Santa Claus

It has been too long since the last update, so tonight I decided it was time for a new post despite a fairly uneventful weekend.  Saturday Delaney spent all day at the house.  Lora had a ladies brunch in the morning and Arnie and I went fishing in the afternoon.  So Lora and I had plenty of time for capturing photos of our cruising Laney girl. 

                                    

On Sunday Delaney met Santa Claus for the first time.  She was quite interested from a distance and in grandpa's arms.

But up close sitting on Santa proved to be scarier than expected.

Happy Holidays

Delaney's first fly fishing trip

 

Today Delaney's Grandpa Ed and I took her on her first fly fishing trip in the wilderness of the Walla Walla River.  I guess wilderness might be stretching it a little. We were fishing where the "river runs through it" right in Milton-Freewater.  On our walk to the river it was easy to see Arnie the aussie was the most anxious to get on the river.  Once the river was in view we posed for some pictures and then got right to the fishing.  I caught a few fish in the first couple holes and released one around 13", which is a larger than average rainbow trout for the Walla Walla. 

I did learn today with a 20 pound Delaney on your back and a hyperactive Arnie running circles around you, all while trying to play and then release a fish, create quite the handful.  My mom called my dad mid way through the trip and she asked how Delaney was doing and I realized she had not made a sound up to this point.  I took the binky from her and she was talking and laughing till I gave the binky back to her for the walk back to the car.  I am calling this her first fly fishing trip because the last time she was fishing with Lora and I on Jubalee lake she slept in her car seat with a life vest on while Lora and I paddled the canoe around the lake.  She was in the canoe, but she did not witness any fishing... 

Before we called it quits on this trip, Arnie was with my dad on the far bank of the big pool,  I gave him a whistle and call and he came full speed to the steep edge of the river, jumping out as far as he could.  Who knew he was such a water dog?  As we loaded our gear into the Xterra and I wrung out my wet sock from my leaky waders it was obvious to both my dad and I that Delaney's first fly fishing trip was a success.

Welcome all

Our first post comes on the day preceding the busiest week of our summer.  Lora and Delaney will be leaving to visit her mother and cousins in Monmouth tomorrow.  I will be leaving for Bristol Bay Alaska to do some fishing with my dad and a bunch of other old men.  So we will have some pictures and stories to share in the weeks to come.