Just Fishin'

There's a tradition in my family that I don't think we often see as a tradition....fishing.  My brothers and sisters and I grew up hiking down to a river with our Mom and Dad to fish all summer long.  We'd do this on back packing trips, day trips, camping out and any time Dad wanted to get away.  He'll go a lot on his own or with friends, but he often took us kids and that hasn't changed.  Often we'd end up swimming in the water and scaring off the fish, running from the fish or sqeezing them too tight, knotting our lines up really bad or losing our flies so Dad would have to come save us.  But save us he did. 

Mom isn't so much the fishing type, though she will sometimes with a rod and commonly by calling "Hey...Fishy Fishy Fishy!"  Even when she doesn't fish she still comes and either explores the world around, reads on the bank or just enjoys the peace and quiet. 

I heard a song on the radio the other day by Trace Adkins called "Just Fishin'" that really made me think of my parents, and particularly my Dad. 

Some of the best times I know I've had with him, and I could guess my siblings have as well, were as we've been fishing.  Scott's a big fisherman like Dad and they go often and just soak it up, but he's taken us all on trips by ourselves with him, and those trips I cherish.  One particular was the week I left on my mission and I didn't even fish, just sat in the boat all day with him.  Then after I graduated and got my own fishing stuff, had taken a class, and can sometimes hold my own now :) 

The youngest in the family, Cassi, will be leaving for college next week and last night she and Dad took a fishing trip all their own.  Building memories.

There's so many pictures of our whole family fishing over the years, and now a lot with all my nieces as well (though these pictures don't show everyone).  Dad's even teaching Justin how to fly fish and he caught his first fish on a fly rod last weekend!

We enjoy the outdoors.  We enjoy the sport of fishing.  But we're never just fishing.  Spending time together, doing something wholesome, has helped my family to be as close as we are, and our relationships to be as strong. 

It's the little moments when you're not focused on building a relationship that relationships are built, and those little moments are a tradition in my family.  From "Hey fishy fishy fishy" to "Hold your tip up and let your line straighten out." 

I hope to keep this tradition of fishing....but not just fishing. 

Here's the song:  "Just Fishin'" By Trace Adkins