Holte Elk Hunt 2012

Today is opening day for big game with a rifle.  Landon and I made plans for my Mom and Dale to come up and watch the boys so we could go hunting.  I have a cow elk tag and a general deer tag and Landon has a general deer tag and a mule deer doe tag.  Our main purpose for hunting today was to fill my elk tag.  We were going to tent camp but a friend offered to let us use his 5th wheel camper that was set up at another friends old homestead.  We left Friday afternoon to go scout hunting spots and get a jump on hunting Saturday morning.  This is the view of where we were staying from the main road.

A view from the camper.

Another view; notice the cows?

Home Sweet Home

It may have been old, but it was clean.  Apparently dryer sheets keep mice away.  The bed was comfy and we even had electricity to watch Country Strong last night on the boys' DVD player cozied up on the couch with the little space heater fired up.  I'm sure this is the campers final resting place, but it serves a purpose and I have Bruce Unger to thank for a comfy place to stay.

Looking out of the camper is an old house, not sure how long it has been since someone lived there, but it looks pretty rough.

More scenery, and more cows.  Did you notice above that I thanked Bruce for a comfy place to stay not a comfy place to sleep?  We had the pleasure of listening to cows all night.  It appears they have the same patterns for sleeping as they do eating and pooping - completely random.  Needless to say I did not get much sleep.  

We got up and headed out...

This is where we hunted.  We were out on the ridge about 15 minutes before legal shooting time hoping to see something moving through the coulees.  It was fore casted to be windy but we only had a slight breeze.  We spotted the hind end of an elk and decided to head back around to see what it was.  We found a 5x5 bull by himself.  We watched him for a minute and headed back the other way.  We hiked around for an hour or so then stopped to glass whatever we could see.  Not seeing anything and Landon needing to see what was over the next hill (which can lead you farther from the truck than you'd like) ended up with us separating.  Landon headed down the coulee to see what was over the next hill and I headed my zig zagged way back to the truck.  I got back to the truck at 8:45 and grabbed a bite for breakfast and took a seat in the truck with the binoculars and spotting scope.  I looked around, didn't see anything, waited, looked around, waited, saw a little speck that I assumed was Landon, looked around some more, and waited.  Then after waiting for what seemed like 5 hours, I spied some elk, and they were MOVING.  RIGHT TOWARD ME!  I think I said something like, "elk, elk, elk, crap, gun, elk, hee hee hoo, elk...", grabbed the 7mm off the drivers seat, put one in the chamber, ran to the other side of the truck, leaned over the hood, lost the elk behind a hill, ran to the other side of the truck, found the head of a cow, ran back to the  other side of the truck, leaned over the hood, and shot a cow broadside just behind the front left shoulder.  She did a little dance, or at least I think she did.  I debated shooting again but didn't want to ruin any meat just in case the wind or adrenaline took over and I wasn't as steady as I thought I was.  She did another little dance and hit the ground.  The other elk, another cow and two bulls, I think, took off.  I did a little dance as I ran to her from the truck, did another little dance, then yelled for Landon (who was up wind from me in what was a very breezy coulee).  I did another little who hoo and began pacing, looking for Landon, looking at my first elk, and a few more who hoos.  Then it was 9:11.  I called Carter and then my Dad.  Some other hunters I know stopped and chit chatted while I waited for Landon to get back.  He came up from the other side of the truck and looked at me with a "sorry, didn't see anything" smile while shaking his head 'no'.  I said, "I'm already done, she's dead."  The look on his face was priceless.  He couldn't see the elk from where he came up and he didn't believe me.  

 My first elk in three elk tags.

 We always hear stories about how the elk were right by the road, they ran in front of us, they shot themselves and climbed into the truck right before our eyes.  We have never been fortunate enough to have that happen with anything.  This picture shows how close to the truck we were.  That speck just out from the hood is the elk.

We had to drag it all of 100 yards to the road.  We headed home and were back by noon.  There are several high points to this hunting trip:

I spent an entire night away from my boys (the first from Henry, and only the second away from Carter-the first time was to have Henry)

I made it through the whole trip without even the start of a blister

I did it all (mostly) by myself (except for the gutting part.  I have, but don't if Landon is along)

Carter looks at these pictures and makes up a story about how it was his elk, his Uncle Bruce (funny how Bruce Unger=Uncle Bruce) and how we have 6 elk hanging in the garage.  I sure hope the imaginary game warden doesn't stop by.  Now we just have a few deer tags to fill and will mostly likely do it with the boys in tow.

3 Little Pumpkins

Pumpkins in our neck of the prairie get eaten by deer if they are carved.  The deer won't touch them if the are whole, but as soon as you carve them and put them within reach they'll eat every bit but the stem.  We decided to put a pumpkin on Carolyn's grave since she liked Halloween so much.  She dressed up like a witch every year to hand out candy and loved to see the boys in their costumes.  Carter thought Dave needed one too.  So he painted these pumpkins for Dave (left) and Carolyn (right).  He named them Avery and Lars, not sure which is which.  He took Dave his pumpkin and we took the 4 wheeler up to the cemetery to drop off Carolyn's.  He picked a good spot for it next to some flowers, checked out her headstone, told her he missed her and was ready to go.  Hopefully the deer leave the pumpkin alone.  

Henry and His 'NEW' Hat

I just think he's the cutest little boy ever!  Although this handsome child is worthy of a post by himself, the reason for this post is not just to display his 'new' hat but to tell a bit of the story behind it.  Yesterday our neighbor, Dave, brought over two well worn and even a bit dirty hats.  He apologized more than once for the hats being dirty, to which my reply was I can easily wash them.  The ties were either missing or had fallen off and were hand stitched back on. The names Leif Sorensen and Lars Sorensen are under the bill and on the tag in Carolyn's perfect block penmanship.  These hats are warm, filled with down with a cotton lining.  I know I've seen pictures of Leif and Lars wearing these hats when they were my boys' age.  These hats (the other is red) are at least 20 years old if not older and no doubt full of memories.  The Sorensen's are a family very similar to ours.  They have two boys a couple years apart, they hunt and fish, they garden and bake, they ride four wheelers and get dirty.  Carolyn hung on to these hats for a reason, maybe sentimental, maybe because they were too expensive to throw out, maybe to pass down to her grand kids, but probably not specifically for the Holte boys.  Whatever the reason, she hung on to them.  I'm sure that Dave has started to go through Carolyn's things, both stuff she saved and her day to day things, and came across these hats.  I can only imagine the emotions he went through trying to decide what to do with the hats.  I've gone through a handful of emotions myself since Dave was here yesterday and it didn't really didn't hit me until today...Carolyn is gone, we can't bring her back, and my boys will never really know how great she was.  I am thrilled that we, my boys, have something that must have meant a great deal to her.  At the same time my heart breaks for Dave.  How hard it must be for him to not only go on without the love of his life, but to go through all the things of their life together, deciding what to keep and what to find new homes for.  I, we, are blessed to have known Carolyn and Dave and I am grateful for the memories that we have of them.  Right now memories aren't enough for the boys, they need material things to help them remember and these hats are something that I will cherish just as much as I think Carolyn did.  My boys will wear them and someday I'll give them back to Leif and Lars.  Hopefully, they appreciate that I kept them as much as I appreciate receiving them first.

Carter's Forklift

 My brother, Andy, flew up a few days before Mother's Day to hang out with us.  Carter got into the Legos this past winter and was super excited for Uncle Andy to come up and play Legos with him.  Carter wasn't building much on his own but loved to play with whatever was built for him.  He requested a forklift.

"Posing" with his forklift.  The forklift actually worked and Andy made a little video of it.

Carter's Forklift video

We tried to put the Legos away for the summer but they kept getting out of the box and now we're back into building full swing with a constant Lego mess in the basement.  Carter and I are currently working on a village of all the Lego sets Andy and I had when we were little.  Our genius Mom laminated the instructions and some are 25 years old but still like new.  However, she didn't start that until well after we had our collection established.  Thank goodness for the internet.  I've been able to find  missing instructions for quite a few.  Just today Carter started building on his own.  First he tried to build a car but ended up needing some help after he had all the pieces he wanted on it.  I had some things that needed to be done so he started our next project without me.  By the time I got back downstairs he had found about 1/4 of the pieces we needed for the Semi and Trailer.  I'm hoping all this time we spend playing Legos is just the beginning of his work as an engineer or architect.  Stay tuned for pictures of Carter and his village.

Canning - 1st Attempt

I may have planted a few too many seeds of the wrong kind of veggies in the garden this year.  The seeds were given to me and I only planted them so they weren't wasted.  We ended up with a zillion patty pan squash, 1/2 a zillion summer squash, some kind of winter squash that isn't ready yet, and more zucchini than I wanted.  I've given some away, made some freezer jam, and made some refrigerator sweet summer squash pickles.  THIS is my first shot at really canning.  Actually boiling jars, with food in them, FOORREEVVEERR.  I don't understand how it can take a kettle of hot water over an hour to come to a boil on high heat, but it did.  I guess I should have started the water when I covered the zucchini with ice for 2 hours.  So this is the result of my first real canning experience.  I started at 11ish and finished at 3:30ish.  May be too much work for me, although, there were 2 hours of sitting time in that 4 1/2.  Yay for 4 pints of Bread and Butter Zucchini Pickles.

The recipes said 5 pints... 

Never Too Young for a Fishing Tournament

 The weekend of the Governor's Cup Walleye Tournament they put on a tournament for kids.  This year was our first year entering.  The guys tournament was cancelled for the day due to high winds so Landon and Casey were able to come with us.  I wouldn't have been able to do it by myself with the two boys which is why this year was our first.  Henry did what he does best.  Hang out and snack.

Check the line. 

 Yep, looks good.

Carter's day started out a little slow but Dad found a better spot and Carter started reeling in the fish.  Here he is showing me his first catch.  They throw everything back so most kids just fill their goody bag with water and carry their fish to the weigh station.

There really is a fish in the bag. 

 As you can see by the hand next to the scale, these are little fish.

 The crowd at the kids pond.  It was pretty packed.  They had 80 kids entered in the tournament with 251 fish and 3 turtles caught.  Carter really was more interested in the other kids and their fish.  Fishing is an everyday thing for him, so no big deal.

Carter got 6th place for his age group (5 and under) weighing .28 pounds of fish.  He got to pick his prize, bypassing the toys and picking a tackle box that he gave to Henry since he already has one.  Everyone got a shirt and a goody bag with fun kids stuff like whistles (yay?) and candy (double yay?).  Henry caught one fish but we didn't have it weighed.  After the tournament they fed the kids lunch and had different water related activities for them to do.  We ate and headed home with two tired and cranky boys.  Next year the rest of the kids better watch out.  The Holte Boys will have another year of fishing under their belts and will be hungry for a 1, 2 finish.

Henry's Potty Training

"Henry, it is time for a shower.  Let's go in and go pee first."

One Last Swim

Last Sunday some friends invited us to go out on the lake with them for the last swim of Summer.  Although it was 90 degrees with a bright shining sun, it really wasn't warm enough for this kid to go swimming.  I didn't dare ask the water temperature but it couldn't have been more than 72.  I didn't swim but I was willing to do a little tubing as long as I could go right from the boat to the tube and let the splashes acclimate me to the frigid lake before getting dumped off by our gracious hosts.  Tony and Amy have two girls, Natalie (almost 3) and Aleah (a week older than Henry, 1.75), who love the water.  Carter ate his weight in dried apricots and had a stomach ache so he wasn't interested in swimming or tubing.  That was until he saw Aleah and Amy tubing.  Carter and his first experience tubing...

Trying to give Dad and Tony a thumbs up.  He wouldn't let go of the handles though.

One thumb up.  His little arms are so short that he was almost over the edge of the tube so he got more water in his face than he would have liked.  Next time we'll take goggles.  Amy and I have plans to invent a tube cover that has a handle about where our elbows are so that little people can sit a bit further back and still hang on.  We're going to make millions.

Henry was getting fussy (it was nearly 6 and when it is time to eat, well, get the food, NOW!) so we threw him on between us.  He wouldn't lay down, but he liked to sit up and ride.

Amy and I did a few miles, got dumped a couple times, and chit chatted our way into the bay on a lake of glass.  What a great way to end the weekend.

We had a blast with the Fasts and can't wait until next summer to do it again.

THANK YOU TONY, AMY, NATALIE, AND ALEAH FOR A GREAT AFTERNOON!

The Curly Haired Monster and His First Haircut

June 24, 2012

Henry has curls.  Lots of curls.  The boys were going to be ring bearers in a wedding on June 30th and I was leaving the haircuts up to the bride, Avery.  I had been telling her for months that it was her call; I would do whatever she wanted.  Avery never did decide, but Dad said shaggy needed a trim, he was starting to look like a girl (I disagreed.  He is all boy and then some).

 June 25, 2012

I made the call and the beautician came to us.  My friend and boss' wife, aka Aunt Kristie, was kind enough to come to the house for a quick trim.  Henry was a little unsure about the clippers, but when Kristie started combing and cutting he was in a trance.  I love getting my hair washed, combed, cut, etc. and it appears Henry got that gene from me.

 He looks much older without the curls.  I have a philosophy when it comes to hair cuts.  It will grow back.  The curls are starting to come back and I don't intend to cut them, at least for now.  We'll see what Dad says about that though.

July 29, 2012