Brent and I had the great opportunity to be Ma and Pa for a youth conference pioneer trek. We spent 5 days on the
prairie of southwestern Washington and walked over 20 miles. This is us in our pioneer clothes after walking up "Rocky Ridge." The women were the only ones allowed to pull the handcart up the ridge and the boys had to line the sides of the hill and watch. It was an amazingly spiritual experience pulling those handcarts and not having the men jump in and help. It really made the pioneer stories sink in when we hear about all the strong men dying and the women pulling the load all alone or putting her ailing husband in the cart. It was a testimony builder that we can all do hard things.
Our six "kids" on the trek were strong and fast. Brent and I were usually trailing behind them as they blazed the trails.
The "sweet water" crossing was a tiny spring, but the boys still got to carry the girls across the "river." We only had two girls in our group. the rest were boys.
Ma and Pa and our trek kids at the top of Rocky Ridge.
Pa and his boys.
The kids all took turns either pulling or pushing the handcart. Every once in a while we would have to jump in and help (but not often thank heavens). We experienced very hot days (in the 80's and 90's) and one day was non-stop wind. It was hard on our bodies because we were so used to the 50 and 60 degree days in Spokane. Two of our kids had heat exhaustion.
Me picking out the thistles of my socks. The weeds were so bad that we had to duct tape our shoes and our ankles. No joke... and it sucks to have your legs Duct taped!
Being the caboose of the 29 handcarts. We got to blaze trails, be the end of the line, and the stop and go constantly in the middle. It was a wonderful week. A real lesson in life and a testimony builder.
We pulled the kiddos from school and spent a week in California. First stop, Disneyland!
It rained pretty hard for the first two hours we were there. Good thing I looked up the weather and packed ponchos and rain jackets.
Gavin is a stud driving his car
Grace waited in line for an hour to see the princesses and then wouldn't say a word to them. She would barely stand close to them. The funniest part about it, is that at the end of the day when I asked her what her favorite part was, she said, "seeing the princesses!"
Meeting Mickey. Giles was asleep and stayed outside with Dad, so it was just the older ones and me that got to meet Mickey.
Can't go to Disneyland without riding the tea cups!
The next day we drove down to San Diego and went to the Mormon Battalion. It is recently remodeled and is totally awesome. Would highly recommend it. Gavin got to dress up as a soldier.
After the Mormon Battalion Brent took Gavin and Grace on an air craft carrier in the San Diego Bay. Giles and I napped in the car. Poor dude, misses all the fun but he definitely needed a rest.
Panning for gold at the Mormon Battalion. We had to drag them away cause they were having so much fun.
