Great Weekend at the Ranch!!

We enjoyed a really nice time at the ranch for opening weekend of deer season. Dwaine's parents joined us out there and watched the kids so I could go sit in the stand with Dwaine while he was hunting...
Looks like I'm good luck! This deer came out right as the sun was starting to rise. My eyes apparently had not yet adjusted 'cause I never actually saw it before Dwaine shot it. Good thing his eyes are better than mine! I was so relieved when he shot this deer early because I was super worried that I was not going to be able to sit there for very long without having to go pee. I really did NOT want to be the reason his hunt was ruined!

We had just finished up our venison from last year, so I'm glad to be able to fill the freezer again!
Thanks to Alli the photographer, we were able to get this great shot of both of us with our trophy. Dwaine was excited when we walked up to it, cause he actually has a very unique rack- a 12 point with some drop kickers that curled and twisted around the back side of his head (you can't see them in this pick).

Hiking and enjoying nature!!

As you can see we don't usually do a lot of grooming while at the ranch, but somehow they still manage to look cute!!

Halloween Festivities!!!

Fall is one of our favorite times of the year. Great weather, pumpkin patches, carnivals, Halloween... what's not to love? The whole family looks forward to it all year. I can't tell you how many times we had to answer the question, "How much longer till Halloween?"

Showing off the face paintings they got at a little church carnival right around the corner from our house. They had bouncy houses and slides, carnival games, an exotic animal show, etc- it was all very small town, no frills, no fuss but I have to say I really appreciate that sometimes! The kids must have climbed up and slid down the moonwalk slide about 50 times, each played a handful of games, won a bag of prizes including the stuffed animal Alli is showing off in the above pic, and got their faces painted- 13 dollars very well spent!!!

TJ's dragon- he loved it and was not at all happy when it came time to wash it off in the bath that night.

And Alli's lion face. Is that cute or what?

Picking out pumpkins at the local pumpkin patch. They each get to pick one and then later design a face for daddy to carve into it. Alli was waving at the cars going by on the street like a beauty queen. She cracks me up sometimes.

Me with all 3 of my kiddos- Wow, saying that is going to take some getting used to!

Alli posing and pointing at the pumpkins.

Showing off the pumpkin she picked out.

He and daddy really wanted to get the big round one on the left in the pic, but it was a little out of the budget so he went with a smaller skinnier one instead.

Can you guess who designed which pumpkin?
I was pretty impressed with both of them.

And for Halloween night...

A Bollywood princess and Darth Vader ready to Trick-or-Treat

Again with Alli's posing- all her idea.

The first stop is always Nana Pam's house and the kids love this one cause they know they will get a little toy in addition to their candy.

Enjoying a little of the night's loot. There was so much more than what you see here. It's ridiculous how much candy we have in the house right now- doing my best to ration it out in reasonable amounts. Daddy is enjoying it every bit as much as the kids- he's such a candy addict!

Darth Vader revealed!!!

Very revealed!