Christmas Tree 2009

We have made cutting down our own Christmas tree one of our first family traditions. This year we went up Cedar Mountain to get our tree. I would like to direct everyone's attention to the picture of me with the chainsaw first. Remember that kids magazine that had a picture on back and it had a lot of things wrong with the picture and you were supposed to figure out what was wrong? Let's play that game with this picture. First of all why isn't the chain on the chainsaw? That's because the chainsaw was working perfectly until we got ready to cut our tree down, and it took me about a half hour (until dark) to fix it. Second, isn't there about 2 feet of snow? Yes. So why is Ryan wearing shorts? Good question! If the picture showed my lower legs, you would see how brite red they were from walking through 2 feet of snow for about an hour looking for the perfect tree. Nice call on the shorts knuckle head. As you can see in the pictures Rod, Katie, and their cute girls came with us. The girls loved it. They were tromping through the snow and getting trompled by Duke having a blast. It took us until after dark to have the trees loaded and heading home. We both found great trees and had a great trip.

Well we had a wonderful Thanksgiving over at "D's" house. Nat made a delicious Turkey and the decor was so fun.(Your awesome noodle Thank You)!Everyone helped and brought different dishes.We even invented some(that banana pie)yum!! It was a blast Rod, Ryan, Aunt Kathy and Ky had some serious football going and Grandma Cindy even had a diving catch!! We also decorated Gingerbread cookies and lil Kams had a coloring contest. Good Times all around. We sure missed the Panguitch Party hopefully see everyone at Christmas Time. Just wanted to say Thanks to everyone, and Im grateful for all the Fam. Sure do love ya' all!!

Dad's Elk Hunt

This year my dad drew an elk tag in area 22 in Nevada. This is one of the best areas in the state for hunting elk. My dad spent a few weekends over the past few months out scouting and preparing for his hunt. I was able to go with him the first time he went out to scout. We were able to call in some big bulls as the rut had just recently started. It was a cool experience. The hunt started this past Friday so we drove up Wednesday afternoon and started scouting. We saw some good bulls every time we went out and felt like we had a good plan for opening morning. When Friday morning came around we woke up at 3:30 AM and got out to the spot we had been seeing some good bulls. When we got out to the trail head there were a couple other hunters headed towards the same general area and one of them was with a guiding service. We were a little worried that they would mess up our hunt, but we stuck to our plan. We started our hike up the mountain and eventually got ahead of the other hunters. At first light we spotted some elk up the mountain a lot higher than we had planned on going. We decided to pursue these elk. We saw a few decent bulls as we headed up the mountain, but not the one we wanted. We kept climbing and climbing. My dad was wearing down but he kept pushing. We ended up hiking over 3 miles all up hill. When we got on the bulls we had spotted early in the morning we saw that there was a great bull and a couple smaller bulls. We made our way towards the bulls and found a great spot about 280 yards out. We watched the bulls feed out of some thick brush and into the open. My dad got set and drilled the big one on his first shot and dropped him. We were stoked! After he shot elk started coming out all over the mountain. I had taken my video camera and got it all on film. It was awesome! Now the work began. Thankfully John Zarate was with us, he is a taxidermist and made skinning and quartering the bull look easy. We packed the quarters into the bottom and hung them on a tree. Then we strapped the head and cape to my back and I got to pack it over 3 miles back to the razor. I am still recovering. We found out that night that Humberto Baeza from Mesquite was camped just above us and he had his horses with him. We went and talked to Humberto and he was happy to take his horses up the mountain to pack the meat out. Thank You Humberto!!! Those horses saved us a lot of work. This was one of the best hunts we have been able to go on. The only thing we would have done different is have Cody there for the whole thing. He wasn't able to come up until Friday night, so he missed the kill, but was able to come help get the meat out. My dad did a great job. I wasn't sure he was going to make it up that mountain, but he kept pushing and was able to take a great bull. We had the full hunting experience!

Halloween 2009

Well Mindy and I went back and forth on what we were going to be for Halloween. Mindy wanted me to be Adam Lambert from American Idol. Babe, I'm not a homo. Then she wanted to be Rob and Big from MTV. I liked the idea, but trying to be a large Black man when you're a skinny white girl doesn't work to well:) I was dead set on dressing up as the two biggest players, Jeff and Bucky. The Big Players Club is something our softball guys argue over evry time we get together. Basically we pick someone out and say why he is the biggest player. For instance, Bucky has his own 1500 sq ft bachelors pad, a brand new Ford F-150, a new girl every week, only has to work 20 hours a week, and benches 300 lbs, he is a huge player:) You get the picture. Since Bucky and Jeff are always instigating the big player arguments, Mindy and I dressed up as them. We wore fanny packs that had items that fit Jeff and Bucky. Jeff eats about 5 doughnuts a day and gets migraines all the time. I'm sure they go hand in hand. So I filled my fanny pack with doughnuts and exedrin. Mindy had a nintendo paddle since Bucky plays Halo about 40 hours a week, and protein bars since Bucky is big into hitting the gym. When we got to the party about half of the people there were dressed as Jeff. It was a good time.

Please Pray for Mike and his family

Just over a week ago our softball team played in the Halloween sofbtall tournament in St. George. During the game our pitcher Mike Johnson was hit by a line drive right between the eyes. Mike suffered shattered eye sockets, a broken nose, a split eyebrow, a bad blood clot on his forehead, and blood on his brain. Mike was life flighted to Salt Lake City and was in ICU for the next 2 days. Today Mike underwent reconstructive surgery on his eye sockets, his nose, and had titanium plates placed on his skull. Mike is one of the greatest guys I have ever played ball with. He loves the game, and he is an awesome teammate. He does not deserve to go through what he is going through. I am asking for everyone to pray for Mike and his family, and if you would like to make a small donation to help Mike cover his medical bills I know their family would really appreciate it.

Fall Festivities

Fall came so quickly, it has been busy and exciting. Ry and I have been working lots. We finally recieved the smoothie mix hip hip hooray. Ry has been working so hard, and I am so proud of him check out the website www.ourblendz.com. My brother bobby moved to Seattle and if Alice doesnt make you enjoy fall i don't know what will.(thats a real leaf). My mom and I walk-ran a 5K for big brother big sister it was a great time we even dressed up she was the nurse I was the injured patient. You rock mom!Fun Times. Just a little update till Ry reveals the great Halloween post. By the way Im so excited for the holidays might put christmas lights up tomorrow hehe.

For the Mummies...approved by Mr. Rhino himeself

Halloween is coming so dang fun!!! Ry and I are trying to decide what to be(does anyone remember when ry was KID ROCK so funny if you don't just picture white trash ryan swinging his long hair with his wife beater hilarious). Anyways i made these yummy pizzas for ryan quick and easy most important delicious thumbs up from Ryan!! I saw them on studio5 at the gym so check it out on the website. Fun Halloween activity for the Mummies heheh. Speaking of Mummies I wanted to give a special shout out to the Granmummies for being so awesome. Grandma Jackie thanks for the awesome time on the family hunt you always make it so special for everyone. Kyler and Kolter absoulutely loved it. They were so glad they got to sleep in the "garage with kenzie",eat tons of delicious food, play in the fire, and pray to kill big deer.Thank You Thank You!! Grandma Cinny thanks for always being so sweet. We are so lucky to have you. Thanks for watchin the Dukster while we are gone. He sure loves you. Dont let him get to rowdy on you. We sure appreciate both of our Mummies thanks for all you do for us. Happy Halloween see ya on the sidewalks .Trick or Treat.

Even Princesses Have to Poop

Kenzie learned from Grandma Jackie's example that the best time to get some scripture reading in is while taking a pooper. What a silly girl!

Lake Trip

With Cody and Amy back in our part of the world we finally got the boat out and headed to Lake Mead. The sexy girl doing a board grab is my super cool wife Mindy. The guy with buldging biceps and chicken legs getting big air would be me. The Paris Hilton look alike in the sweet Fox sunglasses would be Kenzie "The Princess" Hughes, and the cute little Cody look alike would be Collin.

Asia'a Birthday

Our niece Asia loves horses so for her 4th birthday Mindy and I got her this little horse. I wish I would have got a picture of her face when she opened it. I think she liked it. She is so cute!

Lake Powell

Every year we go to Lake Powell with the Stuart's. This year we took a long boat ride back to Rainbow Bridge. If you look really close you can see my six pack in the picture of me holding up the bridge.(Mindy made me take a picture like that) Mindy wouldn't let me take a picture of her perfect little bum, but I was able to get sexy pic of Mindy in her swim wear. Babe you are smokin hot! If Sports Illustrated Swimsuit sees this photo you can contact Mindy's agent Ryan Hughes:)

2009 Deer Hunt

This year has been a great year for hunting. We saw a lot of great bucks and we were able to fill a couple tags. I took my buddy Blake out and showed him this nice buck and he was able to get it with his muzzle loader. There is a couple bigger ones that have been with this buck that I hunted during the archery and muzzle loader and hopefully I will be able to find during the rifle hunt, so I didn't mind letting Blake take this buck since he only had a muzzle loader tag. The picture with my dad and I was a buck we got on the archery hunt. Nice work dad! The picture of me in boots shorts and church socks was on the archery hunt after we went to church in Pine Valley. Everyone kept taking pictures like it was a big deal. I don't see the problem with this attire. The picture with Kenz and I was also an archery hunt adventure. Kenz insisted on sleeping with uncle Ryan and since Mindy wasn't there that night I figured I would sleep with the next cutest girl in the world. Kenz and I thought it would be a good idea to take a picture to send to Mindy to tell her goodnight. I found out that Kenzie's favortie activities while sleeping are talking, kicking, and tapping me on the back just to make sure I was still there. What a silly girl

Going Hunting

With our new Polaris RZR in the back of the truck the only place for Duke was up front with me. Since Mindy was at a show Duke and I decided to send her a few pictures to let her know how much we miss her. As you can see Duke loves to pose for the camera. He is such a goof ball.

Day Hike

We went for a day hike at Karnaville Falls. Ry wanted to do some work on our rental property in Cedar, so we went up early and hit the trail. It was a fun hike. I think Duke liked it the most. The water was super cold but so worth the good pics. Did I mention Duke enjoyed the hike.

Good Times This Year

I just wanted to share some of the good times Mindy and I have had this year. We work hard so we can play hard. We are very blessed and we are grateful for all we have. We have such great families and friends and we have enjoyed the time we get to spend with all of you.

Back Home

Our Europe Trip was truly amazing. We actually sold out early in Ramstein so we got to tour a little extra in Frankfort.By the way everyone at Ramstein was so friendly and helpful it was so fun working with the people on base. Since we sold out we got to go to the best zoo in Europe and saw some real old animals, and Ry and I were able to attend the Frankfort temple on our anniversary which was quite a treat. Germany was so beautiful tons of green rolling hills and wildflowers and cute deer that got Ryan excited for the deer hunt. We feel so blessed to have gone on this trip and experience everything we did. It was a trip of a life time. We sure missed everyone while we were gone and our glad to be back stateside.

When in Rome

Italy was awesome, so many sites to see, and so much history. We started out by visiting the Roman Colosseum where gladiators battled to the death. It was crazy that they were able to create such an amazing structure so long ago. There were many beautiful fountains and ruins all over Rome. We enjoyed seeing St. Peter's Basillica, it was definitely a great and spacious building. Next we were off to Florence. Florence was a great city, crowded, but cool. We saw the statue David by Michael Angelo, it was bigger than I thought and his pee pee was showing so Amber liked it. We experienced gelato on top of waffles which was delicious. The Italian Pizza was definitely a let down. The food situation wasn't looking good from Italy, thank goodness for McDonalds(the most crowded place in Europe). Traveling in and out of Florence got interesting a couple times, we spent hours waiting for bus number 2...bus number 2 never showed up. Our favorite Italian word "eschusi". It basically means excuse me. We drove out to the Italian coutryside and saw hundreds of grape vineyards, but unfortunately they were plucked clean. We saw the Leaning Tower of Pisa. This is the most popular mistake in the world. Italy was a great start to our trip, we really enjoyed our time there.

Switzerland

Breathtaking is what they should call Interlaken, Switzerland. It was so beautiful. We stayed in a cute little hostel with lots of people that snored,but that didnt matter because it was amazing. We started off with a good meal at Hooters, and got ready for some adventure. Ry, Amber and I all decided to go Paragliding. It was so fun the instructors were awesome. What a fun ride. Our second ride was on mountain bikes around a beautiful lake. The scenery was so pretty and the hills were pretty steep or should I say extremely steep. By the end of our bike ride it wasnt the scenery taking our breath away it was those hills!! wow. Our last day we snowboarded in the ALPS. Oh yeah we boarded the ALPS!!Even though we almost got ran over by a bus and the fondue was bad we didnt want to leave, but we moved on to Milano then London.