Numbers and Letters

Conni is learning so much every day. I just wanted to share a couple of cute things she does that helps us know she is learning.

Conni loves to play Hide and Seek. Many nights a week we play Hide and Seek in the dark with a flashlight as a family. She can count to 13 by herself. Then she skips to 16 and 20. The other day the two of us were driving in the car and she said, "Mom, lets play Hide and Seek! I cover my eyes and you hide." Ok - where am I going to hide?!? But she counts, I help her with the few teens she skips. Then she says, "Is Mommy over there? nooo." (points out one side of the car). "Is Mommy over there? noooo." (points out the other side of the car). "Is Mommy over there? There you is! I found you Mommy!" (points up front to me). Then she tells me to cover my eyes and count. Again - I'm driving! So, I shield my eyes from her and count, then "look" for her the way she looked for me. After I found her, she laughed and said, "Mommy, we're silly! Lets do it again!"

Conni loves to hold papers and "read" them. At the store, she insists that she gets to carry the receipts. She calls them her "papers with EIJs on them." (or ACN, or BDF, or whatever letters she rattles off.) This weekend she found some letters and we tried to read them. Then she said, "Mommy, lets do the ABC song" and promptly sang the alphabet song! She did great - it was L-O instead of L-M-N-O, but it was cute how she did it. Its the first time she's made it through without large gaps of letters (It used to be ABC, LM, YZ).

The best part of any time she counts or sings is when she bows at the end. She is so proud of her performance, and she does this awesome bow with one hand across her tummy and the other sticking out behind. She turns her head to the side too - it all just looks awesome - I'll have to video it cause I'm not explaining it well in words!

I'm just grateful she has a strong, healthy brain and she enjoys learning new things! And that she has learned to be proud of what she accomplishes.

Yellowstone - Summary

Just like I did with my Trek posts, below are several posts about our family vacation to Yellowstone. I wrote them chronologically so they are in reverse order to read. You can read the first post here and just click on "Newer Post" to read along.

We had a great time and we plan to go back in a few years. Thanks everyone for making it a fun trip!

Yellowstone - Wildlife

The final thing to share about our Yellowstone trip is, of course, the wildlife. We saw a ton of Buffalo (get it - a ton - ha ha, bad joke) But they were everywhere!

A herd of Buffalo settling in for the night

I think this was in Hayden Valley

Several times we would drive past a Buffalo walking along the shoulder of the road.

I could have literally reached out and touched one!

We saw a bear cub! Dave kept telling me how lucky we were to see a bear on our first trip to Yellowstone. We were at the falls at Canyon, and people told us they had seen a bear a few miles up the road. I was giddy - the one thing I wanted more than anything to see on this trip was a bear. (I LOVE bears!)

We didn't see the mother bear anywhere, and so of course this picture is taken from the car. There were several rangers near by to make sure no one was stupid enough to try to get close.

We also saw several elk. This was just a cool shot we got of some at the top of a ridge. I love how their antler stick up in the sky!

We also saw a coyote and lots of birds. When we saw an animal, we would point it out to Conni of course and try to get her to look in the right direction. We knew she actually saw it because she would say, "Oh, what a cutie!" If she didn't see it, she would just say, "Yes, I see it." It was lots of fun!

Yellowstone - Downtime

There were two cute things that happened in our down time that I wanted to share.

My mom sent a craft for Conni to do each day we were there - just a little something. One night was a necklace to string. We recorded craft time for Grandma. I'm sorry the lighting is so terrible - the only lights we had in our room were above the bed. It didn't look this off in real life. But, you can get the idea.

Watch and you will see Conni handing me stuff with her toes - she's my little monkey!

We were trying to get a picture with her wearing the necklace - but again, having lighting issues. But, notice that Conni is sticking her little belly all the way out - she's trying to shove her necklace further out so it can be seen!

Saturday night when we got back, it had started to get cool. We had left the windows in the cabin open during the day to help move air thru the room. We went to bed without thinking about closing the windows or turning on the heater for the room. Some time during the night we woke up freezing and Dave got up to close the windows. We were worried how cold Conni was in the bed alone, so Dave moved over with her to share body heat.

I woke again a few hours later still freezing. I remembered the heater so I got up to turn it on. This was the cute scene I found when I checked on my family:

Yellowstone - The Lake

The water this year was way high. This is a shot of Yellowstone River that Dave took. Those trees that are more to the front - they are usually a few feet inland from the shore! The water was beautiful but moving fast.

We went to dinner Saturday night at the Lake Lodge - another family tradition. We walked down to the lake with Dave's sister and her family. There used to be a gradual shore down to the water's edge. This year, you can see the straight drop off into the water. We let the kids get some stones to throw, but they had to throw them from farther back. Dave managed to get Conni on his shoulders to keep her more contained.

Scott and Emma

Yellostone - Mud Volcano

This was hands down Conni's favorite stop of the whole trip - Mud Volcano. She is still asking to go there.

The smell of the sulfur pots was terrible!

This was called the Dragon's Mouth or something - it would suck the water in a little and spit it back out again - pretty cool to watch!

My favorite part about this stop was this cute video. Conni started marching along, then started singing "The Ants Go Marching." I'm sorry its a little shaky - Dave was walking down the boardwalk trying to keep up. But listen to her cute little voice!! :)

Yellowstone - Upper and Lower Falls

We did a little better with pictures here at this set of falls. We loved this spot that was framed by the trees!

Conni with Grandpa and Grandma

Dave and I at the falls

Spencer really wanted to take a picture of Conni

He does good work!

Grandma and Grandpa really wanted a picture of all the grandkids together.

Here they are - all nine of them!

While we were standing there taking the picture of the kids above, I thought to myself, we must look hilarious - ten odd some adults all saying "Say cheese! Look here! Hey you!" I thought it would make a good picture of us trying to get the kids picture to turn out!

Grandma and Grandpa with their grandkids

Yellowstone - Canyon

Saturday we started out in the Canyon area where we were staying. We went up to the falls, but unfortunately the trail to the bottom was closed - because it was all under water! (I'm ok with that - I wasn't looking forward to having Conni that close to water - she would want to get in it!)

Getting ready to climb the trail

Conni looking at the falls

I thought I had a better picture of the falls, but apparently not. But I thought this was kind of cute and artistic and such.

Yellowstone - Old Faithful

Here was are at Old Faithful waiting for it to erupt. I felt like a complete tourist, but yes, I filmed it. No, I won't make you watch it here!

I thought it was really cool to see! Conni liked watching the "volcano" erupt. (She's on a volcano kick from one of her Little Einstein's videos, so all the geysers were volcanos. It was so cute to hear her say "cano e-rupt!")

We managed to catch several pictures of Dave's mom taking other pictures.

Conni wearing Mom's visor while we try to keep her entertained during the wait for Old Faithful.

Ain't she adorable!!!

After Old Faithful finally went off, there was a storm rolling in so we headed over to the store for some ice cream. The storm hit and it was a doozy! Crazy huge rain drops! We should have videoed some, but I'm sorry, we didn't. Picture a flash flood type rain storm pelting this original tin roofs.

Because of the storm, we all stayed in the store for a while. I was totally ok with that - I love souvenir shopping! But, I realized that I hadn't packed jackets for our family! So, we ended up buying some jackets :)

The storm didn't let up, and we were bored of the store (ok, Conni was bored so we needed to keep moving. Can I ever be bored shopping?) We headed over to the Visitor's Education Center where there were lots of buttons to push and all sorts of things to entertain the young and the young at heart.

We had plans to meet at the Cafeteria with the clan for dinner, and the rain was still coming down, so we loaded Conni in the stroller and ran across the Old Faithful area. Luckily it wasn't quite a full on downpour so we didn't get completely soaked. When we got to the Cafeteria Conni wanted to go do it again. Silly girl :)

We were all exhausted from a full day, and dinner was pretty good for tourist cafeteria fare. Then we packed up and each family went their separate ways for the evening. We drove back to the cabin and surprisingly enough Conni stayed awake most of the time. (She again only had a short nap.) We enjoyed seeing some buffalo on our way back. (See the Wildlife Post for some pictures).

Yellowstone - Geyser Basin Area

I don't remember exactly where these were taken, but it was in the Geyser Basin Area somewhere.

This was our last stop before lunch and Conni was pretty worn out. She wanted to be carried the entire time. Now I wish I had brought the stroller!

Yellowstone - Gibbon Falls

Just a few pictures from Gibbon Falls.

Notice how tight I'm holding Conni - and she's holding me :)

Conni was more interested in getting a drink than looking at the camera. But she's still saying cheese!

Yellowstone - Norris Area

Our first stop on our adventure was the Norris Area. I get confused with the names, so I'm sorry I'm not more specific. Maybe someone else who was there will comment and help us out :)

But anyway. Like I said, here's our first stop. I didn't think Conni would want to walk the whole time, so we loaded her in the stroller ready to go explore.

Here we are with some of the cousins.

I should have known, however, as soon as Conni saw all her other cousins out wandering that she would want to explore on her own too. Silly Mommi!

Conni did great to stay with the group, and I really enjoyed seeing my first geysers. The family was great to answer all my questions - especially Nate (thanks!). Here's some fun pictures of us all exploring.

Conni and Emma checking it out, with Dad standing by.

Spencer letting Conni look thru his binoculars.

The kids at the top of the stairs on some benches.

The adults at the bottom of the stairs checking it all out.

Funny story about this picture above. I had followed Conni up the stairs, thinking the trail wound around and didn't want to lose track of her (yes, I am a self-proclaimed helicopter mom!) But, the trail ended at these benches. My nephews were talking, and my older nephew told my younger nephew that the geyser area was red from the blood of all the people who got off the trail and fell in and got burned up! So here I am trying to explain to a four year old how it really works. I hope I said something that was right!

Spencer and Conni were together the entire trip. Spencer made sure that Conni stayed where she was supposed to, and if Conni wouldn't sit for a picture or something, Spencer asked her to do it and she was happy to obliged. The first morning after we got home from Yellowstone, Conni asked where her Spencer was. She cried when I told her we wouldn't see him today. So cute!

Yellowstone - Thursday

We recently had the opportunity to go to Yellowstone with Dave's entire family. That was one of their family's traditional summer vacations when Dave was a kid. So as a clan, we started planning last year to pull off this adventure.

My biggest worry about the whole trip was how Conni would do being in the car that long. We never really go anywhere, so it would be something different. We decided to let her have her blanket in the car with her, and then we packed the portable DVD player, books, treats, coloring, stickers, etc to keep her busy.

On the way up, Conni was content to just sit and watch out the window and talk with Mom and Dad for about 3 hours or so. After we stopped for lunch, I could tell she was started to struggle just being in the car, so I pulled out the Toy Story DVD and she was so excited!

Conni fell asleep shortly after we entered the park. Thank goodness she had her blanket with her, cause she just cuddled right down. Unfortunately, she didn't get a super long nap, but she did well anyway.

We stayed in the Frontier Cabins in the Canyon area. We had two twin beds in our room. Conni had been woken from her nap when we got there, so she just wanted to lay down and crash.

Even though we were the last ones to leave the SL Valley, we managed to be the first ones to arrive at our cabins. We had some down time to unpack, then once Dave's sisters and their families were all there we packed up for a picnic dinner.

This is just one shot of the kids hanging around the camp fire. We didn't get a ton of pictures that night, but we all had fun. Conni loved being with her cousins! She was also very happy to be out of the car. One of the drawbacks was how many mosquitoes there were! They were everywhere! Somehow Conni managed to not get bitten, but Dave and I picked up a few bites.

And - side note to me - what was I thinking dressing Conni in white shorts?!? Luckily, they came mostly clean. At least she had fun, right?

Trek Summary

The next however many posts are all about my trek experience. I wrote it in chronological order, so you will want to scroll to the first post if you want to read all about it. Here is the first post. Then you can just click on the "Newer Post" link at the bottom of each post to read it in order.

If you don't want to read about trek, check back on the blog later and I'm sure I will have something new to talk about!

One apology - many of these posts are a little long and rambling. I tried to be concise, but when I start telling stories I can't always help it. I have tried to include my personal reactions just as much as what we actually did.

All in all, I am so happy that I went on trek! I learned a lot about myself and about the pioneers. I have a testimony of their sacrifices, and I am grateful that I have been blessed with so much because they went without so much. I pray that I can always remember what I have learned at trek and that I can share it with all I meet.

Trek - Baptisms

We were able to gather as most of our family last Saturday and go to the Jordan River Temple to do baptisms for the dead. (Five kids made it). When we got there, they asked Dave if he wanted to do the baptisms and confirmations. Of course he said yes. That was so cool to see him do!

After we went to Sub Zero for ice cream. We all just visited and talked about our plans for the summer. We figured out that two of my daughters will be coming to girls camp with me (our ward is going with another ward in the stake to Heber Valley this year) so we were excited about that.

Too soon it was time to go and we were all back to reality again. I've enjoyed that the kids want to be facebook friends with us and watching them tease and support each other. Most of our family spoke Sunday, and the kids tried to go listen to each other as much as they could.

Trek - Wednesday

Wednesday morning we all were a little slow getting started - including me. I was barely moving around when I heard the call for breakfast. So some of our family (including me) ate breakfast in our jammies instead of our pioneer clothes.

Afterwards, everyone just got right to packing up. I didn't even have to say anything and they were bringing out their packed gear and getting ready to put the tents away. We gathered for one last devotional as a stake and then we were treking back to the buses before we knew it.

Here we all are, ready to head home!

Everything seemed to be going in fast forward on Wednesday morning. I loved walking in the back of our family with Dave while we listened to the kids make plans to be facebook friends and hang out together. We got to the buses and everyone loaded their gear and claimed their seats. The ride back to Rawlins went pretty quick (granted I slept a bunch of the way so that helped). I love the difference between the bus ride to somewhere and the one home. Friends and family versus shy strangers.

We stopped in Rawlins for lunch - Little Caeser's Pizza! Then we were back on the bus talking of how good a shower would be and sleeping in our own bed.

The closer we got to home the more anxious I was to see my little girl and my mom. We finally got back to the stake center around 6:30 in the evening. I called mom to come over. When she got there, my daughters came with me to meet my baby girl. Conni was so tired - she hadn't taken a nap that day - and she was so happy to see me! (I started crying - are you surprised?) I got her out of her car seat and she wrapped her arms and legs around me and wouldn't let go. I was a little sad that she didn't act as happy to see Daddy at first, but once she had her Mommy time she was ready to play with Dad too.

I was so happy to be home! Mom took me and Conni back to our house so I could get the Escape to haul all the gear. Conni was so nervous about being left again! Then we drove back and got Daddy.

Our kids were all getting picked up and going back to their real lives. I was grateful all but two made a point to find us in the chaos to tell us goodbye. While it was so full while we were all together, suddenly trek was over too fast and we were back to reality.

Once we were home I took a shower and it felt so good! I somehow manged to get sunburnt on my forehead, nose and chin. (I swear I put sunblock on!) Conni insisted on staying right outside the bathroom while she played so she could be close to me. When it was time for her to go to bed, I stayed and rocked her to sleep and she cuddled so cute with me. I was so glad to be back home with my baby!

Trek - Tuesday Evening

We were very excited to get back to camp and just rest for a bit. We were originally scheduled to cook dinner as a family Tuesday night, but yet again the food crew took care of us! It was a delicious dutch oven stew - I think we all went back for seconds (or thirds for the boys!)

We gathered as a stake again and we had a special visitor - Ephraim Hanks. (The missionary who was playing Ephraim was adorable - he kept switching from first person to third person. Then he'd look at someone and say, "Well why do I keep saying 'he' when it was me?! One too many days in the hot sun I guess." Or something cute like that. He was very good with the youth!)

Ephraim Hanks was a mountain man who was very good friends with Brigham Young. Ephraim had the impression to prepare to go find the Willie and Martin Companies before Brigham called for volunteers. Ephraim showed up with everything ready to go and Brigham sent him on his way.

On the way to find the saints, Ephraim encountered some buffalo. He killed one and cut the meat into strips and draped them across his pack horse. When he found the Martin Company, they were so starved, but yet Ephraim tells that they all came up and politely asked if he could spare a little for them. His buffalo meat saved many pioneers.

As Ephraim was finishing telling us his story, another missionary came up in period dress and said he was a Pony Express rider. (I knew that the kids were all getting letters from home - it was part of my role as YW President to make sure everyone had one sent). But, our stake leaders had made sure that there were letters for the Mas and Pas too. (I will admit, I had a feeling I would get one from my mom because she is good friends with the lady in our stake that was in charge of it. But I was pleasantly surprised that she had arranged for Dave to have one from his mom and that all the leaders were able to have one.)

Our letters were great. I love my letters from my mom. She reminded me how strong I was and that I could do anything. I enjoyed watching my kids read their letters and feel the love of their parents.

After we had time for our letters, it was time for Testimony meeting. I was curious what my kids would do. I had an idea of a couple of them that would maybe share some thoughts. I loved that many of the kids got up and said that theirs was the best family. (It was a good thing that my kids said that when they were up there too :) But it was a testimony to me that our families were chosen by inspiration, not just names drawn out of a hat.

The thing I loved most about testimony meeting was hearing how my sweet kids had been touched and the things that strengthened them thru the last two days. I was grateful that we as Ma and Pa had been able to help them feel the spirit too. One of our quiet girls got up to bear her testimony. (I found out later that was probably the first or second time she had ever done it.) She froze, and one of the Bishops walked over and said some stuff to her - we couldn't hear. Then she shared a few things and froze again. We sat there in the quiet while she was thinking, and I was debating if I should go up and help her. Then I had the thought that it would be neat if her sisters went up to help her. I was thinking if I should prompt them to go up (they were sitting in front of me) when one leaned to the other and said, "We should go help her." Then they ran up together and stood on either side of her. It was just one more neat example of our family really acting like a family and taking care of her. I was so happy!

There were a lot of wonderful testimonies shared. Our Stake President got up and extended the meeting twice before we were through. Five of my eight kids were comfortable sharing their thoughts.

After testimony meeting we headed back to our family camp area. We started a small fire and one of my sons, Christian, got out his guitar and we sang (or tried to sing) random songs he could play. Then the kids started asking about Dave and I and our dating stories and such, so we had a little story time. Then it was time for bed, and again the kids told each other goodnight "Brother" and "Sister" and gave each other hugs. I loved the feeling of love we had for each other!

Trek - The Women's Pull

Next on our day after the Cove we headed back to the Statues of the Valley Boys. Here our leaders talked about the sacrifices the fathers made (that I mentioned in the post below) giving up their flour rations for their families. Then the leaders silently chose individuals to leave our group to signify death. Many of the fathers were chosen to leave. Somehow, our family stayed intact. I was so grateful I still had Dave with me!

We headed back on the trail towards camp. We stopped at the fork where the women's pull branched off. Then men were called out to represent the Mormon Battalion. Our Stake YW President gave us a bit of a pep talk, then challenged us again to do this pull in silence.

Two of my young women became very emotional at this point, after our Pa and brothers had left. They were very close to their families at home - one having almost lost her dad to a heart attack a few years ago. But they found their places on the cart and got ready to trek.

The first of the trail wasn't too bad - similar to what we had been walking on. Then we made the turn and the trail began to get steeper. We could see the men up on the ridge above us at the top of the hill, silently watching over us. The trail was very soft and sandy, and full of boulders. The hill was about a 40 degree incline.

We were towards the rear of the group. We started struggling up the hill. We would get a good momentum and either have to stop for the family in front of us, or we would have to stop to get better footing or a hold of our cart. I kept stepping on the hem of my skirt and tripping, so I would try to grab a handful of fabric and bring it up while I pulled, but then I would stumble and lose my grip.

I can easily say this is one of the hardest physical challenges I have had for a long time - if not ever! My two girls were still crying, and I was trying to make sure they were ok as we still kept moving. They were such troopers - they gave it all their might and kept pulling thru the tears!

The closer we got to the top of the hill, the more rocky it became. We got stuck a lot. I had to stop to get my breath at the hardest part, and I was just thinking "How am I going to get my family thru this - I don't think I am strong enough!" I was trying to keep my expression positive, but I was feeling the pain and I knew the girls were too. Then, when I looked up to get going again, here came all the girls from the families before us, running over the crest of the hill trying to come help us! (I'm crying as I type this - I wish I could share how powerful it was!) They all got around our cart and the carts behind us. Then suddenly the cart was pushing me! These were the angels that you hear in the stories. I seriously don't think we would have made it without them!

At the top, I was so proud to see my girls park our cart and run to help the last one or two behind us - even though they had struggled so hard. It was such a testimony to me of the true pioneer spirit of service. You know that's what really happened on those trails. I took a moment when we were all together and we had a family girls group hug. I told them that if they did that, there wasn't anything that they couldn't do in their life. Then the boys came back. I was so grateful to feel my sweetheart's arms around me. Our boys were so proud of us. They told us how hard it was to watch us struggle - especially at the end - and to know that they couldn't come help us. I think it was a great lesson for the boys too, to see how strong we really can be, and to show them how important it can be sometimes to let someone struggle through.

As we were walking back to camp, the boys were so cute. They refused to let any of us pull again. We had promised them that morning that since they pulled us thru the river we would do more for them. Once they watched us on the Women's Pull they told us, "we're even, we're pulling again." I loved watching them take care of each other!

The Women's Pull is probably the part of trek that has impacted me the most. Since I've been home I keep telling myself "I can do hard things" and remember the pull. I know that I rely on Dave way too much - because he is always there and willing to help me - but that I can do things on my own. I am so grateful for this experience too and what I was able to learn about myself!!

Trek - Tribute to "The Valley Boys", Dan Jones Cove and Martin's Cove

After the river crossing we stopped at the statues of "The Valley Boys". The missionaries told us their story. I'm sorry I don't remember their names. But there were four or more young men that had ridden on ahead of the rescue party to find the Martin Company. Once they found them, they traveled with the Company west to help them reach the rescue party coming east. These young men, who they now believe there were more than four, were those who carried the pioneers through the frozen river (that we had just finished our version of the crossing). There were three statues - one of a young man carrying two small children, one of two young men carrying an older gentleman, and one of a young man carrying a young lady. You could feel the spirit around these statues of those who had sacrificed, again, so much to serve others.

Our family with uncles at one of the statues.

We took a break for lunch in a small amphitheater. Again, our food crew was amazing! (Are you sensing a theme here?) They were their own version of Subway with some delicious sandwiches.

After our little rest, we went to Dan Jones Cove to listen to President Nieuland. As we walked in, there was a string quartet playing Come Come Ye Saints. The spirit again increased and I felt Jane with me. President shared with us a couple of stories of the trials the pioneers face in the cove itself and described a little of what we were going to see. He then reminded us that this was hallowed ground and challenged us to go thru in silence.

We headed up the hill. It was steeper than I expected, and I tried to picture myself in a blizzard, exhausted beyond belief, just trying to find a break from the storm. I felt rushed to keep up with the group on the trail, but I tried to make time to focus on what they were feeling.

President Nieuland was standing at the beginning of the spot that they believe is where the group camped, and told us how they would have been laying on the snow, too weak to even set up tents, and where we would find the Ridge they used for a burial site.

David was with me the whole way thru the cove. Our family were way up ahead - much faster than I could keep up. At this time in the journey, many of the men in the Martin Company had died because they were starving - when the flour was rationed, they would give up their portion to their starving children or wives, because it was so hard for them to see them go without. I knew that David would have done that for Conni and I, and I imagined losing him there at the Cove. It was rough! Then we reached the top of the cove at the Ridge that the pioneers used for the burial site. The ground was frozen, and they couldn't actually bury the bodies, and so they would cover them with snow. But the wolves were close by and would come and take the bodies for themselves. I again tried to put myself in their place. I thought how hard it would be to know that my sweetheart's body couldn't even be laid in peace!

We sat at the Ridge and had some quiet reflection time. Then we headed back down the trail and back to the handcarts.

Martin's Cove is indeed a sacred place! The spirit there is one of reverence and respect. I felt the spirits of those who were there testifying that it was worth it to them for the blessings they gained in the end. I am so grateful that I had the chance to experience that and to feel the presence of my Grandma Jane!

Trek - River Crossing

While we were getting ready to head out on Tuesday, we were told that the chances of us being able to do a river crossing were very unlikely because of how high and swift the water was. As such, I didn't stress to my kids to worry about bringing their flip flops or anything as we probably wouldn't be getting wet.

We treked to the river and there the missionaries told us that there was a run off area with about two to three feet of water that we could stage a river crossing in. Each family was left to decide if and how they wanted to do it. Of course we wanted to cross! But, no one was really prepared. So we started talking about different options. Some of my girls were a little wary of being in the river water with the "critters". Some of my sons really wanted the opportunity to carry someone across. The girls were a little wary of being carried too. Then someone suggested that maybe a couple of girls could just ride in the cart. (I should mention - the missionaries had separate handcarts for us to use just for the river crossing so that our stuff didn't get wet and to help the real handcarts last longer.) Then it was suggested that all the girls could ride in the cart.

Well, they really liked the last idea, so that's what the boys chose. I figured that I would just get all the girls in and let the boys do the work, and just walk along in the river behind the cart. But no, the family insisted that I ride too! I still don't know how all five of us fit in that little handcart, but we did. We had Pa and the four sons up front, and our two Uncles in the back of the cart. They all went barefoot since we hadn't brought our flip flops. It actually turned out to be a ton of fun! There were a few spots on the left side that had some hidden "pot holes" but we were warned of that from the families ahead of us. Dave was on that side since he was the tallest. When he went thru the worst hole, he got wet up to his thighs. I still think that may have been more than three feet deep. But oh well.

This really bonded our family. We girls were so grateful that the boys would willingly want to face that challenge. The boys were excited that they accomplished it pretty well. We told the boys that we would wait on them for dinner since they got us across without getting more wet than a few splashes. They were pretty excited about that!

Trek - "Teachings of the Trek" Lyrics by Algie Powers

TEACHINGS OF THE TREK

Lately I’ve been hearing of all the pioneering

Stories so endearing to me - teachings of the trek

Lately I’ve been thinking would I be just as willing

To go the extra thousand miles for the teachings of the trek

Many years ago Brigham called, “Westward Ho”

They left their homes and their families

They crossed the plains through the wind and driving rains

And they shed their tears on the shallow graves

Lately I’ve been hearing of all the pioneering

Stories so endearing to me - teachings of the trek

Lately I’ve been thinking would I be just as willing

To go the extra thousand miles for the teachings of the trek

The old trails are gone – modern times have taken on

Always feeling we have too much to do

Though we may not cross the plains you know some things never change

There’s right and wrong and we have to choose

Lately I’ve been hearing of all the pioneering

Stories so endearing to me - teachings of the trek

Lately I’ve been thinking would I be just as willing

To go the extra thousand miles for the teachings of the trek

As we journey on our way let’s try to make it a brighter day

We don’t want to leave anyone behind

If you fall we’ll help you cope, let’s our hearts be full of hope

Together the path will not be hard to find

Lately I’ve been hearing of all the pioneering

Stories so endearing to me - teachings of the trek

Lately I’ve been thinking would I be just as willing

To go the extra thousand miles for the teachings of the trek

Trek - Tuesday Morning

Tuesday morning the kids all did really well waking up and getting moving. Again, the thought of a nice hot breakfast that we didn't have to prepare ourselves helped motivate a few of them. I have to admit that I was worried about this breakfast - it was Mountain Man Burritos. Now, some of you know how I feel about eggs. They make me sick - not joking! But, I figured a bowl of cereal wasn't enough for the day ahead of us, so I would take some and see how much I could gag down to have some protein. I was able to eat the whole thing! The eggs tasted like hashbrowns! I was very blessed to be able to get a full breakfast in me considering how physical today was going to be.

After breakfast we loaded our handcarts with our water jugs, some supplies for lunch, and enough buckets to fill the cart to keep us balance. Then we gathered as a stake for our morning devotional.

At this point, I need to stop and mention again about my Grandma Jane who was in the Willie Handcart Company. (Here's my post about her if you missed it.) Dave gave me a beautiful blessing Sunday night before we left for trek. One of the things that was promised to me was that I would be able to feel Jane's presence and experience some of the things that she did to make this trek more meaningful to me. This is something I was really hoping for, so I was very excited when I heard this in my blessing.

As we settled in for our morning devotional, I could feel Jane with me. The spirit was so strong I could barely contain my emotions. We had some girls sing some songs written by Algie Powers. The one that stuck with me is called "Teachings of the Trek". (I'll post the lyrics in another post.) I literally felt like Jane was next to me with her arms around me, telling me to listen, and bearing her testimony that she experienced those things, and that I would be able to have a taste of that today, and how good it was going to be. I was so excited!

After the devotional we headed out towards the Cove. We knew that today was going to be the Women's Pull, so my sons were very adamant that none of the girls "waste" their energy pulling while they were there with us. And these boys had so much energy, that I didn't mind letting them pull!