The Elk Hunt & Playing Hookie

Over the weekend we went camping for the end of the elk hunt. The first few hours we were there Hudson literally went through 4 pairs of pants and a few pair of shoes. He peed ON his pants once, IN his pants once, and we were camped by a blasted stream that we kept telling him to stay out of, but of course the temptation was too great for a spirited boy of 3 years and he kept running through it despite the 30ish degree weather and the constant nagging from his mother. For 3 days he constantly had wet pants on a line struggling to dry in the cold and his 3 pairs of shoes were in a constant rotation of drying by the heater in the trailer or by the fire. Fortunately the pee thing was only twice. Unfortunately, running through the river was multiple times a day (although it seemed hourly).
Jeff was unsuccessful at shooting an elk (which I'm relieved so we didn't have to go through the whole gutting, skinning, hauling home, stuffing the freezer full of elk meat process) but we had fun hanging out, playing games and Hudson had fun getting rides on the horses.

Hudson's cousins, Orrin and Cooper with Hudson on the back.

HOOKIE:
Yesterday was Sunday and since Hudson and I have nasty coughs and Jeff had a sore throat, we didn't go to church on account of not wanting to get others sick. We were not too sick, however, to pack up in the car and go for a Sunday drive. We went out to look for deer hunting areas in Levan Canyon. It was a beautiful drive with the colorful fall leaves, although it was slightly annoying that it was so hot in the mountains in the middle of October and our a.c. in the car doesn't work. Then we would get out and it would be windy and cold. Jackets off. Jackets on. Repeat. We also went geocaching along the way. Hudson loves finding "treasure" and ended up exchanging 3 matchbox cars for a sticker that said "I'm not a dodo I'm gunwise" (random), a black rubber bone, and a wooden buffalo nickle. Oh well, he loves it and we let him pick his prizes even though we feel like we are leaving something better than what he picks.
We went through the little town of Wales, and found a geocache near the Wales City Cemetary. We decided to go in and check out the gravestones. There were mostly OLD graves from the 1800's, many of them babies who died a few hours, or a few days after birth, and children, like Olive who died at the age of 4, and Maggie who was 7. I thought the gravestones themselves were pretty cool and I would have liked to do some rubbings. I thought it was a good activity for the day. It felt a little Halloween-y being in an old cemetary and all, a little educational and historical and churchy for visiting pioneer graves.
After the cemetary, we continued looking for geocaches on the way home. One said something about zebras. We drove by some horse coralls and Jeff asked "See any zebras in there?". I laughed at him mockingly. We weren't looking for real zebras, silly. Then, lo and behold, and I wish I had a picture so you would believe me, there stood 2 real life zebras amongst some ponies. It was the weirdest, most random thing I have ever seen in my life....until we investigated further and found that the owner of these zebras lived in a seafoam green double wide. No joke. How does one come in possession of 2 zebras living in Wales, UT in a double wide?
We kept on driving home and saw about 30 pheasants on the side of the road and that about sums up our drive.
Then we came home to the delicious aroma of roast in the oven. Some of you may not know, but Jeff makes a mean roast dinner. I have never made a roast in my life. But this guy has it down good. The meat is always tender, perfectly flavored along with baby carrots, and mashed potatoes and homemade gravy made from the drippings. He even made rolls. And the best part? He does this often. He really is amazing and the best husband ever. I love you, babe!