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.

We are proud of Madison

Madison finished her fourth quarter of school with straight A's.  Her over all GPA was 3.999.  What a smart and beautiful girl.  We love you Maddy Dawn.

Kinsey's Bike

It was a long week for Kinsey but the wait was worth it.  She went to Tom Scott Toyota to claim the bike she earned.  We were also served hot dogs, chips and a drink. I think we will be outside riding bikes a lot this summer.

Kinsey was interviewed by Ty Brennan with Channel 7 news.  We were able to watch her at 10:00.  Over 300 Canyon County kids earned bikes.

She rode her bike home from Ginger's house.

She was posing for Macie to take a picture.

This is a very nice bike.  I love that she picked green.  That is my favorite color.

She also received this helmet.