The Coombs Family

Caleb was gone elk hunting in Colorado and we had this great idea that I would drive our kids to Utah and meet him there when he was done hunting. Then, my sister decided to come with her kids, but she had a school final that didn't allow her to leave until late Friday night. I didn't want her kids to be stuck in a car and getting to Utah super late on Friday night, so I volunteered to take them too. I borrowed her huge SUV, slammed my two kids, and her four girls in the car, and we hit the road. They all stayed the night at my house the night before, I got the car loaded, and we left around 4:45 am. The trip is usually 13 hours, and we made it in exactly 13 hours. No extra stops, no fighting, a little drama, and the trip was great. Seriously, sometimes more kids is easier. They played so well together. The only melt down was when I had to use the bathroom super bad and I couldn't find Shelby or Calvin's shoes. So I carried them both into the bathroom while Rhoda's

Caleb is a pretty tough guy. He has been a man for awhile. But today he did something that made him an official man. He is officially a member of my family now. It probably should have happened when we got married, but he was still missing one thing. Today he shot an elk with my dad by his side. I honestly don't like elk meat, and I despise deer meat. But here's the thing- it's just what my family does. They are hunters. They love to kill stuff and eat it. I may not like the meat, but I love the experience he had this past week in Colorado. Driving that far with my dad and brother-in-law is pretty entertaining. Hiking 10 miles a day around a mountain is beautiful. Watching the sun rise, the sun set, seeing tons of animals, and becoming one with nature is what I like about the hunt. It's how I was raised and I am glad Caleb likes to do it. I was 8 years old when I started hunting with my dad and I still go when I can. I have never shot a real animal and I probabl

Shelby decided to celebrate the holiday by being sick. She has had a cough for weeks now but it has gotten to the point where she actually coughs so hard she throws up. So we have been home for the past three days trying to get her feeling better. She took a nice long nap, and it's time to get dressed up. Here is Shelby with her costume on, all ready to go! As soon as we got to the church she went straight into a mud puddle (see right shoe).  We could barely get Calvin to leave his costume on. I purposely got something that looks like cars and regular clothes, hoping he would cooperate.  He finally warmed up once I showed him the scooter. He wanted nothing to do with the candy or talking to strangers.  After about 10 minutes, Shelby begged to go home. She took off her costume in the car, ate half of one sucker and asked to go to bed. Poor kids. Hopefully they will enjoy the holiday more in the future. Here is my favorite pumpkin that Caleb carved this yea