Fishing with Papa

Scotty got it in his mind months ago that he needed to go fishing.  Not seeing an opportunity sooner than our trip to Utah, I kept putting Scotty off.  Finally, the day arrived, and it rained all morning.  We lucked out when the sun came out just in time to pack up the boat and head out.  Nicole and I tagged along in Papa's truck, too.

Scotty was *so* excited (understatement).  He was also excited to gut the fish and eat it afterwards (he repeatedly told us).  Papa let Scotty steer the boat to a secret location ...

... and wouldn't you know that we had three fish in the first ten minutes.  No kidding!  Papa really knows this lake!  Scotty, Nicole and I all reeled in our own fish while Papa took charge of the net (and tried to stay sane with three amateurs!).  Scotty insisted on a turn with the net later and actually did an OK job, which is to say that he netted the fish and brought it into the boat.

Nicole also got to steer the boat.

I realize this is almost the same photo, but Papa made me take a second without him to show that Nicole really did take complete charge of the boat.  I like the picture of them together, too, though.

One benefit to fishing with Papa is getting your own bottle of lemonade.  Scotty thinks it's so cool to buy drinks "from the 'frigerator at the store!"  When Papa handed him the bottle, Scotty asked with surprise, "What?!  This for ME?!  THANKS, Papa!"

Scotty kept checking the bucket holding the caught fish.  Sometimes they splashed around, which intrigued him.  He also wanted to learn all about their blood. It was very serious learning.

I asked Scotty how big his fish was, and this is what he showed me.

Bluffing, of course!  How do they learn it so young?  We did limit, though; and it only took about an hour and a half on a deserted lake.  I think the early morning rain scared all of the other would-be fishermen that day.

Back at Grandma and Papa's place, Scotty had to inspect the fish all over again, but this time more closely.

He also wanted to assist in every aspect of the cleaning.  (I think Scotty is going to love Alaska!)

 Even though Grant didn't accompany us on the actual trip, he still enjoyed holding a trophy fish.

As for Scotty, his smile sums up his feelings of the day:

BEST DAY EVER!

New Student

Homeschooling is fun!

Homeschooling at Grandma's is more fun!

Playing cards with a dog while homeschooling tops them all!

P.S. For recess, Uncle Denny took us four wheeling!

A Utah Tradition

I suppose we'll always vacation in Utah as long as we live.  It's where Clint and I grew up, and it still feels like home driving down the windy, tree-lined South Weber Drive.  Of course, we still have a lot of family there to see, both those still living and those who have gone before us.  We can never stop in Utah without visiting the graves of our loved ones.  I like the picture above because I distinctly remember sitting next to Brooke's grave on the day of her service.  It was such an awful day, even though we had been preparing for it for many months.  The last thing I did before leaving the cemetery that day was to stand in front of her little casket and face the east.  I looked at the majestic mountains in the background and thought, "We are leaving our baby in such a beautiful place."  Clint feels the same way, so I took this picture for him since he couldn't be with us on this trip.

We did have our cousins with us, though, who were either not born yet or too young to remember being in this cemetery nearly eight years ago.

L to R: Emily, Grant, Nicole, Shari, Carly and Scotty

And we never stop at Brooke's grave without also visiting Grandma Ramona.  This is Shari's first time.

Also in downtown Ogden, we tried the newish children's museum.  We have heard rave reviews, and the boys loved it.  Just look at Scotty drive the fire truck!

For the first time, the thought occurred to me that Nicole has outgrown children's museums.  She was a good sport, but I could tell it wasn't as fun as it used to be for her.

Here she is dressing Scotty as a page, perhaps?  Of course, Nicole is the queen!

We found the sword in the stone, but unfortunately, none of us are named Arthur, so we were unable to extract it from its place.

I'm sure this is a famous quote, but it was the first time that I read it, so I took a picture because I thought it was sweet.  It makes me think of childhoods long past.

Back at Grandma and Papa's place, you can see that Shari had fun pulling Papa's hair. 

Please excuse Papa's clothes; he was on break from his woodshop in the garage.

And Scotty put himself down for a nap one day because the fun was just too tiring!

Humpherys Family Reunion

An average of once every 10 years, the Humpherys family holds a reunion.  Last time was camping in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and Nicole wasn't even born yet!  My, how a lot changes in 10 years!  This time we all (minus Clint's little brother Mike, who incidentally missed the last one as well) met in St. George, Utah.  We stayed stayed together in a huge house instead of a hotel.  The kids loved the trampoline ...

L to R: Grant, Preston, Ethan, Beau, Shari and Nicole

... and the pool hot tub (should have met in Phoenix!).

L to R: Jenika, Ethan, Anna, Chrissa, Gage, and Scotty (Grant escaping out the back)

We also went to the sand dunes for some afternoon fun.

Aunt Charlotte (Mike's wife) sharing fashion with Shari.

Daddy buried the kids up to their necks, which may have been a first.

 

It was a crazy two days that included a 5-hour family photo shoot (aagh!), an Easter egg hunt, t-shirt painting, and lots of games!  I think 10 years from now will render it impossible to house all of us under one roof.  As it was, 27 people made for a quite a crowd!