My Elk Hunt.

Aaron and I dropped the kids off with Grandpa and Grandma Hee Hee this last Friday and took off for the mountains in hopes of coming home with a cow Elk. This was my tag, which meant one thing- this was my hunt! I was excited, nervous, sad... a lot of things. Aaron and I rode the horses into camp Friday night. We set up camp, hung out, ate dinner, and went to bed. It was soooooo quiet. It was beautiful, amazing, and.... even more AMAZING than that! I love my kids, but the time that I was able to spend with Aaron out there was super fabulous! I couldn't believe how well he knew the mountains out there. It was like it was his own backyard. He is amazing. He is so fun to watch out there and his hunting quirks were the freaking cutest thing that I have ever seen. I love what he does when he smells elk. He does this hand gesture by his nose and I love watching him as he is getting the horses ready. He is seriously such a cool Husband. Saturday morning came early and we jumped out of our sleeping bags and headed out on the horses on my hunt. We were passing the first creek and I wasn't paying attention... because it was so beautiful... and the horse sort of JUMPED over the creek and I got some whip lash. I wasn't excited about starting out like that, but I kept it to myself for a while, hoping that I could just ignore that it even ever happened. Eventually I told Aaron and he taught me a bit more about commands. It has been a longggg time since I've been on a horse, away from my kids.... or doing anything of the sorts. We went everywhere in those mountains and I could tell that Aaron was getting a bit frustrated. He kept saying, "where are all the elk?" He questioned his strategy and everything else, but sooner than later--- he spotted our first Cow. I found her in my scope and had my finger on the trigger, but her but was facing me, so I was waiting for her to turn. She turned just a hair and I was sure that I could shoot her, but Aaron insisted that I waited for her to turn even more. She was about 300 yards away or more, so it was kind of important to have a good shot. The gun got heavy and I pulled it down to rest. Of course as I pulled it down, she turned and went behind a tree... I was extremely bummed. So we went after her and we heard a few of them take off. Aaron thought if we could run them into an open area, we could shoot one. So we tied up the horses and hiked in there. Great idea! Butttt....  unfortunately, we never did find them again. So we got back on the horses and went everywhere! I just followed Aaron on his horse. It was beautiful. I was so happy to just be out there with him. I wasn't to frustrated at this point about not seeing any more elk. We called home and told them that if we were to get one at that point that we would need to stay Saturday night too. We ate and took a small nap, curled up by one another in the mountains--- then we were off. Eventually we found ourselves above the burn, looking down from the top of canal ridge. The buck brush was thick and we were looking for any movement! We sat up there for a while and then headed South. As we did, we looked across the valley and noticed elk... clear on the other side, up the ridge and quite a ways to the North. I suggested that maybe we find some different elk and Aaron hated to pass them up. He thought that if were over there, that we would probably be seeing Elk on the side that we were on... so we made a plan to head towards those elk, hoping to find a different herd along the way. We didn't get far before Aaron spotted another herd on the North side of Canal Ridge, so we went down to the East side of the ridge and tied off the horses and hiked back up to the ridge. They were just over the edge into the burn. I spotted many cows in my scope and picked one. I was so nervous and when I shot, I missed. They started walking to the North and so we went up a little further and I again spotted many cows in my scope, so I picked one and shot... missed, shot again... missed. I looked at Aaron and said, "I am sucking it up!" You should shoot it! He took the gun from me and looked through the scope and handed it back over to me and says, okay YOU shoot it! I aim again, take a breath... and I GOT HER! Aaron says, "You got her!" I say, "I did?" and immediately begin to cry. After waiting for a bit. I looked up to see that the cow finally tipped over. Her legs were stiff in the air and she rolled. I watched as her baby just sat there mourning the loss of his/her Mother. I thought of Bambi and literally felt terrible. Aaron told me it was okay to feel sad and that even he still feels that way. I felt better. We went and got the horses and brought them up by the Elk. We called and texted home, said a little prayer of gratitude... and began to harvest the meet. Aaron, again... amazes me how well he can do this. He had to finish it up with a head lamp. I helped hold legs, roll her over, etc... but he truly did all the hard work. We loaded up the sacks of meet onto the horse and we were off to camp.. in the dark. I was so grateful Aaron knew his way. We got home, hung everything up, ate dinner, fed and watered the horses, and then headed to bed. We had some very cold weather come in and figured it was going to be a cold morning. So the next morning we loaded all of our stuff up and headed out. It was hard to come through the last section of mountains, knowing that our hunt was over. It seemed to go by so quickly. Yet I missed the noises of my kids and their giggles, and believe it or not... even their whines. I love you Aaron and had such a blast with you in those mountains, on that hunt. I will remember it forever. Thank you for all that you do and for letting me enjoy something that you are so passionate about. *I should add that Aaron already cooked up some of my elk and it was DELICIOUS! Sooo yummy. We are going to can the rest of the elk this week and I look forward to being able to make many meals with it. We have been blessed.

Fall Festival.

Before we left the house we took some pictures of the kids in their costumes.

Isaiah-dinosaur, Wesley- Harry Potter, Samuel- spider, and Emma- Mad Scientist

At the school- Ready to go Partyyyyy!

-Inside at the Photo Booth-

My skeleton Boys: Kicking off Halloween Week in style.

Classroom Parties today!

Bear World.

There were lots of neat things to see at Bear World, as usual... we really enjoy seeing the white elk, the deer, the bears, the moose, the wolves, etc...

The petting zoo is super fabulous. The kids love to play with the animals and imagine as if it is their own farm. They are so comfortable with animals that it comes very natural to them to be able to hold or handle the animals correctly— farm kids for sure.

The kids got to go on the different rides- train, spinning bears, roller coaster, and climbing tree. The ice-cream was yummy and we all had a blast.

Another fun visit to Bear World.

Side-note: Nothing broke this time, so all was well. We left the store with only a couple of t-shirts and a night light this time, rather than a couple of boxes of broken merchandise. Oh! and those crummy shelves are no longer there! Thankfully.

Periodical Springs.

We had such an amazing time going to Periodical Springs in Afton, Wyoming! It was so beautiful. It was about a mile hike to the spring and along the way there were some very beautiful waterfall springs/creeks.

The kids enjoyed collecting white snail shells, finding hideouts, and special shiny rocks. When you get the the spring, there is a trail that you can hike along to get to the top.

This is what the top looks like (below). The water naturally stops ever 15 minutes or so! It is super amazing. The picture on the left shows when the water has stopped and on the right, the water is active. The water tasted so yummy. Fresh and cold. Each of the kids, including Sam loved drinking the water with their hands.

What a fun family day we had. Thank you Aaron for taking us to Periodical Springs. It is amazing to me how many beautiful places are out there that I had no idea even existed!

Surprise.

We were just putting the kids to bed and Aaron called us all outside to see what he had found in the Pigeon Coop. He had recently found a Falcon, but this time he found an OWL! When he discovered

owl, we had just got home from being in Pocatello, so the owl had already killed 3 homing pigeons. As soon as Aaron opened the door, the owl flew out super quick!!! It was such an awesome sight!

Wonder what will come into the coop next... yikes.

Stephen's birthday.

This was a special birthday for Stephen. Since he was supposed to be turning a whole hand (5 years old), we planned a trip down to the Ronald McDonald house in Salt Lake. We were excited that their had been a new facility built that was absolutely amazing! We had the opportunity to provide dinner to all of the families that were using the facility while they were going through their own rollercoasters at Primary Children's hospital. It was an amazing experience to be of support to those families. We cooked and provided pulled pork sandwiches, salad, chips, lemonade, and apple crisp. The families were so grateful and I think that we really helped them! I didn't want to leave, I just wanted to stay down there forever... it felt so good to be of service to those that were struggling. I love them and felt an incredible amount of empathy for them. I am still thinking about each of them everyday. It was a blessing to have had this opportunity. We are so grateful for our family members that were able to come and help and support us and show their love for Stephen. I miss him terribly and love him so very much. I was organizing pictures today and found a short essay that I had written a few years ago on MOTHERHOOD. I thought I would attach it to the end of this blog for Stephen's birthday.

We celebrated with cake and ice cream with the kids the night of Stephen's birthday. Daddy made a spectacular cake and we sure enjoyed it. These kids are incredible. Stephen has really left a great imprint on each of their hearts, even the two younger boys who weren't yet with us when Stephen was born into our family. They love him so very much and have a great understanding of how valuable each of them are.

Motherhood

Motherhood is what makes up the very air that I breathe, it’s the very thing running through my veins Sunday through Monday of every single week, twenty-four hours a day. This divine calling of Motherhood has undoubtedly evoked both my greatest joys, as well as my greatest heartaches; bringing me to my knees more than I can count; both in sincere gratitude and in pure desperation. Motherhood is literally anchored to the very depths of my soul, giving me an identity and teaching me what I’m truly capable of. My name is Jessica Laura Bowman and I am the literal spirit daughter of The Creator of Heaven and Earth and I am eternally blessed to be the Mother to four of His most precious spirit children.

Just over two years ago, our third child (second son) was born with foreseen heart complications that we later discovered would take his very life. Having full faith in the Lord’s will for our son, my husband and I chose to take him off of all support at just seven days old. We were told during this process that we should expect him to return to our loving Heavenly Father fairly rapidly. Despite what we were told, we held our son and watched as he began to thrive, rather than decline. We were then given the sacred opportunity to take him the three hour drive home, where he continued to live for thirty seven additional days. We lived in each and every moment as our children held, read, sang to, and bonded with their new baby brother. The total allotted time with our precious son was forty four days, wherein I learned of and experienced the miracle and value of both motherhood and time.

Motherhood is a blessing so valuable that it goes beyond this life and on into the eternities. Finding the strength to prevail on into the eternities has been and always will be half the battle. I believe that discovering and defining my own divine stature, nature, and unique traits that my loving Father has given me has helped win me the war thus far. It frightens me to think about how I am going to survive all the transitions of motherhood, the passing of time, and then allowing them to grow up without constantly harboring fear over them. Motherhood has given me such undeniable faith, resilient courage, and a far more optimistic perspective on life. The love and fierce devotion I feel for each of my children is deeply rooted into the very core that centers and sustains me. Their dependence is partly what makes these small years exhausting and yet the thought of that ever changing is devastating. My children irrefutably own my heart and it is with the entirety of that same heart that I treasure Motherhood here on earth and will likewise in the world to come.

Daddy lunch.

Aaron isn't impressed when he gets a flash in his eye while trying to nap at lunch, but occasionally one of the kids will fall asleep with him and I can't help but get my camera out. Time flies by so very fast, especially moments like these and I want to remember them... forever.

Wesley Flag Football.

Wesley had a great season of flag football! He played awesome, scored touchdowns, ran the ball, and did an awesome job blocking! He played some really difficult teams and his team had a rough start, but they came together and Wesley learned a lot. However, one morning following a game night, Wesley woke up with lots of pain in his leg and had to ice for a few days. I told him that he better enjoy his last year of flag football because next year was the real deal- tackle! He looked at me and said.... "I'm not playing tackle football!!!" So we will see what he decides to do. He is much tougher than he has yet realized. He has such a tender heart though, which is why I am not the least bit surprised by his choice.... or fear. I have enjoyed watching him play flag football and anything I know about football (which isn't much) I have learned from watching him play. He is such a good athlete and has such a great attitude.

Winter our Hedgehog.

I adopted this female Hedgehog for our kids and they LOVE her. They gave her the name of Winter. I'm not sure how much they will continue to play with her and love her, but this is unlike any pet we have ever had. She has quills that you have to watch out for and when she is upset or nervous, you can get poked real good. She kind of huffs and puffs until she fills comfortable in your hands. She has to smell you out first and then she walks on you, cuddles into you, and most often likes to be held in a little ball. One night Aaron watched a movie for like an hour holding her in a little ball. (see Below). These little critters are considered pests to some countries that have them in their hedges, but to us they can be worth up to $300 or more. It's kind of a funny little pet.

Snuggles.

I love when I can't help but grab the camera, hoping to capture the love that I felt when I witnessed these moments.

End of Summer Swim.

Every year, we like to get the kids in the pools in the backyard. They are pretty spoiled too because the pools are filled with hot water! They get their own private hot tubs- right in their backyard! They have so much fun and play literally play for hours!!! The older they get, the harder it is to squeeze all of them in the little plastic swimming pools. So much fun.