Jeffrey David Mann

Branden's stepdad passed away on February 27th from a 

rare form of ocular melanoma.  It was only 3 weeks from 

the time he was diagnosed until he passed, leaving us all 

in shock.  Bran was able to be with him, along with the rest 

of Jeff's kids and wife,  when he went and I am so glad for 

that.  I only wish that I had more time on this Earth to get 

to know Jeff.  We miss him 

Ode to Branden..... my sweetie

No this isn't MY sweetie (although he is a sweetie).  This is Bran's brother, Jeffrey

with his blacktail deer. 

Bran with his beloved 9.5 Kodiak Bear

Branden was lucky enough to draw a tag for Raspberry Island (part of the Kodiak Archipeligo) this past October.  The success rate for a fall bear hunt is like 20-30% so he was wary that he would be coming home with a "rug".

This has been a dream of his for a long time and he was so thrilled when he found out he was going.  He called his dad, telling him that this was the greatest day of his life and for him to guess what the news was?  In which his father started dolling out the congratulations on expecting a new baby (a sign of things to come).  Bran replied "no even better...I drew a tag for Kodiak".  

Actually both our names were on the tag and I was suppose to be his "hunting partner".  Alas, this was a short-lived endeavor.  After watching a hunting video in which a big, beautiful bear gets taken down and me wincing and recoiling from watching it, Bran quickly changed partners. Plus, not to mention I am a terrible shot,  I would crap my pants at seeing a 10' bear and I don't believe in trophy hunting....if you can't eat it, what is that point... but I digress from B's story.

Anyway, he got his bear and if you want all the specifics you will have to talk to him.  I must say that I was very happy for him and hearing the elation in his voice as he recalled the details was worth it for me.

Zion National Park

Caleb took the 2 pics above.  He is really into taking pictures these days "all by himself" 

We went to Zion N.P. for the weekend.  Zion is one of my favorite places.

It was the off-season so we hardly saw another person.  We hiked the Watchman Trail although

we didn't make it to the top (thanks a lot Caleb & Sawyer).  We also went to the wildlife museum (which Grandpa Jack strongly recommend..thank you G-pa).  They have quit a collection of animals that are neatly displayed and it is free.  The boys really liked it especially the Alaskan display.

Sawyer had a birthday on March 3rd.  Hard to believe that he is 3 years old.  We had a party at the park with his cousins.  We had family pictures too.  Sawyer was singing Happy Birthday really loud to himself.  He had been rehearsing it for a couple of days.  "Daddy" grandpa & grandma bought him a sleeping bag which he absolutely loves (this is an understatement as we can hardly get him out of it) who would have thought that it would provide so much entertainment. Now we have to get Caleb one.