Fishing Fashion Alert

I took the kids to Kohl's the other day on what seemed to be an endless quest for Rachel's school backpack. Courtney pointed out a mannequin with a button-down plaid oxford shirt and said, "Look, it's a fishing shirt." I said, "That's not a fishing shirt. It's too dressy for fishing." But then Caitlin reminded me that Grandpa wore a shirt like that when they went fishing. She was right, of course. He even was wearing Dockers. Apparently, Grandpa's starting a new business casual look for fishermen everywhere.

Our Last Day to Play

Spencer loves to fish with Grandpa. He looks forward to it all year long.

He's so pleased when he catches the first fish of the day.

The last day before we left Utah, we drove three hours back to my parents' house from Bear Lake. Spencer hadn't been fishing with Grandpa yet, so we took the kids to Vivien Park where they each caught a fish (or two) with Grandpa's help and played on the playground. It was interesting to see how much Spencer has learned about fishing. He was the only person (besides Grandpa) that noticed when there was a bite and would have caught all the fish if we would have let him.

Rachel wanted me to take a picture of her because she thought she looked so cute in this outfit!

Caitlin loved going down the slide.

She also loved climbing up the slide.

So did Courtney!

There's the serious fishermen in the family!

Grandpa helps set up the poles .

The scenery at Vivien Park is gorgeous. My Mom and I have always wanted a cabin there (like President Monson.) It's just a short distance from home (10 minutes) but with gorgeous mountain views.

Rachel adds beauty to the scenery.

Spencer's ready!

Courtney's reeling in her first fish

It takes some effort!

Here it is!

Grandpa helps her get it off the line

At the same time, Spencer notices he's got a bite and reels in his second fish.

Courtney shows off her catch.

A little while later, Caitlin gets a nibble and begins bringing in the fish.

Woo hoo for Caitlin's first fish!

Finally. . . Rachel hooks a fish!

Grandpa gets in on the action.

She's pleased with her catch.

Can you feel the love tonight?

Spencer says, "Can't we catch some more?" But it's time to head back to Orem so Spencer and Rachel can go to "Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat" with Grandma and Grandpa and I can pack. It was a great trip. We certainly did a lot of fun things and saw a lot of fun people but it's time to get home and get ready for school to start.

We Love Bear Lake!

Our awesome friends (more like family), Kevin and Laura invited us to their amazing cabin at Bear Lake. The lake is on the Utah-Idaho border and the cabin is on the Idaho side. This is the view from the wrap-around porch of their cabin. Our family loves Bear Lake--it is so beautiful! There is no lake like it anywhere. The water is so clear and blue that it looks like a swimming pool.

Kevin has an awesome boat and the kids love to ride on it!

So do I!

It goes very fast (check out that hair!)

The beach is full of tiny shells which the kids love to examine and save.

It also has great sand for sinking your toes and feeling it seep around your feet.

The water's also great for swimming and wading.

Caitlin even found a walking stick on the shore.

Don't you love Jovian's oreo glasses? We had a delicious lunch at the beach, thanks to Kevin and Laura.

Cute girls! Rachel enjoyed spending time with Jovian, her adopted cousin.

She also loved riding in the boat although the water was too choppy for them to waterski, a great disappointment to her. There's always next year, right?

Favorite pals--Jovian and Rachel

Check out Rachel's shoulder muscles--must be from swim team.

Jovian and Rachel also enjoyed lounging in the water on the spider.

Courtney and Caitlin loved dancing in the waves on the shore. They are full of joy!

They also lounged happily on the boat.

Cute Caitlin loves the blue water and the blue, blue sky.

Spencer holds the flag and keeps Miles' sunglasses safe while he's on the knee board.

Courtney's one happy girl!

I love this shot of Caitlin.

Her hair is so beautiful, curly and blonde!

After Miles and Shayla demonstrated how easy it was to knee board, Spencer agreed to try. On his first attempt, he could never get up on his knees.

So Miles, the hero, got into the water and helped Spencer get on his knees.

And it worked! Look at Miles's smiling face. Spencer's not so sure he likes it yet

but he's doing it!

By George, I think he's got it!!!

Swimming back to the boat after a great ride!

He's one proud boy! Good job, Spencer!

Courtney enjoys sitting at the front of the boat

So do Caitlin and Shayla. What a beautiful day! We loved our trip to Bear Lake!