Last Weekend We Went to SoCal To Visit And Bless Grace

After Joe, Anna and Jared Came To Visit

Joe Visits

In August, Joe came to visit. Here are some photos to prove it.

Kites

Every year there is a big kite festival at Fort Casey on Whidbey Island where we live. It so happens that my secretary, Candie, and her husband, Ken, are real kite aficionados. They own a great number of kites and have made literally hundreds. They are also quite expert at flying them. So, when the festival hit last week, we got together. Here are some pictures of the event.

From time to time the organizers of the event call for everyone to launch their kites together. This is called the "mass ascension." Gotta love that name.

There is a great variety of kites. The kites in this picture a quite large and fun to watch.

Some are quite whimsical too, like this scuba diver kite. We also saw a flying castle, a shark, a number of birds, geometric designs, rings, para-sails, box kites, and more.

We thought this large yellow and black delta was the prettiest.

They even had stunt kite demos and competitions. It was amazing to watch the team demos flying four man formations.

Later in the day, we found a spot where Candie and Ken could teach us how to fly stunt kites called griffins.

Here is Ken putting together a couple kites of his own making.

Ken has been flying kites for more than 12 years. It really showed when he demonstrated flying two kites at the same time. Very impressive!

Ken was a patient teacher, so Cathy and I both learned how to handle a dual string sport kite. It was a bit tricky at first, but very very fun! Here is a shot of Cathy flying with a little advice from Candie.

This is something you have to try.

Visits

This has been a busy year for us. We have had lots of visitors. Recently, Clay and Linda Ford stopped by. They were here to see the wooden boat festival, so we were able to spend some time together. Clay just turned 70 but he looks like 50. They are always doing interesting things. Clay is building a boat and they both still do pioneer reenactments.

Here they are. What great people!

We were pleasantly surprised to hear from Kevin and Pat Anderson. Kevin was in the stake presidency with me and we became good friends. Kevin is a consultant and has been assigned a big computer installation job for King County in Seattle. He and Pat are here for a year to work on the project. They are staying close to work but we had them up for a couple of days and we have made a few trips to the temple together. It has been so nice seeing them again.

Going Native

This summer, Cathy and I got a taste of real island living. Salmon were running high this year, so we joined the crowd and threw our hook into the water.

Under Deception Pass Bridge is a a popular fishing spot. Usually, the fisherman are lined up shoulder to shoulder. Whether you catch a fish or not, the scenery is beautiful.

This was my first catch. That's a real salmon on my hook. Unfortunately, it was only about as long as my little finger.

My luck got better. I finally caught this big guy. A "pink" about 24 inches and 7.5 pounds.  He put up a bit of a fight.  I had to reel him in five times because he kept taking the line for a swim.  It was exciting!  
 

Here he is all dressed up and ready to party. Throw on some butter, lemon, garlic, and parsley, bake at 400 for 30-40 minutes and mmm,very tasty!

To finish off the season, and our dinner, our neighbors gave us these crab. Cathy cooked them and cleaned them like a pro. We almost felt ready for Man v. Wild. Great fun!

To top it all off, we took the kayaks out on the water at the cove when conditions were perfect. No wind. Water as smooth as glass. The mountains, water and sunset were beautiful. We saw fish jumping, heron's flyng and otters playing.  We are grateful to be here.