Deer Camp, Snow and SLEDSSSSS!!!!!Ana in her comfy bunk at deer camp.

Can you see Mr. Camo, I mean Larry in this picture? I really don't think he could ever been seen by a deer in this getup.

Jackson hidin out from all the snow on Friday

Duelly enjoying all the big flakes falling from the sky

Our beloved wood boiler doing its job, oh how we LOVE it!!!

Ana on her sled. Larry was pulling her around the yard with the snowmachine so she can learn to ride her sled

This is the team Larry ran. Cowgirl (left) and Eddie ran lead

My 6 dog team at the bottom of the huge hill. Look to the top of the hill, there is a whole other hill when you crest this one. It is really HUGE!

Last weekend we spent our days and nights at Deer Camp. Ana loves it out there and so do we. It is such a cozy place, enveloped in warmth from the wood stove. I could stay out there forever. It was nice getting out into the woods for the opener of gun season. What sucks for us is we have to take turns hunting. Most men don't have this problem, they go out into the woods while the women stay home and take care of the kids. Well, that is not so with the Fortier's. We both hunt, so the fun of hunting has to be shared. I only hunted one morning and I let Larry hunt twice so he could have a chance to shoot a buck. I'd like him to get a nice one like my 8 point that is hanging on our wall so when his buddies come over he doesn't have to say, "no, my wife shot that one!"

Thursday we had about 6 inches of snow. So, I went out on a 17.5 mile run with the ATV. By the time I got home we had atleast 10 inches. I could not believe how hard it was snowing while I was out. I am glad I went out in the day time or I would not have been able to see a thing! The next morning when we woke up, we had atleast a foot of snow, so out came the sleds! This is the earliest in years that we have been on sleds. Last year it was December 1st, so we were elated to leave that stinky, noisy ATV in the barn and go out on our quiet sleds. Larry took out a 7 dog team and I took 6. It was so fun!!! Yesterday we gave them a day off and today we are going out with sleds again for an 18 mile run.

Halloween & Dogs, of course!!!Ana in her costume on Halloween. She was so excited to be a sled dog. I even had a leash hooked to her harness so she could pull me. She LOVED it!

Ana & her cousin Maddie at Kera & Larry Platte's party they put on for all the kids.

Ana & Makenzie at the party. Makenzie was Wednesday from the Adam's Family

My sister, Jennifer, getting off of the hay ride. The Platte's have a hay ride for the kids and parents and pull everyone around the neiborhoods so we don't have to walk so far to get candy. It is so much fun!

Last week, the kids in Ana's preschool went to Flemming Farm. They had so much fun. Here, Ana is climbing on all the pumkins trying to pick one out to carve. I really think she cared more about climbing around, than picking a pumkin.

Maddie & Ana ontop of the haybales. Flemming Farm set up a haybale maze for the kids to run through. When they got tired of that, they all got ontop and jumped from bale to bale.

Ana's class ontop of the hay bales

Me, with a 14 dog team on a 14.5 mile training run last weekend. Here, we are pulling up one of our giganto hills on Post Rd. It is VERY hilly where we live, so the dogs get a great workout.

The dogs pulling me through the valley on Mushroom Rd.

The dogs after the run. Zoey (left), my main leader, with her daughter, Dana. Dana is only a yearling and very good in lead already. She is a natural in lead like her mom.

Well, a lot has happened since I posted last. We got our wood boiler finished and I am happy to report, we are finally WARM!!! Well, a bit too warm. Larry about heats me out of our house each night. Since we heat with wood instead of propane, we can afford to turn the thermostat up. Larry really likes that!

We also had one of our dogs, Memphis, get very sick after the Shaw weekend. Turns out, on the way home in her dog box, she peuked up her food, it aspirated into her lungs, meaning the food went down her trachea instead of esophogus and into her lungs, causing an infection. Then she got pneumonia. We did not think she was going to make it. I am happy to report now, that she has made a full recovery. She is still inside the house for another week, then will go back outside and start some light training in a couple of weeks when we are sure all the fluid is out of her lungs.

As you can see from the photos above, Ana had a busy week last week as well. I LOVE her preschool. They teach the kids so much. Ana had so much fun at Flemming Farm and trick or treating with her cousins.

Dog training is going very well, except for the recent warm temps. We have not trained since Monday. But, the temps are cooler now, finally, and we will be taking the team out tonight on a fast, fun 8 mile run. Then, this weekend we will do a couple of 14 mile runs.