Trek

 

Right after I came back from my family reunion, Andy and I had the opportunity to go to Trek with our Stake as a Ma and Pa for our ward. We had 8 "kids" (3 boys, 5 girls), and Connie was kind enough (or crazy enough?) to stay at our house to watch our real kids while we were gone. This was the same Trek that I had the opportunity to go on as a youth, (which I realized was SEVENTEEN years ago...yikes, I'm getting old...), so I was super excited for the chance to go back. I remembered it being a really amazing experience. Andy didn't go when we were youth (he chose to stay home and work instead), so this was his first opportunity to go.

 

I'm not going to lie, without these two sons (above), our family would have perished in the wilderness. It was HARD work to keep that handcart moving, and there were a LOT of hills. These boys pulled our handcart for the majority of the time, and we seriously would not have made it without them. Our girls put in a really great effort as well, but three of them were 12-year-old Beehives, and that handcart was SUPER HEAVY. I'm just glad all our kids were willing to do their share and take turns with it when they were needed. Some of the hills were so steep we had to turn our handcart around backwards, attach ropes to it, and have everyone in the family help lower it down. It was really hard work. My two big toenails are both purple from being smashed up into the top of my shoes on those hills, and all our legs got so sore it almost wasn't worth the effort to sit down because it hurt the thighs so bad. Our "family" talked a lot about how lucky we are - only walking 5-8 miles per day instead of 15-20 like the Pioneers did; not having small children to care for; and having huge amounts of super yummy food waiting for us at camp instead of being starving and having to prepare our own stuff; having warm sleeping gear, etc. It really is a humbling experience to get out there and get just a tiny taste of what they went through. We walked 21 miles in 3 days, and we knew how far we were going. Often the Pioneers didn't know how far, how long, or when or where they would stop. I've often joked that I would have died if I was a Pioneer (when I'm cold, mostly), and this just solidifies how strong they really were. I literally don't know how ANY of them survived. I only hope that I can someday have the kind of faith they had.

 

After one of the big hills where a rope was needed, we somehow got our rope stuck in our wheel. It ended up having to be cut to get it out, so after that we had to borrow ropes from other handcarts when those hills came up, and then we had to send one of our sons to run back up the hill and give it back to the family who loaned it to us so that they could use it coming down.

This photo (below) is of everyone in our ward: 

 

And this one is just our family:

 

At the beginning of the last day they had a women's pull, (to show us what it was like when the men were gone for the Mormon Battlion). Holy. Cow. It was uphill, and it was HARD. We gave one of our girls to another family in our ward for this because they only had 4 including their Ma, and we had 6. We figured 5 and 5 would be more fair. It took all our effort to get up that hill! It made us appreciate our boys even more when they re-joined us!

 

These are the three sets of Mas and Pas from our ward:

Family Reunion

 

The Timmins side of our family hasn't had a reunion in...forever? Maybe we've never had one. Anyway, so my aunt and uncle who live in Idaho invited us all up to their cabin for Pioneer Day weekend. Since Connie was coming out here a few days later anyway, she decided to come to the reunion, and I convinced Tiff to go as well. (Andy couldn't go, because he was working.) A bunch of the family ended up not coming, but it was fun to get to know some of the cousins that we haven't spent a lot of time with before. The cabin was at Palisade Reservoir in Idaho, and it was amazing! It had a deck that wrapped all the way around, and the views out all sides were super beautiful.

 

On of the days we were there, we went on a hike to a waterfall that is supposed to be like a geyser-type thing. Apparently at certain times of year it only runs every 12 minutes. I guess we were too early in the year, because it was continuously running when we were there, but I love to hike anyway, so I wasn't complaining!

 

I didn't get a photo of our group from the front...but here most of them are all walking back down the trail after we saw the waterfall.

Going to Miss These Mountains!

Last week we drove up Payson canyon to find a site for the upcoming Father-Kid campout that Andy is in charge of in our ward. It was so green and beautiful up there! I will definitely miss our mountains when we move to Florida.

The kids couldn't wait to get out of the car and play, and then they didn't want to get back in.

A friendly picnic table took an auto-timer photo for us. I would LOVE to go back here soon in nicer clothers/with our hair done to take real family photos. However, for getting one chance with the auto-timer, at least everyone was looking!

Over the 4th of July weekend we finally went camping with Todd and Tiff (something we've been talking about doing for, well, years). Todd's sister and family came with us, and it was great because they have 5 kids, so our kids had a blast playing with them the whole time we were there. The kids were FILTHY. Like super gross. But they had fun, and that's the most important thing. It's kind of a strange feeling to go camping only 20 minutes from your house, but the mountains are just so close! I told Andy we've wasted the opportunity. We've lived her for 4 years and never gone. We've always meant to, and just never done it. I think this is something we'll do more of before we go.

Ally thought she was one of the big kids, and ran around all over the place. She even hiked all the way around the lake without needing to be picked up. Needless to say, after that hike she needed a nap. I put her in the tent and wasn't sure she would sleep because I left all the windows open to get a breeze blowing, so she could totally see us sitting around outside. She fell asleep anyway. She was THAT tired.

May

May was one of those months where everything is super hectic and crazy and you're just ready for a new month to begin.

Kylee tripped in the street and broker her teeth...

...but luckily the dentist was able to fix them with cavity-filling stuff temporarily. So far so good, so we'll see how long it lasts. They are her permanent teeth, so eventually she'll need a more permanent fix as well.

Then when our neighbor was here painting our basement he came upstairs and said, "Uh, Terra? Is there supposed to be water down here?" Yep. Kylee somehow managed to take a shower with ALL the water pouring out onto the floor. It ruined the vinyl flooring and baseboards, and went all the way through to the basement. Thank heavens the bathroom downstairs is right below this one, and it WAS NOT finished yet! The custom cabinets that we just paid an arm and two legs for were still in the garage waiting to be installed, so they weren't ruined. Phew!

Also in May we found out my sister Tiff has breast cancer, and that Andy got into grad school early and we're moving to Florida this Fall. We sold 1/2 the stuff we own and put our home up for sale. Definitely a crazy stressful time!

Random

Ally thinks she is quite the climber, and gets up on everything. Often she can't get back down, but that doesn't stop her at all.

Springville splash pad is always fun.

Ally thinks she needs to feed herself ALL THE TIME now. She won't eat  unless she can do it herself. This makes for some really huge messes, but at least she likes food!

One day I was making lunch and Skyler said "Mom! Mom! Ally is climbing!" I turned around and she had somehow managed to climb into her high chair all by herself. She was super proud of herself, but I have no idea how she got up there!