Scaling New Heights:American Fork Canyon

Fifteen years ago, John and Jen fell in love... 

For our 15th anniversary on August 14, 2012, we went up American Fork canyon for our milestone anniversary date!  Since we love the great outdoors, we thought it would be fun to explore some new places and go hiking.  We packed a lunch, camera, sunglasses, sunblock, camel backpacks, etc and headed towards the rocky mountains.

  First, we stopped at The Timpanogos Cave Visitor's Center to purchase our tickets for the breathtaking (literally) 1,092 feet hike later in the afternoon.  Then, we went to Cascade Springs. Wow, what a gorgeous place!  There was a lovely board walk path nestled around the natural springs.  John was most impressed about seeing a brown trout swimming in two and half feet deep clear water.  

Next, we pulled over and ate our sack lunches (sandwiches, carrots, celery, and apples). Around 2:00 PM, we headed down the canyon to the Timpanogos cave entrance (elevation 5,638 feet).  Little did we know, we were in for a crazy HIKE that nearly wore us out! We had to stop a lot to catch our breath several times.  At one point, I didn't think I was going to make the 1.5 miles due to almost passing out. I kept telling myself: "I can do hard things!" Luckily we had a lot of ice cold water to drink from our camel backpacks while hiking up the mountain trail.  Also, many people along the way encouraged us as we reached closer to the cave entrance. 

Finally we made it to the top of the trail 58 minutes later (elevation 6,730)... We refuelled our bodies with granola bars and dried apples while we waited for our tour guide.

We explored the magnificent limestone caves without a jacket, which was okay for us during the summer since we were sweating from the hike, although next time I will bring one just in case I get chilly. There were many interesting cave formations (helicities and anthodites).  My most favorite rock shape was the dazzling "Heart of Timpanogos", which is seen in the bottom right photo below! Hiking Timpanogoes trail and exploring the caves is definitely a wonderful summer bucket list activity to do in Utah!

The hike down the mountain was a piece of cake and I am glad we survived the trip up to Timpanogos Caves! It has been over 18 years since my last hike up there! We had a lot of fun and were extremely sore for several days after our adventurous hike!  We look forward to embracing the future together sharing more laughs, tears, triumphs, failures, joys, fears and so on. "Life by the yard is hard but by an inch, it's a cinch" -Thomas S. Monson 

Family Hike and BBQ in Provo Canyon

June was an exciting month!  We celebrated John's 37th birthday and Father's Day!  We went on a family hike, swimming at the pool, John and big sis went to ward youth conference at Camp Williams and Heber Valley Girl's Camp while Little Sis and I went to a local Strawberry Days parade with some friends!  Lastly, our dog Jagger got a cute haircut!
I was playing around with Instagram while waiting for the parade to start.

On June 9, 2012, We went on the annual local family day breakfast and hike! Our nephews (Malcolm and Justin), nieces (Keli and Lauren) and grandnephew Tristan came along with us. The breakfast included fruit, donuts, scones, and juice.  They did a Smurf theme.  Little sis  made some blue play dough and played several games on the way up to the falls.   We won gift certificates to Chubby's and a Cookie Shop as well as got many coupons from many local food and entertainment sponsors! 

While John's parents were in town, we went up to South Fork Canyon during the evening of June 9, 2012.  We invited several family members!  South Fork has always been our favorite spot that is perfect for grilling meats, lounging under shade, watching the children play in the cold stream, and playing either football or Frisbee. During this trip to the canyon, we celebrated John's 37th birthday!  We had everyone bring their own meats and a side dish to share.  I made potato salad, snickers apple salad, and marinated a couple different chickens.  Then I made an incredible Texas Ranch Cake for the birthday guy!  We had a wonderful time visiting all our family members!

 Jagger got a groovy haircut!  We took him to a local groomer and requested it short. She did a poodle/bichon frise style and tied a purple bandanna around his neck. When we picked him up, we could hardly recognize him!  He is very happy and cool with a new summer hair do!  

Happy May Memories 2012

Lately I've enjoyed the perfect spring weather! Oh, how I love smelling blossoms while jogging, and seeing the beautiful flowers and trees!  During the month of May, we went hiking, celebrated Mother's Day, big sis got braces, and little sis participated in a school dance festival.

After the kids were dropped off to school a couple weeks ago, John and I went hiking up Grovecreek trail.  We saw many wild flowers, butterflies, and a humming bird.  It was partly sunny on the way up the trail, but within an hour it got extremely dark and cloudy.  It started to rain a few minutes after we were safely in the car.

On Mother's Day, I wore a fun bohemian styled outfit and sandals. My family spoiled me by making me breakfast (waffles, eggs, and bacon) and dinner (shrimp and chicken Alfredo)!  I got some lovely flowers (yellow, white, and purple) to hang near the back porch. John spoke in church about mothers and I got a king size bar of chocolate from the ward, which I shared with everyone!

Big Sis got her top braces on!  She looks very pretty and happy in this picture!

Little Sis had a dance festival.  The third grade performed to the song Summer Belongs to You from the cartoon Phineas and Ferb.

We are looking forward to fun SUMMER adventures!  Hopefully I can knock out some things from last years summer bucket list that I didn't get to accomplish.  May was simply marvelous!

Hike and Sack Lunch Activity

My Activity Day Invite!  

~How cute is that?~

Credits: Template Storyboard is from the Coffee Shop Blog. Papers and doodles are by Kate Hadifeild @ The Lily Pad. The brown paper, red checked paper,  felt flowers, and red butterfly are by Kaye Winiecki @ The Lily Pad. The hiking boot clip-art is from Clker.  I used the following fonts: Love Ya Like A Sister, Lady Rene, and Kristen ITC.
 On June 16th, 2011 we did a combined activity with the other group in our ward. Big sister decided to tag along on the hike too.  Technically she is too old for achievement days since she is in young woman's now but she didn't want to hang out alone at the house while little sissy and I went on the hike.  We met the other group at Kiwanis Park.  That day was a perfect day to hike!  It was cloudy and not too hot!  The hike took us about 15-20 minutes to get up to the beautiful waterfalls.  Within a couple weeks, the water has risen (we went on this same hike twice before the activity this year)!  Some of the stream water runs down the trail now.
Activity Day Hike and Lunch

My sweet girl! XOXO

Lunch time!  Each girl brought their own lunches!

The activity was a huge success no injuries or drama!  We had a big group of girls that came and they all seemed very happy together!  Yay!

I might as well add these gorgeous photos that we took a few weeks ago with our nephew and his wife (newly weds) at the same waterfalls at the beginning of June.  We sure enjoy spending a lot of time with them making wonderful memories together (cooking, playing games, hiking, etc)!  GOOD TIMES!  My girls adore their new cousin Keli!

Fun Summer Ideas for 2011

The kids have been out of school for only ten days and they are already bored.  All they seem to want to do is play computer games, watch TV, and hang out with friends.  I want to make a regular schedule of having them read for 20-30 minutes in the morning five times a week as well as reviewing some math a couple times a week.  We would like them to earn their "fun summer activities" by accomplishing some chores, making their beds, keeping their room clean, reading, and assisting me with cooking. I was inspired by The Crafting Chicks who made an fun list of 50 summer activities!  I came up with my own ideas of things we would like to accomplish as a family this summer.

Our 50 Fun Summer Ideas!

1.  Hike Battle Creek to see the waterfalls.

2.  Make strawberry freezer jam.

3.  Go jogging in the foothills (me).

4.  Hike and explore Timpangoes Cave.

5.  Volunteer at Strawberry Days and enjoy the events.

6.  Go to the temple with John and big sister to do Baptisms. 

7.  Make Block Art, Owl Boxes, etc.

8.  Sign up for swimming lessons for the girls.

9.  Go on a couple camping trips!

10.  Make slime, play dough, and giant bubbles!

11.  Make pudding pops and home made juice popsicles!

12.  Hike Bridal Veil Falls!

13.  Attend summer parades!

14.  Cool off by eating snow cones!

15.  Water, weed, and watch our box garden grow!

16.  Visit Yellowstone National Park.

17.  Soak in a hot spring!

18.  Pass off some personal progress goals with big sister!

19.  Go to an outdoor movie in the park or Drive In.

20.  Roast a perfect marshmallow or eat some Smores!

21.  Watch Fireworks!

22.  Hike Silver Lake!

23.  Create some silhouettes to hang on the wall!

24.  Go on a bike ride!

25.  Make fruit kabobs!

26.  Have a picnic in the canyon or park!

27.  Make ice cream in a bag!

28.  Make a clothesline photo holder craft.

29.  Go to Park City's Alpine Slide!

30.  Finish my cookbook project.

31.  Have a BBQ and swim with my sister's family!

33.  Have a spa day doing facials and manicures.

34.  Watch So You Think You Can Dance! 

35.  Teach little sis how to ride a bike.

36.  Plant some pretty wild flowers in a planter box!

37.  Buy a slip and slide or wacky sprinkler!

38.  Make Fish Bowl Gelatin or Glass Block Jello!

39.  Take the kids to Kangaroo Zoo!

40.  Make some cute flower flip flops!

41.  Go to the library and check out many cool books!

42.  Make a toy boat and watch it float down a stream!

43.  Go to a Utah water-park!

44.  Finds some good deals at flea markets and yard sales!

45.  Have a game night outdoors (cards and game boards)!

46.  Go to Mill Creek Canyon for hiking and fishing!

47.  Have a water fight with water guns, balloons, etc.

48.  Listen to a free concert in the park!

49.  Go to Cascade Springs and Alpine Loop!

50.  Ride the ski lift at Sundance!

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!

Free"kin" Awesome Family Reunion 2010

October 8-10 2010

Over the weekend, 53 Free descendants gathered at Little Creek Cabin up Paragonah Utah Canyon for a marvelous family reunion. That was not the whole family either. We were missing a couple families such as: Elizabeth & Ben Campbell, most the Silva clan, and all the Christiansen family. The cabin was rustic and spacious decorated with wild game decorations, farm antiques, etc. There were many trails to hike on, a couple horses on the property, and cattle roamed near the area! Most people got a log bed to sleep on. There were a few bodies in random places like a hammock, coaches, or air mattresses. We had an amazing time among family members playing games, eating great food, hiking, riding four wheelers, playing football, and so forth.











We arrived late afternoon on Friday just before dinner. John and I were in charge of organizing the menus and food helpers/clean up assignments. Each Free sibling was in charge of one meal and the grandchildren were the meal helpers/clean up crew. The adult grandchildren were in charge of the desserts. I believe the meals went smoothly and nobody went hungry. Friday night we enjoyed Navajo tacos and sconces made by Del Tso(a beautiful Indian woman who lived with the Free family as their foster child many years ago). We had free time afterward dinner which most people played games, talked, and so forth.



Grandpa with the yummy Navajo taco and Justin with a honey butter scone!



My youngest daughter sleeping in the loft with her two cousins Mandy and Brandon.



Saturday morning John and I were in charge of breakfast. We made vegetable sausage patties, hash browns, French toast, scrambled eggs, cantaloupe, and orange juice. It was a huge success and the only leftovers we had was hash browns which was fantastic due to limited space on refrigerator and coolers.



Next, we divided into groups (kids/granny/grandpa, young girls, young boys, college age adults, and the old adults) for scripture study. We read and discussed our scripture and had to come up with a fun way to present it to the whole family. The young kids did an awesome job acting out the story of Joseph Smith having surgery without any alcohol (a bottle of ketchup was one of the props, lol). My youngest daughter was a nurse that helped clean Joseph Smith's leg. Next the young girls did a cute skit that included a lot of singing! My oldest daughter was the narrator. The rest of the presentations were so creative and outstanding. There is a lot of talent in this family!







After scripture study, many of us went on an hour hike in the foothills near the cabin. We came back ate lunch chili, corn bread, fruit and grilled vegetables by Marilee and Rich Nelson. After lunch, we played a game of family feud, which my niece Holly worked very hard making the power-point and organizing the surveys. We then had free time for a couple hours. John played touch football with the boys while many of the girls got haircuts by Del Tso. My oldest daughter got her hair chopped too! It is a cute tomboy layered haircut with bangs that totally fits her personality!





Later that evening we had a delicious variety of soups and Top Raman (for kids) for dinner and homemade bread for dinner by Joe and Diana Free. After dinner we gathered in a HUGE circle and shared the following things with everyone:

1. What is one thing you are particularly thankful for over the last 15 years?

I am thankful for being FREE! I absolutely love my family and extended family members who have taught me how love, serve, be faithful, and find joy in simple things in life.

2. What is one piece of advice you would give yourself if you could go back 15 years?

I would tell myself not to be so hard on myself! I NEED to ask for help from others especially from my Savior. I would tell myself the importance of the Atonement, which is not only for repentance but giving my burdens to Jesus Christ through prayer. In addition, I would tell myself you're a child of God and Heavenly Father loves you very much.

3. What is one thing you are going to work on now as a result of conference or other personal study?

We are working on having regular family prayer/scripture study and being moderate in all things such as changing our eating habits, adding daily exercise, and budget our money better!

4. What is something you are seeking to accomplish/be/do or whatever in 15 years?

I would like to be a mother of four (two boys and two girls)and finish my college degree.

The next morning we had a simple breakfast and attended church in my in-law's Paragonah ward, which was 30 minutes away. I could tell my mother-in-law was so thrilled to have so many family members visiting her ward! For lunch, Dave and Kristin made a variety of yummy sandwiches, hot chocolate, and fruit. We had free time for the rest of the day. My daughter and husband loved holding the babies! John, Justin,the girls, and I went on the four wheelers. The kids played on the playground, held barn kittens, molded clay figures, played card games, etc. Matt and Chiaki made an amazing grilled chicken teriyaki rice bowel!





















After dinner, it was time for us to go. The weekend flew by so quick! We enjoyed hanging out with the family and felt love for each other! What a magnificent weekend filled with smiles, laughter, songs, love, and appreciation of the great outdoors!