Britt's Deer Hunt 2015

I had a rifle tag again this year to the same unit we hunted last October. We decided to continue with the tradition (or more so try to still encourage making this a tradition) of camping with whatever family members wanted to/were able to. Ashlee and Taylor both had a tag for the same area so they were game to try and come as much as could. So- Russ's dad came for a few nights, Channy came and stayed, Jake and Ashlee's family camped a few days, and Tanner made a day trip up with Taylor and Alli.

Wait! I need to mention--- The Sunday before the deer hunt started we found a toy hauler for sale on KSL. Long story short- we bought it! it ended up being a crazy week of buying it, cleaning out our old camp trailer and transferring items to the new trailer, all while grocery shopping & packing for the trip oh and both of us working full time! It was wild. But SOOO worth it!

Back to the deer hunt!.....

We got all loaded up Wednesday and headed up the mountain. Luckily, Ash and Jake had gone up and secured our camp spot the night before. It was the perfect spot too! Off the road, and all to ourselves. Just how I like it :) We spent the day setting up camp, and did some 4 wheeler riding spotting that night to scope out any deer. Didn't see any, but went back to camp to hang out with the Brandt's who had come back up for the night.

Thursday morning started early out looking for deer. We took the little red Toyota (Mark, Russ and myself) with Ash in their side by side. Russ ended up seeing a buck that looked pretty promising so we tried to stalk in on it but was unsuccessful by the time I had to go back to the truck to get my gun :(
I was pretty bummed but it was still encouraging to have seen a buck! Back at camp we made a big breakfast and played with the kiddos on the swing that was built in our camp.

 Russ had naptime and was so tired that he didn't even realize we had stuck a foot in his beard.

It started to rain so we had an a little camper time that afternoon. Luckily with our new toy hauler were able to have a freezer full of treats :) The rain let up eventually so were able to go out scouting that evening. 

 Friday morning- we went back to the same mountain side where we'd seen the deer the day before to try and spot it again. We were unsuccessful so we scouted out a few other locations before picking Channy up at a crossroads and headed back to camp for breakfast.

My hunting guides

Russ rode in the back of the truck to get a higher up view to spot deer.

 We hung out at camp, ate breakfast and lunch etc... then before we knew it we were back out scouting again that evening (once again with no luck).

Saturday was family day! We got up early again and met up with Taylor, Ali, and Tanner who joined us out on our search. Unfortunately all we came up on was some grouse (which isn't totally bad news), and Taylor lost his wallet and knife. Of course that day included some hanging out at camp and trying to help Taylor find his belongings. But unfortunately it was also the day that everyone was leaving.

When your bro-in-law matches your pink stitching clothes

Preggo mama may have snuck in a dirt bike ride on my new whip... :)

By late Saturday afternoon everyone but us had packed up camp and taken off. Channy decided she wanted to stay the last night with us and thank goodness she did! Russ, Channy and myself decided to load up on the 4-wheeler and go for a ride to see if we could see anything-after not getting a deer again all week I didn't have high hopes....but then suddenly Russ spots a pretty good buck right off the side of the trail.  The deer spooks as Russ and I start to load the gun and get off the wheeler. It ran down the hill a ways and Russ and I took off after it. I missed my first shot but quickly reloaded and took another shot. Suddenly the deer dissapeared from our vision. I was feeling discouraged-I finally got to get a shot off on a deer and it was my first time shooting my rifle standing up and I felt like maybe I hadn't got as good of a shot as I thought I did. We were walking around looking to see if we could spot where he'd taken off to when Russ spots him down behind a bush. I got him!!!!

Channy snuck a shot from the 4-wheeler of me shooting my deer

One of my favorite pictures-Russ demanding a high five as Channy is recording video and also trying to get the first picture of me and my deer.

This pregnant lady couldn't handle gutting her deer :( Thankfully Channy stepped in and helped Russ gut it but also helped him drag it out. THANKS CHANNY!!

You might be a redneck if.... We had to take a picture of how we rode back to camp from the area where I killed my deer. We may have gone 2 MPH the whole way but we made it!

I made dinner while Channy and Russ got the deer hung in the tree for the night. We let it cool and drain all night while we passed out exhausted from the days events. Sunday Morning we woke up made one last big camping breakfast before packing up camp. It was an amazing week and so much fun! I'm so blessed to have such an amazing husband-Thanks for being my hunting guide lover and for sharing all these adventures with me. We're also blessed to have amazing family members to share life, and make memories with. Until next year deer camp!!

Olsen Family Vacation 2015

The first weekend of October found us in Sunny St. George! Now that Tanner was home and our family was all together for the first time in years my parents planned a weekend getaway to St. George. We stayed at a family friends daughters house so we could all stay together and the weather was perfect!

Russ, Taylor, Alli and I left late Thursday night-the rest of the family left early Thursday but we waited for Russ to get off work, and Taylor to get out of class. It was a late night finally rolling in to the house in St. George around 1 am but luckily we'd had a very hyper Taylor to keep us entertained.

Friday morning after breakfast we went hiking around the red rocks.

Later that afternoon we had a pool party back at the house. (meanwhile Jake who hadn't been feeling well had gone to the instacare for some abdominal pain-come to find out they had sent him to the hospital for further testing...)

 At the end of the pool party Ashlee came outside to say that Jake had just called and they were taking him back to surgery to have his appendix out. She took off to the hospital and we got the kiddos dressed, ate dinner, and went to Tuacahn for the evening. Russ had never been to Tuacahn so it was fun to show him that, as well as enjoy a night out with the fam under the stars in the beautiful St. George air.

 Beauty and the Beast was amazing and we went back to the house after to crash after a long day-where thankfully Ashlee and Jake were waiting for us after having been discharged from the hospital.

Saturday was Zions National Park day. Jake and Lexi stayed back at the house as his activity level was limited. I had been told by my OB prior to this trip to not get my heart rate over 140's so I opted to spend the day on light duty hiking around with my mom and the kiddos while the rest of the family hiked Angel's Landing. Luckily they took lots of pictures for me as I was pretty depressed to be missing out on Russ's first time hiking Angel's Landing.

It was still a beautiful great day and after hiking we enjoyed a picnic under the trees and then hung out and explored a little more of the park and visitor center before heading home to get cleaned up. The plan was initially that the boys were going to go to the Priesthood session of general conference that night after dinner-but with everything that had happened with Jake and having it been such a long day we decided to go out to dinner and then head back to the house.

Funny pregnancy story from dinner: As we walked into the restaurant the smells overcame me and I realized too late that I had waited to long to eat (at this point in pregnancy I was needing to eat every 2-3 hours to keep the nausea at bay) and had not drank enough water that day. I held it together until we got to our table and then I just started to get really hot and kept thinking it wouldn't be long before I was running to the bathroom. Well they brought out drinks and getting some water helped but next thing I know they bring out the kiddos food. Sitting right across from me was a big ol plate of Mac-N-Cheese. Suddenly, that's all I could think about (Mac-n-cheese had been a huge craving as well), and all I wanted. The thought of eating what I had ordered suddenly made me more sick. So, Ashlee who could see me eyeing Lexi's food told me to just go ahead and eat it all seeing as how lex wouldn't. Say no more! I devoured that plate of mac-n-cheese and boxed my meal to take back to the house for someone else to eat : )

Back at the house we had one last night of pool partying. We played music and took turns dancing as couples, or as mom and Tanner haha, and others that weren't pregnant or recovering from surgery hot tubbed. It was the perfect last night!

Sunday morning we ate breakfast while "watching" (I slept) conference all crammed into the living room together. Shortly after we were packing, cleaning and loading up vehicles to head home.
It was such an amazing trip and so fun to finally have our whole family, plus new additions, together again.  Thanks for the trip mom and dad!!

Russ's Buck 2015

After hunting through all the dedicated weapon seasons Russ landed a nice buck on the rifle hunt opener. It wasn't the one he'd been hunting and that he's had his eyes on but- he had great adventures in their hunting spot over the past few months trying and it was a great ending to his dedicated season. Thanks to Wade and Taylor for being there to help pack it out :)

Waiting out the rain turned into nap time

PHOTOBOMB