austin's deer

let it be known: i adore my nephews. every one is seriously amazing. what a blessing they are to our lives; showing my boys how to grow into young men and giving us many opportunities to celebrate.

saturday we celebrated a huge accomplishment in austin's life. a 9 point accomplishment.

i am no hunter, though the hunting shows on sunday morning with the girls hunting all pretty with their hair curled and lipstick on and pink camo does appeal to me, i completely recognize if i dont do my hair for my life now, i surely will not spend time getting pretty for the deer. so i leave the hunting to the boys in my life: brad and the wenke's mainly. though my darling daughter may have a future in pro hunting. just check her out all geared up in an outfit basically planned around the deer in her cute little hat. yes, they are reindeer, but seriously, how stinkin presh.

we got the call sat morn, along with an email shortly after showcasing the huge buck. as soon as we could, we departed for grandpa jack and grandma evie's house in order to see that monster for ourselves. the boys were so eager. while we were waiting for brad to get showered, i asked the boys if they would like me to rake some leaves into a pile for them so they could jump around. they responded by vocalizing their desire to just go and see that deer.

the excitement caused some members of the fam to pass right on out during the trip to kzoo.

we arrived and took a moment to appraise that huge animal hanging upside down. austin's pride and maxer's awe are apparent in this pic:ayla jo was the bravest of my kids, touching it and making little barking noises. brad asked all the right questions, then requested a reenactment. we walked the trail to austin's tree stand. that was my fave: a beautiful fall day, a picturesque wood, leaves crunching beneath our feet, kids running all around, and the atmosphere of accomplishment.

maxer contented himself with hunting jake, the wenke's dog. so glad jake survived.
brad took the opportunity to teach us all a bit about agriculture. love that wise man. we all snacked on dried up soy beans, my heart beating in gratefulness for this man i married feeding the world.



here is the cutie pie and her mama. we girls gotta stick together in these settings.

eventually, we departed for wendys. only to depart from wendy's after quickly noting our baby blue had the most teeth of all other patrons in wendy's. she has 6. we then convinced the boys russ' was the place to be. we settled for the second russ' we stopped at due to severe busyness at the first. with out tummies full, we made it home, a huge lollipop for each child and beautiful memories for each parent.