Heading down South

For the 4th of July we went down to Blanding for Jackson's mom's family reunion. All of his brothers and sister went with their families, so we had a great time ATVing, roasting marshmallows and even being in the Blanding parade. I did have a moment of wondering what my kids thought of me as a mom. As I was taking a little nap after dinner I heard Jared walk up with his cousin, she asked where I was and he told her he thought I was sleeping in the tent. He then said, "Do you know what happens if you wake her up? You get grounded!" Now I don't recall ever telling him that, but I do tell them not to wake me up unless someone is bleeding. Later he was walking by with his 3 year old cousin, I overheard him say, "Now you just stay by me and I'll take care of you. If you are scared of anything just let me know and I'll take care of it. (pause) except for bears, I won't be able to do anything about bears." So funny! There was a little stream running through the campsite so the boys had a great time building a dam and fort. Thank goodness they had showers, I don't think I would have recognized them after three days. We also were able to spend two days in Moab. We had always driven through but had never stopped so it was fun to go explore. We went to the Canyonland by Night tour. Where you go on a raft up the Colorado River while it gets dark and then float back down while people shine great big spotlights they have mounted on a truck, up on the mountains. It was pretty cool but I'm not sure it was worth the money we paid. While sitting by the pool at the hotel I had one of those 20/20 moments on "what would you do." Jared and another little boy had gone over to the hot tub (that really wasn't hot) to do some swimming, when 4 girls ranging from 15-5 decided to go in. Jared had hopped out but the other little boy stayed and was having fun splasing around, the girls didn't like this so proceeded to tell him how rude he was and started making fun of him. I looked around for at least one set of parents to notice. The girls were from another country, the next thing I knew one of them had been dunked by the little boy (served her right I thought) but then the girls really started being mean, so finally I decided I'd better step in. You know me I can't not get involved, so I walked over and told them they needed to start being nice to each other and to make good choices. As I walked away the girls started talking in their language, I'm sure the ridicule turned to me but at least they stopped. We also went to Hurrah Pass, Jackson was thrilled to be able to go four wheeling with our four runner. We were able to see some famous Petroglyphs and get some good pictures. As we drove out we went past a big red sand hill. Jackson and the boys thought it would be fun to run down it in the blistering heat. I stayed behind and took pictures so I was unable to do it. (Darn)

Going on a Trek

Where do I begin? In the few weeks before trek I went through really great highs, where I was excited about the experience we were going to have to really low lows, basically consisting of rolling up in a ball and laying in my bed wondering how this was all going to come off. Here I was telling these youth that they just had to go because it would be life changing. But then I had a realization that Jackson and I were the one's planning this. No Pressure! In one of my "ball" moments I finally realized that I could plan and plan but Heavenly Father already knew what we would need to happen and that He would take care of it. We just needed to prepare as best we could. So bright and early (4a.m.) on June 19 we began the adventure. In April we had gone to Martin's Cove for training, we had taken the route through Driggs, which meant 10% grade hills (translation: very very steep) we knew there was another road but felt it would take too much time. So the Bus Driver followed our support vehicles and we went merrily on our way. (ok not so merrily, the bus driver showed up with 1/2 a tank of gas and really no idea of how to get there, this was not in the schedule) As we started descending into Jackson Hole I began getting nervous when you could smell brakes burning and when we pulled off to the side the bus slid and then bounced into the air. It was all very dramatic, we had to have one of the pa's keep his foot on the break while the bus driver went out to look at the breaks. (great photo op) Soon we were on our way, with a few unscheduled stops. Basically our 7 hour drive turned into a 9 hour drive. The kids were troopers through it and by the time we arrived we were the last group to go through, so it was nice not to have anyone around us. The spirit in Martin's Cove is so amazing if you don't know the history go to http://www.handcarttreks.com/. After some great talks we had to go another hour back to Sixth Crossing (the Willie company rescue sight, just before Rocky Ridge)where we would camp. We had planned to have square dancing that night but we were already 2 hours late and still had to eat. We drove in and there was another group with their generators and nice kitchen set up. We just pulled out our 2 stoves and told the families they would need to start getting there dinners together with the stars as our canopy.The next morning we got up early. One of the Pa's was going to have to leave in the afternoon so we had to drive his car down to where we would be later in the day. I forgot that we needed to send our refill water tank with them and realized it right when we were getting ready to start trekking. Suddenly I was looking around for Jackson to see what he wanted to do. But he was no where to be found. I told them to start trekking and I would drive one of the pa's new truck to drop the water off. (He wasn't to excited about this since his wife hadn't even driven it yet but he handed the keys over)and meet them later they started off and Jackson materialized looking very green. We drove the water where it needed to be, while doing so the gas light came on. So basically we figured we had about 30 miles worth of gas and the closest gas station was 40 miles away. At this moment Jackson turns to me and says you're going to have to leave me here . I started to say I can't do that, but thought about all the times he had stepped up to the plate for me, so I said, o.k. we'll work it out. I cried all the way back to the meeting spot. I parked his truck and went to wait for them, formulating what our action plan would be. I had passed a camp on my way back and had the thought that we should ask them for gas, otherwise we would have to have the 1:30 departure Pa take his car and get gas and bring it back. So as I'm waiting I see one of the missionaries come over and waited for our group. Just as they are getting closer the last handcart stops. My friend is the Ma on this cart and I yell to her to keep going. She yells back she has a bloody nose. Not to concern I yell back that she isn't allowed to have one. I start talking to the truck owner to let him know the problem and what I think is the solution when suddenly I see my friends husband carrying her. Our medical person walks up and says her nosebleed won't stop. Now I'm worrying about whether we need to evacuate her out, I still need to get gas and 1:30 departure Pa is reminding me he has to be gone at 1:30. Where the #@!% is Jackson!! I had everyone coming at me at once finally I look at the bishop, hold up a finger and say "Give me a moment" so I walked away and said a quick prayer. Again this was not on the schedule!I came back and told them what we needed to do. Some weren't happy with my decisions but I knew it was what we needed to do. My Friend went with our Medic in the truck (which wouldn't have been there incidently if I had remembered the water;tender mercy 1)The owner of the truck went with them to fix the gas problem (later I realized I hadn't told him about my prompting but when we caught up he told me don't worry I had the same prompting they had 2 gallons of gas; tender mercy 2) We finally caught up at the meadow where Jackson recieved a blessing and so did my friend. The women's pull was next. This is where the boys are called off to serve in the Mormon Battalion leaving the girls to pull on there own. This was at the most difficult part of the trail. The boys left teasing the girls, but it was a different story when they saw the girls pulling the carts up the hill. The bishops wife gave an amazing talk about how we can do hard things. She said the "c" stood for commandments; "a" stood for always remember him; and "n" stood for never give up.

The youth were really effected by this experience. We didn't let the leaders help so it was hard watching just 3 girls to a handcart try to get up the hill. Later we came to the Sweetwater which is the river that the 4 "valley boys" carried pioneers across in the freezing weather. We had been told the week before the river was to high and it was unlikely we would be able to cross. The Sunday before Jackson asked the Priests if they would be our Valley Boys. Afterward I asked if he warned them they probably wouldn't be able to, but it said every time he went to say it he couldn't. So we continued praying that the youth would be allowed that experience. So we were really happy when that morning the missionaries told us we would be able to cross(tender mercy 3, although it was chest deep. We had a great talk about Enduring and Hope. The boys then carried some of the girls across and others walked through. David Kimball is my great great uncle, he was one of the valley boys, so it was an amazing experience to cross the river. During this Jackson was not himself, in fact every time I turned to look for him he was no where to be seen. It was really frustrating, because I depend on him so much. I guess it was something I had to learn. We got back and had the families cook dinner then had a devotional about testimonies and the enos experience (solo time) We had a great testimony meeting the next day where pretty much all the youth said they didn't want to come, but were glad they did. One of the missionaries told us that we were doing things the "right way" I asked him how. He said that a lot of the groups come in and have the priesthood take over setting up everything and the kids just sit around, but he was impressed by how we involved our kids in everything, he continued to say it was a mark of great leadership. I don't think he knew how much I needed to hear that after a day of making hard leadership decisions.(By the way my friend's bloody nose stopped there were 4 doctors at the camp they stopped at that helped her) Sorry for such a long blog but I wanted to share what an amazing experience we had. The stress and worry were all worth it. There were some great funny moments as well. One included one of the Pa's asking a youth from another group to dunk one of the girls bonnets in the water. He barely got it wet and in response our Pa (he's around 60) says, "Crimony, son that's just a fart in the wind! Dunk that sucker!" to which the boy fully dunked it and in return he told him, "that's the way to do it. Good job!"

How grateful we both are to have been able to have this experience once again. It was a testament to me of how Heavenly Father always knows what we need to help us.