On the road up to Silver Lake in American Fork Canyon. Nate and I had such a marvelous time during our ward Father and Son’s campout. I can’t tell you how much I enjoyed our time together in the canyon. Nate is a joy to be around and to camp with. Here is one of us on the ATV.

We camped at Granite Flats campground near Tible Fork Reservoir. We had the large group campground. The facilities here are just so wonderful. Here are a couple more quick images of the canyon. I love this place. I love the dense trees climbing the canyon walls, lakes, and snow capped mountains!

There was a little bit of something fun for everyone. Here is one of Nate exploring the woods. This is one of his favorite things. And one with our neighbor Trystan.

Our team for night games. Nate really enjoyed this. We were in charge of guarding the prisoners. We played again later that day but this time as boys against dads. They were totally cheating but we still kept them on the defense so aggressively that they never were able to mount an offensive before we just blew them out of the water.

Roasting it up.

One of my favorite things of the night was watching Nate play war with so many of the other boys. We was having a good night. His finger was sticking out like that because he suffered a minor burn.

We stayed up until nearly midnight around the campfire and later telling stories (mission stories also) in the tent. Nate has talked to both Julie and I about this several times so I know it means a lot to him. It was very special for me also.

I didn’t have a tripod but I was able to take this shot hand-held. I love it.

The next day we had a pancake and bacon breakfast, played more games, rode ATV’s, and went for a canoe jaunt on the lake.

Here is Nate and Will hunting for stuff living in the ground.

It means so much to me to have a son that enjoys spending time with me. I’ve very grateful for these years where he still wants to be around me so much. Nate is such a joy to me. I love his playful personality, the value he places on relationships, his energy, his enjoyment of nature, and his humor.

Here is the gallery to see more images.