Pioneer Weekend Adventure Day 1

Jonathan had the day off of work today, so we packed up the Jeep and headed to the hills. We turned onto the Temple Fork Road from Hwy 89 and parked at the Sawmill Trail parking lot. We hiked 3 miles along the most beautiful, clear creek to the site of the sawmill for the Logan Temple and Logan Tabernacle.


Along the way we saw a tree chewed on by a beaver,

a bird with a green back,
plenty of the creek,

a young pioneer,

a pioneer monument,
a sign with pictures of old sawmill buildings,

and sawmill equipment.

After hiking another 3 miles down, we had a lovely lunch in the back of the Jeep. We continued up the road to the grave site of Old Ephraim the giant grizzly bear. They claim he was the same height as the monument placed over his grave. Autumn was glad there wasn't a live grizzly at the site.


We drove along some exciting Jeep roads and saw miles of wonderful wildflowers. We met back up with the highway through Right Hand Fork Canyon. What a great adventure!

Sunday Drive (Extended Version)

Last night we test drove Autumn's new car seat in the car. She can see more even though she'll still rear facing. "Are we there yet, Mom?"

We had no specific destination as we drove up Logan Canyon. Then we decided to turn off of the highway onto Temple Fork Road and scout for a possible hike for Friday. The road was so much improved from when Jonathan had been there last that we drove and drove and drove up the nice gravel road.

We finally had to turn around because it was getting dark and Autumn wanted to go to bed. We saw one deer, 600 cattle, and a really big beaver dam.

On Friday we might hike up to the sawmill that the pioneers used or we might explore to the end of the road. I can't wait!

Visitors from the south

We really enjoyed our visit with Jon's parents and grandparents today.

Happy Birthday Jonathan!

Friday was Jonathan's birthday. We celebrated by having Brazillian food for dinner and his favorite banana cake and ice cream. To appreciate the banana cake you have to know what goes in it. It's a cake from scratch that has bananas and pecans in it. You sprinkle coconut on top just before baking it so the coconut gets toasted. After baking, you put what amounts to homemade pecan frosting between the layers and cover the whole thing in whipped topping and pudding frosting.
On Saturday, Jonathan's sister Jessica and her family joined us for a trip to Bear Lake. We roasted hotdogs at a park and then went for an evening splash in the lake. Kloe and Autumn loved the lake and didn't even mind their life jackets. We paddled out into the lake in Jonathan's little raft. The coast guard almost ran over Jessica and Micah in the raft while it was trying to tell them a storm was coming. We all had a great time and we are soooooo glad Jessica, Kloe, and Micah came with us!

Happy 10 months Autumn

Autumn's favorite thing to say is "What is it?". She picked up a few more words and sounds from her cousins over the weekend.

Happy 4th of July from Idaho

We spent the holiday weekend in Idaho Falls with my family. We had a fabulous time. On Saturday morning all of my sisters, my aunt and I ran in a 5k (3.1 mile) race. We had a great time even though it was windy and cool. After the race, we took everyone to the zoo. It was much less crowded because it was during the 4th of July parade.

Bird cooling off.

Timid turtle.

Lounging lion.

Tiger tamer.

His assistants.

Jonathan's Birthday Party.

Fireworks by the Idaho Falls on the Snake River in Downtown Idaho Falls.

Field of Flags.

Visiting Idaho Falls Temple and Visitors' Center.

Taking the back way home through Bone, Grays Lake, Henry, Soda Springs, Grace, and Preston.

Oh, what do you do in the summertime

... when all the world is green?

Do you swim in a pool,

To keep yourself cool?

Or do you climb up the stairs?

And eat grape popsicles?

Or read with your dad on the couch?
Is that what you do?
So do I!