmas was so much fun with the twins. They started catching on to what the whole thing is about. Porter was brave and sat on Santa's lap requesting his race track and cars. Autumn was in line and I could tell she was getting progressively apprehensive. When it came her turn she declined sitting on his lap and opted for a wave instead. Brayden teased her that Santa wouldn't bring her baby doll since she didn't sit on his lap. She was worried and would say, "I not sit on Santa's lap. I not get baby doll."

We headed to Grandma and pa Richmond's in Blanding for Christmas. All the family was there except for Stewart and Carrie who live in Alaska. It was so much fun to have all the kids playing together. Autumn and Porter LOVE their cousins. Porter especially loves it when Coleman is around so he can play with a boy cousin. They also love their uncles and aunts and they were spoiled with attention the whole time we were there.

Christmas Eve was a special night with the reading of the Christmas story and the little ones acting out the parts. Sierra and Coleman were Mary and Joseph, Nana was an angel, Autumn was a shepherd and Porter was one of the wisemen. They all did great. The Elves visited and left some new pajamas.

Christmas morning was not a disappointment. The kids were overwhelmed with a bombardment of presents and they were happy with what they received. They had fun playing with their new toys. Porter loved all his cars and his race track. Autumn was thrilled to get a baby doll from Santa and also loved her purse with little dogs in it.

There was about two feet of snow, so we had to get the kids out to play in it. Grandpa Larry shovels the snow into a pile off of their deck and this year it was a good sized tower. The twins did their best getting to the top. They had a lot of fun for about a half hour then they were done.

Christmas Tree Hunting

This year we had better luck hunting deer than a Christmas tree. It was a tough year to find one that was just right. It was still fun to have an excuse to get out and enjoy the beauty of winter. Autumn and Porter love going for rides, so it was worth it. They liked the snow and they were excited about their new gloves.

Here are some pics by the decorated tree.