No me . . . but EVERYONE else!

In continuation to my last post . . . as I stated, 4 of the Willmar guys came out for their annual turkey hunt. Below are a few pictures of the lucky guys who did shoot their turkeys this year (no bitter feelings or anything :). Josh, Rene and Chad all managed to successfully harvest their turkeys on opening morning.



A couple of stories I thought I would share just to let you know how die hard these gentlemen are about their hunting . . . Opening morning (actually every morning after hunting) the guys would congregate back at our place. They would pull their lawn chairs out of the garage, take off pull up their shirts, put on their sun glasses and there they would sit, talk and plan for the afternoon hunt. Everyone compares stories, beards, spurs and fans (if a turkey was shot) and Josh and Chad this year decided to be clever so the other guys could share in their hunting experience. Josh tape recorded Chad shooting his turkey - it wouldn't be so bad if he would have actually used a camcorder but nope, not Josh, he used his phone! Now, the reason this is funny is because if you would listen to Josh talking (on his phone with horrible clarity and picture), he sounded like he was trying to be as serious and professional as the Real Tree Team on the hunting channel. The two of them were so excited about it too!

Now, not only did our house look a little "sketchy" with a handful of grown men sitting outside with their shirts off (I mean pulled up, according to Josh) in lawn chairs, they even decided to fry one of their newly harvested turkeys in our driveway (the fryer is still sitting in our garage with the oil in it by the way Josh JUST cleaned it out today!!) for lunch one day. And to top it off, I noticed a bunch of chalk drawing in the driveway and assumed it was Cayel's latest master piece until I looked closer . . . Ummmm, no. Not Cayel. The boys used Cayel's sidewalk chalk to draw out maps and plans of where to hunt. Little x's here and lines and circles there. Almost as if they were mapping out a treasure or something.



For anyone out there who wants to experience some of this fun, just give us a call and we'll hook you up for next year's turkey opener :)!

Everyone else . . . but ME!

Last weekend was the close of my favorite hunting season (feels odd to say that considering I said I would NEVER hunt) and I am reluctant to share that I did not get a turkey this year. Humph! That's right, as the title says, EVERYONE else got a turkey . . . Josh (more than 1), Rene (more than 1), Dick, and ALL 4 of the Willmar guys (Justin, Chad, Nate and Dave) but not ME!

Although I wasn't the successful hunterer and gatherer in our family this season :), I sure did enjoy the time outdoors hiking and listening to the turkeys gobble! Opening weekend 4 of Josh's Willmar friends made their annual trip out to spend a week hunting. Being Josh was busy guiding (and also managed to harvest his first turkey) I got the pleasure of going hunting with my father-in-law. He loves to hunt just as much as my husband does. As they say, "the apple doesn't fall far from the tree." My first hunting expedition of the season started when we approached the private land we had permission to hunt on and saw close to 30 turkeys feeding in a cow pasture - simple hunt right?!?!? One would think . . . We parked the car up the road and quietly made our way behind the pasture for our sneak attack. Just as we reached our destination a tom was making his way towards us but hadn't yet spotted us. For fear of being spotted (turkeys do this annoying clucking thing when they sense danger to warn the others) Dick handed me his gun (12 gauge) because my LITTLE gun (20 gauge) would never have been able to make the shot. Now, I must remind you that I am not an avid hunter and this is all new to me - I'm used to Josh sitting right next to me (last year I was even sitting on his lap when I pulled the trigger) and telling me exactly when to shoot. Instead, being my father-in-law had all the confidence in the world in me :), he handed me his gun and let me do my thing. Ummmm . . . yea, I missed. Twice. All 30+ turkeys flew away. Far, far away. End of hunting expedition #1. However, I must add, it was such a blessing to have that time with Dick and I have decided that I LOVE his gun and want to be put on the list of getting it some day :).

Sadly life took over and the weeks of turkey season passed. It wasn't until last weekend (the last weekend of turkey season) that expedition #2 occurred. Josh's alarm went off at the dreaded 4:00 a.m. UGH! Being the good sport I am and knowing in the back of my head that it was my last opportunity, I climbed out of bed and we headed out to the prairie. The second we stepped out of the truck you could hear the turkeys gobbling. Awhhh . . . I love that sound! You can tell Josh has been doing this for years because up one hill we climbed, then down it we went, up another, down another and up another until finally it sounded as if the turkey was right next to us - I on the other hand was lost after the second hill. He pulled out his call and started calling, sure enough, jackpot! He landed us right under a roost where 2 toms and a hen were roosting.

Side note: Okay girl friends, I know all of this "tom" and "hen" and "roosting" and "calling" and "gobbling" business has lost you and probably even has you questioning where your sweet girly girl Marcy went . . . hang in there or by-pass this post. I'm still here, just enjoying time with my husband doing what he loves!

Okay . . . back to the story. Josh had us sit on two tree stumps while he had fun calling. Like I said, awhhh . . . I love that sound! After about 15 minutes I started looking around and wondering how on earth I would shoot a turkey if it happened to come our way because I was surrounded by trees. I kept asking Josh if we should move but his only response was, "Shhh. Don't move, they can see us." Okay. Okay. Sure enough, a beautiful tom (or so I hear because I only saw a tree!) landed quite literally in our laps! Josh said, "SHOOT!" but what was I supposed to shoot? The tree? Well, as soon as the turkey landed and saw the idiots in camouflage, he was gone. My those turkeys run fast! No shot taken. Turkey gone. End of hunting expedition #2.

Thankfully it was still early (only about 6:30 a.m.) so we decided to move on and hopefully come across another gobbling bunch of toms. After hiking for a couple of hours (and a few miles I might add) Josh noticed some toms (or so he thought) on a hillside. We situated ourselves in the trees on the hillside and Josh started calling again. Slowly you could hear the gobbles getting louder and louder. It wasn't long before the "toms" were within site and then within shooting range. "Hmmmm . . . " I thought to myself, "They don't have beards." Ummm, yea. They weren't toms, they were jakes. But, I shot anyway. And again, missed. End of hunting expedition #3.

Now, in my defense, Dick assured me after my first miss during hunting expedition #1 that the shot was a long one for a shot gun (about 40 yards). As for the 2nd hunting expedition, I had a tree directly in front of me and didn't even see the tom. And for the 3rd and last hunting expedition, Josh was making me shoot his gun because conveniently he forgot to bring mine and to be completely honest, I was afraid of it. It was some Super X Short Mag "thingy mabobby" and all I remember was playing board games one night with Josh's parents after hunting and Josh pulled out one of his shot gun shells and his dad said, "you use those?" Like it was some big elephant gun or something. So needless to say, I wasn't real eager to shoot it. Aside from the gun issue, I also wasn't real eager to shoot a jake and hike it back for miles and miles. So, those are my excuses as to why I missed. I guess maybe I should stop making excuses and start going to the shooting range to practice? Ummmm . . . no.

End of story being, I really do enjoy turkey hunting. I love to listen to them gobble back and forth, I love to watch the toms strut their stuff when they are trying to impress a hen, I love the spring weather, I love sitting under a tree watching the sun rise and the sun set with the person I love the most and I love the time I get to spend with people I dearly love (my father-in-law and my hubby) doing something that they dearly love. But what I love the most is the fact that something such as hunting is confirmation that there IS indeed a God (not that I was questioning). Being outdoors surrounded by the beauty . . . You mean to tell me a big "bang" created 100 foot tall evergreen trees, or the quiet stream that trickles throug the hillside or even the beautiful blue bird that sits perched on a tree branch? I don't think so. Or that turkeys just one day appeared on this thing called earth and they know exactly when to gobble and how to gobble? Somthing bigger didn't play a hand in the beauty of their fans when they are in a full strut? Or the fact that their heads change colors when they are in heat? How could that be chance?
And God said, "Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, creatures that move along the ground, and wild animals, each according to its kind." And it was so. God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.

Happy Mother's Day!

I got the pleasure of spending my mother's day back in Minnesota with my family! It was a nice relaxing weekend that consumed of lots of play time with the cousins, visiting grandpa's and grandma's, naps and sleeping in, a competitive game of Monopoly, morel mushroom hunting and even a night out without the kids!

As you can tell by the pictures, the three kids had SO much fun playing together! They went a 100 mph ALL weekend . . . It was such a blessing to watch them play and hear them giggle. The joy and excitement they showed, was infectious! Even baby Noel tried to keep up with those crazy big cousins!





Saturday night my dearest friends Summer and Melissa offered to watch not one, not two but ALL THREE kids so we could have a nice quiet dinner out. What an AWESOME Mother's Day gift for us girls in the Hoeft family. A quiet dinner with no kids?!?!?! What's a girl to do?!?!?! We went to a neat little bar and grill in Fairmont on the lake - the food was great! Thank you Summer and Melissa for the wonderful gift!

Sunday we went to church and then my grandpa and grandma treated us to a Mother's Day brunch. We fed ourselves to the max and retreated to the house for a nice long nap :). Sunday afternoon the weather was absolutely beautiful so we spent most of our time outside playing.



Cayel's birthday gift from Aunt Chelsea that everyone (including mom had to try out)


My dad and Josh disappeared for a few hours . . . Hmmmm . . . where do you think they went? Well, when Josh is involved in the planning, hunting of course! And because he wasn't able to hunt a four legged creature, he decided to hunt a plant. Only because I'm married to Josh do I know about morel mushroom hunting! It was my dad's first time and boy did he deliver! The first spot they went (and I guess in the morel mushroom hunting world, you never give out your "spot" so, it's a secret :), JACKPOT!!! Josh came home with about 20 mushrooms!



Monday we headed out on our journey back to Spearfish and decided to make a "pit stop" at our friend Nic and Tara's in Jackson. We didn't anticipate it working out being it was a Monday morning and most people are working :). But all it took was one phone call and Tara was out of work, picked up Weston from daycare and met us in their driveway :)! We had such a wonderful day! We went out for lunch on Lake Okoboji, Josh took Cayel fishing, the kids played their little buns off in their beautiful yard and we ended the day grilling out. Josh and Cayel and I spent LOTS of time at Nic and Tara's during the "dating phase," being they were our match makers. But, now that we live so far away and rarely get back to Minnesota, our time is usually devoted to my family when we come back. It was nice to surprise them and have some quality time together!


Even Weston was practicing up on his baseball

As for my Mother's Day . . . It was so special, so perfect! Have I ever said how much I dearly love my husband? In case I don't say it enough, I do! This Mother's Day was one more revelation to God's blessings that have unfolded over the past few years. Cayel is 3 years old and this was my third Mother's Day as a mommy. I remember my first Mother's Day like it was yesterday . . . a new mommy and so many uncertainties of our future. It was during that time of exhaustion and uncertainty that I found comfort in a verse that a very dear friend shared with me, "As a mother comforts her child, so I will comfort you says, the Lord." I knew in the deepest part of my heart that God would comfort me while I raised Cayel and that there was a purpose in our situation. Although the revelation of that purpose has taken years to unfold, God has abundantly blessed me as a mother and now as a wife. Within that year, God put my life in overdrive and worked miracles in me I never thought possible. I met Josh, the man that He knew I was to spend the rest of my life with and here I am, three years later . . . with an amazing husband who for the first time since being a mommy, lifted me up and loved on me for being such a great mommy to OUR son! Thank you Father for the blessing of my husband this Mother's Day and thank you Father for entrusting Your son to us. If only I would have know then what His plan entailed :) . . .

Up to our elbows in dishes, banquets and even a 3 ring circus!

The title says it all!

In the last couple of weeks Cayel has decided that he likes to help out with some of the daily chores around the house, which mom likes too! If I'm doing laundry he will help sort cram it into the washing machine (and for those of you who know me, laundry is not my specialty so sorting isn't exactly sorting . . . I cram as much into the washing machine as it will allow :). Heck, maybe if I train him well enough, he will learn to iron so I can stop sending my husband's dress shirts to my mother-in-law (thank goodness for a mother-in-law who LOVES to iron and thank goodness she lives in the same town - thanks Linda)! He also loves to help unload the dishwasher and has even taken an interest in one of mommy's favorite things to do . . . washing the dishes (I'm crazy I know, but I love it)! As you can tell by the pictures, he did a great job! Now if only I can get him to wash floors and clean the bathroom . . . All in due time.





Friday we attended our 5th banquet in 8 weeks! That's right, 5 banquets in 8 weeks! Although they are all for very worthy causes, the banquet Friday was extra special! It was extra special because it is an organization that personally touched us during a very difficult time in our lives. To say thank you and attempt to give back, we donated a boys toddler Trek bike with training wheels and a bicycle helmet on behalf of Cayel to help raise money on their live auction. The bike was a HUGE hit and raised a whopping $450 for the organization. Not only were we able to financially give back to this wonderful organization, we were asked to speak about Cayel's injury, recovery and how Realtor's for Kids affected our life. There at the podium, 250 eyes were on us as we shared our story and what our little boy overcame - what a glorious thing! And best of all, we got to share it with our dear friends Rene and Tahra and Josh's parents - thank you for supporting us!

Saturday was a family day and off to the circus we went (literally, the circus). The Shriner's Circus was in Rapid City this weekend so we decided it would be a fun activity for Cayel - being it was his first one and all! You asked if he liked it did you?!?!?! Hmmmm . . . For the first 15 minutes he latched onto daddy's neck so hard that I thought Josh was going to pass out from lack of oxygen. Clowns, clowns and more clowns! I'm not sure about the rest of you but there truly is something scary about clowns, I couldn't blame him. It wasn't until this 10 foot clown (on stilts of course) bribed him with candy that he decided it was okay to give him a "five." Eventually he started to warm up to the whole idea and we even got him to do a pony ride.


After the pony ride he wanted to ride the elephants but I just couldn't bring myself to let him do it (bad mom I know)! We bought the ticket (for $8 dollars I might add) and stood in the mile long line for about 15 minutes before I finally bribed him with a light up sword if he didn't ride the elephant. Those poor elephants looked beyond depressed walking a bunch of screaming kids around in a tiny little circle and it seemed like every time I made eye contact with them they screamed "get me out of here!" Okay, so maybe they didn't but the little miss animal activist came rushing back to me! In my defense, before you say, "oh Marcy, get over it," even Josh agreed that they didn't look well. He even took pictures to send to PETA - HA HA not really (he did take pictures, but not to send to PETA)!


Cayel is still playing with his light up sword so it was a win/win situation :)! The circus acts themselves were fun to watch . . . and Cayel particularly liked the tiger acts!


I on the other hand couldn't believe how in 20 years (I think the last circus I went to I was in 1st or 2nd grade) NOTHING had changed! The same acts, the same outfits, the same animals, the same interesting people :). All things considered it was fun to do something different and more fun to watch Cayel's excitement as he experienced something new.




In closing, if anyone is in need of a little "pick me up" this week, give us a call. Cayel's newest and cutest thing is to be little Mr. Suave! With all the innocence in the world he will randomly say, "I likeded your pwetty hair mommy, you lookeded beautiful or I likeded your nice shirt daddy, you lookeded handsome. I handsome too daddy?" Notice how he knows that my hair is pretty or I mean "pweety" and I'm beautiful but daddy's shirt is not "pwetty," it's nice and he is sure not beautiful, he is handsome! He's got it down and wins over my heart every single time! Ahhhh I love this age!