We woke up to a light dusting of snow on the road and trees along with gray skies and temps that didn't get above freezing the entire day. After breakfast we headed off to church and from their we went to Matt's for Sunday dinner. We had a delicious meal of ham, mashed potatoes, pasta and jello salads, and much more. Sara really put on a feast. One of Matt's hunting buddies and his daughter were up for the last weekend of hunting, so they joined us for church and the meal before heading off back home.

This afternoon we watched some NFL football and played a game of "31". When we finished the card game, it was time for the hunters to head out one last time. Everyone got into their hunting clothes and then I took their family picture for this year's Christmas card. John and I gave everyone hugs and kisses and headed home. We were sitting around watching TV when Matt and family came in and told us about tonight's hunting and for Matt to get some keys and find out what he needs to watch for around our place. After one more round of hugs they took off and we ended the evening watching Sunday Night Football. Tomorrow we hit the road for Sioux Falls where we will spend several days with Amy's family.

Today was a busy day. John worked in the shop this morning and got everything made that was needed for orders. I did a couple of loads of laundry so now everything is clean and ready to wear for traveling next week. We have a Food Saver, so I sealed some left over cheese and butter and stored them in the freezer for next spring. The fridge is bare--good thing Matt invited us for lunch after church tomorrow. This afternoon we watched some good college football games and then John started loading the Honda--there are only a couple small boxes, one bag, and the laptop left to load. They will go in on Monday morning.

John decided to give hunting one more try this afternoon. He sat in the stand on our back field and saw a doe (he didn't want to settle for that) and a nice buck that stood in the woods just at the edge of the field--it wouldn't come out while it was light enough to shoot. Tonight was the end of hunting for him this year. He'll take his rifle up to Matt's tomorrow so it can be stored in his gun safe while we are away.

After a supper of leftovers, we watched some more college football and a Harry Potter movie.

John and I were up nice and early because we had a 9 a.m. appointment with Sara to get our final haircuts before our trip. While we were there, Matt came home from hunting and told us about a buck that he was trying to shoot. It gave him the slip in the woods, so he will head out this evening and try again. He spent all day yesterday cutting up the four deer they shot--their freezer is now full of venison.

When we got home, John went back down to the shop to assemble more tables and some other items while I continued my packing and cleaning around the house. I am just about half way through the packing and the boxes are starting to pile up in the office. John went out hunting again this afternoon, but didn't see anything. After supper, we did a little more packing and then spent the rest of the evening watching some TV.

Not much new happened around here today. John worked in the shop until lunch time. I spent my morning packing up the office things I will need in Texas and then began boxing up the canned goods and other food items I had set aside to take. After lunch we went to Bemidji to take care of some last minute banking and then stopped at Wal Mart for a little more milk to hold us over until Monday morning. John was hoping to get back in time to hunt, but we didn't make it home before the sun set--there are only three more days left in the rifle season. It's a good thing all the outside chores are finished as the weather was very cold today--we are expecting a low of 25 degrees to night. We ended the evening watching some TV and working on the computer.

Our weather is starting to change. The temps stayed pretty warm overnight and this morning it was 50 degrees when we got up. As the day progressed, clouds rolled in along with a cold front and rain. I think our unseasonably warm days are over--I took a walk down to the shop this afternoon and you could feel the change in the air--cold weather is on the way and that means we will be on our way south.

It was a pretty quiet day around here. John spent most of his time working in the shop helping to get parts and product made so the orders can be shipped as soon as possible. I continued to get things organized and if not packed, then ready to pack. I have my many different lists that I keep checking to make sure I not missing anything. Even though there was a steady rain, John decided to go out to the deer stand. Due to the heavy cloud cover, it got dark early so he wasn't out in the stand very long. Didn't see any deer tonight--still have four days of hunting left.

After supper we finished the evening watching Survivor and the CMA Awards.

We hit a record high temperature today of 66 degrees--our normal high for this time of year is 38 degrees. John was up early this morning as he had to meet Matt at his house by 8 a.m. They were heading up to Clearwater Lake to install some vents on a house. I thought they would be gone all day and was surprised when John returned home about three hours later. Seems vents had already been installed but the homeowner didn't know it, so there was no job to do.

There is still plenty to do in the shop, so John worked down there until it was time to head out to the deer stand. He saw a nice doe tonight, but is holding out for a buck. He had seen one out on the field earlier in the fall and is waiting to see if it is still around. I spent today finishing up sorting clothes, doing laundry, and getting most of the clothes packed. I hope to get most of the packing done by Friday so we can relax on the weekend.

After supper we enjoyed a quiet evening watching The Biggest Loser and a couple of other favorites.

We had another beautiful day--temps were near 60 degrees. This is unusual for November but according to the forecast, winter will arrive by the end of the week with highs only in the mid to upper 30's. Looks like we will be heading out for Texas next week--we want to leave before the snow arrives.

Sam and Matt went hunting again this morning and Sam shot a nice spike buck. They also saw a huge buck, but couldn't get a good shot. They will try for that one another day. John spent the morning down in the shop making parts and doing some assembly. It gets a little hectic this time of year trying to get all the orders out in time for the Christmas shopping season. I sold all the items I had put on E-bay last week, so this morning my time was spent boxing everything up and getting them ready to be shipped.

John got a phone call from Gander Mountain telling him that he was the winner of the drawing they had over the weekend. Since we had to go to the post office and the bank, we decided to go to Bemdiji when he was finished in the shop and pick up his prize. He thought it would be a blaze orange hooded sweatshirt, but was very pleasantly surprised to find he had won an extremely nice hunting jacket with a value of $160. Now he will be toasty warm waiting for that big buck to appear.


Matt wanted to see John's new jacket, so we stopped in at his place on our way back home. We got there just as they were hanging up another deer--Hanna had shot a yearling doe this evening. She was very happy to have gotten her deer as she will be tied up with volleyball camp after school the rest of this week. Rachel also went out with Matt and was anxious to get her first deer. They saw a couple this evening and when Rachel focused on one through the scope, she told Matt, "It looks so cute eating the grass". He knew right away the conversation was going down a bad road and there would be no deer for Rachel this night. She just wasn't ready to pull the trigger on her first deer.




After we got home we spent the rest of our evening watching Monday Night Football.