The Day We Had To Shoot A Beaver Before Church

If today had to have a title it would be "The Day We Had To Shoot A Beaver Before Church."

Dallin got a trail camera for his birthday about a month ago and he and Rhett put it out on a tree in the dry canal behind the house to see if they could get any pictures of deer.  So far he has gotten a picture of his thumb, the dog and a bird. Hahaha! He told me one day last week he saw beaver tracks out there when he went to check his camera.  I kinda didn't believe him but acted like I did....you know, being a good mom.:) Then a couple days ago he came running in to tell me that he went to check his camera and saw the beaver.  They scared each other it sounds like. So Ryan called the trapper and Dallin set up his trail camera on the bottom of a tree trunk to try and get some pictures. He actually got SEVERAL pictures of this little beaver working all night long that night.

Two days later the trapper shows up with his trap and that night Dallin discovers from his camera there are TWO beavers.  What we thought was one was actually two.  So this morning about 8:15ish Dallin (in his church clothes) heads out to check the trap and finds one of the beaver caught in it, but only caught by his hips and just laying there suffering.  We text Ryan who is already in church meetings and he tells me to have Dallin call the trapper.  So Dallin calls the trapper and explains the situation and the trapper says he is several hours from being able to come so to just "shoot it in the head!" WWHHAATT??!! He tells my THIRTEEN YEAR OLD to shoot it in the head! AHHHH!!!  So I called Uncle Dale and he said he could be here in about 30 mins. When I got off the phone with Dale, Dallin says to me, "Mom I've got this." So Dallin, his gun, and his trusty sidekick 11-year old Rhett head out to shoot the beaver in the head with their mom yelling out the door behind them "DON'T GET ANY BLOOD ON YOUR CHURCH CLOTHES!"

Dallin says he shot it the first time, "And I think I missed its brain mom because it just started flopping around, so I shot it again. Two times." Anyway....between my two little boys they got the job done.  By this time we are 20 minutes late for church and as we walk in the only bench open is the front row, OF COURSE! Welcome to a day in the life of the Hawkins, The Day We Had To Shoot A Beaver Before Church! Just another one for the record books. ;)

Rocko the Sneaky Cat

Around the middle of the summer after our last kitty got hit on the road I took the kids to get a few new free kitties.  They brought home two that they loved.  One of the little ones took off just a few days after we got them.  I'm guessing it wondered, got lost and didn't know how to get home.  The other one, named Rocko, stuck around for the kids to love.

In September we noticed that Rocko had a funny lump on his side and since he had already proven himself a mouser even as tiny as he was Ryan had me run him to the vet. (Which is absolutely unheard of! Ryan hates cats!! Even the vet knows that and asked me if Ryan knew I was there with a CAT?!) They ended up having to do surgery on an abscess. After surgery we had to keep him in the house for a few days and all the sudden he thought he was an inside cat.  This little stinker is SO FAST and can be in the house before we even know it.  He also climbs into about everything he can including vehicles.  He rode all over the farm making about 7 stops in the back of Ryan's truck one day without Ryan knowing.  The beginning of November he disappeared for a few days and had me worried. I was subbing for the secretary at the elementary school when I got a call in the office from Laiklie's teacher.  All she said was that she needed me to come to her classroom for a minute and hung-up.  So I got my friend Hollie who was just walking into the office to watch the phones and I ran down to the 3rd grade room.  When I walked in Mrs. Lambertsen said, "I think I have something that might be yours." She searched around the desks and kids for a second and pulled out OUR CAT! WHAT?! How did this dumb kitty cat get 2 miles down the road and end up at the school?  I thought maybe he had rode with me, but he had been missing for 2 days before I ever went to the school.  So I have no idea how he got there.  Mrs. Lambertsen saw him out on the playground where some kids were kicking him so she let him into her classroom and as her kids came in from lunch she tried to hand him to the school counselor to take care of when Laiklie told her, "Mrs. Lambertsen......I think that is my cat." She was right! I'm glad she spoke up so he could come home with us, and I am glad my sweet friend Hollie was willing to drive him home for me. (She is NOT an animal lover! Worse than I am even! hahaha)

Since being home he has been back to his sneaky ways. One night we got a video text from Oakley with him snuggled up around her head in her bed.  Another night we sat down as a family to play a card game and in the middle of our card game there was the dumb cat walking through us playing.  He is a sneaky little sucker, but a good mouser and we love the darn thing.  Glad he is home!   

Dance Competition - Autumnfest 2015

On November 7th Oakley and Laiklie had the Autumnfest Clogging Competition in Salt Lake.  Because of Oakley's sprained ankle she didn't get to dance.  I about had to duct tape her to her chair to keep her from dancing though.  She LOVES to dance and it was hard for her to have to sit and watch her friends compete and not be along side them.

Laiklie got to dance though. This is an individual competition only so no team dances so she only danced her solos.  She did GREAT and got FIRST PLACES ON ALL 5!! When you get firsts on all five you get what is called a MASTER SOLOIST AWARD! Laiklie got called up on stage to receive her award.  So proud of her and her hard work getting ready for the competition!

You don't even know how much I love to watch those little legs clog! :)

HALLOWEEN 2015

I skipped Halloween in my posts, so I had to go back and post about it.  This year not very many of the grandkids made it to paint the pumpkin at Grandma Hawkins house.  The older they get the harder it is to get them all together.  We also had to have a Spookly the Square Pumpkin this year because we didn't have any round bales.  Darn farmers.  Hahaha. Just kidding!

 We also carved pumpkins one night for FHE.  Oakley was at dance so she missed out on it.  The other 3 kids had a blast designing and cutting their pumpkins. 

 The school did the annual Halloween Parade.  It is weird and kinda sad to only have 2 kids left at the elementary.

 Laiklie was a "runner" and Rhett was a "nerd."

 Dallin was a hunter....and actually went hunting instead of trick-or-treating. Rhett was a nerd, Laiklie a runner and Oakley helped hand out candy (aka Hang out with friends in the warm car) at the ward trunk-or-treat.

 My sister Arnica's teenagers made it to state in Cross-Country and it was the same weekend as Halloween, so we got to have her 3 littles Tyce, Danica and Paige here with us again.  My kids think that is the best thing EVER! Cousins are so much fun! Especially cousins to trick-or-treat with!

 And we ended our trick-or-treating at Grandma Murdock's again.  The kids love going to see her on Halloween and she absolutely loves to see them too!

Dallin Turns 13!

Dallin turned 13 on November 7, 2015.  I can't believe my little boy is so big! His birthday fell on the same day as his sisters dance competition in Utah so we opened presents the day before his birthday and did cake and ice cream the day after his birthday.  So he had a big birthday weekend.

 New gloves and new muck boots.  Essential when you are a 13 year old boy!!:)

 A trail camera.  He was so excited for this one! He put it out on our tree by the canal where he saw some deer tracks one night and couldn't wait for morning. The next morning when he went to check it he got a picture.....of HIS THUMB! Hahahah! He has successfully got a picture of the dog too.  ;) We will keep trying!

Dallin is a great kid! He is a hard worker and makes both of his parents very proud! We love you buddy! Happy Birthday!

Hunting Season 2015

 Oakley and Dallin were both able to get nice bucks during hunting season this year.  Bone and the deer were good to them.  Both deer got hauled up to the taxidermy.  They are excited and we are very proud of them!

Our 2nd Night in the ER

On November 2, 2015, Laiklie gave us a big scare.  She had diarrhea all day long that day and wanted to jump in a hot bath that evening.  That sounded great to me so I ran the tub and put her in it.  She said she didn't need help washing her hair so I left her to soak.  About 5 minutes later she started yelling for me.  When I got in there she said her stomach was killing her.  So I hurried and got the shampoo out of her hair and helped her out of the tub.  I ran out to the table to get some essential oils to rub on her tummy and as I was rubbing them on her she said, "Mom, everything is dizzy." I looked up in time to see her go white and her eyes roll back in her head and she went down.  Not only did she pass out on me....she also did this little seizure shake and teeth grinding thing.  SCARE ME TO DEATH!! She was only out a couple seconds when she looked up at me and asked, "what happened?" Ryan was at the ranch helping Dallin gut out a deer, so I yelled downstairs for Oakley and had her call him while I got Laiklie dressed and loaded in the car to run to the hospital.

When we got to the hospital they tried to get an IV started.  It took 3 tries because her little veins kept collapsing.  When they finally got an IV in they did some blood work, a urine test and a EKG of her heart just to check everything. 

 She ended up having what was called a vasovagal syncope.  In English (hahaha) that means after having the diarrhea and sitting in the hot bath she was dehydrated just enough that as she stepped out of the tub her brain told her heart something wasn't right which made her blood pressure drop and down she went.  In other words it all just kind of put her little body into shock.  It does NO DAMAGE and has NO LASTING SIDE EFFECTS. Yay! Although so super scary to her mom!! They did find a Urinary Tract Infection that they did treat with antibiotics, otherwise she was good to go home.

Ryan did finally get the deer cleaned out and made it to the hospital to sit the last hour with us.  She sure needed her daddy! What a blessing he is in our lives.  This was such a scary day....hopefully it is a once in a lifetime deal.  I am so grateful for my little girl and so glad she is ok!