Hike To Red Lake

Neil heard about a hike to a lake off of Maple Lake in Payson Canyon. So on Saturday we decided to try and find this hike since we couldn't find any information about it. So after making our own trail head and searching through the woods a little bit we finally found the trail. Luckily, it turned out to be the right trail.

The trail was beautiful. It followed this stream for a bit and Cole loved to see and hear the water. He has this little fettish with throwing rocks into water right now so we had to stop for a minute and let him throw the rocks in the stream.

After we got away from the stream we ran into a bunch of cattle. (Look closely and you can see them in this picture) This was really cool at first because there were so many, but there were also a lot of little calves with protective mothers around. Needless to say the cows were not happy that we were there and we weren't too excited to be with the angry cows. Apparently, this trail isn't used all that often.
But we did eventually make it to the lake (top picture). We figured it was about 1.5 miles each way. (Perfect for hauling a 25 lb kid up) We hiked back down and ended the day with a BBQ and of course some fishing down at Maple Lake.

The Handsome Trio

We went fishing AGAIN on Friday (we fish a lot, but we love it!) with Neil's brother Austin and my brother Brett. Aren't the 3 so handsome? We fished till dark, came home ate the fish, some snacks, and played the WII till 1:30 a.m. It was a blast. I guess some of us will never grow up.

This is my brother Brett. It's funny.... growing up we about killed eachother. Literally. But now Brett is one of my best friends. We do stuff with eachother all the time now. He even comes to Payson to see me!!! He has a heart of gold, just like my dad, and is just tons of fun to be with.

"This is so easy I could fish with my eyes closed!" Austin was the winner this weekend. He found the hot spot and caught 5 fish! Way to go Austi!

Butt Head??

This is for my long lost friend Jorgina (AKA Jorge.) This isn't a Japanese video, but I'm sure you'll find this just as funny. Thanks Tiff for the video. This one is HIGH-larious! (You can mute the blog music at the bottom of the page)

Jumping Jacks

Our ward rented out Jumping Jacks and Cole wasn't a big fan of it at first. It was hard for him with all the kids going crazy everywhere and the slides were really big.But as time went on, and with a little coaxing from dad, he started to get more and more comfortable with it.


Until he got to the point where he was really excited to go down the slides and was pulling Neil with him everywhere he went. (Mom was kind of a social bug and missed a lot of it)




Until he eventually even got the courage to go down all by himself! Cole had a blast! Now he even wants to go down the big slides at the playground all by himself. My little boy is growing up!

Fishing at East Lake

We went fishing the past 2 weekends at East Lake. The first weekend was just Neil, Cole, and me, and this past weekend my sister Carrie and her family came fishing. We're going again this weekend with Cole's Uncle Brett and Uncle Austin.

Although, Cole thought the fish were interesting he definitely wasn't going to touch one. That was a job he was going to leave for dad.

Yay! I caught a fish! The stroller in the background really adds to the scene don't ya think?

Fishing this weekend with Matt, Cole, Savannah, Rex, Carrie, and Neil.

Rex (my nephew) even caught his first fish all by himself! No one helped him reel it in or anything! He's only 4! He can ride a 2-wheeler by himself too. Quite the talented little guy.

All in all we had a pretty good day. We brought home 6 and threw back at least that. Everyone caught at least 2 fish and most caught more than that!

I don't think we would have caught anything without Neil though. Love ya hun!

Little Logan

This past week has been a hard one. We lost our little nephew. He was only 21 days old, but wow he sure made an impact while he was here. Clint, Rachel, Conner, and Brayden you're in our prayers. It's at times like these where the knowledge of eternal families really becomes real. We've been taught it our whole lives, but it's not until you experience something like this that it all of the sudden becomes real...... and not just something you've believed in. We love you guys! What a neat family you have!

Happy Birthday Dad!

Today would have been my dad's 61st birthday. Many of you never got the chance to meet my dad as he died shortly after I graduated from high school, so I wanted to share a little bit about him. My dad wasn't the serious type. He had a great sense of humor, loved to joke, and wasn't really one for rules. He put his family before anything else, and made growing up a blast. He taught me how to play softball, ski, run, hike, and just live life!! I love you Dad and Happy Birthday. You're getting old!!

My dad loved to spice up the work day and play pranks on his co-workers. He had a side kick named Richie and they were always thinking of funny stuff to do. One time they broke into one of their co-workers cars and switched the break signal with the horn signal. So everytime the guy put his brakes on it honked the horn! Hahaha.... love it! Luckily nothing too bad happend, and I'm sure it didn't take the guy long to figure out who did it.

My dad just loved to get a laugh out of people. He would crawl on the floor at work and sneak up on people in their chairs and scare them half to death. Just to get a reaction and to make each day a little more fun. It wasn't until his funeral that I realized how many people he really touched. He had a heart of gold. I love you and miss you daddy.

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY NEIL!

The Best Dad Ever! We Love You!!

Triplets

I just got done reading Clint and Rachel's blog and it brought me to tears. For anyone that reads this, they could really use your prayers. They recently had triplets that are all in the NICU. Here's a link to their blog if you'd like to know more. They're also listed as The Emery Family in our link list. http://theemeryfamily.blogspot.com/

Aliens??

Thanks Travis for this great gag! (Turn off the blog music below)

Memorial Day at Cookies Cove

We went camping at my mom's property west of Nephi over Memorial Day. It's nice because no one is out there. Although nothing else is out there either, so it's definitely roughing it, but we had a great time. We went 4-wheeling, shooting, played horseshoes, and just hung out and relaxed. From left to right. Michelle, Neil, Cole, Brett (brother), Savannah, Carrie (sister), Matt, and Rex. Photographer - Tiffany (sister-in-law) We missed you Mom, Dad, Matt, Alicia, Christy, and Jorge!

We ran into a little bit of trouble early on. Neil and I tried to take our Honda 4 -wheeling. Not really, but it sure looks like it. This is the road that leads to my mom's property. But since it had been raining all week we sunk right in as soon as we drove on it. Yes, we're stuck.

Luckily, a big truck with a wench on the front drove by and pulled us out. I seriously don't know what we would have done without that truck. We were just lucky that he even saw us. He was the only person we saw our whole trip. Luckily everyone else in my family had 4 wheel drive so they were able to drive through all this.

Knowing it would be stupid to try to pull the trailer through the mud we decided that it was best to ride the 4 wheeler in. No problem... Carrie and I will do it! We thought by the end we'd be covered in mud, but amazingly we weren't. It was a blast!

Cole loved the 4 wheeler. Especially when he got to ride on it with Dad.

Neil and I after our fun long ride. These things are fun! We may just have to buy some one day.

Neil and I playing horseshoes. I'd tell you who won, but we lost count. Neil would tell you he did.

Cole had his good and bad moments while camping. We think he did better last year, but we still had some fun, and got some smiles.

Caught it!! J.K. But we can pretend.

We brought out the shot guns and 22 to do some target practice. Usually we bring out the clay pigeon thrower, but because of time and weather we never did get to shoot clay pigeons.

I don't look nearly as good as Neil does with a gun. In fact, I look rather awkward don't I??

Camping Family Photo!

Since Tiffany took the big family picture she wasn't in it. So I had to add this cute family picture of Brett (my brother), Tiffany, and their beautiful dog/kid Dasha.

Dancin' Cole

Cole loves music and loves to sing and dance. That's what we get when he hangs out with me all day. Not that I'm good at either of those things, but hey when no one is around why not... right? Here are a few of his dance moves. (Sorry I know the videos are dark, you can see it a little better in the middle of the video, look closely and you'll see his bum go up and down)

Although both of these videos were taken a couple of months ago we can still get a good dance out of him every now and again.

Wheeler Farm

We had a great time at Wheeler Farm this weekend with Neil's family. Cole enjoyed being close to the animals and despite all our efforts to teach him the different animal noises, he still thinks all animals say "woof!" No matter what animal we ask him to do he always says "woof!" What does the kitty say Cole? "Woof!" What does the pig say Cole? Woof! He sure loves those dogs!

Cole must have thought this was one of the weirdest looking things he had ever seen. He followed this poor bird around until it was finally able to find a place to hide.

Here's a few of us.... Grandpa Emery, my nieces Brinlee & Aynslee, Cole, and me. Don't we all look so happy???

Ready to start driving Mom! I'm a natural!

Neil thought it would be fun for Cole to sit on the donkey.He just didn't expect the donkey to take off so fast. Luckily, Neil caught Cole before the donkey went too far. (Unfortunately, this picture doesn't show it very well.) It was pretty funny.

Maple Lake

After church we headed up the canyon to see how far we could go up. We were so excited that Maple Lake is already open! It was SO pretty up there! I'm sure the canyon will be our 2nd home for the summer again this year. It's so nice to have it close. All are welcome to come camping with us!