Thanksgiving weekend

We had a great Thanksgiving break. We were sure happy to have a few days off to relax and enjoy! Wednesday, we cleaned in the house and the boys raked leaves at our neighbor's house for 4+ hours. They had help from the Rael kids, which made it fun for them to have someone to visit with. That evening, we put up the tree downstairs and wanted a Christmas movie.

Thursday, the boys all got up early and headed out for their annual Thanksgiving Day pheasant hunt. Uncle Jason, Daniel and Britt and a bunch of Mangus's joined them this year. They had a pretty good morning, and got a few birds. When they were done hunting, they helped grandpa Asay move some cows in preparation for preg testing the next day!

After the boys got home from hunting and helping grandpa, they cleaned up and then we went back out to grandpa and grandma Asays's house to hang out with them before heading over to Powell for Thanksgiving dinner. We had a small group this year, just us, grandpa and grandma Foulger and really Grandma Foulger. Dinner was delicious and it was so nice to be able to spend the day with all of our family!

Friday, we spent the day out at grandpa and grandma Asay's house. The guys all worked outside preg testing grandpa's cows, while the ladies were inside hanging out, putting up grandma's pictures and chatting. It was a beautiful day outside preg testing! When they were finished with cows, they did a little bit of pheasant hunting before it got dark.

Saturday, Christian and the boys went pheasant hunting again with Josh Tippetts for a few hours before heading to help grandpa Asay work cows again. I decided to go over to Powell and run some errands and help grandma Foulger put up her trees. We got all three set up inside and one outside!

Sunday, we had a nice and relaxing day. We went to church and then spent the rest of the day at home. It was so nice to have a day to just be home together as a family after having a busy weekend! We put up our tree and a few Christmas decorations. I love, love, love putting up the tree and decorating for Christmas! It's my favorite!!

Middle School wrestling

Travis was able to finish his frist year of middle school wrestling. With all the new COVID regualations, we weren't sure if there was going to be a season, but they were able to pull it off and have a season even if it was different than normal. This year, there were no tournaments. They had like 5 duals, which, I'll be honest, it was really nice not to have to sit in a gym ALL day long waiting for matches. On the other hand, Travis only wrestled a total of 6 times the whole season. In a normal season, they could easily wrestle 4 times in a tournament. But, we were just happy to have some matches. They also had to sit 6 feet apart when they weren't wrestling and had to wear their face coverings. Travis had a tough year and went 1-5 (wrestling mostly 8th graders), but he learned quite a bit and will be better next year!

Year of the baby buck

Carson and Travis both tried to get deer this year. Travis finished his hunter's safety just in time to shoot one this year. In years past, Christian has taken Carson out and they have been able to get a deer that same day. This year, however, it took a lot more work! They went out last monday before the funeral and then again that evening for just a bit when we got home. They wenta again Tuesday morning, Thursday after school, Friday after school, Monday morning and again Tuesday. Carson was able to get a small buck Friday evening, but Travis still didn't have any luck! Carson was a little disappointed his buck wasn't bigger, but he was happy to finally get one! Aparantly there was a bigger 4x4 by the one he shot, but he was unable to get a good shot at it and went for the smaller one. He made a heart and lung shot, which is why there is so much foaming blood coming from the deer.

Carson had to gut the deer all on his own this year and did a pretty good job..thanks to some pointers from his dad. Since they were never able to get Travis on a buck, they went back out after buck season was over and tried to get him a doe. He was able to get a pretty good sized one and was so excited to finally get a deer! Carson and Christian also both got a pheasant, making for a successful hunting day!

Popcorn!

One of the things I admire about Travis is his drive and determination. If he is passionate about something, he puts his whole heart into it and works hard until the task is complete. This year, he set a goal to grow his very own patch of popcorn with the hope of being able to have enough popcorn kernels to have at least one bowl of popcorn. He did some research about which kinds there were, and finally decided on strawberry popcorn (they are little cobs with red kernels) because it had a growing season that was compatable for this area. He carefully prepped his plot, planted, and diligently watered and weeded his popcorn crop. He encountered problems along the way like raccoons (which he set traps for), wind and watering issues, but he problem solved until the issue was resolved. After months of work and waiting to harvest the cobs and then dry them, he finally got to pop a bowl full of the whitest popcorn you've ever seen (with enough kernels for several more bowls)! Way to work hard and follow through with a goal, Travis! Getting his plot ready. He carefully planted them the correct depth and distance apart.

He found several cobs off the stocks and eaten on by a raccoon. He wasn't very happy about it, but set up a trap to try and catch one (but never did).

We had an early frost that killed the corn plants and Travis was worried that his corn wasn't mature enough, but he harvested it anyways and then kept the cobs in a mesh bag in the basement to allow them to fully dry out. He and Christian would sit for a couple of hours and get all the kernels off each of the cobs. Their poor fingers were raw from the pointy kernels.

It was a happy day when he got to finally pop his corn! I couldn't believe how white it was and I loved that there was still red on the popcorn even after it was popped. The popcorn was smaller that what you buy at a store, but tasted just as good!!

"Really" grandpa's funeral

On Saturday of last week (October 24th), I got a text from my dad telling us that my Grandpa Foulger had passed away. He had been down in Arizona with my grandma for the last few weeks while my grandpa was in the hospital. I was thankful that he was able to be there with her and got to spend some time with my granpa before we passed away. On Sunday, November 1st, there was a viewing at the church in Powell. It was so nice to see family and friends and rememer the life of my grandpa. I loved that they had brought in his carving, packs of green gum for everyone (he gave out green gum to kids when they would come in the store) and his box cutters. My boys all wore the bolo ties that my grandpa had given them last year about this same time and I wish I would have gotten a picture of them!

Monday, was a graveside memorial for my grandpa. All the family started out at the mortuary for a big family picture and for the family prayer.

All the family together. Everyone was there except my aunt Karen (who had COVID), my cousin's husband and daughter (who had been exposed to COVID) and Kyle and his family. We even had my grandpa's siblings there.

After the family prayer, we went out to the cemetary for the graveside. It was a beautifl day with the sun shining and a beautiful tribute to my grandpa.

It was great to see so many family and friends.

After the graveside, we went back to the church and enjoyed a light lunch with family and friends.

We will sure miss "really" grandpa, as my boys called him. He never missed an opportunity to tell me that he was proud of me and that I was a good mom. My kids loved hearing him tell stories about all their adventures and looked forward to when they cam e home in the summers so we could visit. They always made an effort to attend the boys' activities while they were in town, whether it be football, baseball or wrestling and were there for every blessing and baptism. I love this quote, "What matters most is what lasts the longest, and our families are for eternity.” -M Russell Ballard. I am so thankful for my knowledge that families are forever and that some day, I will be able to see my grandpa again!