WALKER WHAT??!

So, it's true. The meatball has been walking for 2 weeks now. He just turned 11 months. :)

Thanksgiving Partay

We took a quick trip to Vacouver, WA to spend Thanksgiving day with Brandon and Kelly's families (Jon's brother and sister). We enjoyed Brandon's birthday, A thanksgiving morning 3 mile turkey trot, good food, and black friday shopping!
(Below: Kelly, Brandon, Brynne and Jon)

Jay loves Emma!
Aunt Kelly did crafts with all of the cousins. :) They painted and glued feathers on foam turkeys and wrote what they were thankful for and put in into a pilgrim ship.
We then rushed back to enjoy ANOTHER BIG dinner with Brynne's family. We have so many now we have to rent out the church gym! It was a fun night of food, games and fun.
(Below: two of Brynne's favorites...homemade orange rolls and her mom's lemon jello salad.!)
Grandpa Leo Lee, Helen, and Leo's sister Aunt Maryann
We also had the rare occurance of all of the Gatten siblings together! This was because of this little miracle, Gage. He got blessed on the Sunday after TG...the same Sunday that Spike gave his missionary homecoming talk. It was amazing!!
We have a lot to be thankful for this holiday season.

He's Home

Elder Spike Gatten

Brazil, Manaus Mission

2 years

Thank you, people of Brazil, for taking care of my brother.

Or should we say thank you to Elder Gatten for taking care of the people of Brazil?

I think both. :)

Switched Rosters

I am officially announcing my switch from Team Edward

to Team JACOB.

Believe it or not, it's not just because of this picture. It's because seeing Jacob hurt and long for Bella, and be so good to her, melted my heart.

Lucky

It feels amazing to have three guys that love me no matter what.

I am so lucky.

MEATBALL

10 months

-standing up

-taking 1-2 steps

-climbing up whole flights of stairs

-talking lots of jibberish

-eating TONS and not wanting bottles as much

-starting to hold your own in Cade's wrestling matches

-we love you being chubby and cute!

Elk Camp Revealed!

I have been hunting my fair share. But, as one of the first of two girls allowed in this place, I am here to document what "Elk Camp" is really about.

You see, normally it is like a black hole that sucks our husbands away for a while, leaving us home with kids, and a greater-than-normal work load. We hear a few stories about an occasional kill, or funny "boy" stories, never really knowing what they experience.

I am here to tell you... I can see how they get addicted.

There are some factors that just plain are not fun (I've heard about these):

-The 4.5 mile bike ride in. Doesn't sound too bad, right? Well, did I mention that you are pedaling all your gear in a bike trailer, in the dark, through snow, rain, wind, and 1,000 ft. of elevation gain?

-Setting up the tent, in the dark and rain, through stage 1 hypothermia.

-scattered sleep (partly because of being sick, but also because you have to wake up to stoke the fire every 2 hours, or you freeze.)

-packing out anywhere from a 50 to 150 lb. pack up 1,000 ft. of elevation gain in 1 mile in the dark. Oh, and then biking the meat out 4.5 miles and then biking back in uphill 4.5 miles.

Which brings me to my next point-

How absolutely AMAZING of an experience all of this can be.

Now, these are the things that you can never know unless you experience them first hand:

-The pure elation, excitement, and genuine camaraderie that comes with a kill. (Good job Nikell...and Brett!) It is the experienced teaching the inexperienced. Elk are very unique animals and it is a great accomplishment, even moreso than I imagined. It is a group effort all around and it is a lot of work, but nobody complains. It's sensational.

-The peace and serenity of being in the woods from sunup to sundown. Watching wildlife and listening to the God-made sounds (especially an elk bugle. It is majestic!). It gives you time to really think about the ones you love and the things that are important to you. You forget the business of the world you left.

-It brings you back to the basics: FOOD, WATER, SHELTER, and WARMTH. It makes you realize the work our pioneers went through and helps you appreciate our many, many luxuries. It makes you want to eliminate some of the things you don't need as well.
-And lastly, it never EVER gets old waking up on top of the world, and watching the sun rise.

I guess what I learned is, it's a lot more than just "elk hunting".

I can see how they get addicted.