A Little Fishing Trip

Rinar went on his annual fishing trip with his brothers a few weeks ago.  He actually came home with a bunch of trout for our family to enjoy.  Eli has a thing for fish. He just loves it. Salmon is his favorite, but he was especially enamored with dad's home caught meal.  Eli was amazed that dad caught the fish all by himself.

So naturally, Eli wanted to go fishing too.  And he meant it. He reminded Rinar all week to take him fishing. As luck would have it, August 31 was a no-game day.  Raef and Eli both did not have games, so Rinar took the three little ones fishing.  Amazingly enough, there is a little fishing pond in Draper made specifically for little kids.

After stopping at the store to get the necessary fishing treats, the four of them were off to the pond.

And they all caught a fish.  Not going to be eating them for dinner or anything, but they were all happy to catch something.What a sweet moment with their daddy.

Fishing Tournament

Rinar's brother Nordel is on the fishing team for Dixie State College. Did you know that colleges have fishing teams? I didn't.  There was a fishing tournament in Chico, California on January 18th and Rinar decided to bring the hotel to Nordel and his teammate Matt for the weekend competition.  In other words, he pulled brought the trailer and brought a cheering section: Zach and Eli.

Nordel represented Dixie State well and finished in the middle of the pack. While they were out there on the lake, Rinar took the kids around town for a little bit of sight-seeing. Zach and Eli had so much fun and were able to have some good bonding moments: around the fire, eating elk jerky, playing games at the campsite. It was a great weekend for the boys.

Kokanee Salmon Run at Taylor Creek

It has just been too beautiful this week to sit behind a desk.  Bad weather is on the horizon and I didn't want to wastedthe day away studying.  Therefore, we did a field trip yesterday!  I took the boys to the salmon run at Taylor Creek in California, via a stop at the Genoa Courthouse Museum.

Genoa was one of the settlements on the Pony Express.  The town was settled by Mormons and was a trading post on the California Trail.  They have a neat display about the Pony Express.  Riders were between the ages of 11-18.  They preferred orphans, because it was so dangerous. Can you believe that someone would sign up for that? Look at my boys.  They will be old enough for that job in 3 months!

 After a turn around the museum, we hit the road again for Lake Tahoe. It was an ideal time to go.  The leaves are changing colors and it was pristine and beautiful. Taylor Creek has a short trail loop and on the back side is the creek. Once a year, the Kokanee salmon come back to the creek to spawn and then die.  They estimate 70,000 fish make the trek.  The creek is very shallow and you can go right up to them. There are dead fish everywhere and tons of fish just floating there in the creek.  It does attract a good amount of bears, though I didn't get to see one.  Boo.

A funny moment happened when we were standing on the bridge by the main road during our leisurely hike.  The creek was just filled with tons of fish.  Our bodies cast a shadow on the water where they were floating. Raef would do a large wave with a stick he had found, and like a computer game, the fish would move away from him.  Then he would go to where there was another clump of fish and do the same thing.  Then Raef and Zach both got in on the action, making the fish move on command. It was pretty darn funny.

I am so glad I was able to experience this cycle of nature.  I learned a ton and I hope my kids did too. It is one thing to read it in a book.  But to actually be able to see it is priceless.

Boys Excursion to St. George

Rinar went to St. George with the kids last week so that he could play golf with his brothers and watch Nordel's football game. Nordel is on a semi-pro team called the St. George Blitz. The team has been doing really well and so has Nordel. It doesn't hurt that he is 6'7" tall and is a big guy. I think Rinar said he plays tight end. They won the game and the whole family came out to watch them.

Nordel is the tallest guy in the middle of this picture. I think he is #63,


The kids played with their cousins all day on Friday while they had their golfing excursion. I think Rinar said they golfed 27 holes and it took about 7 hours. I bet Rinar was really glad I stayed in Las Vegas. 7 hours of golfing? Are you kidding me???

On Saturday, Rinar and Nordel took Raef and Zach fishing. They were catching bass at a golf course pond. It was catch-and-release. Look at what the kids pulled in by themselves...

Zach's fish weighed 1 pound.

Raef scored a two-pounder. Impressive, huh?


CAUTION: THIS NEXT PICTURE MIGHT BE DISTURBING TO SOME OF YOU



They also went shooting with Uncle Lyf. Yes, that really is a real gun. It is a .22 pistol. I am sure some of you are probably going to freak out when you see this picture. Rinar and his brothers would do this with their Dad at this age, a long time ago. I guess it is a rite of passage for boys. Rinar and Lyf do a great job of explaining gun safety to the kids. They go far out into the middle of nowhere.

There are a lot of "middle-of-nowheres" in the west.

When I saw this picture, I was a little freaked-out too. It is my motherly instinct. But I have complete faith in my husband. I know that I can trust him implicitly.

By the way, I don't think that Zach hit the target.