So Thanksgiving was great. I flew into Salt Lake on the Tuesday before. Joshua and I then drove up to Rexburg. We made a Costco stop for Mom and it worked out well to get gas at the same time. I had a Costco card because of work. When we got there Joshua and I went with Luke to go site in guns. It was nice to see all the little rascals at Chrystal and Luke's house. That evening I also saw Jared. He is to use his own terminology "a stallion". He is definitely a few years older and wiser than when he left. He is also a little stronger. He likes to wrestle around and hand fight. He is also exceptional at giving complements. He is as Eliza would say a "gusher". He is always saying something nice and I don't know if I have heard so many compliments out of one person before. I wasn't used to it but it was good to hear. That night Jared ditched us to go on a date. I dropped jim off and then went and saw an old roommate and I also went an saw a girl. Anyway when I came back we watched some Pollyana. Then about 20 minutes into it Chrystal gets up from her nape and goes to bed. Luke later leaves and Joshua and I don't even finish it. We had hunting planned in the morning so we went to bed.
We got up early to go hunting. It was a chilly morning but we didn't have the snow that we had hoped to. We drove around most of that morning. We only saw some deer and one bull elk. Then when we were about to go home we saw some elk. Joshua and I got out with Luke. It was windy and cold out and I wished I would have put on my other jacket. We got out and Luke said John here take a shot. I couldn't find the elk in my scope so Joshua took a shot he missed and so it was my turn. They hadn't run to far so I set up to take a head shot but they started moving so I set up again. It was really windy and I was trying to stay still. Luke was saying they aren't going to stand there forever for you. I was a little more anxious and ready to take a shot. I fired a shot and my elk went down. I was kind of surprised because it was so windy and I was just trying to hold steady. The elk stood there for a while longer and Joshua had a chance at shooting. Luke thought that maybe I had shot the lead cow because they were still standing around. I will let Joshua tell his story about how he shot his elk. It turned out though that both elk were bull calves. We both shot Bambi I guess. Anyway it was cold and still kind of windy as we were cleaning out the elk. Luke was a champ at cleaning them and he did it super quick. I shot mine right in the heart lung area right behind the front shoulder. It was such a great day to get two elk.
Ben and Linda Lee and Joseph and Eliza had come while we were gone hunting. That evening we played football and cut up the back straps and the tenderloins on mine and Joshua's elk. The rest we sent in to get processed. That night we also had haircuts. We all got haircuts similar to Jared's we called his the muffin top (Joshua's name) or the ice cream swirl (Eliza's name). The cut is shorter on the sides and longer on top. Jared says it helps him get the ladies. James didn't get a haircut like rest of us though and Dad didn't quite want to join in for some reason either.
Thanksgiving Thursday. Another crew went out hunting and was successful in getting an elk for Joseph. He can tell his own story as well. We had Thanksgiving at Colin and Jean's. Mom, Chrystal, Linda Lee and Luke had made pies. We brought like 11 or so. They also made rolls and stuffing. There was a lot of food. With Sven and Bobbi, Clint and Allison, Bart and Janet, Breanna and her husband Ethan, Grandma and Grandpa and then our crew. There was potatoes, a ton of turkey, funeral potatoes, salad, jello, a vegetable tray, and yummy rolls. Later at dessert time the Denny's showed up. It was a really good time to see family. That evening we had some elk to cut up and Joseph's elk was definitely larger than mine or Joshua good thing too because he has more mouths to feed.
Friday we went swimming at the hotel that Luke had got two rooms at for the time that the family was there. We played a fun game of keep away. It was Joseph, Joshua, Jared and I on team versus everyone else. It had started as just me and Joshua then Joseph and Jared joined us after that. It was crazy and fun with everyone hanging on the person with the ball and attacking them. We had pizza after that and delicious carrot salad. We thought we lost Joshua's phone but luckily we didn't. We took a picture of the all the boys. So now we have a picture for our boy band or dance group. James and the Muffin Toppers or I guess we could go with Eliza's name "James and the Swirls" or "James and the Ice Cream Swirls".
Saturday Joshua and I went back to Provo, Mom and Dad went home, and so did Joseph and Eliza. Joshua and I listened to the BYU game on the way home. BYU beat Utah State. Post game Joshua and I entered an trivia contest to get ice cream via email. The question was when did Utah state beat BYU in back to back years. The last time that had happened was 1973-1974. They did beat them 1971-1974. Well we put 1971-1972. We ended up winning ice cream. It was so cool to hear my name "A John Erickson" on the radio.
Sunday we went to temple square. It is really cool and there are some awesome things in the visitors center. Joshua and I went to Veralyn and Scott's for dinner. It was really yummy we had enchiladas. We played games with them as well. It was nice to connect and reconnect with them.
The rest of the time I was with Joshua we went to class together, caroling, and ate almost his whole block of cheese.
I kind of died out at the end but here is an update.
