Kanarra and Hidden Haven Falls

 It has been years since we hiked Kanarra Falls.  Now days you have to have a reservation, so I got us one, and this morning we did it!  It was beautiful and not as hard or long as I was anticipating.  There was plenty of water to make all of the waterfalls look great.  Since the last time we did it, there was a metal stairway to go up instead of an old rotting log at the first big falls.  That made it much better for me.  I never made it up the log last time.  This time we were able to get clear to the "last" waterfall.  To go any further you need climbing gear and they don't really want you doing that.  It was wonderful and walking in the water was very refreshing!  

We didn't see any of these little birds this time, but they do love to hang around waterfalls.  I was glad to see that someone had memorialized them in a poem!  They are so cute.  

After we got done at Kanarraville we drove up to Parowan and then on to the Hidden Haven Falls hike.  It's a really nice hike that ends at what is sometimes a very nice waterfall.  Today, it had less water coming down than we have ever seen it have. You can't even see it behind Paul in the picture. It's this dry summer probably.  After that, we hiked another little loop hike to an overlook and back.  We had never done it before.  Glad we did it.  Even though the waterfall was a bit disappointing, the hike was still very nice.  Between our morning walk and these two hikes we did about 9 miles today.  

July Birthdays - Jem, Beacher, Supe, Kai, Ellie

 It's a busy month for Supe and Beacher's family with 3 of their 4 birthdays happening.  It started with a party for Jem over at Beacher's folks house.  From our family we had Moss and Chrisite and kids and us able to attend.  They started out swimming and playing in a bounce house they rented and then we had picnic lunch and presents and cake.  Jem was pretty excited for this #5 birthday and got lots of loot!  I think his favorite thing was a toy grappling hook!  He loves all things super hero and dressing up as different ones.  Happy #5 Jem!  We love you.  Supe and Beacher's #39/35 come right on the heels of Jem's, so we gave them their present too.  They are such a cute family!  Love them all!  Kaia has to wait until December to celebrate.  

We went ahead and gave Beacher and Supe their July 6th and 13th, #35th and #39th birthday present too.  We gave them an awning in a combined present.  Hopefully they will enjoy using it on their outdoor excursions.  Happy Birthday you two!  We love you!  

Makakai Moss Lillywhite "Kai" is turning 8 this week.  We will be out of town for it, so we took his presents over early.  He's such a cute kid!  Pretty exciting that he's going to be 8 and will be getting baptized.  Times flies!  Happy Birthday Kai!  We love you!  

Ellie's was the last of the July birthdays on the 18th she turned 19 and old enough to go on her mission.  We went up and joined the fun and had dinner and visiting with her and the family.  She got her very own pink luggage to take on her mission (she actually picked it out)!  I made her a leaving home G'ma Poulsen apron.  It won't be long until she has her farewell and pretty soon she be out there sharing the Gospel!  Happy 19th Ellie!  It's a big one!  We love you and we're proud of you!  Her apron is the bright one on the right.  I've made 2 more now - one for Eden and one for me.  

Tushar Campout!

 Monday we got things ready and headed up to Beaver/the Tushars for a great campout...and it was!  I don't know if it was because it was Monday or not, but almost no one else was out there camping.  We saw some people by Lebaron Lake and later found some other people very hidden away, but that was pretty much it.  Of course there were parked trailers around as usual, but no people with them.  The best thing was that our favorite camp spot was not one of those as it has been most every time in the last many years.  We had it all to ourselves!  We had a spot of trouble on the drive in losing a leveling leg of the camp trailer, but it is something that can be fixed and we were able to work around it.  We got set up and Paul made us a delicious pork chop/mashed potatoes and gravy dinner!  After dinner we had time to take an evening walk and enjoy the amazing scenery.  One thing that really stood out on this camp were the amazing purple lupines that were SO abundant and beautiful.  We can't remember ever having seen so many in bloom any other time we've been here.  There were lots of other beautiful flowers mixed in too.  

Tuesday was a full day!  In the morning after breakfast we decided to make the drive up to Big John's Flat.  Along the way we explored some other possible campsites and found some good places.  We stopped and "chatted" with a mule and some horses too.  We hiked around a little bit at the top of the mountain.  We could see that there was a forest fire quite a ways off in the distance. We topped out and then found a good lunch spot that even had a picnic table there and then we drove the heinous road down the other side of the mountain to Marysville.  Sadly, most of that side of the mountain/canyon had been burned in a forest fire since last time we'd been there.  So many beautiful trees burned up.  At Marysville we saw some cool sculptures as we drove through town.  We decided to drive up to Boullion Canyon and explored the old mining stuff there.  Then we made the steep hike up to see Boullion Falls...we were glad to get there!  On the way down we found an old cabin/outhouse that we checked out.  Pretty cool.  We got a little numbered guide to sites along the canyon road and did that on the drive back to Marysville.  When we got there the artist of the cool sculptures was out and we stopped and talked with him.  Really interesting.  Then it was time to head back up the mountain to our camp via the Junction road.  We got back and had a great chicken soup/grilled cheese dinner.  We took a little walk and then drove over to check out the Anderson Meadow Campground - very nice.  It was right above Upper Kent's Lake.  We walked around the lake some and it was crazy because the fish were jumping out of the water everywhere to catch the bugs!  It even made me want to try fishing!  Time for bed then.  

Wednesday we slept in a little and then took a morning walk down to Lebaron Lake and came back and had a great breakfast.  Then it was time to get packed up for home.  We got everything stowed and the trailer hooked and left at about 10:30.  We hated to leave the beauty all around, the wonderful cool mountain air, and the peacefulness, but our campout time was at an end.  We stopped in Beaver for some cheese and got home with no trouble.  It was one of the best campouts ever I think!  

Picnic at Lava Point and over the mountain evening

 We had a busy Saturday and then we made the beautiful drive up to Lava Point for a picnic with amazing views!  Then we continued the drive over the mountain and back down through Cedar to home.  It was wonderful!  So much beautiful scenery except for the smoky views of our wonderful Pine Valley Mountain on fire still.  They are making progress on the fire, but what we need most is rain to put it out.  

A Grand "Edventure" with Jem!

One of the presents we got Jem for his birthday was a butterfly house kit.  He turned 5!  Today he came over to have Grandpa help him build it!  They had fun nailing it all together and painting it.  While it was drying Grandpa took Jem out to drive his forklift. They seemed to have a good time.  After that Jem put stickers on the butterfly house, and then we went to Wendy's for frosties and French fries!  After we got back Kaia and Supe and Beacher came over (Kaia had been taking her nap).  We brought them frosties and French fries too! Zade and Trigg happened to come over then too.  It was fun to have everyone come over!  Jem and Kaia had fun playing with our funny toys for a while and then it was time to call it a good "edventure" so Jem could go to karate.  Love having these "edventures".

Escape to Cedar Breaks!

 Today we decided to escape the heat and go up and do a few hikes on Cedar Mountain.  We started at Cedar Breaks.  The Wildflower Festival is going on right now up there and it is so beautiful.  We did the Along the Rim to Alpine Pond Lake hike and it was truly a festival of flowers.  The whole place is just full of color right now everywhere you look.  The meadows are either shining with yellow flowers or have a purple haze of flowers covering them everywhere.  My pictures just can't do it justice.  We loved the hike along the rim and then past the pond and then back.  It's a loop hike and it was so cool and beautiful.  We came home to 109 degrees this afternoon.  Up there we were in the 60's.  I even got a little cold sitting in the shade for our picnic lunch.  Now that so much of our wonderful Pine Valley has burned and is still on fire, Cedar Breaks may turn into our to go mountain place.  After lunch we drove around and hiked to Aspen Mirror Lake.  It was beautiful, but sadly the stream that runs out of it is almost completely dry.  I have never seen it so dry before.  We need the monsoon rains to come soon.  Everything is so dry.  But, it was a beautiful day away from the heat and I loved every minute of it.  Oh, on the way home we also stopped by and hiked up to the Kid's Pond at Wood's Ranch.  I had never been up there before.  I didn't get a good picture of it unfortunately.  

4th of July time!

 The week of the 4th included lots of things - a surgery on Wednesday. It went seamlessly and with no after pain.  I'm still waiting for the results of the tests, but hoping for all negative.  The day of the 4th we went for a beautiful drive over Cedar Mountain - it was covered in wild flowers - and then on over by Bryce to check out a possible family camp site for next year.  We stopped and picked up Bean to go with us.  We had a really nice picnic there - Pine Lake Campground/Lake and then drove home again over Cedar Mountain.  It was beautiful again!  That evening Ferf and Torin and a friend of Ferf's and the Randalls came by to watch the fireworks from up on the hill.  Our Blake neighbors put on just about as good a fireworks show as the city did!  We had a great view of both of them!  Didn't get much in the way of pictures.  Oh, yes, it has been a busy week in the yard too.  Paul is working on a small stone patio under the mulberry tree out back.  I have been busy pulling weeds everywhere.