Thanksgiving Memories

After 8 days of being on southern soil we are back home. The time flew by and we made the most of the time we were there. We hung out with family, friends, went to Bass Pro a few times, got Preston's picture with Santa, saw "Blind Side", hunted, ate a lot of great food and made a day trip to New Orleans. I also got to relax some because Mimi (Rob's Mom) went above and beyond in every way possible. She took care of Preston and kept up on keeping his clothes and bottles clean. Grandpa (Rob's dad) held Preston and made dinner every night that we didn't eat out. Uncle Possum (Rob's brother) kept Preston entertained for hours....or at least until he'd poop his diaper. But, even getting the help, I think I'll need a few days to recoup because of all the fun we had. Being back to reality is hard because there is so much to do to get ready for the holidays. Plus, we have other commitments the next few weekends so I have a lot to cram into the week days.
Anyway, back to our trip. The big news is that I killed a buck! Rob kept taking me hunting and I kept getting frustrated because I could hear the deer but couldn't see them. On Thanksgiving morning we got up before the sun came up. I went begrudgingly because I had not slept a wink the night before. We got to our 2 man stand (Thanks Mom and Dad Herrington) and I was set to fall asleep until we had to get back down. But, as the sun was coming up we heard deer moving. Off to the left a deer was making it's way toward us. Rob had walked me through what to do so many times that I had it memorized. I did exactly what he instructed me to do and killed my first buck. Now to be honest, I thought it was a doe. Had I known it was a buck I may have let it walk because it was young. But, it was fun to track it and bring it back to camp. It's tradition to get "blooded" with your first deer's blood so Rob smeared some on my face. He went easy from what I understand and I'm grateful. We took the meat to the processor so we could give it to a lady that needed the meat. We got lots of pictures of it and are getting the head mounted European style to remember my first deer. Will I become a hunter? Who knows but I did something I never thought I'd do. I love trying new experiences and making memories, both of which I did this Thanksgiving holiday!