Summer Time

Hello family and friends!! We haven't updated this in almost 6 months. So we are going to do a giant update from summer. However I uploaded the post from most recent to older events.

Our first few pictures are from this last weekend at Meadow Lake. I should note that Peter bought me my own fly rod a month ago so we have been trying to get good use out of it before summer is over. Its taken a lot of practice but I'll have to say I've gotten pretty good at casting. Its the set that I'm struggling with. I don't have too quick of reflexes once I see the fish break through the surface. It's super fun though and I love doing it!

Dad brought his canoe which was a lot of fun. Michael liked riding in it around the lake but after 20 minutes or so he had enough.
It was a beautiful place!

Grandpa (Dad) caught a fish from the bank and let Michael net it. Michael was super excited to see a fish and play with it. Peter hooked up a line to a stick and we tied a fly on the end of it so he could do a little fishing too.Peter and Andrew are out in the canoe. The water was beautiful when it went glass smooth like this. This was Saturday morning and wasn't as calm for long. Friday evening the water was like this for a good 3 hours.
Saturday morning Dad was anxious to get in to some fish.

This was Friday night and there was the craziest feeding frenzy going on. We both caught 5-6 fish on the surface with dry flies. It was so much fun! Enough fun that it got us up at 6:00am Saturday morning. Too bad it wasn't as good as this.
This was my first fish I caught on my fly rod in a canoe and I didn't quite know how to net it without tipping our canoe over. So Peter netted if for me. Nice little pan size rainbows and cut throats.
We were up pretty high in elevation so it was a little chilly. Peter can handle it though as you can see by his shorts and T. There was actually quite a bit of snow above our campsite.

Here are our trusty woodcutters. We had an amazing fire the 2 days we were there because of the amount of wood and dryness of it. Good work there Peter.
We got up to the campground one night before everyone else and we walked around the lake to the other side and fished for a couple hours. Here is Peter's first catch of the trip.
The week after the fourth of July we stayed at Catherine's aunt's family cabin in Island Park on Bill's Island. This is the Clement family and our 3 days on the lake and at the cabin.
Peter attempted knee boarding on the lake. He did pretty good and looks pretty good too!
We all took a drive through Yellowstone Park and are proud to say that we, once again, sighted a grizzly bear. Peter and I rode with Kimra and Todd Mauger up to the northern loop and spotted this awesome sight. We also saw a black bear 10 miles earlier.

This was our whole group at the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. It was fun to be with everyone!

We probably have more shots of this view than any other view in the area. I just can't get enough of it!
One weekend we had free we took a drive over to Palisades Reservoir and camped. Then on our way home we did a big loop up to Jackson Hole. It was fun to spend the day together. We hadn't ever been to Jackson with each other.

And yes we did the Jackson slide. It was fun, not worth the $15 a person, but a good "gotta do once" thing in the area.
Here Peter is at the beginning of the slide. It was a great view of the Grand Tetons in the back.
We tried our luck at Palisades Res and not much action. It was a pretty area to spend the morning though.Here was our campsite. We almost went home right as we got there. There were thousands of mosquitoes. If we hadn't brought our OFF repellant we would have hit the road. Peter finally believes me about our family hiking trip about 10 years ago when we were literally eaten alive by mosquitoes up to Union Falls.
One afternoon we went up to the Henry's Fork below the Vernon bridge to try our luck fishing. There was a nice hatch coming off the water but we couldn't get the fish to take anything. It was really frustrating because we tried everything.

A big ol' stone fly that wasn't tempting enough for the fish to take.

Our fourth of July was super busy but very memorable. We first went to Logan and saw the Freedom Show in the USU stadium. Diamond Rio performed and a lot of local talent. Once it was dark the fireworks began. It was the BEST firework show we'd ever seen. The reason being was probably because we had the best seats in the house. They filled our whole line of site and we could smell the smoke. I wish I had my camera!

But here we are at Mom & Dad's in Logan hanging out in the yard. Peter launched our homemade rocket for Brinlee and Owen.

We also had a fun time at the water park. It was so refreshing to get in the water.

Peter was having fun playing with Owen here.
Before we had gone down to Logan we stopped with Mom & Dad at Hawkins Reservoir and did a little fishing in the canoe. Not too much luck but a beautiful morning.
We came back to Idaho Falls Monday and watched the Melaleuca Fireworks. They were pretty good, but I'll have to admit that Logan was so much better! This is Hailey and Andrew and their kids, plus Andrew's brother Luke and his wife Ashley.
Mom & Dad and Shane waiting for the fireworks.
Here we are with Emily.

Before the fireworks we were invited over to Uncle Daurel and Aunt Tami's house for a BBQ. It was fun to get together with the Palmer side. I love this picture of Grandpa and Grandma. We have had a lot of opportunities to go visit them in their home and enjoy family home evenings with them. We hope to continue spending time with them while they are still close.

Here is yet another fishing outing right at the bottom of the Ashton dam. Peter says there is a TON of water coming out behind him. On normal years this white river is more of a trickling stream. We had so much water in the area earlier this summer. There was flooding going on in several areas.
Close to the beginning of our summer, we had the Clement reunion of sports and food. Playing volleyball and softball have turned into one of our favorite pastimes together. Here Peter is dominating the net!
Our whole group just after a fun softball evening.

Our first trip into Yellowstone park we went with Emily, Marie, Tim and Shane. We saw a show at Playmill and then camped at Norris campground where we actually heard wolves howling just as we were going to bed. It was pretty sweet. This view here is the Grand Prismatic Spring. I had never climbed this hill to get this view. There aren't very many things we haven't experienced in the park so it was fun to do this!

Here we are at Tower Falls with the Yellowstone River behind us.

And Old Faithful was yet again faithful! There was actually a pretty good size heard of buffalo just in the meadow to our left and we took a little stroll through them. Kind of fun but kind of scary.
And here is our camp! We staked out our spot as soon as we could to be sure we had a campground then went back in to West Yellowstone to wait for the play. We had a great time.

So that is our summer! We have only Erda and Bear Lake in the next two weeks and then it is back to teacher-ing. Peter is working now at a Doctor's office in Rexburg which we are so grateful for. He was hoping to get some work but we never thought something this perfect would be an option. I'll teach one more year at the middle school and be in charge of the yearbook as well. We anticipate this fall lots of medical school interviews and hopefully a weekend getaway to Mackay for some fall-time fishing.

Valentine's Trout Dinner

This blog has been a work in progress for the past month now. Time to hit the presses!

As Valentine's Day was approaching, I was dreading the idea of having to find a restaurant to go to and having to put up with all the waiting to be seated. So I decided that it'd be fun to go fishing, hope to catch a fish big enough to keep and to have a home-cooked trout dinner instead of going anywhere. The Saturday before Valentine's, I went to a fishing hole that produces large trout time and time again and in no time, I had landed this 20" trout. Every time I decide that I want to keep a fish, I feel like to zit-faced schoolboy who confidently and bravely accepts a dare but when on the brink of carrying out the dare, gets cold feet. I had decided before hitting the river, "I'm going to keep a fish this one time. It's for a good cause and we'll eat it all (no wasting)". However, once the fish was netted, guilt rushed over me and I nearly let him go. I'm glad I didn't let him go. When we got home, I discovered that the fish was actually a cutthroat/rainbow hybrid. On the river that I fish, cutthroat trout are the native species that are actively protected. Rainbows on the other hand aren't. Hybrids are even less protected. Wonderful!
Come to find out, the fish was too big for any of the pans we had. I had to sacrifice a bit of the tail in order to get it to fit. We prepared it by simply breading it with flour and corn meal seasoned with salt and pepper. That's the way Catherine's dad prepares them and it usually turns out good. It looked delicious before we cooked it...
...but it wasn't too tasty afte the cooking; I don't care for the "fishy" taste of fish. Thank goodness for tartar sauce! There was a ton of fish left and fed us for a few more meals. I think I'd like to try something different than fried fish next time. Amy gave me some recipes that I'm anxious to try sometime...
Happy (belated) Valentine's Day, everyone!

Peter's Graduation!

Here is our anticipating graduate.

Peter was apart of the first graduating class to be in the new BYU-I Center. It was really impressive. Peter is standing over the left top corner of the department sign. He is in the 10 court gymnasium behind the 15,000 seat auditorium where we are waiting for commencement.

Here is Mom, Dad and Tim,

Along with Mom, Kyle, Dad and Shane.

After the great commencement address by Elder Marlin K. Jensen and Elder Johnson, we moved into the Hart gymnasium for the department convocations. I appreciated the great comments by all who spoke. Elder Jensen also gave me permission to take as many pictures today because he suggested we do so we can remember how good we looked now, and when we get to be alumni for 50 years like he is, we'll have fond memories of those pictures. Peter was a great sport to let me take his picture too. Thanks Peter!

Oh boy!! There it is! Too bad it is empty. They email the actual certificates after grades are posted for the last semester.

There he is with his diploma and rose!

Congratulations Peter!!

Everyone is soo proud!

We really appreciated all the support from our family! Thanks to everyone who made it to the big day, and also those who were unable to attend, all your encouragement and well wishes along the way!

After all the pictures and formalities, Dad Hale took us to Olive Garden for a nice lunch to celebrate. Thank you so much!

Not sure if this video is going to work, but if it doesn't we got Peter walking in to the big auditorium and he waved to us all. So cute!

10-10-10

As many of you know and celebrated the once in a century event that occurs with the rotation of the date being, for example, 10-10-10. This year was October 10, 2010, and it just so happened to be Peter's 26th birthday!

We had the family over for lasagna dinner and Mom made a delicious funfetti cake, Peter's favorite. It was an enjoyable afternoon. We watched little Michael play around on the new truck Grandma brought up. This was also the first time Hailey and Andrew's new baby Brandon was brought out for a social.

With Peter's new calling in the Elder's Quorum he has been pretty busy every day of the week. Here we have a glimps of how Peter winds down most Saturday, Sunday, and Monday nights. Here he is trying to get a game in before dinner.

We also have a new little neighbor who was kind enough to stop by to wish Peter a happy birthday. He has been visiting every night since. Peter went fishing the Saturday before with Ryan up to Ashton and St. Anthony, (we'll blog about the success of that trip later) so here "Wilson" is sleeping on Peter's gear that was sitting out drying.

Our Exodus East

As many of you know, we returned home from our vacation to the east coast several months ago. Since we’ve been home, Catherine has been preparing for school and has since begun teaching her second year of general music/choir at Madison Middle School. I, on the other hand, had three more weeks until school started up again. They went by quickly as I spent much of my time unpacking boxes, getting our house in order, and making the initial attempts to refinish a bookshelf Mom and Dad let us have.

All of that aside, what we really want to do is share with you our favorite parts of the trip. I’d be delighted to share the whole trip with you, but even verbally explaining it takes nearly an hour! I can’t imagine typing it all out!

I initially thought that identifying my “favorite part” would be easy, since I’ve visited nearly every stop on our trip before. However, even I had a ton of fun. Ironically, one of my favorite stops was Manassas National Battlefield, a spot only 40 minutes from my house growing up! I believe that with aging comes a greater appreciation for culture, be it classical music, history, or art. As a kid, I remember being compelled to accompany dad on his Civil War battlefield excursions. Then as a teen, it became an optional outing, so I rarely went (I remember Cath and Tim being good sports though). One could spend an entire week on the east coast just visiting Civil War battlefields, so we decided to give Catherine a “taste” of it by visiting the battlefield of the first battle of the Civil War: the 1st Battle of Bull Run.

It’s surprising to think that drizzly weather would be embraced on a vacation, but after a few days of trudging around D.C. in the hot sun and intense humidity, an overcast, rainy day was such a relief. We took part in a guided tour by a young man from the National Forest Service who had such a passion for the Civil War. He was very articulate and captivated us with each sentence. We walked around to several points of significance and listened as Hank would treat us with a play-by-play of the military strategies utilized by the Union and Confederate troops. It was a blast!! After our short visit to Manassas Battlefield, I gained considerable interest in the Civil War, a passion held not only by my dad, but also by my brother-in-law Kyle. We both agree that it would be a dream for Catherine and I to go back to the east coast with Kyle to take in even more of the history encapsulated in that area.

As for me, Catherine here, it is so difficult to say what I enjoyed most. We did so many new things I have wanted to do. Wandering the mall and seeing all the sights was sweet, meeting all of Peter's high school buddies was a treat, going to the battlefield was awesome, attending the temple was memorable, the wild ponies and light house where fun, the beach is always refreshing, seeing family in their natural habitats was special, riding the roller coasters at Busch Gardens was a thrill, Colonial Williamsburg was fascinating, and Mount Vernon was amazing. (I get tired just recalling the crazy 10 days) Really if I had to choose one thing, I'd say that each night no matter where we were staying, whether at the Gallo's, Jon's, the B&B-fast, or a hotel (which we didn't plan on paying $150 for, just for 8 hours) going to bed feeling exhausted and reminising of the day's events with Peter was wonderful. Even though I was in charge of planning much of the trip I didn't realize how busy the itinerary was going to be. What a great feeling it is to cuddle up next to a wonderful husband and feel like our days were well spent and many wonderful memories were made. This also marked our two year anniversary. Thanks Peter for taking me on the trip of a life time!!