Hiking Buddies

Rockwell and I went on a hike with Grandma and Grandpa Ham the last week of summer break. We started in Little Cottonwood Canyon and hiked into Big Cottonwood Canyon, and then down to Lake Catherine, Lake Martha, and Lake Mary. It sure made Rockwell feel awesome that Grandpa thought he was ready for a 6-mile, pretty strenuous hike. We drove to my parents' house and then drove up to the canyon together. Before we left the house, Grandpa showed Rockwell a picture in his journal from 9 years ago. It was a picture of the two of them, both wearing hiking hats. The caption read, "My future hiking buddy!" 

Grandpa told Rockwell he's been excited to take him on a hike like this for a long time. I loved seeing that moment with Rockwell and Grandpa, and the huge smile on Rockwell's face.

This hike was absolutely beautiful!! The whole thing. My dad had told me that it was a pretty one, and I just kept saying, "You weren't lying Dad! This is gorgeous!" 

If you look really closely, you can see Rockwell in the middle of this picture below. There were a couple times where he got ahead of us and I had to call out to him to wait for us. Grandma told him if he could bottle up his energy and sell it, he would be a millionaire overnight. :) 

He loved the freedom of all this wide open space to explore. He loved looking for animals and their homes and tracks. He spotted a moose eating some breakfast and pointed it out to the rest of us. We stopped and watched him eat for a while. Grandpa loves to see moose, so he was very happy that Rockwell saw this one.

We took a little detour right where the two canyons meet, so we could see a gorgeous view of all three lakes. It was worth the extra half mile!

The lakes were beautiful. We spent some time at Lake Catherine. There were fish jumping out of the water, and that was fun to watch.

Aren't they cute?!

Rockwell enjoyed going right down by the lakes and checking out how cold the water was and what was living in it.

We just looked at Lake Martha as we hiked past, and then spent some time at Lake Mary.

There were tons of tiny fish in this lake.

Rockwell and I both loved hiking with Grandma and Grandpa. It was a tough hike, and we were all proud of Rockwell for doing it. He's a great hiking buddy!!

South Fork One More Time

We had such a great time at South Fork with everyone, that we decided to go one more time. We all wanted to see EJ before he left for Oklahoma for basic training. Al organized a lunch, and then we spent a few hours hanging out and playing in the river.

Kyle came back to Provo to start working at his job and get ready for school. Jacob drove down with him, so it was fun to have them join us this time.

The boys enjoyed hiking around and exploring.

Wyatt and Rockwell played in the river too.

The girls love the river. They (and Damon) put their faces in the water. It is freezing water!

Damon loved playing baseball with me, Kyle, and Grandma.

The girls were superheroes again. I'm pretty sure they decided the big boys were bad guys and attacked them. :)

The little kids thought it was so funny when the big kids wrapped Wyatt up in a blanket and said they were going to drop him in the river.

Rockwell of course wouldn't let that happen without a fight, but EJ picked him up and said he would drop him in the river too. :) They escaped and ran away laughing their heads off.

Then everybody wanted a turn being wrapped up in the blanket and swung around. EJ, Elijah and Kyle are the nicest young adults you'll ever meet, and did this over and over for the littles. We finally had to tell the kids that they each could have one more turn and that was all. :)

My kids adore their big cousins. I'm so glad they have great role models to look up to.

We were all sad to say goodbye to EJ, but so proud of him at the same time. We sure love him and are going to miss having him around. He is going to be a great asset to the US Army.

Timpanogos Cave

We hiked to and through Timpanogos Cave a few weeks ago with Mel, her kids, and Grandma and Grandpa Ham.

It was a pretty steep hike up there, but the kids did great. Rockwell was laughing the whole time with EJ and Elijah. He thinks they are so cool and so funny!

Tessa hung out with Grandma, and Grandma helped keep her from getting too close to the edges. :)

Damon needed me to carry him a few times throughout the hike. He did most of it on his own though, and really did awesome for a 4-year-old on such a steep, fast-paced hike. 

We got to the top almost an hour before our scheduled tour started. There were some cool fossils to see in the mountainside from Lake Bonneville, and the rangers were awesome and showed the kids how to grow their own stalactites at home. 

Inside the cave was really cool! It's crazy to think how long these caves have been here and how long it's taken for all of these stalactites and stalagmites to form.

This is called the Heart of Timpanogos, and it weighs about two tons!

I'm glad we were able to hike the cave. It was a lot of fun! 

We went to Wendy's for lunch afterward and it was colder than inside the cave in there! We were all so excited to get in our hot vans after eating Frosty's in what had to have been 40-degree weather. :)

South Fork

We spent Friday with Grandma and the Ham cousins. We went bowling at Fat Cats first.

Tessa loves to have her picture taken right now. :)

Then we went to South Fork for the afternoon.

We had lunch, played in the river, played spike ball, baseball, explored, and visited. The weather was very pleasant up there and it is such a beautiful place to be. I just love it there! It was a great way to spend a summer day.

Tessa, Hallee, and Damon made superhero capes out of their towels.

All the little kids had a blast wrestling with EJ. He is such a fun cousin! We are all going to miss him being around when he leaves for boot camp.