A Reel Adventure and Moose Encounter

November 2007

A couple years ago, we went on an amazing hiking/fishing adventure! Our good friend Rick showed us one of his favorite fishing spots. We decided to invite some others to join us such as a couple nieces and nephew (Jessica, Heather, James, and dog Fender).

John with his buddy from work, Rick the fishing expert!




The fishing gang: James, dog Fender, Heather, Jessica, me, and John. Rick was the photographer.



We got up really early Saturday morning and dropped the kids off to the babysitter's house (their Aunt Marilee's house). We drove up to American Fork Canyon near Silver Lake. We didn't fish at Silver Lake, instead we hiked up the canyon to Silver Lake Flats a pond full of fish! The hike up was not an easy one especially for those people who were out of shape, cough cough John and me, lol! It was very steep and full of switch backs!



On our way up to Silver Lake Flats, we saw several moose near the trail. Not far from me, I saw a baby moose who was extremely curious of me, which followed me. To my surprise all sudden the mother and baby started charging in my direction! The other hikers were not far behind me! I started running and yelling, "Watch out! There are moose chasing me!" We had to move quickly off that trial to get away from the moose by climbing straight up the mountain! Imagine us lugging our backpacks, holding our fishing pools, and tackle boxes in our hands while climbing up the steep mountain! Wow, what an adrenalin rush and difficult climb, but at the same time we were so excited to have our very first moose encounter! Yeah, I know we were crazy, but how many people can truly say they have been chased by moose and lived to tell the story!



After hiking for about an hour, we finally made it to the fishing pond. The view up there was absolutely breathtaking. We were surprised to find some snow up there too, while down below there wasn't any snow!



We could literally see hundreds of fish swimming in the pond near the shallow part of the water. In fact, Rick informed us that Silver Lake Flats gets restocked with fish every year. So it was not hard to catch a nice size fish! One by one we all caught our fish! This was an extraordinary fishing trip for my niece Jessica because it was her first time fishing! We were so glad it was such a successful fishing experience that she will never forget!

Sitting on a large rock was my favorite spot to fish!



Here is my first catch of the day a beautiful brook trout!



The colors on the brook trout are so beautiful!



John is giving Jessica a lesson how to tie the hook on, baiting the hook with worms or flies, and casting the pole in the water. John told me he saw a gray-ling fish, but nobody caught one. We all caught brook trout.



Here is Jessica being a great sport enduring through the grossness of fishing!



Here is James with his HUGE fish! It was the largest catch for the day!



Heather was not a huge fan of baiting the fish hook and touching the slimly fish!



Fender was worn out after the hike and climb up the hill. He took a nap while we were fishing. Jessica even fell asleep on a rock while fishing too. We were all exhausted from that hike except for Rick! He was used to backpacking and hiking switch back mountains!



It was quicker to hike down the mountain and we were disappointed that we didn't see any moose on the trails. John and I could hardly move after the next day! In fact, it took a couple days until the awful soreness went away from our legs! A couple weeks later, we invited Jessica over to our place and made some delicious fish fry batter to cook our fish we all caught that day!

My Top Fashion Models

"Fashion fades - style is eternal." ~ Yves Saint Laurent Let's talk glam! I gotta share how posh my girls dress themselves! I am impressed how they pick out their clothes and strut their stuff on their way out the door! Everyday is a fashion show for my girls and the world is their runway. I collected some of my girl's favorite Summer/Fall 2010 Fashion Couture!

"A girl should be two things: classy and fabulous." ---Coco Chanel Spotted wearing at church "hand me downs" and garage sale couture! Big diva was wearing a brown camisole, pink sweater top, a flower print skirt, and brown low high heels. Little diva was wearing a pink shirt, brown skirt with flower stitching, and tippy toed feet missing some flat ballet shoes.



On the way out the door to a friend's house, she was found wearing a white t-shirt and a hot pink camisole, a light pink headband, pink flower hair clip, pink earrings, not seen skinny jeans, and gray converse slip on shoes (non-laced).



After showering, I found her wearing a robe, elephant slippers, and a towel wrapped around her head! "Happiness is the secret to all beauty. There is no beauty that is attractive without happiness." Christian Dior



Spotted near a monster truck wearing a pale pink tutu skirt, white t-shirt, white leggings, and black high top converse shoes. Her hair was done in two braids with black ribbons tied at the ends.



Attended church wearing a white camisole, green dress, white leggings, and a white flower hair clip as her accessory. Her friend Kylie crimped her hair to achieve the wavy look. "The only thing that separates us from the animals is our ability to accessorize." ~ Robert Harling





A totally rad back to school chic look! She is wearing a pink and black backpack, a blue and black ruffled skirt,skinny jeans, white socks, black flats, and matching hair flower clip.



It's all about the layers!!! Found on the way out the door to the bus stop wearing a white camisole, white t-shirt, pink buttoned sweater vest, tight fittin' jeans, black flat shoes, a blue charm bracelet, a black hair barrette, earrings, and blue peace school tot bag.



Hair styled in wavy pig tails which was the "after effects" of having braids the previous day and wearing a casual gray and blue hoodie jacket on a cool fall day.



Denim Doll and All Dolled Up was found at church wearing a white shirt, cream camisole, denim jacket with matching skirt, and a light blue flower hair clip. All Dolled Up is wearing a pink ruffled skirt, white shirt, and a pink bling bling flower hair clip!



A Closer look at All Dolled Up before church. She had a pink heart necklace on and white flat shoes on.



If you can't dress weird, why dress at all? Found during red ribbon week on crazy hair day wearing pipe cleaners in hair!









On her way out to church wearing a gray glitter hair clip, gray shirt, black sweater cardigan, white skirt, fuzzy argyle socks, ankle black boots, a gray and black necklace/earring set, and white purse for her scripture bag!



Went to church wearing a pink hair flower clip, a pink undershirt, blue sweater cardigan, white skirt, stripped multi-colored tights, and brown shoes!



Can you say these girls have glamorous fashion style?!?! "Be daring, be different, be impractical, be anything that will assert integrity of purpose and imaginative vision against the play it safers the creatures of the common place the slaves of the ordinary." Cecil Beaton

An Easy Thanksgiving Craft for the Kids!

November 9, 2010

This week for Activity Day (my church calling), we talked about the history of how Thanksgiving became a national holiday by reading from this website, Thanksgiving on the Net the girls took a quiz on it, ate oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, then we made some Thanksgiving name cards. In addition, we did a small service activity by dropping off some cookies to a couple people in our neighborhood. The girls did it door bell ditching style and left the plate of cookies with a note signed by them all. It was a lot of fun and the girls seemed to enjoy the activity very much!

I would like to share how I made the cute Thanksgiving name cards! They could work as a small Thanksgiving card too where the kids could write down reasons why they are grateful for mom, sister, brother, sister, grandparents, and so forth.



You need the following items below:



1. Brown felt ($.25 cents at Walmart)
2. Red and yellow construction paper
3. Feathers from a craft store
4. Small googly eyes ($1.00 at Walmart)
5. Card-stock paper (I used cream)
6. Craft glue, scissors, and markers






First, we cut out several card-stock cards 4X6 inches and folded them in half. Then, we made our own pattern of the turkey's body (brown felt), beak a triangle shape (yellow paper), and wavy waddle (red paper). Next you glue the eye balls, beak, and waddle onto the turkey's body. Then you pick out some feathers. It could be as puffy and colorful as you desire. I liked to cut the stem out on the bottom of the feather before I glue. Then, lightly glue them on the card-stock and glue the turkey body on top of the feather layers. Last but not least, you may write names or Happy Thanksgiving on the cards! So simple and the kids will have a lot of fun! :D

Kaleidoscope of Colors: Random Fall Memories

Fall is by far my most favorite season of the year! I enjoy seeing the brilliant fall colors. It is so refreshing to go jogging in the cool mornings and explore the beauty all around me. I love seeing ripe apples and peaches on the trees and tasting fresh cobblers, pies, and jams. I love the aroma of firewood burning in fireplaces. I love to watch the kids frolic in the crispy leaves! I like to watch scary movies or attend a creepy haunted house. I am not necessary a huge fan of Halloween, which is another story to blog later but fall in general is my favorite season. Over the last 13 years my tiny family have made some happy fall memories!

1. Going on our first vacation to Las Vegas, Nevada (November, 1997)! No we didn't go to Vegas to gamble! John has many family members that live in Las Vegas! It was for John's grandparents 70th wedding anniversary. We stayed in a hotel during thanksgiving weekend and ate at a buffet restaurant in the hotel on turkey day! I recall driving go carts with my nieces and nephews on the slick tracks near the hotel. During the wedding anniversary, John and I went repelling in the church parking lot, played games with the families, and ate a huge lunch! It was a great experience for us to be among his grandparents because the next year Grandpa Worthen passed away.



2. Going to a Halloween party and winning the scariest couple costume (scary nurse and accident victim, 1998).



3. Driving up to Hobble Creek with the Silva family to see the fall leaves. It was a special memory for us to share with them because in December 1999 they all moved to Brazil. Baby girl wore a farm girl dress and went trick or treating with the Silva cousins.





4. Dressing up to go to a church Halloween party, 2000! John was a scarecrow, baby girl was a sixties girl in a poodle dress, and I was a farm girl. Heee Haw! We also got our family photos taken in Grandpa and Granny's backyard, September 2000!





5. I always look forward to taking our family photo during fall, 2001. You know it is fall when it is cold enough to wear a cute, argyle, warm, and fuzzy sweater! Toddler girl was a cute ladybug for Halloween. We went to the mall for trick or treating.





6. Making beautiful autumn hair do's, fall 2002! Some of the family went up to the canyon to roast hot dogs and smores! The girls got really creative with the foliage! Big sister dressed up as a pink bunny for Halloween and played in the leaves with cousin Kyler!







7. Creating a Baby O'Lantern, Halloween 2003. While I was taking an anatomy lab test, John carved a gigantic pumpkin. He thought it would be so cute to place our baby girl inside the pumpkin! Big sister dressed up as Snow White and Little sister was a farm girl.





8. Picking out the perfect pumpkin in Paragonah 2004 at a nearby pumpkin patch. We had a wonderful weekend with my in-laws, sister in-law Elizabeth, and her kids. Big sister was Cinderella and baby sister was a BYU cheerleader!





9. Having a betwitching year for Halloween costumes, October 2005! This was the first time and so far the only year when the girls agreed on wearing the same costume idea!



10. Taking time to smell the flowers, October 2006. On this day, we went for a stroller ride to the park. We had a picnic together and she played on the playground. To my surprise, little sister got sick and threw up on the way home. She got the 24 hour flu! ACK! Little sister had a lot of fun playing in the leaves and learning how to ride her bike with training wheels. We spent conference weekend with Granny and Grandpa Free and got our family photo taken. Big sister was prom queen and little sister was Cheer Bear care bear for Halloween.











11. Going to the Iron County Fair with Granny and Grandpa, fall 2007. We had a terrific time at the fair. The kids enjoyed riding the fair rides, petting the farm animals, watching the horse races, and eating cotton candy! The next day we went canoeing with Grandpa Free! In October, we went to Temple Square, went fishing, and carved pumpkins. On Halloween, big sis was Wednesday from the Addam's Family, and Little Sis was a kitty!















12. Taking a drive up the Squaw Peak to go hiking, 2008! We had a great time hiking on a small trail and watching the BYU scientists watch the migrating birds. We made Halloween cupcakes and went to a trunk or treat neighborhood party. Instead of trick or treating we went to High School Musical 3. Big sister was a dead zombie and little sister was an ice princess.









13. Going to Black Island Farms and Antelope Island, 2009. We got lost in a corn maze, fed animals, watched pig races, went down some slides, and went on a hay ride to the pumpkin patches to pick pumpkins. We ate our lunch at Antelope Island, played in the sand, and walked barefooted in the Great Salt Lake. On our way out of Antelope Island, we saw some wild buffalo! We went to a ward Halloween party. We saw the great pumpkin there! Big sister was a groovy hippie and little sister was a witch.









As you can see, there are several fun things to do during the fall. We have made some "falltastic" memories!