The post ya'll have been waiting for....

Hiya!

I'm here and I'm going to do a long(ish) post!!!

Okay.  My brother and dad came back from their hunting trip.  They didn't get anything.  BUT!  They went hunting with buddy,  and he did:-D  And he gave us half of the Elk as a hunting deal.  Then came the really (NOT) fun project of butchering the elk.
Since I've been around this all my life the sight of raw meat, slimy and bloody, it really doesn't bother me.  Actually, I'm used to watching deer being butchered.  It takes around 8 hours to butcher a deer...   It took around 15 hours to butcher the whole elk.  We can butcher and wrap meet almost as good as a pro. meat shop.  This is the process;  Cut meat, clean meat, cube meat, wrap meat, freeze meat.  A very long and tiring cycle.

Very quickly I must tell you that my dad works at the Fire Department closest to where we live.  Last year, we hosted a Fire Department potluck gathering.  This year we weren't sure if we would host one again.  Well....  The day after we butchered the elk, we found out that we were going to.  And it was planned  on the 16th.  5 days after the elk was taken care of.  I hadn't been able to post because there was ALOT of cleaning to do.  We had to clean my dad's garage.  Oh. My. Word.  We don't use our garage for cars like normal people.  My dad and brother use it as a shop.  Wood working and painting and metal working.  Messy, messy, messy!!!
After 5 days of non-stop cleaning, the party went off with out a hitch.  PHEW!  Last year we had, like, 70 people show up.  This year we had, maybe, 45 people here.

Two days ago, we had a grass fire up on our hill (we are, like, right at the bottom of a mountain.  So the "hill" is like halfway up the mountain.).  The smoke surrounded our house.
Because my daddy works for the Fire Dept. he went up with the fire engine's and got to see the fire.  Thankfully, it was small and farther away from our house than we had thought.
Before we knew anything about the fire except that it was there, it's hard to think what means the most to you.  Or what you have that you didn't know meant the most.

Yesterday there was a *gulp* shooting a few houses down our driveway!  Yipes!  My dad was at a class and on his way home he had let PILES of police cars past him.  Then he seen them pull up our driveway.  He called my mom and was like,"Why are the police coming up the road?"  Mom had no idea.  My dad was stopped by the police at the bottom of our road.  The cop said,"There was a shooting.  No one is allowed up the road or down."  Yeah.  My dad felt helpless.  My mom was freaked out.
We wouldn't have minded as much if my brother and my sister Allison hadn't gone hunting that morning.
The shooter was thought to have run up towards where my siblings where hunting!  So, my little brother and sister are hunting up on the hill, we had no way to contact them, AND there was a crazy shooter running around our property.  Creepy!  So my dad is stuck at the bottom of the road, and my siblings aren't safe.
We had the FBI, ICE, border patrol, and 2 different groups of  P.D.s at the bottom our road, and creeping and crawling around with their dogs.  AND we had a News 'chopper and a Black Hawk flying over and around our house.   *Shivers*  One of the Police officers finally let my dad come home.
"Do you have a gun?" The officer asked.
"Yeah, I have lots of guns." My dad replied.
"No, you don't understand. Do you have a gun?"
"Yes I have a gun."
"Go home, get a gun, and go find your kids."
"Thank you!"
And so my dad pealed up the drive, ran into the house, grabbed a pistol, and drove his jeep up the hill and found our missing kids.  They were safe and just coming home on our quad.  They jumped into the jeep and came home.
We where confined to our house.  "Keep doors and widows covered and locked at all times.  Stay inside."
So yes.  All-in-all it was a really stressful day.
So please pray that the shooter is found and he doesn't harm anyone. BTW, the guy only shot someone in the hand.  Nothing deadly.  Just painful!
After a while, we decided to go do some shopping, so we didn't have to be home.   We had to go through a check-point at the bottom of our road.
The cop who stopped us asked,"Going to town?"
"Yup."  (Okay, my dad really said,"Yes sir.")
"Just the kids in the back?"
"Yes sir."
"Alright."
Then he peeked in the windows all around the car, just to make sure.  I was like, I" can open the door so you can see better."  But he didn't hear me.
We got home safe and such.  And today nothing happened.  I'm going to ask again if you can pray that the shooter is found!  Where I live, it's only a little city.  Like everyone-knows-everyone- type of city.  And if the guy is desperate, he's dangerous.

Sorry it's such a long and a (possibly) REALLY boring post!

Bye!

Love,
Maddie