I love...

Camping and Hiking!

On June 19th we left for the Utah Mountains. We met our friends (the Gruber family) in Alpine and headed into American Fork Canyon. The problem was that the canyon was packed. There were no camping sites available. So finally we opted to go to the Gruber's house for the night. The next morning we arrived in the canyon and found our site, but we had to wait for the people who used it the night before to clean up and leave.

Oh, what to do? Go hiking, of course!

This is the trail head of the Timpooneke Trail. It goes up the back of Mount Timpanogus...an 18 mile round trip. Tom and I hiked this trail twice when we were younger. The first time was before my mission, and I didn't quite make it to the top. The second time was after my mission, and I made it all the way. This trail has a part in our love story. I'll share that later. This time we went about 3/4 mile and turned around.

Here's the hiking group! Me with Shellece, Gordon and Sean Gruber

Tom, James, Cora, Hannah and Aseana

This was the view from our campsite!

And the creek that ran by our campsite.

I've always loved nature. It reminds me of how great Heavenly Father is and the wonderful things He has done for us. I always feel His love when I'm in nature.

That first day of camping was Father's day and we held a little meeting together to talk about our fathers and how much we love them. One of my friends always says, "Heavenly Father is the coolest dude ever" usually followed with a neat story. I was thinking the same thing as I thought about Tom and what a great father he has been to our kids.