BIG BUCK DOWN!!

To many, Friday the 13th is a dreaded day; a day guaranteed to be filled with bad karma, bad luck, and bad juju! Well…....NOT FOR US CAHOONS!!!! WAAAAHHOOOOO!

This year Friday the 13th brought Matt, not only his first buck ever but a large one at that!! I received a phone call today at about 5:45 PM from an ECSTATIC Matt announcing the harvest of ONE HUGE 7 x 8 (or 15 point) BUCK!


Here he is!!!
Close up on the antlers!
Haulin' him across the river! Tough men!
Another close up!
This gives you a little idea of the size of this guy!
Matt and Dane, 2 proud hunters!
You might be a redneck if......

This is just a preview, more pictures and a better update to come!

Man Does Time Fly By!

So I thought that I was really on top of things but as I reflect on all of my "things", I realize I'm not that on top of it!! The biggest example is our blog! I didn't realize how long it had been since I last updated! So just like my last blog, this is going to big a sum of everything we have been up to the last 2 months!!

Well I'll start off with the most important thing......Matt got his deer! His first ever doe and she was quite the doe! It was fun to see all of his time and hard work reaping a reward! He made a perfect shot, double lunging her!! She only went about 20 yards before she expired! You would think that would calm his craving but it has indeed only fueled the fire! He has continued to be diligent in his efforts in hopes to get his buck as well! He has had a lot of opportunities but has passed, he knows the "Big Daddy" is out there....it's only a matter of time!

Matt and Dane with Matt's first doe! This is how the boys hauled her out...what rough and rugged men!
Here he is, as you can tell from Matt's face, this is probably pretty close to the best day of his life!
What a great feeling to know you won't starve and all because of a loving husband's dedication!

Unfortunately I have not had such luck with my hunting ventures. The first day of the season I was given the perfect opportunity.....only to blow it, twice! I had a deer within 20 yards but shot right over her back! I couldn't believe I missed...that is pretty embarrassing, but Matt was quick to lift me up and encouraged me to try again. So far I haven't been successful but the temperature has dropped and the deer are moving!! I have a few days left and I feel good!

Just call me Hunter Woman!
Just hangin' out in the tree stand!

I also had the opportunity to surprise Cass and visit Texas!! I got a phone call from Brad and he said he was going to his high school reunion and wanted to make it up to Cass by surprising her with me!! I was ecstatic and quickly agreed! He was so great, he made all of the arrangements: he told Cass that his old roommate was coming to visit and asked if she could drive the 2 hours to the airport to pick him up! Cass was very good and said she could do that!!

The day finally came and I couldn't wait. When I arrived I called Brad, who then called Cass to tell her where to pick up "Ryan", the old roommate. It was funny because Brad had found out what I was wearing and told Cass to look for the blonde girl in the black shirt because Ryan was right by her. Cass responded, "Well I can see that blonde girl but not Ryan". I had to really wave her down, she probably would have kept driving. When she finally realized what was happening all she could say was, "What is this?". It was such a fun weekend! We went to the outlet stores, th fair and rodeo, the pumpkin patch, and ended with a girl's night out, just Cass and me! It was so fun to see Cass, Brad, and those little kids! I was happy to have been received well by Brylie and Brody! We definately had a lot of fun together!! I loved seeing Cass and just spending time with her!!

Brody with the pumpkins!
Brad, Cass, the kids, and I at the Heart of Texas Rodeo!
Ahhh I love these little babies!
Us at the Pumpkin Patch!
Curious much?

Matt is half way done with this semester and all is going well! He hasn't been nearly as stressed as some of his other semesters......thank goodness! He will be totally done with all of his classes in December, with only an internship in the Winter to go!! We are excited and look forward to graduation! Work has been just fantastic! My team ended #1 for the month of September with a score of 398.4 out of 400! This was pretty awesome, especially being my first official month as a supervisor! This month has been a little crazier but my team continues to perform really well! It is tradition at the call center to decorate for Halloween and this year the theme was 'Movies'. My team chose the movie "Hocus Pocus" and if you were to see our area you would be very impressed. We have recreated the Sanderson Sister's Cottage, complete with the black flame candle and the spell book! I was given the task of making the spell book and have been very pleased with the final product! Friday is the big Halloween day at Melaleuca so I will keep you posted with contest results!!!

This is the final spell book! Pretty fun!

Matt and I are just dandy, as I've said before, we are probably having too much fun! But you won't hear us complain, we are loving it!

The CRAZY month of August!!

Matt and I have been so lucky this month!! It has definately been our month of travel!! We started our adventures on July 17th, when my parents, Abby, and Mac all came to our home!! We had a lot of fun that night and the next day at the Melaleuca picnic! We then headed down to Provo to attend the blessing of my new nephew, Cooper! Matt and I had to leave Sunday because finals were the next week, but after hearing of the exciting events that would be happening the next weekend in Panquitch, UT, we decided to head down for the 24th!! We had such a blast with my family!!! We got home only to prepare to leave 5 days later!!

July 31st, we set out to visit Matt's family in Seattle! After 2 quick flights and a 4 hour layover we finally made it to Seattle! Matt's entire immediate family were able to all get together for this mini Cahoon reunion!! We were able to stay busy in Seattle, hiking to Lake 22, seeing Harry Potter at the IMAX, visiting the Animal Grossology Exhibit at the Science Center, Fondue Night, flying kites downtown, and having a Flip Flops and Lemon Drops tea party with the girls while the boys went shooting!! It was such a blast to be all together for a few days!! We wish we could have stayed longer but we had yet another adventure to get to!!

Here we are hiking to Lake 22!
Matt and I on a bridge during the hike!
This is from the Animal Grossology Exhibit....hilarious exhibit!
Anyone for a treat?
Here we are in front of the Space Needle!
Don't I make quite a lovely insect?
How about Matt?
Here is the fabulous looking food at our Fondue Night!
Matt and I at Iron Works Park in front of Lake Union!!

August 7th, just 2 days after returning from Seattle, Matt and I were off to Boise for a river trip down Hell's Canyon with our good friends, Brannan and Brittany Hoover and his family!! This was the first time I had ever gone rafting and I would be lying if I said I wasn't nervous!! I can report, though, that all went well and I might be a little bit addicted to the sport!! We cannot thank the Hoovers enough for inviting us and sharing their family tradition with us!! Not only that but they made us right at home while we were staying there!! How lucky we are to have such wonderful friends and family!! We have probably had too much fun in the last few weeks but are happy to be home and back to normal life!

Here is the whole gang right before we put into the river!
Matt and a small mouth bass he caught!
Brittany and I looking oh so fabulous!
Matt preferred to be out of the boat during the rapids!
Matt in fishing action!!
Brittany and Brannan looking for crawdads!
Here is Matt and Brannan with the huge catfish Matt snagged!!
Here we are on day 3!
This is when we were picking blackberries after we got off the river!
We scored a ton of oranges, soda, and chocolate milk!!
Here are the boys packing up all the soda and milk!!
A little Nacho Libre for ya!!
Matt's geared up and ready for war!
A big thanks to Wayne and Sandy Hoover for hosting and running the river trip!!

While we were on one of our many trips, Matt celebrated his 25th birthday!! It was actually a well celebrated birthday! We made Matt Hello Dollies, also known as Magic Bars, one of his favorite treats! We then went miniature golfing, where I proudly placed 3rd and Matt won!! It was really a good day and I think Matt enjoyed himself! I got his a funny Redneck game for the Wii and I believe he has decided on a GPS for his actual present!!

Miniature golfing for Matt's birthday!
Another picture of us at the golf course!!

After we got home from the river we were excited to have Cass, Brad, Brylie and Brody come to stay with us for a short visit!! It was a lot of fun to see how grown up both of these little guys were and to learn of the new little one on the way!! Everyone went for a walk up to the temple while I was at work and then, after a few rounds of Wii golf and bowling, we headed to the park to feed the ducks and run around!! We ended the evening with a fabulous dinner at Applebees! It was a lot of fun to spend a little time with the Gunnells!! Thanks for coming guys!!

Cute little Brody!
Brylie and her sunglasses!
Gunnells in front of the Rexburg Temple!
Here we are with the Gunnells!

We also celebrated our 2 year anniversary yesterday, the 22nd! As we reflected on the time that we have been married we both felt like it had been a lot longer, not in a negative way though! I think it probably had to do with how long we have known and dated each other! But we both were overwhelmed by how lucky we were to have found someone that fills the gaps in our lives. We were also overwhelmed by how blessed we were to have been married in the temple! Although we are still new to the whole marriage thing, we feel like we have a greater understanding of what marriage is really about because of the covenants we have made to each other and the Lord! I am so happy to have found Matt, he is such a wonderful man and I love him more and more everyday!!

Happy are we!

We are so blessed and grateful for this little life we have started together!

4th of July and Summer Festivities!

Boy has time flown by for us here is Rexburg!! It is definatley because we are having so much fun!! The 4th of July was so much fun! We started the day off with the Rexburg Parade and it was there that we realized how much we like living in a smaller town!! The feeling of patriotism and excitement was literally felt the second you stepped out of the car!! I love parades, no matter how big or small, there is just something about them! After that we went home and got our picnic all put together!! We had an arrangement of fruit, veggies, pasta and treats!! We got together with Adam, Stephanie, Brannan and Brittany and headed down to Idaho Falls to the Festival and Freedom Celebration put on by Melaleuca!! This fireworks show was said the be 1 of the 3 best shows west of the Mississippi so I was super excited to check it out!! Lucky for us one of the girls I work with was working the Celebration and had an extra Family Pass to the reserved seating area!! We got some of the best seats there!!

Here are Matt and I!
Stephanie and Adam!
Brannan and Brittany!

After waiting in line for a good hour or so we headed in!! We had such a blast, eating junk food and playing cards with our friends!! And then the fireworks started!! I LOVE LOVE LOVE fireworks and they definately went to great lengths this year to make this show awesome!! I really enjoyed the commentary and music that went with it!! Normally you just watch the fireworks but the program they had going along with it made it so much more!!

FIREWORKS!

I love this time of year, especially here in little Rexburg! It was a lot of fun, a long day for sure but definately not anything to complain about!!

Matt and I also had the opportunity to go to an Elk farm the other day!! Holy Cow!! Actually Holy Bulls because there were no cows...it was so awesome! We went back with friend of Matt's who feeds and cares for them! They were feeding them and we tagged along!! As lame as this may sound, I saw my first bull Elk in the wild, in person, this last Memorial day weekend and they were far away!! But this experience was amazing because you actually were right next to them!! You could touch them and everything! I didn't get any pictures and only 1 short video because I was so fascinated with them!! I stayed in the truck the whole time but Matt actually got to be out on the tractor! Of course Matt was in his little heaven, which was really fun to watch!!

Life has been really busy with work and school but I don't think we can complain at all! Matt is almost done with his 2nd to last semester, which he is VERY happy about!! I continue to love work! Melaleuca definately takes care of me! In a matter of 2 days last week I "won" a Playstation 3, an iPod Nano, and $50 to Target!! I have the greatest boss' who make sure that we feel appreciated for the work we do! Although I love my job and that is enough for me, I am really grateful for those that go the extra mile anyways!!

Ooooo Aaaaah!!
My fun prizes!

So if you think life for the Cahoons is crazy and exciting enough....my family will be here this week!!!!! I cannot wait!! Matt and I have been so excited to finally get to see family! Plus they get to see our little home, which is something that I have been waiting for!! We also get to go to the Melaleuca Picnic on Saturday...all of us!! And right after that we are heading to Utah to see Shay, Chelsea, Jonas, and little Cooper!! Boy are we excited!!