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.  

June birthdays aplenty and other happenings for June

 We celebrated Madi's birthday early so we could see her open her presents.  She's the first of several this month.  This is her 15th birthday!  Wow!  How can she have gotten so grown up already.  It won't be long until she's on her way...flying the coop!  Until then, we will enjoy watching her find her dreams and trying so many things out to get there.  Happy Birthday Madi...we love you tons!  

These two found the Nutella!  Yummy!  

Lance is another one who got his birthday a little early.  They were here to pick up Pippin on their way home from the lake, so we save the postman a trip and had him open his present.  It was a Demotivator T-shirt that said funny stuff!  Happy #47 Lance.  Hope it makes you laugh to wear this shirt!  Love you, the Lillyfolks!  

Another great June happening is that Ferf went to Kentucky to get started on her on-line course for NP school.  She's such a hard worker.  This will be lots and lots of work, but she's an amazing student.  Go Ferf!  This picture shows her with the people who are in her on-line class.  

Another June happening was the appearance of a red eared box turtle on the lawn in our yard.  Paul found it out there one morning.  He called the Red Cliffs Reserve office and showed them a picture of it to get a positive identification on what kind it was (to make sure it wasn't a desert tortoise).  He put it in a trash can and we walked it over to Brooks Pond where we thought if probably came from.  He took it out of the can and it suddenly got very active like it smelled the pond and was wagging its' feet and trying to get away.  He  put it down by the water and quick as a wink it was gone into the water and out of sight.  It seemed very glad to get back home!  

Also in June the little box garden that Paul is taking care of has started producing!  We have had some green onions and some tomatoes so far.  We have some midnight cherry tomatoes this year.  They are green, then black and then start turning a bit red.  We have some regular red tomatoes small and big too.  

And one more great thing - Madi got her learner's permit on the last day of 9th grade!  So exciting!

And next we celebrated Moss's birthday early with him and  his family on Father's Day when they came over to see Paul.  He got to have cheesecake and open his present.  And later on we all sat in the livingroom and listened to old records on our record player.  It was fun and seemed like a really crazy way to do music in today's world.  The kids thought it was very retro!  Happy Birthday #41 Moss!  We love you!  He and his family will be in CA celebrating on the day of and be enjoying a world league soccer tournament.  The rest of us will be at Jacob Lake for Family Camp 2025!  

Derek and I got some celebrating done at Family Camp this year.  He turned 48 and I turned 70!  We gave him his present  late while there.  Happy Birthday Derek!!!  We celebrated mine there on the day of after a very fun day of outings to Navajo Bridge, Lee's Ferry/Lonely Dell Ranch and beach party along the Colorado River!  It was a fantastic day of fun.  That night we had a great dinner cooked by Juge and then cake by Costco!  I even got a birthday cookies from Jacob Lake along with some awesome presents before at home and there.  Thanks to everyone who made it a great birthday! Oh yah, Brynn gave me a birthday crown and sash to wear all day on my birthday!  That was a first!  Thanks Brynn! That's the end of the June birthdays now!  

 

Family Camp #21 - June 22-25, 2025 - Jacob Lake Recreation Area AZ, etc.

It was another great time at Family Camp.  We reserved a very nice group campsite at Jacob Lake Recreation Area in Arizona this year. It had a great covered gathering area with tables, water and bathrooms and many level areas under the ponderosa trees to camp and play.  We used it as a base camp to go on some other nearby adventures that we did earlier in the day and then came back to visit, play games and eat some really great meals.  We were a little worried it might be too hot, but weather at camp was perfect and it even got cold at night.  This year we had Paul, Bean and me, Lou, Ellie, Afton and Joel, Jay and Brynn and girls - Madi, Tahlia, Essie and Clara, Ferf and Torin came for part of the time, Derek and Kaebri, Tasia, Zade and Trigg (Tasia had to leave early for work), Juge and Lance and Eden, Noah, Sarai and Zion (Eden had to leave early for work), Supe and Beacher, Jem and Kaia came for part if the time. We missed quite a few, but it was still a blast.  Our total was 30 overall.  Paul and I brought our camp trailer.  Derek stayed at Jacob Lake Inn to be able to use his C-PAP and his kids camped.  Juge and Lance brought their camp trailer.  Supe and Beacher brought their truck camper. The rest stayed in tents.  Oh, Juge and Lance brought their kitten, Pippin, and he just hung out in camp and charmed everyone.  So cute.  

Monday morning after everyone got ready we went over to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon and saw the sights.  It is such an awesome place and everyone seemed to enjoy it.  We went to the Lodge and some of the overlooks nearby it and then we stopped off for a picnic lunch overlooking the canyon.  

Next we went to the cave near where the Widforss Trailhead begins. Here's the history of it.  "James T. "Uncle Jimmy" Owens, a former Texas cowboy and Yellowstone buffalo warden, was requested by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1906 to transfer to the North Rim to manage predator populations in the newly established 727,000-acre Grand Canyon National Game Preserve. Owens spent the next 23 years at the Grand Canyon and . This cave, however, was not his residence. Owens actually lived in a cabin on the rim during his tenure as a game warden. He is thought to have smoked meat in this cave.  During this time, Owens and his dog, Pot Hound, claimed to have eliminated over 600 mountain lions between 1907 and 1919 as part of the preserve's wildlife management strategy. This predator removal had significant ecological consequences. The deer population exploded from approximately 10,000 in 1906 to between 30,000 and 50,000 by 1922. The overpopulation led to widespread overgrazing, affecting both livestock and the deer themselves. The landscape bore witness to these changes, with quaking aspens and just about anything else the deer could reach suffering severe defoliation. The effects of the deer overpopulation suppressed foliage regeneration for over a decade. Much has changed since Uncle Jimmy's time on the North Rim."

After that, we went on to Crown Point and Imperial Point overlooks.  It is all SO GRAND!  It was quite a day!  As long as people were fed in a timely way, they all stayed happy and had fun riding in each other's cars and just hanging out visiting with the cousins. Then it was back to camp for games and good food.

Tuesday morning we went over past the Vermillion Cliffs National Monument to the Historic Navajo Bridge and the little visitor's center there.  We all got to look down upon the mighty Colorado River.  Unfortunately there weren't any condors there this time.  Then we moved on to Lee's Ferry and had a picnic lunch at the Lonely Dell Ranch.  It was pretty hot.  There were some ripe plums in the orchard that we could eat.  After we were all fed and very hot, we went on down to the Colorado River and had such a fun and very cool beach party playing in the sand and enjoying the very cool river waters.  It was so refreshing.  Then it was time to head back to camp.  

That evening after dinner we celebrated my birthday with singing, presents and cake!  It was lovely and the cake was good and the presents too!  It was  my 70th! What a great place to celebrate it with so much family and in such a beautiful place and just relaxing!  We also gave Derek his late birthday present another evening.  It was for his #48! I forgot to say that in the morning that day Brynn presented me with my "birthday crown and sash" and said I was supposed to wear it all day...and I did!  People probably wondered about me when they saw me all decked out, but it was fun!  

Wednesday was check out day, but we had until 1 pm, so after breakfast and getting packed up some we took a little side trip to see the historic ranger's cabin and the actual sink hole of Jacob Lake.  Then we went on a short drive to find a climbing site that Supe wanted to check out, and it was a cool place and a great camp spot for future use.  

Then we headed back, finished packing up and had lunch with lots of leftover lunch stuff.  That worked out very well for Brynn and me not to have to worry about trying to take it home and try to keep it cold.  

It was a GRAND Family Camp!  Next year will be #22. Lou and Bryan will be in charge!  Looking forward to another great one then!!!

We missed Bryan and Brady, Brynnli, Tavin, Kennis and Koen, Moss, Christie, Brenden, Eliza, Kai - 11 people.  

Happy Father's Day Paul!

 

Oh how we all love you (and especially me)!  Happy Father's Day Paul.   It was a nice day with dinner that Paul chose and helped make.  Ferf and Anna Lou joined us for omelets, hash browns, toast, fruit salad and of course, cheesecake for dessert!  It was all yummy. Kids were calling all evening to wish  him a happy Father's Day! Moss, Christie and kids came by later and had some cheesecake and we gave Moss his birthday present and Father's Day card/candy bar since we'll both be gone on his birthday.  Later on, we listened to old records on our record player.  The kids think it's crazy, but they liked it!  PS - We tried out his new scrabble game last night...oops, I won.  But not by very much - 235/220.

Paul's 6 week check up - Timpanogos Cave & Tahlia's ballet recital

It turned into a great trip!  We were going up north for Paul's 6-week check up on his knee replacement.  We were going to the SLC clinic instead of the Park City one this time.  That was on Thursday morning.  We asked Jay and Brynn if we could stay with them and they said yes, and then invited us to stay a little extra to be able to attend Tahlia's ballet recital on Friday night.  We decided to do it.  Being retired is starting to be a pretty nice thing!  Since they were really busy with so many things during the days with kids going here and there we used some of that time to do lots of other things as well as the check up and the ballet.  We left to go up on Wednesday afternoon and when we arrived Jay and Brynn took Paul and I to delicious dinner  (for his Father's Day gift) at a Brazilian Restaurant.  It was so good!  We were all so full!  Then on Thursday morning after Paul's check up (which went great! - he's doing so well and doesn't have to come back for a year!) we went and saw the Gilgal Sculpture Garden which was pretty close by.  It was very interesting!  I have wanted to see it for a long time.  After that we drove over to eat lunch and have a wonderful visit with Lynn and Marilynne Sanderson.  It has been a long time and we stayed all afternoon.  Then we picked up Jim and took him to dinner and then Paul helped him do a few home repairs.  On Friday morning we had a little time to visit before we went to hike up to Timpanogas Cave.  We had some time beforehand to do a little nature hike along the beautiful stream that runs through American Fork Canyon.  The hike to the cave was pretty straight up for 1.5 miles and then we enjoyed the coolness of the cave and the beautiful formations.  Then it was very downhill for the return trip.  Paul did amazing with no knee problems...just a really sore foot though. Then we ate a snack and headed home to get ready for Tahlia's performance.  She was playing 3 roles in the play/ballet of Frozen.  She was the teenage Anna and then did two other nice group parts.  She did well and looked beautiful!  It was very amazing and I'm so glad we got to see her dance finally!   On the way home we stopped for ice cream at Arctic Circle.  Saturday morning the whole family was headed out for a bike ride sponsored by Jay's company, so we said our goodbyes got on our way too.  We wanted to drive up to see the rest of American Fork Canyon and then over the mountain and down to Heber.  We had never driven that beautiful route before.  We stopped along the way to do a short hike around Cascade Falls.  It was such a beautiful place too.  Then we headed home and stopped off in Cedar to have a late lunch visit with Bean.  What a great little trip it turned out to be!  It was so fun to spend time with this fun, busy with life, family! They had girl's camp prep, FSY, Activity Day Camp, ballet rehearsals and recitial and the family bike ride going on plus, people being sick, getting better and dad going to work, etc., etc. all going on while we were there, yet we had time to visit and enjoy each other too!   

And more graduations...Torin and Zion!

Torin joined the list of graduates for this year when Ferf posted that he had graduated from Riverside Elementary School (5th grade) and is now ready to go to Intermediate School at Pine View Intermediate School.  He is a smart guy and has done very well and will surely continue to do so.  Congratulations Torin!  Great job!  

Zion also graduated from Fidler's Canyon Elementary School.  We used to graduate in 6th grade in the "olden days".  Zion has been involved in the Chinese Dual Immersion program.  I don't think I've even heard him speak any Chinese.  He will be going on to Canyon View Middle School now I believe.  Zion is  one smart guy too!  Congratulations Zion!  Great job!

 

Sand Cove evening walk

 Sunday evening we were both feeling the need to get out of the house a bit.  We decided a walk would be nice.  Then we decided we wanted more than a neighborhood walk so we drove up to Lower Sand Cove and walked along the old irrigation ditch.  It was a beautiful drive.  We killed two birds with one stone because  have we wanted to drive a rough road to knock some of the mud from our crazy campout off the truck...it worked.  We walked up and down the ditch and pondered the idea of floating it on our kayaks.  Not sure that will happen any time soon, but it did make for a lovely walk and drive that evening.  We have been feeling somewhat cooped up since Paul's knee is still in recovery, but he's doing really well with his PT and did just fine on this walk!