Elk, Tillerys and More Elk

Hey Everyone!
Hope all of you are doing well.  This last weekend and the week preceding have been so busy.  Sometimes I'm so busy living the life that I don't record the life.  I need to do better with photos, but what photos I have to give, I give freely.

Last Monday, Dad and James went hunting up on the hill above us, Robinson's hill, Esther and Amori's wipe out hill - that hill.

Dad was just walking out the door for work when Bart showed up on a motorcycle or four wheeler. Bart had been out scoping and there were about 40 head of elk on the hill.  Dad grabbed James, who was off school that day.  They both grabbed their guns and headed out.  I think they need to fill you in on all the juicy details, but they did both shoot and Dad did get a cow elk.  He came back home about noon, left for work and Bart skinned out the elk.  Like I said, I need to improve with the photos.  But here is what is visible now.

Esther was disappointed there was no What's App post, so I told her I would get what I could.  Here it is.

Not a ghost - just the remaining uncut portion of the elk that's still hanging in the garage.

We were still involved in cutting up James' deer from the week or so before, so we had to finish that up before undertaking more. 

 After we had wrapped some steaks and a few roasts, we only had about 35 lbs. of deer meat left.  Which we were thinking of doing part hamburger, part jerky.  It takes 40 lbs of game meat to do one batch of jerky.  Dad added another 5 lbs. of elk meat to complete the batch.  That way we know the quality of the entire batch of jerky.  We finished up the deer by Thursday.

Friday evening the Tillerys arrived, minus Luke.  Chrystal, Cody and Ruby, went up to Grandma's to take a belated card from us for Grandpa's 83rd birthday and to say hi to Aaron and Brent and their families, who were leaving the next morning.  [As a side note, Dad and I had taken Grandma and Grandpa to an amazing concert the night before at the high school in part to celebrate Grandpa's birthday, but that's another story.]

The rest of us got a hot dog roast ready. I had spent most of the day preparing for and taking a math exam.  My brain was worn out.  But I did manage to get clean sheets on our bed for Chrystal and any of her children that might want to sleep there.  Dad spent quite a bit of time preparing liver and onions.  Elk liver.  Chrystal came back. We fed everyone, hot dogs, pork and beans, and brave souls tried liver and onions, even a couple of extra neighbor boys, cousins really, Daryl, Lane and Johnny.  

The next morning, Dad, James and Cody met up with Bart to hunt more elk. They left about 7:30. Cody has a Wyoming license since Luke gives Cody a dual-state thing. I thought they would only be gone 3 or 4 hours and did not send a lunch or anything.  I had potato/egg casserole muffins and pumpkin muffins ready for breakfast the night before, but I slept in some.  Chrystal fed everyone scrambled eggs and pumpkin muffins.  When I got up I warmed up some potato muffins and we sent the hunters on their way.

Chrystal and I enjoyed a walk up the hill and over to our property.

During the day, Chrystal hung a wall grouping for me above the piano that Linda Lee had started in the summer, but I never got finished.  This is the finished hanging.

The mirror that was above the piano is now on the opposite wall.  I love it!  The mirror position now better reflects light from the window which is good for my well-being, to have more light in my space.

I was trying to finish up some school assignments so Chrystal just worked mostly without me.  She cut up a quarter and a half of elk.  Some in bowls for hamburger and some roasts and steaks wrapped and in the freezer.

One of my assignments was to interview a child between the ages of  2 and 6. Ruby is conveniently 6 and I enjoyed interviewing her.  I finished up my school and then helped Chrystal with the remaining cutting.  (Which wasn't much.)  McKay had helped quite a bit too, but he and Zayne would take breaks playing football or jumping on the trampoline outside with all the extra boys that were here.  We had intervals of snow, sunshine, wind and cold, so sometimes they would come inside to warm up.  Movies watched were Lion King and Sorcerer's Apprentice.

After we fed everyone again, Navajo tacos, including a couple extra boys, Caleb and Levi, Chrystal and I cleaned up and left for Kyle and Melissa Heiner's Open House in Freedom.  The hunters still weren't home.

Kyle and Melissa look very happy.  They went to Cancun for their honeymoon.  Melissa served a mission in Argentina so her Spanish ability helped them in Mexico.  Kyle said that people would look at him as if he should be the one who knew Spanish and he would just point to Melissa.  :)  Kyle also asked about Esther, Jared and John, so we gave a bit of an update. Hal and Jann looked very happy too.  Melissa's mother was there, and she, and the already mentioned Heiners, made up the entire receiving line.  Grandma and Grandpa were there socializing when we came and so was Vera Lyn and all the kids except Kaylie and Cameron.  Kaylie's at BYU, liking being a college girl.  Cameron stayed home to be with his dad.  Dallin had to be sure to tell me that he wanted to get together with James.  He remembered playing bananagrams and eating about two loaves of homemade bread and jam the last time he visited us.  

When we got home from the Open House Dad, James and Cody were back.  Bart had gotten a cow about 11 a.m.  After cleaning it out they determined to use pole-like sticks to pack it out.  After hiking out for about three hours, they startled more elk.  Cody shot a cow.  I know for sure he would love to give all y'all the play by play, much better than I could.  He was so excited.  When Chrystal and I pulled in we could see Cody on the phone, talking to his dad.  The first one with whom he shared the great news.

It was about 4:00 p.m. when Cody shot.  By the time it was cleaned out and all it was too dark to do any more hiking.  So they just came home.  It was about 8:30.  The four of them had shared Bart's two sandwiches, that and some Gardettos that Chrystal sent comprised their total nourishment for the day.  Leftover Navajo tacos looked great to them.

Cody's tag and the hat he left behind

Loading Cody's elk

Didn't get a photo of the animal sooner - but I think Cody did.  They decided to take it to the local meat processing place, now called, "The Block" no longer run by Dana's.

Sunday was the Primary program.  Dad sat up on the stand with his class.  I especially loved the closing song - 

After church, Dad, Chrystal, James, Cody and McKay all went up to bring down the two elk.  It was a cold afternoon.  I prepared a birthday dinner for Dad.  Elk roast, mashed potatoes, salad, broccoli, rolls and oatmeal cake with homemade caramel walnut ice cream.  The elk was a little dry after sitting so long in the crock pot, but it has a good flavor.  A friend told me her favorite way to prepare elk is french dip sandwiches.  I think I will try that soon. Chrystal brought some goodies and gifts too.

Homemade salsa Chrystal made

To go with chips

Best tasting milk - Dad's favorite!

New shirt for birthday

By the time dinner was over, there was still some skinning to do, I think.  Cody and Dad went up to Bart's where the animals were.  In the meantime, Grandma, Grandpa and Vera Lyn and kids all came for cake and ice cream. (Esther - Kenyan asked about you)  Dad came back since he was a guest of honor for dessert.  After singing "Happy Birthday" to both Dad and Grandpa, I had to slip out for a stake meeting.  When I came home everything was completely quiet, the house empty, (Dad and James were still up skinning, I think) and Chrystal had left the kitchen spotlessly clean.

My sink hasn't looked this clean in months - thanks Chrystal!

It would have been better to take photos of Chrystal by the clean sink, or the gang of us eating the salsa, or all of us singing "Happy Birthday", as I said, I'll have to get better at recording it all.

Here's the video of my interview with Ruby.

Here's the closing song from the Primary Program - which we've decided is our theme for our trek. "Choose Him Again".

We love you all!  

Mom and Dad

Spring in Canon City

It's now Fall in Wyoming, and I'm trying to remember all about my trip to Canon City in the Spring.  (Are seasons supposed to be capitalized?)  

My purpose for going was to support Mary, but I definitely felt rejuvenated and blessed by my time there.  Even though it had been only a couple of weeks, since we had been for Rhett's baptism, which at the time had some hint of green during the cool cloudiness, now the green hills, blossoming trees, blooming bulbs and blessed warmth were all in full spring mode.  There's something very healing about new life in spring.

Since I'm slow in putting this down for history, the day to day details are not as fresh.  But I will record a few highlights with photos to help tell the story as well.

I arrived on Monday.  The kids had that day off school, so Mary took them all swimming.  She was still gone when I arrived and told me where to find the key to their house and the guest house where I would be staying.  I walked into their home and it was perfectly clean and in order.  A huge flower arrangement beautifully positioned on the table adding a polished feel to the tidy home.  Before swimming all the children helped with chores to get the housework done.  The calm cleanliness caused me to wonder if I was really needed.  But more than that, it symbolized to me that Mary and all her family were being sustained and that they would be okay.  I knew then, in that first moment, that Mary would be okay.

Mary had Kira on a regular schedule with her home schooling.  Kira had a table set up in her room.  Mary makes the spaces in her house work for what needs to be done.  Her attitude is, "how can I make this happen?"

Her art looked just like it was supposed to in my opinion.

Liam is such a happy boy.  Such a tender heart with pure innocence and love.

This is actually the deck of the guest house.  Maybe it was ice cream cones?

Loved the Lilac bushes blooming, this was by Rhett's soccer practice.

The kids and I played in the park by the field where Rhett has his soccer practice until he was done.  Mary had a cub scout activity to prepare for and teach that night, so we tagged team.  I took the kids one way, while she prepared and set up at the church.  I brought Rhett to the church after practice.  Glen came to be Mary's second leader and I took the girls and Liam home.  It was a great afternoon for playing in the park.

Peek-a-boo!

Guess who?

Happy Sienna!

Brave Liam!

Careful balancing

Kira's can-do view

Rhett has some good speed.  It was fun to watch.

Kira likes to cook.  I may have made a mistake introducing her to Tip-hero cooking clips.  This was one of the videos we saw that we decided to make.  The dog bun is slice opened at the mouth and the hot dog goes there like the dog is eating it, or that it's his bone.  I don't think we got a photo with the hot dog in the bun.  But everyone had fun eating them, and Kira and I had fun making them.

Sometimes I was just busy making memories that I didn't always take photos of them.  The farm is a great place for those kids.  They each are responsible with chores.  There are wide open spaces to explore, exercise, play and learn.  We enjoyed some lovely sunshine with beautiful spring foliage.  A couple of days were cooler and rainy.

Mary was able to get an extra project done of painting all the baseboards and moulding around the windows and door frames.  I don't think she took any naps while I was there.  I was hoping to give her extra rest.  But I did take kids to school and pick up to give a bit of a break that way.

Mary and I went on a few walks.  Took the stroller for Liam, Kira came and the dog, Kippy.  Once again I soaked in all the beautiful sunshine and greenery.  Taylors are blessed to live in a beautiful location.

 One mild evening with clear blue skies turning towards sunset, we walked, just Mary and I, through beautiful red rock caves and cliffs on a trail high above a river.  I don't know what the place was called. But no one else was around.  A reverent, almost temple-like setting settled upon us as we shared our separate experiences of babies loved and lost.  A golden memory for me, with a bit of heaven meeting earth.

The week flew by quickly!  I left Friday morning.  It was slightly snowing that morning and when I reached Cheyenne and Laramie it looked like the middle of February.  Welcome back to Wyoming! 

Thanks for the great time, Mary!

Only 6 months ago???

It feels like so much longer than just six months ago.  So much living in just that short time.

Last General Conference, April 2017, we were in Canon City.  We came for Rhett's baptism, which was on Friday.  We arrived just about an hour or so before the baptism.

Kira was chorister, sweetly conducting.  I said the opening prayer.  For a musical number Kira and Mary sang, "Baptism", the one of "Jesus came to John the Baptist, in Judea long ago..."  Their voices blended well.

Dad spoke about baptism.  Glen baptized Rhett.  A friend in their ward who is Rhett's cub leader, spoke about the Holy Ghost.  Rhett was then Rhett  confirmed by his dad, with Grandpa Alan in the circle.  

Sienna said the closing prayer.  Mary actually had printed programs too, I should find it and post it.

Rhett took seriously his commitment and covenant.  He said, "I'm getting baptized so I need to be nice."

Mary had prepared some snacks to serve after the baptism that were yummy and of course there were healthy options too.  :)

 I think Dad helped with some chores Saturday morning and maybe even some the night before.  They had a few goats at the time and Dad helped to milk them.  

We watched conference at the neighbor's guest/vacation house where Dad, James and I were staying.  In between sessions we went to Rhett's soccer.  The day became cool and cloudy with rain falling just towards the end of the soccer game, so good timing.

We watched the Priesthood session altogether that evening while eating dinner.  James had been under the weather the entire time and became more feverish and sick.  We decided to leave Sunday morning, to get James home and not spread any more germs than necessary.

We were glad to be there and see Rhett choose this important step.  We enjoyed our time with Glen and Mary and their family and learning more about their world.

I Would Not Be Married

President Nelson asked, "Where would I be without the Book of Mormon?"  I would not be married.  There would also be other terrible consequences in my life I'm sure, but that one I know would have happened as I faced lots of stress. 

I've shared this before, but thought I would get it here on this blog as a kind of family history and also in reply to Nicolina's post on her blog, "How Do You Do It All?"  http://threekindsoftanners.blogspot.com/

This was in reply to an email from Angie Berezay who was working on a Personal Progress goal.  As part of that goal she was to talk to a mother she admired to learn how to be a good mother.  This was my reply:
Hi!  Well, where do I start?  I did that requirement in PP not long ago too.  I'm working on PP along with Esther.  Can you believe she'll be 15 in Sept?  Wow, time surely flies.

I must say that people think I'm a good mother, but it's really because Alan is such a good father, that he makes me look good!  I know you have a good man by your side too.  That surely does make all the difference and I hope young women will realize that.  Finding a good husband is the first ingredient to a successful marriage and family.

I had a good example with my own mother.  I know you have had with yours too.  My mother said that consistency and a good sense of humor are both essential to be a good mother.  I've struggled with both of those things.  Nicolina has read a lot of the love and logic and she is very consistent with her kids, and gives them the ownership of the problem type of thing.  I recently read a book I checked out at the library, "Kids are Worth It!  Giving your children the gift of inner discipline"  By Barbara Colarosa, I think is her name.  General conference talks are always good resources and encouraging.  

One of the most important lessons about being a good mother was inspired by your mother.  I'll tell you the story.  Once upon a time...

   We were living there in little Huson, Montana.  Alan was working out of a home office with his own lumber selling business.  It started off well, but after about a year got worse and then worse and we were very tight financially.  Esther was born, and she was kind of a fussy baby.  I've learned since some things I could have done for her, but at the time I didn't know.  We had hospital bills in addition to some of the other financial pressures.  When Esther was about 4 months old, Chrystal and Mary were in a car accident.  Chrystal was giving Becca Fallentine a ride home from school, it was January, snowy roads and she slipped on the ice and crashed the car into a tree.  The ambulance came, our car was totaled.  Thankfully the girls were okay.  They had some stitches.  Mary had an MRI because they wanted to check for brain damage.  More bills.  Then about 6 weeks later Esther got RSV and pneumonia and had to be in the hospital for two nights.  She was still a nursing baby and so I stayed with her.  She pulled through.  More stress, more bills.  (We had limited insurance at the time)  Then about 6 weeks later a greenhouse that Alan had constructed that had lots of little plants growing in it, we were planning to do this as a side business, the greenhouse blew over in a freak wind and was completely damaged, all the plants were exposed, all that time, effort and money to get it going.  We were able to sell some plants at a reduced price so it wasn't a complete wash out, but that quickly put an end to our side business.  Sometimes at night I would lay in bed and think "I'm out of here!  I don't know where I'm going, but I'm leaving, I can't handle this.  I love my husband, I love my kids, but life is just way too hard!"  But then somehow each morning, I would find the strength to  hang in there and not run away.  Life got better a little at a time.  We decided to move to Star Valley, sell our home use the profit from it to pay some bills and debts and such.  At one point when I felt optimistic and like some of the pressure was off I prayed with gratitude.  I had a very clear understanding at that time that the reason I hadn't run away, the reason I somehow found the strength to make it every day was because I was faithfully reading the Book of Mormon.  Your mom had turned me on to reading personally every day from the Book of Mormon before all of this mess came into my life.  She told me so often about how much she loved it and what power we could get from reading it, and so I put it into practice in my life and it became a habit for me.  When I realized that it had saved me during that troubling time I made the commitment to read it every day for the rest of my life. And I have.  It is my lifeline, my staff, my comfort, my iron rod!  It brings the spirit and the spirit is what helps to be a good mom.  Education, classes, time off now and then, good girlfriends that you can hang with at times, or sisters or your own mom, all of those things help to be a good mom, but the best thing is the Holy Ghost and living in such a way that He can inspire you, guide you, warn you, comfort you and tell you what a great job you're doing!  I'm sure you are doing a great job too.  So keep it up!  Keep that great smile and great laugh you have going.  Have fun with your kids, enjoy them at this stage because it changes so fast.  Pray lots and hang on to the Book of Mormon and you'll make it!  Thanks for letting me share with you.  We love the Berezays and the Durbins too!  Love, Sheri

 I think a blog always needs photos - so here's the latest happy family photos of Angie!

 This has always been my "go to" story of  how the Book of Mormon saved me.  I recently shared it in Relief Society as part of a lesson.  I said, "when you hold on to the iron rod, it holds on to you."  But that's not really right.  What I should have said was, "When I hold on to God's word, He holds on to me."  He does the holding, uplifting, strengthening and cheering.  Also my life has not been stress free since that pivotal time 17 -18 years ago.  

This last summer I felt a near breaking point.  I felt like the farm was swallowing Dad.  It felt like more that swimming upstream.  It became to me a riptide, or crashing waves that I couldn't swim past.  And of course I couldn't share that in the Bedford Relief Society, because Grandma is sitting right there, but when I shared this older story, the Spirit once again confirmed to me the power of the Book of Mormon, in helping me through the trying summer.  Of course Dad and I had to communicate and work through how to address the farm difficulties.  Some of our "conversations" weren't always calm.  And not every issue has been completely smoothed out.  Some of it is the change of season that has lightened the load.  The first of July I started the Book of Mormon over again and this time before I start reading, I write down some of my concerns for the day and then see if the answer is in my reading.  I record some of the inspiration or lessons the Spirit is teaching me. I love the Book of Mormon.  I love my Savior.  His power is in that book, just like President Nelson said.     

Light Bulb Moment

I'm almost done with school this semester - Yay!

I've taken CHILD 320 - Adolescent Development and COMM 352 - Persuasion.

For my COMM class our final project was an Issue Book.  You may have seen these at doctor's offices or school offices or such.  We were to take a societal issue, address it, and persuade our audience of the problem with a call to action.

My group chose Pornography.  Wow!  What an evil plague!  Avoid it and teach your children to avoid it as the deadly poison it is.  You may already have used this, but a helpful link for teaching is this one:  https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/addiction?lang=eng

Dad taught James that when pop-ups or similar situations happen and an image appears, quickly close it or walk away or  leave the friend  or group or whatever.  If it's something that he hasn't looked for, he is innocent and Heavenly Father will help him to forget it.  But when he continues to view it or seeks it out, then it's damaging and requires extra spiritual help and cleansing.

For all the times that I may have resisted putting a pillow up to the TV screen or fast forwarding a part, I'm so very thankful for Dad's pure nature that guided me and helped me to guide our viewing.

 As I researched for my portion of the project I learned that mafia control is heavy with pornography.  I guess because of all the money involved.  During the time of this research I was also reading in Ether about the daughter of Jared dancing for Akish.  The men who wanted the kingdom formed a secret combination, which initially was fueled by live pornography, basically.

I usually think of corrupt senators or presidents or behind the scene lobbyists and such when I equate our time to the Book of Mormon and the secret combinations that caused the destruction of the country.  But then a "Light Bulb Moment" hit me when I realized there are secret combinations involved with pornography with men (and women) intent on gain, control and the destruction of our country.

If you're interested here is the link to my group's project:  https://issuu.com/tinadittmar92/docs/issue_book_final_0f40c7c564fe31

Another group from class did human trafficking which is also connected with pornography and a second light bulb moment hit me about the innocent victims of women and children that were abused and exploited by wicked Lamanites and wicked Nephites.

But we also know that there was a Mormon and his son Moroni (and Mormon's wife/Moroni's mother) who were valiant and true despite the wickedness around them and I know that all of you and all our grandchildren are being raised to be like Moroni.  So keep up the good work!