Our Thankful Thanksgiving!!

So this year we were able to go and combine the Fairbourns and the Brintons at my sisters house in Utah for Thanksgiving and it turned out to be a BEAUTIFUL day and was really nice to see everyone and catch up with each other. I truly am blessed to be part of such a STRONG and LOVING family and I truly appreciate everything that they have started and taught me and are still teaching me today!! They are the best examples I could ever have in my life and the past two years have truly shown me that this is MY family and they love me and have shown me how to be strong no matter what or who brings you down. Thank you Grandma Fairbourn and Grandma Brinton for bringing into this world such Respectful, Patient, Persevering and Forgiving people. Thank you to all my Aunts and true Uncles for everything they stand for and supporting each other through everything in our lives!!! This is MY family and I am proud to be apart of it! We truly give the Fairbourn and Brinton name the tough and true, loving heritage it was always meant to be.

Cat Season!!!

So the past two weeks we have had our traps set out and all within a week we have caught 3 bobcats and one badger. The first two were females and then the third was this sinister looking Tom, he had one ear that was ripped off and scarred over. Pretty cool looking.  We weren't able to get really good pictures of the first cat because the sun was setting. More pictures and movies on dropbox.
 

So we decided to add a new member to our little family!

For a while now Eric has been going back and forth on trying to decide between getting some lion dogs/hounds or just a regular dog. We thought that maybe we would get an older dog that has been a regular tree dog and has experience and then get a pup and train it under that older dog but we weren't sure that we wanted to whole hound dog chorus at our house all the time. :) Granted the Fox and the Hound is a pretty cute show and a classic!! :) So some of our good friends had some Black Mouth Cur pups and they gave us one. They are basically a cow dog but our friend used them as Coyote decoys as well and he said they would track too if you trained them.
So Eric picked one out and brought her home. She is pretty tiny but will be fun to train and see what she becomes. We named her J.C. She is pretty rowdy and lots of energy of course. I can't wait to start her on the sheds and maybe even bobcats? I guess we will see. I am pretty sure she barked herself hoarse the other night because she just squeaks now and has been pretty quiet all day. :)

So the fishing begins!!

We are by no means any expert fisherman like the famous Ashley Bonser, but we don't have to be. Even though the ice hasn't touched the water yet, we are still managing to pull those ling-a-dings out one after another. They even seem to put up more of a fight because they water temp hasn't dropped below 40 yet and no ice. It always amazes me the different patterns and colors that each one has and the sizes too. Just a few pics from the last harvest Eric and I had. Not bad for one night. I love the sunsets on the lake, especially right now because you can usually catch the moon peaking up early too.

Favorite Season!!!!

So it really has been a long time since I blogged anything and I always sit down to do it but get sidetracked by Pinterest. Yes I am addicted. :) In the time from my last post to now we have basically gotten all of our concrete work done and have been putting in our retaining wall blocks (pictures to come) and hunting and working and volleyball... so really we have been busy. Eric and I weren't able to tag out on our deer this year but we did get Clint his first buck and it was a pretty good one. We decided to try over Cokeville way this year and I must say that I truly enjoyed every minute of it!!. I love new country and it was gorgeous over that way SO MUCH country!!!! I love Fall more and more every year, it truly is a blessing that we get to see all the beautiful colors. Between the misty foggy mornings or the snowy nights and colors, who could ask for anything better! We also upgraded our truck this year. It was either that or pay for a new tranny. They call it the  "Man of Steel" or the "Superman" because of the color. No one in the valley has this color and we intend to keep it that way. :)  (will post pictures)

My "Getting There" Green Thumb..

So we won't be able to plant a garden this year or a flower garden and that may not be for a couple of years either but I wanted to plant something and I really don't know how to keep things alive especially with our water out here, but I wanted to try anyway! The pots came from Gram B and a painted them to give them a pop of color. They are a teal color and my camera makes them look blue but any color would go good with the gray scale of our house . I am a sucker for wildflowers and I am pretty sure I get that from my momma-sun!! :) I love to go in the mountains and see what I can find and even more love to plant them. I figure if they are "wild" then maybe ... they can survive me because they know how to live in Wild Wyoming?.... :) just kidding. I haven't planted all my flowers yet but I want a good selection of wildflowers- guess I am kind of picky.

Full Moon

The other night after Eric and I got off the lake after a long day of good fishing and a broken boat... (getting fixed as I write this thanks to a new kit off Ebay and an amazing mechanic husband) we were sitting outside and noticed off to the east of us that the moon was creeping up behind turtle hill/cottonwood creek and I couldn't believe how big it was. I wish that my camera was better at taking in the colors around here because I live for what the clay hills look like and Gilbert's peak during the season!! I am lucky to live where I live!

 

 

Rain... finally

So the last two weeks have been pretty dreary around here and cold too but it brought the rain with it and we are not complaining. I love to hear the thunder and watch the storm clouds come rollin' in. I would like to capture a lighting strike sometime but I will keep trying. We had a double rainbow right outside of our house and I tried to get both in the picture but couldn't and then the sprinklers were putting off some color so I thought that was cool to snap a pic of that.

Add three more sheds to my list along with five ticks!!!

Eric says they just like me for some reason and whenever we go out, it never fails I always come back with more than he has on him. I heard that using Tea Tree Oil and water helps keep them off but I haven't tried it. The normal bug spray doesn't work. I started taping around my pant legs so they can't get in that way and it helps. I always catch them so I never really have had one actually on my skin just my pant legs. So if anyone out there has suggestions let me know because they have been bad last year and I have a feeling they will be bad again this year!. '

Eric had to work days today and he has been pulling overtime graves this whole week so that we can get some concrete poured for our driveway and deck in the back and I feel bad because he missed out on a B-E-A-UTIFUL day!!! no wind lots of warm sun and all my good luck! Now I only went out for two hours and came back with three sheds but that makes me ahead of Eric :) I can't wait to go again. This year we really didn't know where to go so I just thought I would try a new place we haven't been yet and it did pay off. I walked so much today and I carried the pack so that I could get a bit of a work out I need to wear a pedometer.

Let the hunting begin...

So Wyoming shed hunt opening day isn't until May 1st but we were able to start early this year... No not illegally either  :) Utah lets you take an online course and print off a pass so that you can shed hunt there. So Eric and I decided to head that way and see what we could find. We were basically shooting in the wind because we hadn't seen where the elk and deer have wintered all season but it was a beautiful day and we could use the walking. :) We saw a herd of 20 elk and three bulls that had already started to nub and then a bunch of deer. We walked away with only 1 old deer antler and one old elk shed. Next year we are going to try callin' those parts to see where the herds are staying, so better luck next year.

Family Pictures