Salmon Fishing and the wimpy rod.

Years ago I began fishing with Crystal's Dad Wayne.  I had a lot to learn about salmon fishing.  On my first trip out I brought a rod and reel with me that Wayne said was too flimsy to use for salmon fishing.  I always liked the rod, but since he always had rods ready, I never got to use it for fishing when I went out with him.  Since then, I've caught many fish with him and always had lots of fun.  While I haven't got the years of experience he has, I feel like I could probably do it on my own if I had my own boat.  This year during salmon season I am unable to go to the lake cabin for the annual salmon trip out on the coast of WA.  I have a friend, Steve,  that lives locally who invited me to go out for a day near Whidbey Island.  Of course I said yes, knowing I'd have no opportunity to go to the coast this year.  Steve and his wife, Danielle are buzz bomb fishermen.  They've had some luck with them but wanted me to show them how to fish with bait.  Armed with salmon leads, weights and herring we went out near Fort Casey for a day of fishing.  I explained the idea about fishing with bait and how it was done and why it works.  All the while showing them what I had learned from Wayne.  I guess I've been a decent student because the setups worked and we were HOOKING fish.  The bait "swam" well and the fish were biting.  But, as Wayne has said, "Some days you just can't get 'em in the boat".  This was a day like that.  We had fish on but excited fishermen and barbless hooks prevailed.  And that rod I've wanted to use for so long?  I hooked into a nice silver, and got it to the boat, but at the point I was raising the rod tip up to net it and get it into the boat...   The rod snapped at the joint and the graphite shards cut the line and the fish swam away to be caught another day.  I guess you were right Wayne. That rod didn't, in fact, have enough back bone to catch a salmon.  Lesson learned.  Thanks for all the years of hand holding.  Hopefully there will be many more.

Update.

The last time I posted was November of 2010.  Wow, it's been a while.  Not much changes with us, but I'll try to provide a recap.  Thanksgiving last year was held at our place. We had a house full.  It was nice having the holiday in the new place.  Christmas was the chaos that is always Christmas, accept for the peace that we have now being rooted in the real reason for the holiday that is the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ.  HE has made our lives so much better.

As for this year, the winter weather held on for too long but now that we have summer, we're loving it.  We've been using the tent trailer a bit.  We went out to my Mom's place for the fourth of July and enjoyed lots of food and lots of gunpowder smell.  A childhood friend, that I haven't seen in like 20 years, even came by for a visit and to show off his new baby girl. 

We went back to Montana for the, now annual, family camping trip in Alberton.  It's always tons of fun to see the relatives.  Michelle spent some time prior to camp in Missoula catching up with her Dad and frineds.  Here's a video.

 

Elijah just started second grade.  He's getting so big.  He seems to like his new teacher.  I think it's mostly because she hasn't given him any homework yet.  Olivia will be starting Kindergarten next year.  They grow up too fast.

Olivia had her tonsils and adenoids out a month or so ago.  It has completely cured her snoring and sleep apnea.  Night time is a whole new experience now.

Michelle and I are still at the same old thing.  She's filling in at another center owned by the same people as the one she works in normally.  I'm still at boeing, creeping up on four years now.  We just got the 747 certified and will be delivering the first one soon. 

So that's about it for our little corner of the world.  Consider yourselves updated. :)

The verdict on the wine.

We cracked open the... box. And here is my opinion. It was wine. Not crappy, not great. It tasted good, went down easy and, like it says on the box, it's a liter instead of 750 ml, so you get more for you money. Also, when you recycle the container you can smash it down so that it doesn't take up a bunch of space in your bin. I'll buy it again.

Taboo

So we were in the grocery store the other day and we came across a new brand of wine. It's called Bandit wine. We bought the 2008 Merlot. You may, at this point, be wondering, what's the point? Well the wine we bought comes in a box. Yes, in a box. It appears to be a new take on the whole box thing. Firstly, it's not a gallon of sweetened blush with a spigot. It's a liter of wine packaged so that it resembles a container of soy milk. Then, it has all of these reasons to buy it all over that back of the wine that are made to be compelling to many different demographics. Mostly, though, to green types. We haven't opened the box yet (it seems so odd to say that). but I'll post again when we have.

Some of what we did on our summer vacation...

The funny thing about vacation photography is the fact that, at the beginning, you tend to take tons of pics. As the trip wears on though, the photographic frenzy sort of wears out. So it's with that having happened that I post up this slide show of pics from the first four days of our trip this summer. We went to Lincoln Rock state park in Wenatchee for our first CCF Family Camp with our church. We had lots of fun and are looking forward to next years outing. In this slide show, you'll see lots of pics of Olivia and Elijah, and lots of people you don't know. In the Wenatchee heat there was much swimming being done and with swimming, there are water blasters. There's also a sequence were the group are engaged in making the "macho burrito". It's a team effort where we all join together in making a forty-eight foot burrito. I'm going to make another slide show that will cover the Montana portion of the trip. So enjoy part one. Sorry about the small size, I couldn't upload any thing bigger.

It's almost ten minutes long, so grab a cup of coffee before you push play.

Summer vacation.

Well we're back from our summer vacation that took us to Wenatchee, WA and Alberton and Missoula MT. We had a great trip out to Wenatchee for the annual CCF Family Camp at Lincoln rock state park. It's a totally different experience camping with forty other families. So many activities and people to visit. Elijah and Olivia never had so many kids to run with. It was pretty awesome. Then we went out to Alberton MT to visit with Michelle's parents. We camped along the Clark Fork river, did some rafting, crawdad capturing and we even saw a bear. Then it was off to Missoula to see Michelle's Dad. All it all it was a great trip.

Ask and you shall receive.

So I was reading a ways down in the blog and I found a comment that asked for some pics of the new place. Here are a few I shot before we moved our stuff in and ruined it.

Here's a photo of the dining room. Elijah is trying to shoot a Nerf dart up through a window to the second floor.This is the stairwell to the second floor. The kids love chucking stuff down them.

The living room.

This is our kitchen.

Summer is finally here (for now)!

Our second solid day of good weather is upon us and the kids and I are loving it. Our fourth was, aside from the rain, really nice. Now we gear up for family camp in Wenatchee and then a trip to Montana. Yay summer.

...

So, as a result of a lack of attention on my part, I've neglected to post. No surprise there. I am here now, though, so I'll fill you in.

We're all settled into the new place, which is way better than the old one. Bigger, brighter, more comfy. The cherry blossoms are blooming so we are getting set for spring. We even invested in some new living room furniture. Which, considering we are parents and cat people, is a bit of a risk.

Elijah is taking swimming lessons so that he'll be ready for all the adventures of the up coming summer. He is doing well in school. I am continually impressed by his reading. The boy's got skill. Elijah is also getting started with math and I can only hope and pray that he has more mathematical aptitude than I did as a grade schooler. He and I are signed up for a fishing derby in May. He keeps asking me if I remembered to send in the registration form and the fee. He really doesn't want to miss it.Olivia is in full toddler mode and has learned that she can get whatever she wants from her brother... Most of the time. Thanks to him, though, she can count to like twenty and recite her alphabet. She's getting strong enough to pedal so that will make walks and the outdoors more fun for everyone. She's on a princess trip these days, so it's Disney and pink everywhere. I've learned the names of all of the princess and am well versed in the new Tinkerbell movies. The only drawback is the magic wand that she can't resist using as a club. We can't count all of the times we've been cracked on the head by her wand as she yells some magical incantation. Good times.
As for Michelle and I, we are pretty much the same. I'm working on the new 747-8 now and she's still teaching at Main Street Kids in Edmonds.

All in all we are doing well. Until the next time I remember we have a blog...

Housing update.

Well, we received word that we got the house (town house) we applied for. Our copious prayers were answered. We are very relieved. Now we don't have to worry that our kids are going to be couch surfers at their tender young ages. I'll post some pics of the new domicile when I get a chance to see it. It's not far from here so we won't even have to change Elijah's school. Now to try to get our lives back on track.

another relocation

A mere nine months ago we moved up to Edmonds to be closer to my (casey's) place of employ. We now find ourselves in the midst of another move. The owner of this house has sold it and given us only 19 days to find a new place and leave. It's therefore easy to say that I'm less that happy with the siutation. I have, however, chosen to see it as a blessing in disguise. Michelle and I have applied for a town home nearby and we should hear something on Monday. Hopes are high as we, yet again, pack.

The pumkin patch.

So a friend of mine from work invited us to go to a local pumpkin patch with them. We petted goats, ate apple pie, and ran around in the corn maze. Oh yeah and we got a pumpkin too.

09.09.08

Michelle is off to her first day of work at a new job. She's taken a lead teacher position at a small pre-school here in Edmonds. I'm happy for her. I just dropped Elijah of at Kindergarten for the third time. He's still excited to get to go. Elijah says he likes it because he has something to do for a long time in the afternoon. His words, not mine. It gives me a nice stretch of down time before work. Olivia goes to sleep right after we drop off Elijah, so it couldn't be more perfect. Yay Kindergarten.

Otherwise all is well in our little corner of the world. I've managed to avoid the lay offs at Boeing thus far, and I'm still digging the work. I guess I was made to turn bolts.

Until next time...
Be well

Michelle and the Kids are off to the lake this week (Lake Crescent), so I'm on my own for a little while. I'll be joining them on Thursday. I'm looking forward to a little lake time, and of course, salmon fishing. I can't wait.

Last night was the first really cold night here since the days started getting shorter again. It was probably only around 50 degrees but with the windows open and beds not made up for fall, we were cold. And today, I can feel the imminent arrival of fall. That's OK though because with fall comes winter and snowboarding. Elijah is going to learn this year. I had planned to get him out last year but things didn't work out. We are a lot further north this year so unlike me, Elijah will get to learn at Stevens pass. Once again, I can't wait.

The Fourth of July event.

It's been a few months since my last post and in that time not much has happened until this last weekend. We all spent the holiday weekend at moms house enjoying some time in the trees. As with all Philippino type gatherings it was all about the food. The band came out and we played a shore acousitic set for everyone. Loka, Brandy and their boys joined us on Saturday and Sunday to help with the eating. Thanks guys. Saturday night ended with a trip out to the country to watch the local fire works display. The boys all got toy light sabers thanks to my mom being the best haggler ever. Of course, the boys went nuts whacking each other with their light sabers. I had fun taking pictures in the dark of the boys and the light.

We live near beaches!

Michelle and I have been exploring our kid/dog friendly areas near our new place. We found beaches. Right now they are a little blustery but good for getting out none the less.




This last picture is of Elijah and his new buddy Gage. Mostly they run around and break stuff, but occasionally they have quiet moments like this.