Skip this post...

....if you are not fond of seeing people with rifles in their hands...

Well, ok, I guess there are a few pictures that might interest you even if that is the case.

This is part of the Fall display that my mom and I made last week:

 These next few pictures were taken last Friday.  Here my dad is lifting Andrew up in the 9030 loader bucket so he can put up the light my dad bought for our volleyball "Court".  Now we can really play in the dark!

 The light even has a cage around it, just in case...

 Meanwhile, our friend, Virginia came and helped us cook and bake all afternoon.  We had so much fun and made some hot salsa (adding too many peppers due to visiting)... ;)

 The fellas also built an outhouse.  It was fairly cold outside, so they built it in the shop (and started the woodstove burning), then hauled it out to the range with the tractor...

 Here my dad is snipping the see-through plastic for the roof...

 Instructor-in-training, Mike, and his wife, Deb (Apple Core lady---meaning she helps with whatever needs doing) from MN arrived at our farm around 5:00 that evening.  They were planning to sleep out in a tent, but it was so cold that we finally convinced them to stay in the house.  I think they were very glad too, especially when we woke to snow on the ground again!

Shoot Boss, Alex, (who drives 11 hours from Iowa to get here) arrived a little after midnight and slept in his favorite spot---his car.  He stayed down at the range this time so the dogs wouldn't bark so much when he got here, but they still barked.  :)

We were so glad that our friend, Virginia (the lady who helped us in the kitchen on Friday) was able to join us for the shoot too (that's her in the black stocking cap)...

My brother, Andrew--an instructor-in-training with the Appleseed program...

Jeff and his son, Erin came on Saturday...

We ate our meals and listened to part of the history lesson in the wood-burner-stove heated shop.  Here, Andrew was mixing up cups of hot chocolate for everybody who wanted some...

Everyone brought food to share and there was plenty to go around.  The big kettle of potato soup was all gone by the end of Saturdays noon meal.

Back out to the range...  

The guy in the green cap here is our shoot boss, Alex.  The other man in an orange hat and green coat is the other instructor-in-training, Mike.

We had 16 shooters on the line on Saturday...

Our shooters:  Kyle H. from the Williston area, Jerome B. (my dad's cousin and a good friend to our family) from near Jamestown, Mr. K and his 2 daughters, Rennah and Reanna from the Dickenson area, Jacob (my brother), Dawn (my mom), Virginia M. from Hazelton, Andrew W. (a friend of Lauretta and Sarena's) from Aberdeen, Thaddaeus L., myself, Lauretta L., Erin M. and Jeff M. from the Hazelton area.  Also, not pictured on the line currently: Forrest S. from Bismarck,  "J"---our youngest shooter and my neighbor on the shooting line most of the time, and Sarena L. who took turns with her brother, Thaddaeus shooting, as they both had made Rifleman at our last shoot and were just shooting to see if they could get better scores (and I'm pretty sure they did too)...

Shooting in the prone position...

The weather was tollerably warm on Saturday...

Alex and Andrew helping Lauretta with something or other on her rifle...?  (and yes, that's me, adjusting my dad's cap).

Seeing how we did...

The K. family and Jerome...

Loading our mags on the go...

Andrew W. (in the grey shirt, sitting up) shot most of the time with his loud gun (an AR), although he let others try it out too...

We still have room for about this many more shooters again on our range.  That would be quite a line-up though, wouldn't it?  Hopefully, as word spreads, future Appleseeds will be that large!

Little-miss-riding-hood there is my mom...

Having the first part of the history lesson in the wind-break of the bales... 

Alex, shedding a layer so as to be able to demonstrate the proper sitting position for shooting...

This is probably the funniest looking picture of the whole weekend!  Alex is getting us ready to put our elbows in the right place---in front of our knees, to have the proper position...

Like this...

My dad's hip/back was hurting him too much this time for him to shoot, so he watched and visited with other spectators...  
Many thanks to Sarena who took most of the 500 pictures we have of the weekend!  Also, thank you to Josephine and members of my own family who also took a few photos here and there.

Virginia (she's a Sharpshooter!)...

Thaddaeus, already a Rifleman (from our previous shoot)...

Lauretta in the camo skirt she made herself.  She made Rifleman score on Sunday!  She and I were shooting side by side and both made "Rifleman" during the same round of shooting AQTs.  :)

Andrew W. also made "Rifleman" status on Sunday---while shooting a '22 though!

IIT Mike, helping out on the line...

Rennah K. did very well, as did her sister...  Their dad has eye troubles, so was having a hard time even seeing the targets, but he came more for the time he could spend with his girls, so was happy.

Jeff (putting in ear-plugs?) and his grown son...   

Waiting for the line to be cleared...

"Make sure your rifle is safe!"

"How did we do?"  Hmmmm

The parking lot...

Kyle H. and Jerome B.---neighbors on the firing line...  You get to know your neighbor pretty well after shooting next to them for a couple of days.

Alex, running the timer...  YES, the AQT (Army Qualification Test) is timed!

That evening, we played volleyball for a while until it got too cold, then we visited and played some music in the house, then visited in the shop pretty late.

These pictures are from Sunday now.  That morning was SOOO cold and miserable when you had to take your gloves off to shoot.  But, everyone stuck with it and just added more coats/blankets as needed, and that's actually when Lauretta and I scored our first Rifleman scores!  We shot more Rifleman scores later in the day too... 

Deb, Mike's wife, staying warm under my horse blanket and watching with Millie...

Kyle H...

IIT Mike spent a lot of time helping Forrest, as he was pretty new to shooting and, by the end of the 2nd day, he was shooting pretty well...

Mr. Smiley (AKA: Andrew)...

"Shooters, you may proceed down range to retrieve your targets..."

Brrrr...

Returning for the next course of fire...

Me and my pink shooting glasses---and several layers of shirts/sweater/jacket/hat and coat...  No wonder I look so well padded. 

I think this was when Alex was scoring Lauretta and my (and others) qualifying AQT!  I really didn't think I'd made it, so was surprised to see "219" written there when Alex handed it to me!

After eating lunch in the shop again, the sun came out and we were able to take off some coats and actually enjoy the day!  Here is our youngest shooter, shooting the biggest gun.  :)

Andrew W....  He enjoyed his time and may come again sometime, bringing some friends along from SD.

Me, shooting standing--which I still need to practice a good deal!  While shooting the AQT standing position course of fire, you have 2 minutes to get your 10 shots into the largest target--hoping to get 5 points per shot, or at least 4 or 3!

Lauretta and I, in our least favorite position--sitting!  I think we have both improved since the last shoot though.

Waiting for the "Fire" command...  Once it's given, you have to drop into sitting position, load, take your safety off, get your natural point of aim, breath in and out and fire 5 rounds at the left target, shift your natural point of aim, changing your mag after 1 or 2 shots, and shoot your last 5 rounds of ammo. into that target---and do all of that in 55 seconds.  We didn't always get all of our bullets off before "Cease fire, cease fire, cease fire. Unload and clear." was called and we HAD to stop.

Bang, bang, bang...  Everyone must wear ear and eye protection, for obvious reasons!

Lauretta, loading her mag...

Andrew's inspecting my target closely!

Someone dropped something?

Awwww---sunshine!

Mom and the Andrews...

Getting our slings on...

In this course of fire, you wait until the "Fire" command is given, then...

...you drop into prone position, get your NPOA, be sure to have your elbow placed right, your hands in the right positions, breathing correctly, etc....

...then you fire, 3 at the first target, change your NPOA, 3 at the next target, change, 4 at the last target.  These targets are smaller than the sitting ones...and you have 65 seconds to get these shots off, oh, and you have to do one mag change also!

And, meanwhile, Alex is watching how you're doing while standing behind the line....

During the last course of fire, which is my personal favorite :), you get to start in prone position and shoot 2 times at the first target, 2 at the next, then 3 and 3.  There are no mag changes and you have 5 minutes to shoot your 10 shots off.  The catch is that the targets are very, very small, but it's fun!  Plus, whatever points you make during this stage, you get to double the number to add to your score to see if you made Rifleman!

This was taken during a "Rapid fire AQT", in which you do all 4 stages (standing, sitting, prone and prone again), a total of 40 shots, in 4 minutes time.  In between positions, you have to drop your empty mag and put your safety on before moving. 

As a side note, it's snowing right now as I write this.  I guess it could have been worse weather during our shoot!

Some new friends from over by Hazelton dropped in towards the end of the day on Sunday to see if the Appleseed program would be something they'd be interested in attending next year, which, it is.  :)

Jacob and Kyle H. got quite close to making Rifleman.   Jacob had rifle/scope issues AGAIN.  Poor guy!

Sarena, getting ready to shoot Andrew W.'s gun some more...

Virginia and Lauretta, apparently enjoying their time...

Awwww....  Even more sunshine!

Now it's Sarena's turn to spy on our targets...  ;)

Lady takes off for the farmyard every time we start shooting, but Millie just makes herself comfortable!

"Instructor"...

Posting new targets...

Comparing scores...

Our very recent friend, Deb let my mom use her elbow pads...  I was bundled up so much that my elbows weren't even the least bit sore after this shoot.  :)

Jacob can still smile, so that's a good sign.   I know he'll make Rifleman soon!

My mom and Virginia were shooting pals...

Another rapid-fire AQT...  See Alex holding the timer?

We're shooting from approx. 25 yards distance...

The targets...  Alex said he'd build a range like this if he only had enough room in his backyard.  :)

Aren't the clouds beautiful in this picture?

Waiting....for something...

Oh, and here is the outhouse...  It still needs to be painted and the door needs a spring on it, but it was useable...

Alex is a very devoted person!!  He was our shoot boss 3 years ago at our first Appleseed and is still going strong, traveling all over several states on the weekends to help teach people how to shoot well.  I believe he only gets paid for his gas and maybe some for meals.  He teaches because he enjoys it? and believes in the quality program that Project Appleseed really is!    We're all blessed to have him...  He says he'll come back again next year, so maybe some of you can meet him then!

In "Prep" stage...

Guess who again?

Alex looks the most relaxed in this picture!

Another standing shot...

I sat out on 2 rapid firing rounds, as the last time I did it at our August shoot, I wasn't very accurate.  I decided to try it again this time finally and was surprised to make 217 on it!  We didn't have enough mags to go around, so Andrew, Lauretta and Sarena are sitting behind those of us shooting so as to refill our mags for us after we'd shot one empty so we could get done in the 4 minutes we had. 

...they're reaching for our empty mags...

...and now Sarena's spying on us to see how we're doing.  :)

Andrew W., Virginia, Mom and Jacob doing the rapid fire up on their side of the range...

Resting...

"How did you do?"

Sarena made "Rifleman" several times on Sunday!  She already had her badge though...

...as did this fella...

Load your mags with 2 and 8....

Sarena's shooting glasses...  :)

Now Lauretta looks cold...

Thaddaeus shot Lauretta's rifle for a while when she was tired...

Sittin' shootin'....

You wouldn't think that shooting would be tiring, but......it can be.

Mike, picking up a target?

Andrew, showing some young friends how the AQTs are scored...

The 3 Musketeers?  Well, not quite...

It looks like he had an attentive audience!

A colorful photo....

The North siders...

The South siders...

...and the ladies in the middle.  We're actually missing some people in these 3 photos though...

My mom looks a bit tired.

I'm not quite sure why some are standing and others are lying down, but I'm sure there's a reason.

Jacob Austin...

Sarena...

Millie, holding an AQT target...

Getting close to the end...

Posting one more AQT...

We used push-pins to hold the targets up and would occasionally need to get a new one when someone's aim was off and they blew the top of the pin off!

Virginia and Jacob loading up another rounds worth of bullets...

Lauretta at our home---on the range...

"Can you add up my score, Andrew?"

Time for the last piece of history...

Mike and Deb...

...and Andrew W....

AND, finally, one last target to shoot at, "The red coat"...  You can shoot this one in your favorite position, which is why some are standing and some are prone...

"How did we do, Sarena?"

Hurry up, Andrew...

"Did you get all of yours?"

Then, Alex gave out 3 Rifleman badges.  :)

I picked a purple one...

Alex and Andrew W...

Alex and I...

And Alex and Lauretta...

She picked a tan badge, obviously...

Putting the rifles away...  Alex and Mike loaned several shooters their rifles or slings or mags, so they had to be sure to get their supplies back.

Visiting with Deb a bit before they head for home...

They were really a nice couple and we enjoyed having them here!  She cleaned up the kitchen for us Saturday night even, and had fun milking for the first time Sunday morning when she went out with Mom to care for the goats and turkeys....

Most everyone helped in picking up the brass...

...and blankets...

...and tarps...

...and more brass....

Alex headed for home that night yet.  He said he had the next day off of work, so at least he could get some sleep after another 11 hour drive all the way back to Iowa.

Jacob really liked Andrew...

I folded up the pile of blankets that Millie was lying on and, when I finally pulled the 2nd to last blanket out from underneath her, she decided to move. 

Saying goodbye to Alex...

Then, whomever didn't need to head for home came up to the yard for a fun time of volleyball and later, food!   Josephine had made some very yummy lasagna and burritoes to share, plus we had lots of leftovers from previous meals. 

After supper, we had fun making music together in the shop; singing a hymn acapella; visiting; playing pool; arm wrestling; and then went out and played more volleyball until around 10:30 when it started to sprinkle and everyone decided to call it a day, so to speak. 

Here is a picture of my rifle-case...

 

 

AND so, anyone who is still reading this far, that is all of the pictures that I think I'll share, as the rest are very much like the ones I've already shared and I don't really think you'd like to look through another 400 pictures now, would you?  :)

 

It was a great weekend!  Now we have Winter ahead of us, and then we can think about dates for future Appleseeds on our farm.

 

On a totally different note:

Tomorrow is my parent's 32nd wedding anniversary.  If you'd like, you can visit my mom's blog (A Ray Of Hope) and leave them a note there.