We Like to Shoot Guns, Okay!

You know, I am getting so tired of all these evil, spineless, mass muderers being called "shooters"
Can we please call them what they are, disgustingly disturbed killers.
The media would love nothing more than to make it look as though anyone with a gun is a threat.
I am a "shooter" my family and Arron's family are all "shooters"
We know how to use guns, we have taken gun safety classes and hunters ed. We have a right to protect ourselves with guns, and we like to shoot.

I have been around guns my whole life. I was taught gun safety when I was young. I knew they were not toys and I respected them. Guns were not taboo, just part of our lives. We took them camping, hunting, and sometimes we would go out and target practice.

 

 

When I hear people refer to these killers as "shooters" I am going to use the opportunity to educate them. Most shooters are just like you and me. We love God, we love our country, our families, life is precious to us and we abide by the law. You want us to have guns. These low-life delinquents should NOT be refered to as "shooters" they really shouldn't be refered to at all. Their names should not make the news, and all the papers, with their head count next to it like a trophy.

 

Lad is Back Home



Lad came home from serving his two year Mission in Carlsbad California on October 31.

So of course, we had to greet him at the airport in Halloween costumes.

Skye made his super cool mask in welding class. Arron and I spent the afternoon doing "arts and crafts" to finish ours. Laiken was a black cat and Jon was Dark Night.

I don't think we fooled him for a minute.

We were pretty anxious to see Lad after two years of just letters and e-mails.
 

So much has happened in our family since Lad left two years ago.

We moved to the Villa. Sold our business. His little sister got married and he has a brother-in-law. His little brother is taller than him and is driving. His grandparents moved down the road and his dad is now working in Florida!

But as soon as he stepped through those doors...it's like everything was back to normal again.

I can't even put into words how great it is to have us all back together.

Lad is so great! I feel like when I try to describe him to people I just gush. It's like I don't even know where to begin to convey, just how amazing he really is. You have to 'know' him to fully 'know' his awesomeness...it just can't be explained. Lad has had so many wonderful experiences while on his mission. We are hearing new stories all the time. I know he wouldn't trade the experience for anything. I love what his misson has done for him.

 

 

Arron has missed him so much these last two years. He couldn't get anyone to go ride with him like Lad does. He also had to finish quite a few house projects without him. These two are close. Arron was able to come home from Florida for ten days so we could all be together for his Homecoming and early Thanksgiving.

We didn't waste any time getting Lad re-aquainted with home life.

 

We had a Turkey to prep. for dinner!

Two turkeys actually. The boys set them up behind a log, called to them, and when they stuck their heads up...well, you know the rest, it's history, at least they were...history that is.

They were also tasty.

 

Skye has been waiting for Lad to come home so he could do this turkey shoot with him.

They make me laugh all the time. Boys do the craziest things. I'm so glad they enjoy each others company so much. It was getting pretty quiet at the Villa with just Skye and I there.

 

 



Welcome Home. To both my boys.

 

 

Purely Pumpkin Pics

I had to do another pumpkin post. I couldn't help myself!

I told you I had way too much fun!

We had pumpkin bread, soup, cookies, brownies, pies...you name it. I'm excited to try new recipes next year and plan on freezing even more too.

This is the hillside where it all began. You can see where the dirt is bare, that's where I grew hundreds of pumpkins! There are still a few there that I left for the chickens to peck at.

Jake and Elwood love Pumpkins! They ate every last one!

Can you see the orange pumpkin hue on Jake's face?

Ahhh, Sunsets at the Villa are the BEST!

Would You Say I Have A Plethora of Pumpkins?

I had so much fun with my pumpkin patch this year!

It started off as a good way to keep weeds from growing on my West facing hillside, and it worked well. The real bonus was watching the chickens hunt for bugs in it, watching them grow, and giving them away.

I had so many pumpkins this year, I decorated the gym at the Stake center for a dance with them. The best part was the clean-up, after the dance I had the kids all take one or more home with them! Neighbors got pumpkins, all my Beehive girls got pumpkins, family got pumpkins, and even the FedEx lady got pumpkins for her and her grand kids!

I had some help from Lydia and her family. They came over and helped me clip and move some of the pumpkins off the hill. Later Lydia and mom helped me clean all the vines and chuck them over to the goat pen.( I'ts a huge bonus having goats, they eat all the garden scraps that the chickens aren't interested in!)

 Owen and Lylian picked out their favorites.

It was a lot of work moving all these pumpkins! I later used the 4 wheeler and trailer to get them all off the hillside. It made the work go quick, it still took several trailers full to move them all.

Since we had the whole Lawson family together...why not get a few family shots?

Pretty cute! I love how Olive just worked her way in there. Such a good lookin' family! I LOVE that they live so close to us now. We have lots of good times in store.

Camp Shore

We don't need to pack up all our gear and drive for hours to go camping.
We can do it right here.

We invited a few locals to join us.

 Kids love Camp Shore. They get to meet new friends...
Shoot their bows...

Ride the 4 wheeler...

Sleep in tents...

and roast hot dogs!

By morning Owen and Jack were best buddies!

We love having friends and family over.
 Camp style is my favorite, no dishes to do or sheets to wash!
We eat outside, play outside, sleep outside and yes...
sometimes we go potty outside! (sorry no pictures) ha ha.
This is Arron's tough 'I just got back from North Dakota' look.
(not to be confused with Blue Steel)

Lylian loves Jon's dog, Lily.
Every time Jon called "Lily" Lylian would drop everything and go running into Jon's arms.
It was so cute and we really got a laugh out of it.

There's not many pictures of me with mom and dad. I had to share this one.

Owen loves holding Claudia. She's my favorite too, she's one tough chick.

My best friend Raquel. Love her.

For breakfast we had Farm Fresh scrambled eggs, of course.

The kids played non-stop, ate heartily and slept soundly,
and that goes for the big kids too.

Camp Shore may not be as fun as Disneyland, but I bet it's a close second.

Y'all Come Back Soon!