Tis the Season for. . . Birthdays!

November is a month full of birthdays for our family.  Grandma Beutler begins the month with her big day.  Doug was able to call her from somewhere in the frozen north and wish her a Happy Birthday, and she always loves hearing from him.  Next is Mady's birthday,  Grandpa Winns, then Cody and Grandpa Beutler share their birthdays.  The kids are always excited to share their birthdays with their Grandparents.  Mady turned 15 and didn't hesitate to remind me that now she can get her learners permit to drive.  (SCARY!!!)  Her birthday fell on a Tuesday night, and a workday for me, so we had a quick dinner out at Wendy's and off she went to Young Womens.  They always treat her right there and she came home with an arm load of presents.  That night after everyone returned home we celebrated with ice cream cupcakes and presents. 

Mady is all a glow.  It was hard to put 15 candles on 6 cupcakes. 

She received some new pants, a Western belt, a new blanket and book,
and some matchbox cars.  She is imitating the monkey on the blanket
and I think it is a very good likeness.  She also received money from
her Grandparents, which got her really excited over.

  The day after Mady's birthday is my Dad's, Grandpa Winn.  I won't give his age, but I can tell you that he is older than Mady.  Grandpa Winn in working hauling loads from Pocatello, Idaho, into Canada and hasn't been home for about two months, so we sent him a text with a silly birthday song, which I'm sure he loved. 

I'm not sure how I did it, but five days after Mady's birthday is Cody and Grandpa Beutlers birthdays.  A few years ago Grandpa and Cody had their birthdays together when Cody turned six and Grandpa turned sixty.  It was a really neat day.  This year their birthdays were on a Sunday and we had to wait until after church to celebrate.  Cody tried to call Grandpa during the day but wasn't able to get a hold of him, so we had a very small ice cream cake and presents.  Grandma Winn came over for dinner after her church and we celebrated. 

Cody didn't want a cake this year, so I got the rest of us the smallest
ice cream cake I have ever seen.  We all go a 2"X 2" piece, and Cody
ended up having one too.  It was just right. 

Cody received a Rodeo puzzle, a tractor for his farm set, and best of all
a pair of Chaps for his new interest of bull riding (which may not happen if
I have a say in things.) He was also excited to receive cards
from his Grandparents.   Happy Birthday Cody!

Now, onto the Holidays! 

All Hallows Eve

One of the most fun holidays is Halloween at our house.  The past few years we have hosted a Halloween party where the kids invite all their friends over and we do all kinds of games.  The biggest feature is usually the movie on the wall outside and LOTS of hot chocolate.  This year we did it differently because Halloween was on a Monday night.  I work on Mondays and don't get off until 5:30 or 6 so we couldn't do the party this year.  The kids all got to dress up and still had fun, however.  Here are a few pictures for us to remember.

Mady went all out and dressed up like Murdock from the A-team
and built herself an airplane with boosters.  We thought it looked like a dog
or a duck, but she loved it!

Because Halloween was on a work day I decided to add a few things to
my uniform and ended up being a little Ghoulish.  Poor Don in the
chair has no idea what is coming next.  lol

Here we have little Red Riding Hood, a ghoulish hobo and me.
We are ready to go trick-or-treating.  This year we went with some
friends over to Roberts Ranch, a neighborhood that blocks off their streets
and has spook alleys and lots of candy.

Dalyon and his trick-or-treating buddies, Dallas (the Bigfoot) and
AJ who is a video game character (I'm not sure of his name.)

Mady had a "few friends" over to help her ha.d out candy.
It ended up being a party and they all dressed up fun.  She was the
only one who didn't dress up.  What a girl.

Dougs Adventures in the North

A few months ago Doug got the opportunity to go to Idaho and move houses from the factories in Boise, Idaho to Wiliston, North Dakota for the oil boom going on there.  A lot of Dads from our area have relocated up to the oil fields for work, and come down every three or four weeks to visit their families.  We are lucky that Doug gets to move houses and keep our business going by moving homes up to the oil fields.  The small towns in North Dakota have been over run by workers coming in and setting up travel trailers anywhere, even though there aren't any utilities to hook to.  The city planners have had to enforce ordinances that require the men to live in organized mobile home parks instead of renting a small plot of land from area farmers for their travel trailers.  Doug says it reminds him of the pictures of the gold rush in the 1800's when so many men traveled west and pitched their tents anywhere they could.  Thankfully, the new ordinances are requiring manufactured homes to be brought in and that gives us work.  Even though it takes him away from us for a long while, we are so grateful that he is working.  Doug posted some pictures of his travels on Facebook that I was able to copy and share.  He has had good weather so far and has been able to get quite a few loads done.  Yesterday was his first significant snow storm of the year and I guess it really came down on him.  Being so far away from home isn't so bad for him because we have family that live in Southeastern Idaho and my Dad is also driving truck hauling steel from Pocatello into Canada and they keep tabs on each other.  Last night Doug was able to spend the night with his sister Katie in Pocatello and go to church with them today.  He really enjoys seeing them and playing with his nieces and nephews.  I really appreciate knowing that he has someplace to go with family there and that he can go to church with them.  Thanks for sharing your home with us Katie and Brett!  Here are a few pictures of Dougs travels before the snow hit. 

This is Dougs truck when he is delivering the home in Wiliston, ND.  This
is only one of many parks they are setting up for the oil workers.  They will have
utilities, and paved roads yet to come. 

They have over 300 homes to move from Boise, ID to Wiliston, ND so
the toters often run together.  Doug says he has never run in a
convoy of houses in the 16 years he has pulled them.  He is enjoying
himself being on the road and working with these guys.

This is Twin Bridges, MT.  A very pretty town. 

This is a "man camp" in Wiliston, ND.  Doug says that the farmers rent out
spaces in their fields to the oil workers, which is great except that there are no
utilities and some farmers allow too many trailers on their properties.

A sunset in Arco, Idaho.

Another view of the park Doug is moving homes into in Wiliston, ND

Usually when Doug has a flat the tread comes off and flies into traffic
or the tire rolls off into the wrong direction of the borrow pit.  This is the
first time the tread has "flowered" up like this and the tire stayed on. 

This is a company taking down an oil drill.

This is a finished well.

Home for the Hens



A few months ago Doug and Cody brainstormed and decided to build a new chicken coupe for my 19 chickens. They put their heads together and designed exactly what they wanted and built my ladies a really nice home with windows, doors, (for both the chickens and for people), a nesting area and a roosting area. They also designed a continuous feeder and waterers which will cut down on the amount of work we have to do every day. While Doug is gone we decided to paint the outside of it. I was hoping for multicolored stripes, or maybe pink, but Doug didn't care for my suggestions so we settled on a red chicken coupe and white trim. This proved to be a good project for Cody, and he worked diligently until it was finished. We all did a little bit, but Cody did the greatest part of the work. It looks great! 

Cody painting the white boarder.

Me rolling the red on.  Cody went ahead of me and got into the cracks
in between the slats.  That took a long time.

Dalyon and his friend Dallas helping for a minute.

Cami and her friend Harley not missing a chance to roll a little bit, but
it soon became boring so off they went to play. 

The front finished, now only 3 more sides to go. 
 Cody finished them after school the next week.
I think we should paint a big black "H" on it
in honor of the Hurricane Tigers. 

Good job everybody!  Especially Cody and Dad for making a new home for the hens. Thanks!!

Catching up

How time flies when you are having fun!  The past few weeks have been super busy and I realized yesterday that I haven't been updating my blog like I like to.  It was about three weeks ago that Doug left to go and move houses in Idaho, Montana and North Dakota and I guess being a single parent has taken up my blogging time.  He plans to stay up there for a while longer and work, because that is where the work is right now so I guess I had better start scheduling myself time for my blog. 

The past few weeks have been full of volleyball, football, and fun times with Halloween and other activities.  Mady finished her Volleyball season strong with the freshmen only losing one match the whole season!  Way to go!  In her last home game she played strong and was the star of the game by getting her moves and serves right on.  Her coach's Mom is a photographer and they shared some pictures with us. 

Mady has perfect form for her killer serves.

Freshman Volleyball Team
(Back left)  Mady Beutler, Ceirci Sundin, Alyssa Bohnne, Chelsi Cahoon,
Lindsay Kapcsos, Brooke Francis, Lindsay Quilter (Coach), Kelly LeBaron, Kaitlen Cooper,
 Kelsey Chesley, Shelby Copeland, MaKaylee Shea, and Samantha Stevens

We are very proud of our freshman team and their coach Lindsay Quilter.  Mady loves to play and I was really proud of her skills and precision as she played.  She is already signed up for Club Volleyball that goes from January to May.  I guess you can never get enough volleyball!!

 Mady also played in the Halloween Orchestra concert on October 27 with the Middle School Orchestra.  Everyone dressed up for the concert, and true to form, Mady out did herself and was unofficially voted the best costume.  She wore a t-shirt that said "This IS my Halloween costume".  Her dry humor never ceases to amaze me. 

Cody has also been busy.  He had an Orchestra concert on the same night as a football game and chose the concert to keep his grade.  I have learned that he is a very strong player (according to Mrs. Ferrin) and that he produces a great sound.  I could tell he really liked playing with his group, but he will never admit it to anyone.  He is nearing the end of the football season and is hoping to be chosen for the all stars.  He plays center, and lineman on both offense and defense and really likes the roughness of football.  He told me the other day that he can't wait to play Rugby, where there are no pads, and few rules.  Definitely something for me to look forward to! 

Kick off.  Cody is #66 on the line.

A very beautiful night for a football game.  Very cold, and the sunset was beautiful.

Three weeks ago Austin traveled to Dayton to pick up 220 sacks of potatoes that the FFA were selling to raise money for scholarships.  It was the first time he has traveled to Idaho without one of us with him and I must admit that I was nervous, especially because he took three of his friends with him. He took Darringer Scow, Kris Wilson, and Dan Thompson.   Austin did a great job driving and had a great time with his friends in Logan and on the farm in Dayton.  Grandma fed the boys really well and Grandpa let them take his jeep out four-wheeling and to play in Logan so they didn't have to take Dougs truck everywhere.  They have great pictures on their phones of their adventures, and got to work on Wes Beutler's potato farm sacking the very potatoes that they sold.  I think it was a good experience for everyone, and I was really thankful to have Austin return home that Sunday afternoon safely.  Doug left for Idaho/Montana the morning that Austin was coming home so they met in Nephi and had lunch together before they continued onto each of their destinations.  What a crazy weekend that ended up being.