Gray's Mountain Man Birthday Party

Before I tell you about this party, you need to know a little background about one of Gray's idols: Scott Sorenson. Gray loves this man. He's in our old ward (Jay and JoDee's) and they've been family friends for years. Scott Sorenson is about the coolest guy you've ever met. He's an outdoorsman, a motorcycle rider, the nicest guy ever, and pretty much a real mountain man. He travels around doing elementary school assemblies in authentic mountain man attire with guns and traps. Need I say more? Actually, yes. Ever since we moved in with Jay and JoDee, Gray has been obsessed with Scott Sorenson (he always refers to him by his full name). He'd go sit and talk to him before church started, he'd always stop drawing and listen when Scott bore his testimony, he even named one of his imaginary friends, "his boys", Scott. So, when Scott Sorenson said that he'd love to come do Gray's 5th birthday party, it was a dream come true.
The birthday boy opening some presents.

Enjoying our Mountain Man snacks: Root Beer, popcorn and beef jerky in "leather pouches."
Scott Sorenson brought these real mountain man clothes and hat for Gray to wear during the party.

Showing the kids how the animal trap works. They were enthralled.
I miss my other kids. I would adopt these two on the spot.
He played this instrument for them and sang an old mountain man song. I wish I could remember what the instrument was called.
Demonstrating some animal calls. He gave Gray an animal caller which was promptly put in Dad's drawer for special times.
He also gave Gray the bear claw that you can see around his neck from an actual bear that he killed himself. It kept getting into their backyard up in Canada and it killed their dog or a neighbor's dog. (I think that's how the story went.)

Thanks so much, Scott Sorenson, for the best birthday party ever! And thanks to the Costco baker who was able to copy my drawing for this mountain man cake. It turned out better than I expected.