Waterfall Canyon

For two or three years I have been wanting to hike up waterfall canyon in Ogden.  Last time I hiked it I was in high school and I thought it was such a beautiful waterfall that I have wanted to go back, we just never have done it.  We have done a lot of other  hikes but finally we decided to go.  Normally the hike is about three miles round trip.  I thought that's not too bad we have all day.  I knew we were going to have to take a few breaks for the baby and Tayton, (and me, I haven't exercised since Tayton's accident) but what I wasn't planning on was how long it took us to find the beginning of the trail.  Levi thought it started in a different canyon, so we ended up hiking the Bonneville Shoreline trail maybe 1 1/2- 2 miles just to get on the trail.  So overall I think we hiked about 7 miles.  A lot further then I planned with three kids, but we did it!

 Tayton did such a good job, he did need some help every now and then when he needed to catch his breath.

 I think the backpack isn't made for an eight year old.  I love his little legs sticking out.  Kelty makes some pretty durable backpack carriers.

 I carried Blakeli the entire way and it made me feel like I was pregnant again because of all the weight in my lower belly.  I do not miss being pregnant at all!

 Tanna did pretty good most of the way, but whenever Tayton was hiking, she wanted in the backpack.

 Tayton made it to the top!  I cried when I saw him, he was so excited and it meant so much to him (and me) to reach our goal!

Here we are, all together.  It seriously is such a pretty waterfall, these pictures are only at the very bottom.  It is so beautiful.  For the first time since the accident I felt like we are getting back to normal and doing the things we love to do as a family!  We still got a lot of stares, (I think because it was so funny to see Tayton is that little backpack), but most of the comments this time were about me and how I was crazy to bring such a small baby up there.  We had such a nice time!


When we got home I was thinking to myself about how this hike represents my life.  I had a plan in mind of where I was going in life.  I thought it was going to be a nice easy hike.  Suddenly we realized the path we thought we were on, wasn't our path.  It was a detour but eventually it would get us to our goal.  I realized it was going to be much harder then I planned.  I almost wanted to give up.  Then I remembered how beautiful our goal was.  I thought I can still do this, even though it's going to be a lot harder then expected.  We had to take quite a few stops and catch our breath along the way.  We literally had to carry each other at times to reach our goal.  Some parts were steep and challenging, while at other times it was a nice easy trail.  But in the end we made it to our goal with help from each other.

I know life may throw us some more challenges that I won't be prepared for, and it is still going to be a hard climb, but I will make it through this.  I am so thankful for the support our family and friends have given us through this detour of ours.  I would seriously be crying and loosing it all the time if we didn't have our amazing friends and family helping us through it.