Winner!

I submitted some photos this year to the Bear Paw Festival Photo Contest. This is the first year they've had a contest like this for Bear Paw, and this is the very first time I've ever submitted a photo for any sort of contest... i figured Bear Paw is my home town, low key, low pressure, right? :)

Well, I didn't win any grand prizes, but I did take runner up in the People Category for this image:

This is Emily, taken last fall at Chris and Barb's house. I named the image Bubbles...

I unfortunately didn't even get to see the other entrants this year, as I was in Homer the whole time the Bear Paw was going on :( But I was still kind of excited. Supposedly the Eagle River Star is going to do an article and show the winning photos, so if I get a copy, I will post it!

July Homer Trip

I am actually still in Homer while writing this post... Dellany and I decided to stay a week here and relax... The boys came down with us for the weekend and we did a little salmon fishing. The red run here at this time, so we planned the trip around that (sort of...) the weather was a little bit crazy - super dense, thick fog! Like pea soup - literally...

We thought the weather might deter other fishermen (and fisherwomen...) from being out and about Sunday, so we headed to our spot. We were prepared for a cold time of it, and it was not looking good... kind of spooky actually, but really beautiful...

Even this little seal didn't have any friends to hang out with, cause it was cold!

But when we turned the corner to the creek mouth, it was beautiful!! Dave opted to wait by the mouth and try some real fishing, while we headed up the creek to dip... You can see behind him is all the fog we just came through

And up the creek - SUN!! That's Joe & Dellany walking...

The tide was out super low, and it was so pretty! I thought this green stuff (seaweed? grass?) was just beautiful...

Not all of us had waders, so Joe carried Dellany to keep her dry. So sweet! And we finally made it to the waterfall where we caught our fishies! Gorgeous!! And we had the whole place to ourselves!

Then the dirty work started and I had to put the camera away... ;)

Rafting Kings River

Headed up to Kings River for 4th of July weekend again this year, and my brother Michael was in town from Seattle. He and John and their friend Jared came prepared to raft the river. Chris was not quite so prepared. His $2 inner tube was just not up to the task... plus, the water was FREEZING!! But the weather was gorgeous, so it was great fun. Especially since I was on shore photographing (and staying dry...)

Chris is starting to realize that his tube isn't going to float...

Michael got a big splash of that freezing cold water... yeah, that is pretty much how cold it was