Grandpa Tom's bday

Grandpa Tom is one of my favorite people in the entire world and I love any excuse to spend time with him! Melis and I grabbed him for dinner one night to celebrate his birthday. We were excited to go to Ruby River but when we got there it was closed down. We headed over to Texas Roadhouse instead and had a yummy meal. Dad's always so complimentary and saying funny things like how lucky he is to be out with 2 beautiful girls... hehe. Thanks Dad!

Afton loves a party and she was excited Grandpa Tom was having a birthday. He's always such a good sport! Party hats, candles, twinkie cake...What's not to love

Hiking with grandpa

We love spending time with Grandpa. We are so lucky to have him and even more lucky he wants to hang out with us all the time. He is one of my best friends and Afton adores him.

Today we decided to grab some sandwiches and head up a little area around Dry Canyon. It's very easy and fun! We didn't make it very far but it was just what we needed. Fresh air and sunshine. Gramps joked around saying I had more fun than Afton which might be true!!

My little photographer

Hiking really isn't the right word because we rarely get to hike. We are usually running around, sometimes in circles, jumping on rocks and exploring our surroundings!

One of my FAVORITE smells in the world! I love fresh sage and I love that I can find it even on a snowy mountainside. 

Fishing the San Juan

I FINALLY got to go the San Juan! My dad has been talking about for years! A tiny window opened up and my Dad and I left Thursday morning around 5 am. It was soooo early. I slept for a little while (not a good car sleeper) and drove for a little while but mostly enjoyed the conversation and scenery. We arrived at the motel, purchased our temporary licenses and headed out.

The weather was perfect (my Dad usually goes in December when it's snowing) and we weren't even wearing jackets. The river is super slick though and I did fall in once. Luckily I caught myself with my hand and I dried out pretty quickly.

And we fished...

Big fish...

Lots of fish...

So much fun...

It got dark around 5:15 and got REALLY cold. We got out of our gear and headed back to the room to get warm. We had a long night ahead of us so we drove 20 miles into a little town and had dinner in a little cafe. There were about 10 tables seated and 1 waitress. It took an hour to get our food. Good thing we weren't in a hurry. During this drive I was trying to charge my phone which for some reason hadn't charged during our 7 hour drive and realized something was broken. It finally died and we drove around to find a signal on my dad's phone so I could call Afton to say goodnight. After that we only had my dad's video camera.
Also on our drive we stopped at a grocery store to buy some nasal spray. Have you ever tried it??? I hadn't. I had been sick though and couldn't breathe and decongestants weren't helping at all. I tried this spray before bed and I stayed completely clear all night. I couldn't believe it. I'm a believer!!

The next morning we got up and hit the river around 8:30. It was pretty cold and I ended up in about 5 layers. I couldn't believe the fish and was so excited catching one after the other. We got a few video clips and were able to catch some still shots from those.

My dad was worried that the fish wouldn't act the way they normally do because we were there a month early and he'd driven me all the way out here but he didn't need to worry.

We caught fish after fish after fish.

I loved standing in the water, watching the fish, casting to them, hooking them. They are tough fish and I fought quite a few that ended up getting off the hook on their own. I'm sure they've had a lot of practice (poor things)!

I got very few shots of my dad. He said he'd been there enough and only wanted pictures of me. I did snap a few before my phone died but none of the fish. He said they all look the same after a while.

My waders sure keep me nice and warm!!

We left Friday afternoon around 3:30 (we actually left around 2 but couldn't do it) ( I said turn around, my dad said I love you and flipped the car around) We were back in the water and another hour and a half flew by catching fish after fish.

We had a long drive home in the dark but enjoyed this rainbow...it was a double until it was too dark to see. We worried about deer and got slowed down by the rain but luckily didn't hit snow until we came over Spanish Fork Canyon. The roads were horrible in Spanish Fork and we almost got taken out by a FedEx truck but overall we were fine. It took us about 8 hours to get home.

Videos to come....

Fishing with Dad

Six in the morning came really early today. I actually woke up around 5 and couldn't fall back asleep. Ugh

Needless to say I was ready to go when my Dad pulled into the driveway. I grabbed my gear and headed out. I will say I haven't been up that early in a long time. Thanks to Brett I am not getting up for work and if I am up that early I can always go back to sleep.

Anyway, we took off and spent the next 3 1/2 hours driving, drinking Coke, eating breakfast sandwiches and bagels, and luckily buying new sunglasses for me. I was really overdue and finally remembered and forked over the $15!

We drove into the middle of nowhere and I had my eyes open for Mountain Lions the whole time. We didn't have any service and hunting season had already begun so we wore orange and headed out!

The drive was beautiful, the river was small and fun and we had a really great time catching fish!

Snow day?

Snow day with a question mark?
It hasn't really snowed this year and it's January 7! Don't get me wrong, I LOVE this winter so far but I know my little Aftee is dying for a snow day.
We woke up to a teeny tiny bit of snow on our lawn but by the time Afton and Daddy got outside it was pretty much gone. Sorry sweetie!
Afton still had fun though, she ate a little, made hand prints in some and tried to catch a few 'corn'flakes on her tongue! I think she's calling them snowflakes now but that's what they were earlier this year!
And Dad as we all know is in heaven just standing in the yard, no matter what the weather. I wonder what he was thinking about as he stared into the garden? More corn next year? A bigger plot? I'm glad I have my super warm BYU hat on?

And can I just say Thank You to my parents for my new Christmas gift??? I took all of these pictures (minus the first one) through my closed window, inside my nice warm house with my new telephoto lens!!!! Oh man am I excited. I feel like I am finally able to watch Afton and catch some of these moments without being right in her face. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE my 50 mm but sometimes it's nice to have some distance between us! She didn't even know I was taking pictures!!!

Fishing with Dad

It's not about the fish...


It's about so much more.


It's time with dad


driving in the jeep
walking on a trail
talking about nothing
finding good spots
learning about flies
watching my line
feeling my fly
breathing fresh air
spotting a deer
seeing what's flying
having a laugh
missing a bite
mending my line
mimicking dad
learning the tricks
being a student
telling stories


and sometimes


catching fish!