Trek Day 3 Cont...

Here we go, back across the bridge.

The river was running really high so the Bishop opted for the option of the boys carrying the girls across the 2 1/2 foot swamp.  

Katie is being carried by David and Mitchell.

Chad and Darren pulled me through on a handcart.

I loved seeing the excitement in all of the boys.  They were all willing to carry or pull someone across.

The Bishop decided to let us cross the river.  Chad is about halfway through.  I love the background.  I am marching  over for my turn but Poor Katie was sent away because she is not 16 (we later learned sh could have crossed with Chad but she would not come back).

Chad is coming back to get me.

I am making sure he is following.

We just started and look how high the water is.

This is the part where it was too deep to touch and the current was pulling hard.

The water was about 4 feet 6 inches deep.  It was not very cold.

After we went through the river we trekked to the spot where the Women's pull is.  This was the highlight of my day.  The men were taken to the top of the hill and given an amazing pep talk. This part is to represent when the men were taken off to war.

All of the women stayed at the bottom and had a very inspiring talk by Sister Graham.  We then prepared ourselves to pull the carts up the hardest hill.

The men lined up on both sides of the hill while the women pulled the carts up the hill. This is Katie's family going up the hill.  Katie is the black skirt in the back.  Her team made it up the hill so fast and with no other help.

When my family started up the hill, I felt like I was walking through a warm tunnel.  I have never felt so much spirit in one place.  Our team was second to last and no one was letting the groups struggle to get up the hill.  There were so many helping each other push their carts.

There was so much love and hugging at the top of the hill.  We are hugging Katie's best friend Hannah (who is not a hugger).

The blue family had a group hug and prayer.

Katie is having solo time reading her letters from Mom, Dad, and Grandma.

After our seven miles of pulling handcarts and being drained emotionally, we were given four ounces of flour for dinner.  We made ash cakes.  They were not too bad when you cooked them right. 

We did get a real dinner later, but it was great to see our youth not complain.  We ended the night with a testimony meeting.  We have such a close and strong ward.  The missionaries were really surprised when we said we were part of a ward and not from a whole stake.  

Trek Day 3 (My Favorite)

This is Valerie and I in the morning.  Don't try too hard to see me, you might go blind in the sun.

The Blue family is ready to start day 2.  We are trekking a total of 7 miles today.

The Red team is also ready to go.

Valerie and Darren carry the teal rock baby.

Chad is helping our team get the handcart over the narrow bridge.

A rare photo of me with my family.

We had to stop and wait for the group ahead of us.  I guess we were too fast.

We had a quiet moment to remember the four men who risked their lives in helping the pioneers cross the Sweetwater river.

Chad looks like he is doing the chicken dance.

This was our first destination of the day.  Martin's cove is an amazing place and there is no way a picture can capture anything.

Chad spend a lot of time holding my hand.

The blue Family pulling up to Martin's Cove Parking. Ma is missing again.

Hannah (Katie's best friend) is showing off Jacob's ladder.

As we silently walked up to the cove, we thought about the pioneer we were trekking for. 

It was rare that we were able spend any time with Katie.  I love this picture of Katie and Dad.

We reverently sang while people continued to file into the Amphitheatre.  The missionaries told us about some of the amazing stories.

Part of the view walking through the cove.

Looking back from the Amphitheatre.

It was really hot but, I wish we had more time to take in the feelings we were having.

Another view from the cove.

Look, Mom with Katie.

We begged for a picture of our biological Family.

We are a cute family.

This is my favorite picture of Katie.  She is with her "sister" Heather.

Trek Day 2

We started the day by getting on the bus and traveling to Martin's Cove in Wyoming.

As soon as we got off the bus, we were given a handcart and had to load it up with our buckets (all the items we took had to fit in a five gallon bucket), sleeping bags, food, tents and water.

Brooke and I were holding the sleeping bags on for the boys to cover with the tarp and tie it down.

My face looks a little scary because it was raining. Amanda was carrying our rock baby boy.  We had to carry the baby the whole time and it was not light.  Rock Baby Nephi weighed at least 15 pounds.

Here we are leaving base and starting our 3 mile trek to camp.

Just a photo of our handcart train. As we were traveling, we were also given a trial to go through.  Our Family had shoes "wear out".  They did not want us to go without shoes, so we had to wear them on the wrong feet for 20 minutes.  We only did thid for 10 minutes but it was long enough to squish my toes.  They were so squished, that my toenails cut into three of my toes and made them bleed.  I curled my toes after that which gave me blisters.  I spent the rest of the trek trying to baby my toes.

We had to pull up hills, down hills, through rock patches and sand.  Even though there is a path, it was still quite a trek.

I am saving our spot for the tent Chad and I had. It was either raining or windy for most of the day.

This was the night of square dancing.  Chad even enjoyed dancing.

Katie and Ryan dancing the Virginia reel.

Chad is dancing to Johnny O.  I was also dancing but not in any of the pictures.

Another photo of Katie.

I am not sure what Katie was doing.  She looks like she is singing.

Trek - Day 1

I finally was able to get pictures from our Trek to Martin's Cove.  We had a great time and would go again in a heartbeat.  The one thing I would change is having a camera with each Family.  There are many pictures of the family that Chad and I were Ma and Pa to but I had a hard time finding some with Katie in them.This first picture is the Blue Family.  Katie was in the Red Family.

The first day we rode the bus to Bountiful and stayed at some houses across the street from the Bountiful Temple.  We hiked up the hill behind the Temple and had a Fireside.  This hike was really hard for me.  I learned after the Trek that I had a sinus infection and that took a big toll on me.

During the fireside, the Young Women sang the theme song for our Trek "Live like you believe".  Katie is the pretty girl with the pink skirt.

This is another picture of the Blue Family from the Hill overlooking the Temple.

Chad is a goof off.

This is another photo of the Blue Family.

A beautiful view of the Bountiful Temple.