Camping at Mineral Creek

Colten sliding down the river

hiking up the creek

awesome rock slide

Harvey loved this swimming spot

catching fish

Gila trout

This weekend we had a little break from hunting and decided to go camp down by Alma at Mineral Creek. We spent a few days hiking up this awesome canyon. It was full of berries and tons of beautiful scenery. The river was so fun there was tons of water holes with fish in them. Jay had a line and a hook that he connected to a stick and made Harvey a fishing pole they were pulling fish out as fast as they put the line in. Harvey loved it. There were lots of water falls that you could slide off of into these pools of water. The canyon had a mine at the top. We had a great day. On our way home we went through Mogollon the ghost town which was very neat its like you stepped way back in time in a western mining town. Then we made the loop home on the dirt road through beautiful country. It was a great weekend.

wild berries

more wild berries

Jay bear hunted this year in a really cool place. He took the kids back down to hike and do a little swimming in the river at the bottom of these huge rock canyons. Jay said that there were berrries and apples growing everywhere. It is a beautiful place.

Rain

water running down our road

Flooding the meadows

So much for our road

Flooding down the road

rain brings the green its so pretty


A few weeks ago we had a rain that dumped for about 3 hours. It completely flooded our road where I could not get out. It took fences down and flooded the meadow where it looked like there was a lake out there. It ran a full river down our road for hours. We had to do some serious work on the road so that we where able to drive on it.

Harvey's First Day of School

First day all ready to go.

The new backpack

Harvey and Jeremiah

Colten couldn't contain how happy

he was for Harv to go to school


I really can't believe that Harvey is starting school. It was kind of a sad day for me to let him go but very exciting at the same time. He got home after the first day and could not stop talking about it. He loves it. When he was going to bed that night he said " mom I wish I could go back to school right now." Oh to be in kindergarten again. Hopefully the excitement lasts.

Ranch

Colten and I farming

flooding from the rain

It is so pretty right now. We have had so much rain in the last month and everything is green and beautiful!

Tribute to Nana

Harvey with Nana

funeral

Nana's funeral

Nana with all her grand kidsNana and her sisters

This was one of the most amazing women you will ever meet. She was the greatest grandmother in the world and loved her grand kids more than anything. I don't think a day went by growing up that we were not at Nana's. We loved cruising town with her as she would blast El Vira. Many days of playing, chocolate milk bottles, and being spoiled to no end with Nana. Papa always said he would love to be reincarnated as one of Nana's grad kids. Harvey and Colten loved her dearly. She was always one of the first people we would go see when ever we would come to St. Johns. Harvey especially had a closeness to her. They would talk once or twice a week on the phone. He loved to play her in crazy eights. She was one of my best friends and always the one no matter what was going on that would give you a smile and make you feel great. She was an amazing example of someone who lived in so much pain for so many years yet never complained and always had a smile she definitely was an amazing example of enduring to the end. She lived to serve others especially her husband and her family. So very selfless. I will greatly miss her!

24th of July

Everyone at the Parade
Colten, Jay, Maren and Lucy at the Rodeo

Spence and Treys band

Awesome hair guys

Colten so happy to get some candy

ENTERTAINMENT IN THE WOODS

We had a few weeks of some night entertainment at our house. It all began about two weeks ago when I woke up one morning to garbage scattered all over. I would pick it up and then a few days later it would happen again. I was starting to get tired of it so I would wait up at night to see if I could catch the culprit, and nothing. Well I left to a family reunion and the night I got back I had unloaded most everything out of the back of the truck but a big storage container full of snack stuff ( candy, crackers,etc.) well the next morning I went to go get the container for some bread and it was gone. I thought Jay had taken it or something so I start looking around

and I see some big tracks all over. I followed them up the mountain a little ways and way back in there was my container and everything had been eaten out of it and it was torn up. So I waited up that night and about midnight I heard the garbage can crash I went running out to see a white trash bag being carried up the hill behind the house. I never heard anything after that so the next night Jay got home and I was doing some laundry and looked out the window and there was the bear standing right outside the door just about to get into the trash again. I yelled for Jay and he and the kids came. We opened up the door and Jay started videoing the whole thing. That bear just stood there eating the garbage about 5 ft from the door Jay had open. Finally Jay yelled at him and he would run up the hill and stand there until we would shut the door then he would come back again. At one point he walked right up to the window that Harvey was standing in and put his face right up to Harvey's, then walked right up to Jay almost. This went on for a few hours. Then he disappeared for a while. We went to bed. At about 3Am Jay and I woke up to a loud whack at our window we both jumped out of bed and ran to the front door just to see the bear coming up on the front porch. Jay opened the door and yelled at him and he just stood there looking at us. Finally he left then a little while later we heard him again so we looked out the door and he was laying on the front lawn eating the grass. Jay wacked him with a piece of wood and he took off. We were up all night wondering if he was going to get into the house. The next day we found his prints all over our trucks on all the windows in the house all over. We called the game and fish and they brought up a live trap. That night we were sure that he would be in the trap when we got back from doing fireworks. When we got there he hadn't come yet. It was late so we got the kids down for bed and I was up getting some church stuff ready. Jay had taken the garbage and put it in the back of the truck while we were gone so the truck was parked right outside the kitchen window. I was doing some dishes and walked away for a minute and when I came back I could see a trash bag on the ground not to far from the truck and then there he was again. So Jay came in and then the bear disappeared into the dark. I was looking for him and then I saw him on the hood of the truck standing there. He went up the windshield and onto the roof. He then slipped into the back of the truck and started trying to get the trash barrel out. He would hop out and then back over the side of the truck and back in. Jay was ready to shoot him. We scared him off and moved the truck. We put the trash right in front of the entrance into the bear trap and finally he came back and jumped in. It was a crazy few days. I don't doubt that if he would have had another night he probably would have been in our house. A little scary. The game and fish came and got him the next day. Oh the adventures of living in the woods. Here are a few pictures. We did get some good video that I am trying to see if I can post. The kids thought it was great.

Teeth marks in my container

Foot prints on the kitchen window


Bear track

trash scattered up the mountain

Print on the truck window

more tracks

Where he had bit into the container
it was funny he even ate the suckers off the ring pops and left the rings

Here is the bandit right outside our door

He loved the trash!