Aug 9 2020

Bear Valley Lakes, Idaho

Posted on August 9, 2020 by Karin

This weekend Corey and I had the opportunity to hike to Bear Valley Lakes. Bear Valley Lakes is located in the Lemhi mountain range in the Salmon National Forest. It was a 3 hour drive from our home to the trailhead. Once at the trailhead it’s a 6 mile hike up to the Bear Valley Lakes. We hiked the whole 6 miles in 3 hours. It is a continual upward climb gaining more than 2000 ft of elevation. It wasn’t too difficult but my legs were fatigued by the time we made it to the lakes just from the constant upward climb. The trail itself was a little rocky and made it difficult to hike on at times. The scenery was beautiful. There is a creek that runs for the most part all along the trail. We often came upon little waterfalls. Once at the lake there was a little wind that made a hot summer day feel really nice and cool. The lake is a glacial lake so it was pretty cold. I soaked my feet in it and it felt really refreshing. Corey spent his extra time up there fishing (he caught 3 fish) and I spent my time finishing a book. The best part of our trip is that we had the whole lake to ourselves not another soul in sight. The only time we saw someone else was as we were packing up to leave another group of people and livestock arrived.

Selfie in front of a waterfall on our way back

Beautiful majestic peaks around the lake

Nov 5 2013

Catch up

Posted on November 5, 2013 by Karin

Okay it’s been too long since I posted anything. So this is one big catch up post. I’ll post a bunch of pictures with a short description of the event. Hopefully that will get me caught up for the holidays. I like to keep record of all the stuff that happens in our lives and this is sort of a family journal. Not only is it good for me to have a record so I can remember all those great moments but also so we can share it with our friends and family who don’t get to see us often.

First we have to go all the way back to September. YES I said September. That is where I left off. After school started and things start to get crazy canning season starts. This has been great for my family’s food storage but also very time consuming. Corey and I love our garden and we get a lot of produce out of it. Have I ever mentioned how much I love my mom? Well I do A LOT. She came up for a week and a half, despite not feeling well, and helped me can. I put her right to work canning green beans. Everyday we did something new. The biggest thing we canned was apple sauce. We had the apples from my tree and some apples that a friend let me pick. In the end we canned 48 quarts of apples. I really did have a lot of fun with my mom and really do miss her when she is gone.

You’re seeing right that is a 5 gallon bucket of applesauce.

Mom and I with all the applesauce ready to process.

On to the next event. Our camping trip to Craters of the Moon National park. We are fortunate to live in an area where we don’t have to travel far to get to some great camping spots. We said goodbye to our tent trailer and got ourselves a new trailer. We had to try it out the weekend we got it. We joined some friends up at Craters and had a blast. We explored caves and lava fields. This was the first time I’ve been to Caters. I’ve driven past and wasn’t very impressed but once we explored I was amazed. We’ll come back again.

Our new home away from home.

Kids climbing rocks

Walking through the giant tunnel

Exploring caves

Well paved walking trails.

Even here pretty things grow

Group Picture

We have made it to October! This was the first weekend in October. We decided to take the trailer out one more time before we had to store it for the winter. We ended up going to Palisades Reservoir. Again I feel the need to express how blessed we are to live in close proximity to these wonderful places. When we arrived it was snowing. It was a pretty cold night and we only lasted one night before deciding to pack up and head home. It was beautiful. So many fall colors mixed in with the snow.

Our very snowy campsite.

All the wildlife we saw. He didn’t like Corey.

View of the Lake

Family photo

Fall Colors

Being silly on a rock wall.

Next there was a free ice skating lesson at the hockey shelter. We signed the kids up and they had fun skating on the ice. Did you know ice is slippery? It was fun to watch them skate around.

Last on the list and then I’m all caught up. HALLOWEEN! We had a blast this year at our ward’s trunk or treat. Corey and I dressed as Bert and Mary from Mary Poppins. Sophia was a ghost, Levi a zombie, and Preston a nerd. The trunk or treat was the Tuesday before Halloween. That was good because on Halloween it rained and was very chilly. Sophia and Levi went trick or treating but Preston just wanted to hang out with his friends playing games down in our basement. I guess he is growing up. If anyone knows a cure for that please let me know.

Sophia the Ghost

Bert and Mary

Zombie, Ghost, and Nerd

carving pumpkins

scraping out guts

finished product

Monkey see, Monkey do.

All lit up.

Aug 10 2013

Girls getaway

Posted on August 10, 2013 by Karin

Every year my husband puts together a guys hike and they take an overnight hiking trip into the woods. Finally it’s my turn. We have been talking a long time about going on a camping trip just us girls and we have finally made it happen. We went up to coffee pot campground and kayaked part of the Henry’s fork river. This was my first time kayaking. As you can see I’m the only one wearing a life jacket. Most of these women have been down this stretch of the river and swore I wasn’t going to need one. I’m a little nervous around rivers especially since Corey joined the local search and rescue team. There have been too many stories of people drowning and their life jackets were on the boat but not on them. Well it turns out that most of the river is very shallow. We even had to walk our boats in some areas. It took us about 2 hours to get down the river. The best part is we could kayak right up to our camp site. The next day after breakfast we went on a hike. We hiked farther down the river where there were class 4 rapids. Not something I’m going to tackle any time soon. There were lots of huckleberries along the way. Andrea was always hanging back to pick a handful at a time. When we got back to camp we packed up and squeezed one more trip down the river. This time I did it without a life jacket! We had a great trip and I couldn’t think of a better butch of friends to experience this with. Thanks guys I had a great time. We need to start planning for next year.

Setting up camp

View from our camp

Taking a short break before hitting the water.

Getting ready to get in.

On the water

Walking our kayaks through the shallows.

Melanie

Andrea chillin with her peanuts

View from Debbie’s Kayak (photographer of the water venture)

Andrea and Jennifer

our camp is in sight

back at camp

Oh Deer!

Rapids

picking huckleberries

The hiking trail

A wonderful bunch of Ladies.
Andrea, Jennifer, Me, Debbie, and Melanie

Jul 9 2013

Camping

Posted on July 9, 2013 by Karin

Our family loves to camp but unfortunately we haven’t had too many opportunities this year. Corey got a new job in May and he has been travelling a lot. He’ll leave Monday morning and not get back until Friday evening. This makes planning a camping trip difficult. We decided to let the kids have some fun and camp in the yard. The boys thought that camping in the backyard was awesome. Sophia tried to follow them out there with her pillow and blanket but, to her disappointment, we didn’t think she was old enough to stay out there. So we set up a tent in the living room for her. She lasted about 10 minutes before she ended up in her own bedroom on the floor. The living room was too scary for her. I’m sure that if the living room was too scary than the backyard would’ve been too much for her.

Boy’s in the backyard

Sleeping in the living room.

Oct 26 2012

Meadow Lake 2012

Posted on October 26, 2012 by Karin

Our campsite

After posting about the snow the other day it occurred to me that I haven’t posted for a long time. So I decided that it was time for me to share our camping trip we had at Meadow Lake this year. We went the first weekend of October. It has become a tradition for us. This is our third year. This year was extremely cold. As soon as the sun went behind the mountain until it rose up at 9:45 we huddled inside our sleeping bags in the trailer. Once the sun was up we were able to move around and play. Preston liked to go to the Lake and fish. We spent a day in the ghost town of Gilmore. Gilmore is an old mining town and we even found an old mine that was safe to explore. On another expedition we hiked up the mountain and found a pond that was frozen over. The boys tried to break the ice with rocks. Yes, and when I say boys that means Corey too. Even though we were freezing at night we had a lot of fun and created a bunch of memories.

Preston fishing by the lake

A fort Corey and I built for the kids

exploring the mining cave. It was so dark in there.

An old stove in one of the many run down mining houses.

part of the ghost town of Gilmore

The “boys” trying to break the ice

The Edwards Meadow Lake 2012

Jul 16 2012

Mesa Falls

Posted on July 16, 2012 by Karin

Upper Mesa Falls

The last weekend in June or first weekend of July, however you want to look at it, we went camping up by Mesa Falls. The falls were a beautiful site. It was pretty crowded up there but well worth seeing. They have an old log inn there that they have turned into a visitor center/gift shop. I told Corey that someday I wouldn’t mind retiring in a log cabin like this. We went through the visitor center and a park ranger gave the boys a booklet to look through that had a comic in it. Afterward we walked the path that went by the waterfalls. While everyone is looking at the falls Levi would find a bench and sit to read his comic. He was so much more interested in what happened to smokey the bear than the beautiful scenery around him. We had a really nice weekend. We are so lucky to live near such beautiful areas.

Beautiful!

Levi and his comic

Really neat Inn

Can you see the Tetons in the back?

Love Sophia and Levi’s expressions here.

We spent a couple of nights in this area and the next day we ended up hiking by Warm Springs. They have an old fish hatchery that you can rent out and near there was a bunch of hiking trails. We decided to hike a couple of miles (all Sophia can handle). Have I mentioned how beautiful the area is? This was a great weekend. We had beautiful scenery accompanied by equally beautiful weather. I love going camping. It really helps me relax and get away from the world.

Hiking along Warm Springs

Taking a trail mix break

The grass is as high as Sophia

Family Photo at Lower Mesa Falls over look

Aug 20 2011

Tiffany Family Reunion 2011

Posted on August 20, 2011 by Karin

Warm Lake Idaho

Well it was time for another Tiffany family reunion. We decided to have it in our old stomping ground of Warm Lake Idaho. My family used to have a cabin here and spent many summer days on this lake. It really holds a special place in each of our hearts and was a perfect location for our reunion. There are really too many pictures to post so I’ve selected a few and I will post the rest on facebook.

The reunion was pretty laid back with a few planned activities. There was a lot of lounging, swimming, playing in the sand, and eating. One night my dad set up his projector and played a video that he put together for us. The video was a modge podge of videos and pictures of all of us growing up. It was fun to see the crazy old hair styles of everyone. My dad also made copies for all of us. My copy will only be viewed in private and then kept in the vault. Only a special few will see snip-its of it.

For the most part meals were up to each individual family to prepare themselves. We had two meals that were all together. One night we had steak, corn on the cob, watermelon, and salad. It was probably the best meal we had up there. Everyone did a great job working together to get it on the table. We also had breakfast together. We went and picked huckleberries the day before and were able to make huckleberry pancakes and sausage for breakfast. We also had dutch oven peach cobbler one night that I had opted out of because of my sugar issues. It looked so delicious and my kids had at least seconds.

We spent a couple of days swimming in the lake which was a bit chilly but when you got used to it it was quite refreshing. Conveniently we left our camera back at camp for these trips. Although I did see my sister with her camera so there might be a picture out there that you should stay clear away from. My Idaho legs were like a beacon and if looked directly at them you might go blind. Don’t say I didn’t warn ya.

We had a family game night that turned out really fun. My dad prepared 7 minute to win it games. He teamed family against family. We had fun shooting rubber bands at playing cards, swing yo-yos from our backsides, unraveling toilet paper on our arms and that’s just a few. My sister Krystal won overall and her prize was a big jar of jelly beans but also, a surprise to everyone, she gets to plan the next reunion.

Our little family also took the opportunity to hike to one of the many hot springs up there. There was a fire about 5 or 6 years ago and it burned most of the area. The hike was hot and dusty. As soon as we got back we took a nice refreshing swim in the lake. My brother Cameron and his girlfriend Brittany came with us and it was funny on the way back Levi had to be in the front of the pack. The problem with that is he liked to kick the dust up and who ever was behind him had a face full of dirt. It happened to be Brittany behind him and a few times she would try and run in front of him only to find him running faster to keep ahead of her. By the end we took a short cut and beat him to the car. It was a fun little trip and I enjoyed getting to know Brittany a little better.

On the last day we all met at a park in Boise to have lunch before saying goodbye. We were all able to see my grandma Wilkins (Tiffany). We had a big photo with her and all of the great grandchildren. Just in my family there are 15. If you add my cousins my grandma has 18 great grandchildren. It was really hard to say goodbye to everyone especially knowing that it’s going to be another two years before I get to see most of them. I can’t wait for then next reunion which, according to Krystal, will probably be in California.

My Nephew Zachary had a birthday. This is all the grandchildren eating cake.

My family loves to play games. Here they are having a play nine tounament.

We also liked sitting by the fire

Our hike to vulcan hot springs

fishing from the dock

Great Grandma with great grandkids.

My siblings and I.

The whole clan

Aug 3 2010

Summer camping

Posted on August 3, 2010 by Karin

Camping is one of my favorite things to do with the family. It’s better when you can go for more than one night but so far this year hasn’t been too promising. I’m going to try and convince Corey to take a few days off so we can go on a real camp out. None of this set up camp at 5:00pm and take down the next morning before 11:00 am.

A couple of weeks ago we went to Palisades Lake. This was a first for us. We like to try new camping places. We still haven’t found the perfect one. We had a great veiw of the lake from our campsite, however, it was quite a trek to get to the lake. We ate burgers, chips, and cobbler for dinner and had eggs and hot cocoa for breakfast. One of the kids favorite things to do is watch their dad start the fire. Corey was blowing on the coals to get them going and Sophia thought she would help and started to blow too. It was really funny. We had a good time just sitting at the campfire and even telling stories. After the kids went to sleep Corey and I sat and watched the stars as the coals died down. I love camping.

One down fall to our trip started the next morning. Sometime during our drive there we must of hit a nail. We woke to find we had a flat tire. So while I took the camp down. Corey changed a tire. First time for the van and we had a hard time trying to figure out how to release the spare from under the car. Thank goodness for the web on Corey’s phone. Once we got it firgured out and changed the tire we headed out. I’m hoping that August brings more chances for our camping trips. Oh by the way did I mention I LOVE CAMPING.

Smoke follows beauty

Sophia blowing on fire

Morning view of the Lake

Sitting around the campfire

Jul 20 2009

Warm Lake

Posted on July 20, 2009 by Karin

This past week I took the kids and we went to Warm Lake Idaho. This is my childhood camping place my family always went to. When I was 7 my family went in and bought a cabin with my aunt and uncle. Then when my parents moved they sold their interest to my uncle. Now it’s just my uncle who owns it. We haven’t been back in 11 years. This visit was bittersweet. I loved being back there and relaxing but it was sad to see what had happened to the forest all around the lake. Two years ago there was a huge fire wiping out most of the forest around the surrounding mountains. One of the days we traveled up to the summit and hiked into summit lake. This is one of the hardest hit areas. Also there is a picture of warm lake from the top of the summit. You can see how the mountains are burned but the area around the lake was saved. Also while there we went to billy rice beach on Warm Lake shore. The kids loved swimming there so much that in the picture they aren’t happy because I’m packing them up to leave. The other pictures are of the campground. We stayed in the tent while my mom and dad stayed in their trailor and my brother and his family stayed in the site across from us. For the most part it was an enjoyable week. Maybe someday I can find a place like this that is closer to home for my family.