Hope & Pinks for Shordy!!

Tiny and one of her very first little pony tails...I think this was only the 2nd time I had put one in.

It's not a very big pony, but I'm just excited she finally has enough hair to even have one!!  :)

Dad and Shordy reeling up his first Pink

One proud Daddy with his very excited little boy!!

It's an even year and that means lots of Pink Salmon on the Kenai Peninsula!  They run every year but for whatever reason the run is much larger in the even years.

One of the biggest runs of pinks is in a river that runs through the tiny little town of Hope.  I can't remember the name of the river...whoops.

Anyway...it's the perfect river to let kids learn how to catch salmon, b/c the pinks are runny pretty thick and when the tide is out the water isn't too deep and swift.  We are right at the mouth of the river, in fact you can see the ocean only about 150-200 yards away when you are up on the bank.

We had some visitors this week, Aaron and Janelle Bowman with their little 8 month old girl Avery.  Aaron & Janelle came up in 2009 with Kade & Ashley.  They were in the same ward and really good friend.  But it turned out that Janelle and Shayne were in the same nursing class as Ricks so knew each other pretty well.  Then Shayne & Aaron hit it off really well...they are two peas in a pod that's for sure.  Anyway, we thought we'd take them here b/c it's somewhere new and it's easy to fish, which would be fun for both Aaron (who's a very experienced fisherman) and Janelle (who's not as experienced as Aaron).

Dad took Shordy while I watched Tiny play in the dirt and sand and rocks.  It didn't take too long before Dad had hooked into a pink and then turned the fly rod and reel over to Shordy.  Other than Dad helping to hold the rod for him, Shordy did everything else.  He refused to let dad reel up the fish at all...he reeled that Pink in all by himself.  He was so excited!!  After landing the fish he proceeded to pick it up to take his pic with Dad.  It was so awesome!  I'm not sure who was having more fun...Shordy or his Dad who was about to burst a button he was so proud of his little buddy.

Shordy wasn't done though.  Dad hooked into another Pink and Shordy proceeded to reel that one in as well...then pose for pics too.  :)  Normally we throw Pinks back...they are smaller, have a lighter color to their flesh, it's a little softer, and doesn't have as much taste.  But...Shordy refused to let his Pinks go...so we had to keep them.

After catching his two fish, it started to slow down and Dad couldn't get hooked into anymore...but Shordy didn't mind.  He kept hanging around dad, wading in water above his Bogs, and getting pretty much soaked. But, he never complained...he just had a blast hanging out on the river with his dad.

Aaron & Janelle caught a couple too.  I think Aaron let Janelle do most of the fishing and I hope they enjoyed the experience.

After fishing we stopped at a little restaurant in town that serves some good homemade food...and pies.  It really is a very tiny town...it used to be a gold rush town, but now has like maybe 50 people that live out there...maybe a 100.  It's pretty quaint and is definitely somewhere we'll go back with Shordy and Tiny too.  Can't wait to see her land her first pink!!