Fishing with Bob and Mark's New Room

The fishing wasn't great, but we had a great time!

Dad grew up fishing, but he really doesn't like it. It takes a lot of time, equipment, and patience, but worst of all, you might actually catch a fish. So Dad and the boys were very excited when Uncle Bob offered to take them out on the boat. We finally found a weekend in the summer when we could all get together. It was decided that Bob and Dad would take the kids to Strawberry Reservoir, and Mom would watch Katelynn while Steph repainted the nursery into Mark's new room.

Bob wanted an early start, so Mom had breakfast ready at 5:30 am. All the kids were wired and ready to go, and we got to the lake a little after 7 o'clock. There weren't really any people around when we launched the boat, and we started trolling almost immediately. Within five minutes, we had our first bite, so we were really excited. We weren't able to pull that fish in, and unfortunately, it was a long time before we had anymore luck. The kids didn't seem to mind, though. They had a great time casting Bob's practice pole. Each boy also took turns driving the boat. Best of all, we managed to reel in two little fish, both of which we let go.

Raymond and Seth are great cousins.

Mark and Dax love to spend time with Abby.

The grebes carried babies on their backs!

Dax was pretty intense as a driver.

Seth isn't very interested in the fishing.

Mark and Dax love it, though.

Seth got to reel in the first fish!

See that deer in the shade of the rock?

We didn't either, but Abby spotted it for us.

Abby has always been like one of our own family.

After lunch we decided to give it up and we headed for the dock. As Dad backed the truck down the dock, some threatening looking clouds rolled in. We got the kids in the truck and as Bob was hooking up the boat, the rain and hail came in buckets. He got soaked in minutes, but we made it down the mountain.

You can see Bob securing the boat and the rain pelting down.

When we got home, we checked out Stephanie's handiwork. She had painted a massive mural on the east well of the bedroom. It depicts a moose standing in a pond in front of the Tetons. Mark had requested scenes from Yellowstone and the Tetons, his favorite places, so he was thrilled. On the wall above the bed, Steph added seven smaller pictures including a wolf, an elk, bison, bears, Lower Falls, Old Faithful, and Morning Glory Pool. It turned out to be so beautiful. Sometimes we walk into the room just to check out the pictures. Mark was really excited to move into the room the next day. Now he can be in his own little corner of Yellowstone anytime he wants!

Steph painted the nursery 12 years ago and all our boys loved the farm animals on the walls.

Mom was on Katelynn duty. They had fun together.

Mom took the kids to the park the next day.

Our boys are pretty sweet with Katelynn.

They aren't getting a sister, though.

We always have fun with the Ferlans.

This is the mural on the east wall with the Tetons reflecting on Moose Ponds.

The wall above Mark's bed has some of his favorite scenes.

The colors on Lower Falls are so beautiful!