A New Baby!

Meg & Matt Saari introduced their new baby girl, Maija Nicole on November 20th @ 1:16pm. She was 8 lbs 1 oz and 20 3/4 inches long! I am so excited that they have a new healthy addition to their family - I will hopefully have pictures to post
within the next few weeks or months! :) :) :)

Never a Dull Moment..

For those of you who were worried that Damon and I wouldn't have anything to keep us occupied during lay off... you under estimated the fun of disposable gloves!

Crash Update...

Crash or Crash-opher, as Damon calls her, is doing great. She is walking really well, using her litter box, eating hard food, prrring and playing with Nedward, the curtain cords and the house plants. We will be bringing her in on Friday for her first update since the accident and hopefully get a clean bill of health. At this point we are considering her the new part of our family and excited to have her quirky personality around. :)

Season's End...

Another deer season has come to an end in Minnesota and this season was not without excitement! For those of you who know me - there is never a dull moment when I attempt to go hunting. This year was different from past because there was not exactly a place to stay due to my parents rebuilding their home from the fire. So, Damon pulled the 5th wheel to the house and we figured we'd just stay in there. Mom and I were in for a big surprise when we realized that the camper doesn't exactly come equipped to keep you warm in freezing weather. Sure we have a heater; however, the campers definition of 75 degrees and my definition of 75 degrees were two totally different temperatures! The first evening was freezing... this first picture is how I slept: turtle neck, hat, wool socks... we actually didn't have to put too many other clothes on when we got up to go out in the morning! :)

Nedward giving us our wake up calls...It was cold, windy and everything that could go wrong - did, but eventually we made it out to the field and got our first hunt in for the season.

Damon got lucky this year and shot himself an 8 point buck. I'm extremely proud of him! We are both not exactly the best shot - so for him to down a big one, on the first shot, is awesome! :)

Mama got lucky as well - with a 125 pound doe. You'll have to ask her about how she shot her doe in the butt and shocked it to death! I'm pretty sure I could shoot a deer 4 times in the front shoulder and we'd have to search for hours - but not ma! She shot it once - in the rear mind you - and the sucker dropped 5 feet from impact. I'm extremely jealous! :) My Uncle Charlie and Donny loaded the deer ... Charlie says, "Do you have your tag Kath - you should probably put it on if you're going to be transporting it"... Mama goes and gets her tag, realizing that she doesn't have a piece of twine to attach her registration ... a hair binder works in a pinch to any of you women out there who may show up at the field unprepared! :)We brought the doe to farm that night and Damon brought it home the following day in the car - this picture just cracks me up! You might be a redneck if... I myself did not get lucky and shoot a deer this year. I did have opportunities; however, I'm picky about the size, distance and any other variable that might be playing into the scenario - and I'm okay with that. As the years go on I am more convinced that deer hunting is not really about me shooting the deer but rather everything else that goes along with it. Deer hunting to me means getting close to nature: taking time to breathe, taking time to watch the sunrise & set over your field, watching squirrels & birds as they gather food and blow your cover with their noises. It also means spending time and making memories with those you love. I have so many great memories of me, mom and dad hunting together - they are not always the memories that make your heart melt, but none-the-less they still make me smile. And now the opportunity to share my love for hunting with my husband and his family. For the first time this year, I spent the weekend hunting our land at the farm and it was great fun. It's the hunting stories, the jokes and the memories made each year that keep me coming back. So maybe you find the whole act of hunting ruthless - freezing in your stand for hours on end, shooting at 4 legged creatures or maybe you just don't think you look good in orange but for me there are two weeks and three weekends in November that I will forever and always want to be a part of.

My boys after a long day of hunting up North...

Crash...

Last Friday I was on my way to the YMCA and this lady was walking on the sidewalk and flagging me to stop. I stopped the truck and waved her to go ahead thinking she had dropped something in the road. She walked out into my lane and that was when I noticed that what she was stopping me from hitting - a kitty. Someone had hit or thrown a kitty out the window of their car and it was still alive in the street. I didn't exactly know what to do so - I picked it up and brought it to the vet. I figured that they would put the kitty down because it had been struck; however, they did x-rays and discovered that suprisingly there isn't anything broken in her body! She does have a bruised jaw and lungs, her back legs are limp and they are uncertain the amount of damage the rest of her body has sustained. At the time she didn't have any internal bleeding - So, they sent her home with me with pain meds and an antibiotic for 14 days.

After two days of drugs, Crash (a fitting name we thought) has improved. She has an appetite, has peed, pooped and is now starting physical therapy to get her back legs moving. :) I extremely happy to see that she is using her back legs and is walking around. Crash seems to have a sassy side too! Starting at 3am this morning she wanted attention.... meow, meow, meow! Everyone, including Ned, in the Tuttle household is adapting to this new criter and hoping she recovers from this horrible accident!

Meet Crash...

You can see from this picture her back legs are not as stable as they could be...But she is a fighter and doing her physically therapy daily for strength...

Happy Halloween...

This year I had 7 Trick-or-Treaters... YEAH! Living right in town I always figured I have plenty of the ghost and gobblins; however, this is the first year we've had anyone! I was so excited and glad that I picked up some candy...

Laid Off Season...

Fitting that one of the last posts would be some pictures of Damon's office. For now - it is lay off season. Yes, both Damon and I will be spending our time doing other things besides work for the next four months and EXCITED!

Some have questioned how Damon and I will do with constantly having to be around each other; however, I think we'll be fine. Damon did have the break down because we didn't have any Frosted Mini Wheats left and I have cried trying to figure out unemployment but other than that - the last three days have went great! :)

We've spent most of our three days bow hunting - yeah! Damon shot and missed a 6 pointer last night (let the arrow fly a little too early) ... in result all the deer that may have walked to my stand turned and went the opposite way. ha! :) However, we are seeing deer and are excited for the rifle season to open! :)

Hopefully I will have some pictures of our 'massive' deer to post the next time around. :)

Love Ya Sis!

I can't help but to post this picture.... you mess with a photographers camera -

She pulls off Dorie from Finding Nemo like none other! :)