Dave's Deer Hunting Rebuttal...

Keri has been officially FIRED! She no longer has the right to speak of the matter of hunting. Yes I did shoot a big buck while hunting in Wisconsin and found nothing but big puddles of blood. I also some how managed to have my rifle sling strip out of my 7mm sending it barrel first into the mud, and then crashing scope first into a big log. On a positive note I did improve my tracking skills and learned that four shells are not enough and scopes SUCK! That's why I am switching to an AK-47 with a thirty round clip. I have officially declared war on the deer of Wisconsin. This gun is designed to be fired dirty and with an endless supply of bullets. PERFECT!

Another Deer and Gourmet Dinner at Aunt Kathy's

While I was participating in Black Friday with the rest of Rockford at 7 am in the morning, Dave was back in his favorite spot looking for more deer to fill our freezer. He got a poor mama doe around 7:30 am, and even got Erick Beard to help him load it in the truck!


Saturday we had the pleasure of a wonderful meal at Aunt Kathy and Uncle Steve's beautiful home on Lake Michigan in Racine. According to Dave, the ribs were "awesome!" the best we have ever had.

It was great to see the Taylors, the other Dave Solverson family, Warren, Lanie and the Johnson clan. We are sad for all those who missed out!

Thanksgiving Day

Another Thanksgiving at our home. Another Martha Stewart turkey that was very tasty!! Thank you to all who brought a dish to pass... and to Ann for making the most fabulous Candied Sweet Potatoes even though she was sick. Sorry we didn't leave you any Ann... oops! And who will forget the Green Beans... Definitely NOT Jacob who sang his own praises for the better part of an hour. How exciting to have dessert for the first time at Christie and Robs! I think we have a tradition started! Dave, Jacob and Olivia played multiple rounds of matching, and according to her, "creamed their butts
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Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, partly because it is the only holiday we celebrate, but mostly because it is so great to be surrounded by those you love and because the day really makes you reflect on all the Lord has blessed you with. And also... "love to eat turkey..."

Gun Season Opens...

Ah yes, the annual weekend in WI as Gun Hunting Season opens. Dave and his dad went up Friday afternoon to Uncle Layne and Aunt Artis' land somewhere near La Crosse about 1.5 hours from cell phone service. This year Maureen and I also made the trekk up to see the hunters, but not without doing a bit of hunting ourselves; hunting for good deals at the malls in Madison that is! I do have to say we were pretty successful. As for our hunters, sadly, they caught nothing. Dave shot a buck, but it ran away and died somewhere, and no one has yet found the poor guy. The guys did enjoy their time visiting with family and just the peace of sitting in a field, cold for hours upon end.

Maureen Finally Turns Fifty!

This past Saturday night we threw Mama Mo a suprise 50th Birthday Party. She was totally surprised! We have been planning this for months and even told Steve about the surprise. She was almost on to us, but Jo threw her off the scent when she surprised Mo with herself and Baby Issace Saturday morning just as Maureen was going to get in the shower. Needless to say Mo was so excited. Jo, Kat, Jason and Katherine's parents all went out to dinner and then later stopped by our house for some dessert... little did she know 60 people would be there to celebrate! Dan put together a video about Maureen from her family and all enjoyed the fabulous desserts Katherine made, cake and catching up. Kona was chased by the little kids all night and sampled all the sweets leaving her totally spent by the end of the night. I think we all felt about the same way when the last guest left around midnight... too much birthday!

Sing for the Cure

I was recently part of a breast cancer fundraiser in Rockford. I was singing in a group of 60 along with a reduced Rockford Symphony Orchestra. We sang a work called Sing for the Cure, a musical masterwork of songs in a variety of styles portraying different people suffering from breast cancer. I was also a narrator and performed a monolouge about a woman with breast cancer who was imagining what life would be like for her little girl when or if she dies. The work as a whole was very moving, and I must say performing the monolouge was very challenging and also nerve-wracking, but in retrospect, the work as a whole was very sad in a different way. These people were lost and felt helpless with their diagnosis because they don't have the Lord in their life, and the thought of dying without the Lord in your life is hopeless!

Fall is here now...

As much as I am sad when summer ends, and I am very sad, as soon as those leaves begin to change colors and we take our first visit to the Apple Orchard, I am in love with fall! Kona's favorite season is fall because she loves to chase the leaves as they blow down the street. Here are a few pictures of the fall planting we have been doing over the past week or so. Dave is now all about "rocks and grass" as you can see by the pool. Dave also chopped that entire pile of wood by himself! And now the whole pile is in my backyard. He says we will have enough wood for a few years. Is this little house on the praire? I am pleased to say I planted some burning bushes and planted some bulbs as well, so I am praying they make it through the winter and I didn't do anything wrong. I am wondering if my bulbs will grow; I just read in my Martha magazine you are supposed to point the ends up, and I just threw them in the hole! Oh dear...I am not a gardener.

Mom's 35th Birthday...

So we threw my mom a small, birthday party last Monday at my sister's house. She was totally surprised. All the ladies from church were there and we had a nice time playing games... "How many times does Cindy reapply her lipstick daily?" having lunch, sharing testimonies and opening gifts. Then my sister, my mom and I all went to the mall for pedicures! Very nice.

The day before we went to lunch at Friday's and she received a suprise sundae and balloons from the waitstaff. They sang happy 35th birthday to her, and we were all a bit confused as no one had told the waitstaff it was her birthday! Crazy... that made it all the more interesting!

Dave gets his First Buck!

Last Saturday night, while I was away at my first work event, Dave was deer hunting... He was to meet me for the dinner portion of the event. Somewhere around 6 pm when I was just preparing my speech, I got the call!I will let him tell the story...



My First Buck, by Daver
The day started out at 3 a.m., I awoke, got my gear ready, and was preparing to hunt some public land I had scouted out 40 mintues south. As I was climbing up into my tree, I heard another hunter coming through the woods and saw a flashlight. A few hours later, this same annoying hunter came down out of his stand, and totally aggitated by the noise he had made and knowing there was no chance the deer would be sticking around, I finally left that land around 9 a.m. Later that afternoon, still frustrated by my wasted morning, and knowing I had to be at Keri's event that night, I went up to our friends house, the Beards, to hunt part of their land.

The Beards live about 15 minutes away and their property butts up to about 10 acres of marshland, so I like to sit right on the edge of their property in a large tree 25 feet up in the air. I fell asleep for an hour or so, and when I woke up around 6, 3 bucks came running into the area. I was excited and bleated, which is a noice similar to what a deer makes, and the one of the bucks, which was a 6 pointer, stopped pretty much right underneath my stand. I shot the 6 pointer, hitting him underneath his spine, and dropping him instantly. I shot him one more time just for good measure. Then I got down, checked out my deer and took it home. I was happy. This was my first buck. I called my dad and mom, Keri and told them all about it. Keri was so excited because she thought this meant the end of hunting for me this year...yeah right! Anyway, I took the deer home and hung it up in the garage, took a shower, got dressed in a hurray and rode down to Keri's event with my parents. Keri got home that night late from her event to find my prize dripping blood in her side of the garage. She was not as excited about that as I was.

The next day, I took the deer down and brought it to the food processor and the butcher was walking out of the back with a fresh deer head in hand on his way to the dumpster. As he was walking to the dumpster, 2 little girls were walking down the alley, saw him and the fresh cut deer head, screamed and ran away down the alley! that was funny.

Oh, and I had one more surprise for Keri. Because I am only allowed one buck per deer tag, I had Keri get her deer license and her deer tags so I could keep my buck tag and use hers on this deer I had already shot. She says I owe her big time.

The end

First Day of Hunting Season...

I would have never thought I would be planning my life around the opening day of deer hunting season. And more specifically, Bow hunting season. My pretty little wall calendar which never gets more than a glance from Dave, is suddenly filled with scrawling handwriting on each week announcing how much closer we now are to deer hunting season. Each evening before dusk can find my husband perched in our swing set, bow in hand, practicing his shots from a different angle and blowing yet another hole in the pathetic foam deer across the yard. What the neighbors must think!

So, Daver got up sometime in the middle of the night, took a shower in some kind of scent removing product, threw on his camo, painted his face black, and proceeded to sit in a deer stand for like 9 hours. Am I the only one who thinks this is crazy? He came home that evening with no deer, but a big grin on his face because the day he has been waiting and planning for for the past 4 months has finally arrived.

Sox vs. Twins...

My last hurrah with Rockford College was at a Sox- Twins game in Chicago. The trip was an RC alumni event I helped to arrange before I left RC. It was a lot of fun. Our seats were really high up and I was totally freaked out. I had to hold onto the seat the whole time as I am afraid of heights! The Sox almost won and we saw some cool plays. Dave laughed at me because I thought a player tried to steal to first base.... hey, I still have my moments!

Kona's First Sleepover

Scarlet spent the night for a whole week while Steve and Maureen were away. For the first few days, Kona teased Scarlet every moment she could, but eventually settled down and they became better friends. There was one incident when Scarlet ate Kona's favorite pigs ear and Kona didn't care for Scarlet taking off with her favorite toy the Squirrel, but all in all, the girls got along great.

Dave's Birthday

The only picture from Dave's 28th Birthday. Good grief what a clown! We had dinner at my house with my family and he got mostly hunting gift cards which we are both very excited about. We went out with his parents to a fundraiser and they also got him some very cool hunting stuff. I attempted to find him a replacement for his deer target, but failed, so I went with my instinct: clothes. I bought him a hunting t-shirt and he really likes it. :)

Camping at Devil's Lake

So, we went camping with my brother and sister and some friends from church, Seth and Kelly middle of August. It wasn't too bad. We only spent the night one night and Dave, Jacob, Diddy, Rob and I all slept in one tent!! At least we were all warm. The guys got creative and built their own more efficient fire pit. Apparently the one provided did not provide enough power. The next day we hiked every path at Devil's Lake and got quite the work out. There are some beautiful views from the top of the cliffs. I did realize that I am more of a one night camper. I prefer to sleep in a tent only one night at a time. :) I am also not a fan of showering in the facilities. But I love roasting marshmellows and making smores!!

Go Go Joe!

Here are a few pics from the show my sister and I were in this summer out at Starlight Theater- Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. We were both wives of the brothers and I was also a go-go dancer (not one of my prouder moments!) It was a fun show and we had a blast performing together. We had the largest crowds Starlight has ever seen and sold out almost every performance! The last run in July was almost unbearable as it was so incredibly HOT!!

Pool fun....when Jo and Dan came to visit

So, I am a few months behind on events and a bit out of order. The Solverson clan came over and had a bit too much fun in the pool this summer, so I had to post some of my favorite moments. And I have included some pics from May's wedding. We had a lot of fun at the wedding and enjoyed our time with Dan and Jo. I will refrain from posting a million pictures of baby Issac and leave that area for Grandma Mo...

Our Pool

Here are a few snapshots of the newest addition to the house. A monstrous pool and deck. The pool went in in October of last year, and the deck was finished middle June. Although I was not excited about having a pool, especially one this large, in the end, I am glad Dave put one in-(it is getting me a great tan!!)

Kona Bean takes her first swim with daddy. She doesn't care too much for the pool, she enjoys laying on the raft and floating like mommy!:)

Live from Loves Park

Okay, we are finally entering the 21st century! We figure, everyone has a blog, so it is time we do as well. Although we don't have the most exciting life, a surprise, I know, I am sure there will be some postings and pictures of interest to some of you! I have added a family picture of us down by the river.... :)