Blacksmith Fork Canyon 2012

Anytime that I mention to someone the fact that our family really enjoys camping, I'm always asked where our favorite place is to go.  And my answer is always the same:  Blacksmith Fork Canyon.  It's located above Hyrum, in Cache Valley.  Bryan and I started camping up there the first summer we were married, sleeping in the tent on air mattresses, packing all our own water in and out, peeing in the woods, etc.  Fun times.  We brought Tess up there in the tent when she was a baby, and we brought Miles there as a baby in the tent trailer, and now we're bringing Bree there in our full-size trailer.  No matter what changes in our life, we always love to go there each summer.  Here are a few reasons why.  During this last trip, Bree was napping in the trailer, and Bryan had taken Tess & Miles for a 4-wheeler ride.  It was on Thursday morning, so it was relatively uncrowded.  I was sitting outside in a chair, reading a magazine and listening to the silence all around me.  I looked up and this is the view I got:

Right in front of me

Directly behind me

To my left

To my right

In front and above me

It's just incredibly gorgeous up there!  It's not a campground, so you're not crammed in parking stalls with your neighbor 10 feet away.  You can find places that are very secluded, away from the road and from people, but close enough to trails to ride the 4-wheeler or go hiking.  There are so many trees that you're shaded all day, and the river is small and shallow enough to walk in, but big enough to have a few fish to catch.  You can watch the silhouettes of all the bats coming out of the mountain crags and flying down the canyon at dusk.  It's very idyllic.  I love it up there!

Bryan caught this guy.  The kids were very excited.  Bryan laughed because it was pretty small; it made him realize that he needs to take them fishing more often!

In this picture, Bryan was pretending to take a big bite of the fish's backbone.

He tried to get Tess to do the same for the next picture, but THIS was the cute picture I got instead!

Bree, of course, was just happy to be there!

Miles got his socks and shoes all wet, so here he is, chillin' by the fire in his bare feet.

Tess is our "queen of funny faces."  That girl is a ham!

While we were all sitting around the fire she was wiggling and wiggling her loose tooth.  She eventually got it out and she was so happy that the Tooth Fairy found us, even in the trailer!  That Tooth Fairy sure is a sneaky one.

We went for a hike on Friday and found that someone had fashioned an armchair out of rocks.  So here we all are, trying it out...

Tess was able to catch a butterfly with her bare hands; I was pretty impressed--I don't think I could do that!

We went into Logan for lunch one day.  We got take-out and ate at Adams Park while the kids played.  While there, THIS happened!  (Ignore my ugly camping clothes/shoes...)

(Tess was born in Logan and took her first steps in Riverdale, Miles was born in Riverdale and took his first steps in Hooper, Bree was born in Hooper and took her first steps in Logan....a complete circle. :)