Pioneer Trek

Last fall, when we were asked to be a Ma and Pa on the trek, I'll admit, I had a bad attitude. I remembered very clearly how difficult our last trek was and I wasn't super excited to repeat it. Plus, this was a 5 stake trek with many trainings and firesides in Farmington on Sunday evenings. (2 hours away)Hauling our 3 little kids to all those meetings sounded completely awful. (And it was.) Not to mention two Saturdays that were totally dedicated to building all the handcarts for our stake. By the time this thing would be all said and done, I counted up over 40 hours of JUST DRIVING. That is not including time spent on the trek, time in trainings, firesides, practicing dances, reading about ancestors, packing or preparing. Just driving. And all of this on top of normal, busy crazy life with already very time consuming callings. It felt SO overwhelming. Enough to make me cranky. I felt like we were asked out of default because Travis is at all of those stake meetings. When you're asked to do something hard and time consuming for the church, feeling like you were asked out of inspiration and not desperation, helps. I suppose we could have been asked by inspiration but it's not how it came across to me. So yes, I complained... mostly just to my husband... but still. And yes, I drug my feet. My heart was definitely not in it. But as the firesides started passing and we got closer and closer to actually GOING, my spirits lifted. I could feel myself getting excited. The Sunday before the trek we had one last fireside for just the Ma's and Pa's. That's when we got the list of kids in our trek "family". We had 11... 5 boys and 6 girls, but we only knew a couple of them. And the two that we knew were awesome kids. I was finally EXCITED. I could feel the anticipation and I knew this was going to be great.

The only hitch was that at the same time I was also waiting for my little sister, Marcie, to have her baby. A couple of months before, she had invited me to be in the delivery room when she had it. I felt so honored. How special to actually witness the birth! I've never been able to do that before. To say I was excited would be a huge understatement! This was monumental to me. She wasn't due for 3 weeks, but she had been feeling contractions and was worried she'd have her baby early. I put it out of my mind because I was so busy and just couldn't worry about it. I didn't have time to stress about one more thing! Well, the day we were supposed to leave, came. We were going to drive to Colorado on Tuesday night so we could show up at 8am at the trek site on Wednesday morning. Tuesday morning, I woke up to a text from Marcie saying she was up all night with contractions and would be calling her doctor when they opened. My stomach dropped. How could this be happening??! I couldn't miss this! Right then, I started scheming. I had cleaned my house the day before and done almost everything I needed to prepare already. I had just saved one last trip to the grocery store and packing for that day. After Collin and Weston were at preschool and summer camp, I would hurry to Walmart, pack, then drive to Mesa. Even if I had to drive straight to Colorado from Mesa that night, I could do it! I could make it! I would get my kids farmed out for the rest of the day with friends and just meet Travis in Cortez that night. I kept playing this out in my head as I rushed around Wal-Mart getting last minute things. On the way home, that song "I Wanna Go Home" came on the radio and I totally started crying. I SO wanted to go home!!! Right after that, I got a text from Marcie saying her water broke and contractions were coming fast so they were on the way to the hospital. My heart broke! I knew there was no way I would make it in time. I completely lost it, sobbing my eyes out. I called her, crying, and wished her well. She had her baby just 2 hours later. I ugly cried and felt sorry for myself for the rest of the day. I know it seems like I was being dramatic and I don't know how to explain it, but I was just truly and completely heart broken. I couldn't even remember the last time I had been that sad. And I knew no one else cared or understood. It probably wouldn't seem like such a big deal to anyone else. But it was to me. It was the biggest deal. A really special, even sacred, experience that I didn't get to be a part of. And all because of the trek. If it weren't for the trek, I would have packed up my kids the day before when she said she thought she was in labor, just to be safe. But instead, I was on my way to Colorado that night. A good friend, Anjane, who happened to text me that morning, gave me a call when she found out what was going on. It really helped to talk to her and feel like someone really cared and understood a little of how I felt. She said she knew Heavenly Father wouldn't let me miss something so important without having a reason. There had to be a purpose. And maybe there was something we would do for these kids that superceeded the importance of me being at Scarlett's delivery.  I thought about that and wondered if she was right. I hoped she was because it gave meaning to the trial and eased the sting a bit. It would just be hard to quantify my "value" as a leader there. But I decided to have faith that she was right. At any rate, it was finally time to leave and find out.
We had to pack all our personal belongings into a 10 gallon bucket.. also our chair for the next 4 days. We could also pack a sleeping bag, heavy coat and blanket, but no pads or pillows. As Ma and Pa, we were also in charge of a long list of kitchen items, tarps, flashlights, first aid kits, etc. The cooking committee were in charge of some meals, but we were in charge of cooking the majority of them with our own family.

Travis's parents were SO incredible and drove up to Gallup to stay with our kids while we were gone. We wouldn't have been able to do it without them. We were beyond grateful. I felt bad, but when they pulled in, we basically pulled out. We drove a couple of hours to Cortez, grabbed a DQ Blizzard and stayed the night at the Baymont Inn.

The next morning, we donned our pioneer clothes, ate the continental breakfast (At which everyone stared, but no one asked us why we were dressed that way! I was hoping for a missionary experience. They probably just thought we were weirdo polygamists.), then made a quick stop for ice at Wal-mart before driving the hour past Delores, into the mountains.
While we drove, I read in a book I have about my great, great, great, great grandma, Louisa Barnes Pratt. Her husband was called on a mission to the Tahitian Islands and so she crossed the plains by herself with her 4 daughters. I thought the following excerpt was so powerful.

"At length the time came that we must leave our beloved Temple, Our City, and our homes. I forbear to dwell upon the solemn dread which took possession of my mind. Almon Babbit called to see me. I asked him if he could divine the reason why those who had sent my husband to the ends of the earth did not call to inquire, whether I could prepare myself for such a perilous journey, or if I wished to go or stay? His reply was, "Sister Pratt, they expect you to be smart enough to go yourself without help, and even to assist others." The remark awakened in me, a spirit of self reliance. I replied, "Well, I will show them what I can do."
Wowwww. It gave me chills and filled me with the same feelings of self reliance. I loved this lady already.
Then. I read this next couple of incidents while they were on the plains....

"The brethren met by themselves, organized and chose a president without the aid or counsel of the women. This evening, the sisters propose to organize themselves into a distinct body, to prove to the men that we are competent to govern ourselves. If they set the example of separate interests, we must help carry it out."
Hahahah! Ohhh man. I didn't know feminism was alive and well back then! Especially not in my ancestor! I was dying over this and loved her even more.
Then! It progresses....

"Last evening the ladies met to organize. Mrs. Isaac Chase was called to the chair. She was also appointed President by a unanimous vote. Mrs. L.B. Pratt Counsellor and scribe. Several resolutions were adopted. 1st Resolved, that when the brethren call on us to attend prayers, get engaged in conversation and forget what they called us for, that the sisters retire to some convenient place, pray by themselves and g about their business. 2nd if the men wish to hold control over women let them be on the alert. We believe in equal rights."
Ha! Okay, soooo she was a bit of a stinker it seems! ;) I told Travis that I'm going to assume the men were being equal stinkers in a domineering fashion to warrant such a response from the women. I don't know. But it's kinda funny.
Finally, the last excerpt I'll include because little did I know how applicable it would become! (In fact, I shared this one with our kids while we were trekking when one girl wondered out loud if the pioneers ever had to walk in such bad mud as we did. Um, I think yes!"

"Yesterday we travelled over the most intolerable roads! It was a query in my mind, how the first company going as they did early in the spring ever forced their way through so much mud! I was led to exclaim, what is there in all the world the Mormons will not attempt to do?"
I cannot love this stuff enough. She was such a firecracker. I'm so ancy to finish the whole book now!

Back to the drive....
It was beautiful country, and we had to pause a few places for cattle to mosey on past.

We pulled into base camp right at 8am. We were told where to park and unload and wait for a trailer to come pick up our stuff. That's when I took these pictures. (The last time we would be dry for a long time!)





Well, we waiting for about 15 minutes and then it came. The sprinkles fell from the sky until they poured from it. We took refuge in our cars until it was obvious the rain wasn't stopping and the kids were showing up. From there on, it felt like chaos. Mud. covered. chaos. As a whole we were split into 5 companies and assigned a couple as company commaders. We were in the Kirtland company, so we had green bandanas. There were 9 families in each company, making 45 families of 11-12 kids total. We tried to find our kids as they checked in and gather together to put together our handcarts. It took a couple of hours just to do that.

And the rain kept coming. Then we spread out tarps over the wagon, connecting to a fence and huddled underneath, eating our sack lunches and playing get to know you games. (Two of our boys forgot their lunches, so Trav and I split up our lunch for them and the other kids piled on the food for them too.) It was kind of miserable and I kept wondering why this was happening. Such a hard way to start the trek! And especially after fasting and praying so much for good weather. The Gallup stake kids came in on buses and I guess they got stuck in the mud and the drivers wouldn't keep going. So after a mayday call went out, trucks drove out to get them and bring them in.  Once everyone was there, they sent us up into the mountain with our handcarts and off into the woods. It was rough, taking those handcarts up that steep hill. Communication was spotty and no one knew what was going on. Come to find out, neither did the company commanders! Not even a mile up the road, they had us veer off and set up camp wherever we could find a spot amongst the trees. Ramping those handcarts up the side of the road was fairly treacherous! We had to back up and then almost run up it to have enough momentum to make it to the top. We spent the next hour or two stringing tarps up into the trees, trying to cover up muddy areas with pine needles and getting our stuff out of the handcart. This is where we'd be spending the night.

(Summer, Briley, Cheyenne, Christie, Kadie, and Elsie)

(Ryan, Garrett, Stephan, Riley, Isaac and "Pa")

Then we were sent back down the mountain with our handcarts to get our kitchen stoves and gear and then go back up to add it to our makeshift "camps". Now, remembering that there were 600+ of us, this took all afternoon. There was a lot of stopping and waiting your turn.  Finally, at 6pm, the rain let up and we were back down the mountain to start our actual trekking. Such a blessing that the rain stopped for that! We were given some apples and oranges and about 4 Jolly Ranchers each. And off we went into the mud. Thankfully, we didn't have all our gear in the carts to make it worse. Just coats and the water cooler. Even still, trudging through that mud was hard! It just clung to your shoes like babies to their momma's legs. And it legitimately made our feet 10 lbs heavier. When it would get too heavy to even move, you'd try to kick it off, but just the effort of that was work. You'd finally get a chunk off, let out of sigh of relief, only to be back where you started in 4 or 5 steps. At times the mud would suction your shoes to the ground and you'd strain to lift each foot. One of our girls kept losing her shoes in the mud and have to be re-laced into them. Other times it was straight slippery and you'd slip in the muck.

 It was stop and go for a little over 3 hours. The kids were in good spirits and everyone talked the whole way. Around 9 or 9:30pm we all started piling up in a large clearing. There were port-a- potties and water if you needed it. I think we were all wondering what was going to happen next. We were exhausted and hungry. Most of the kids sat down wherever they could find a semi-dry spot. Then we were told it was time to turn around and go back the way we came! Ohhhhh, fun. I had one girl ask if she could ride in the cart. I wasn't sure if she was joking or serious but decided to laugh hysterically like it had to be a joke. It was very dark by then and I walked in front, lighting the way with our lantern. The way back was much quieter. I think everyone was digging deep in their reserves and just trying to make it through. We still had to stop periodically when the train got held up. Near the end, at one stop, I looked over at Trav and noticed he had sweat literally pouring off his face. He looked so beat. I knew he must be pulling that cart on his own. I felt terrible. And should have made one of the kids trade me so I could help him. I think that was my only regret looking back. Around 12 or 12:30am we got back to camp. We were so wet, filthy and exhausted. The cooking crew had HUGE pots of this rice and chicken soup for us and a WHOLE box of crackers for each family. It was a feast!! We couldn't believe how much food we were getting. (I mean comparatively.. lets not get crazy ;) On our last trek it was a cup of broth and some people got a little roll. We gathered together to eat and I was amazzzzed that some of the girls didn't even finish. I felt like I had gotten extra so I handed it off to Stephan. After that, we got back to the cart and pulled it up the hill to our shelter. Almost all of us fit under one tarp that we hung in an "A" shape. But Travis and three of the boys had to sleep under the other one. Once we were into our sleeping bags (really missing my pillow!), I fell right asleep. I tossed and turned a little bit, but for the most part, slept hard. So hard, that I was completely unaware that the heavens apparently opened and poured their bounty from 1:30-4:30am. And from what I was told it really did just POUR. The two kids on the ends of our tarp got wet, but the rest of us stayed remarkably dry. Poor kids! Travis came over to wake me up for our Ma and Pa meeting at 6am. Oi! I wasn't such a happy camper, until he covered me in kisses. :) Being married to the sweetest Pa was a huge help. We were told that the idea of that day was to hike for a couple hours and do the women's pull. The afternoon was scheduled with pioneer games and the hoe down that night. But first, breakfast! We walked down the brown river of a road to get what I think was supposed to be pancakes. But they had enough left over rice soup that we got that instead... only a fraction of the portion. Oh, and ONE cracker. After that, we had our family scripture study and devotional time. I loved that. The kids were awesome and willing to share their thoughts with us. I wish we had had more opportunities like that. By then, it was time to load up the handcart and start our second day of trekking.
Of course that meant lots of starting and stopping down the mountain. Since it wasn't raining I decided to bust out my camera. :)
(The next chunk of pictures are ones I took. Basically in this post, if there's a picture that I'm in, the trek photographer took it, otherwise it's one of mine.)

Our company commanders, Bro. and Sis. Signs. Bro. Signs was a hoot. We really liked them.

After we got down the mountain, the gave us our apples, oranges and lunch for later and we pulled off the side of the road. And waited. And waited. And waited.
With so much time on our hands, it's only natural to take more pictures. :)

Once again, plans were being changed. We watched as each company turned around and headed back up the mountain with just the girls pulling. It was women's pull time. We were the last ones! We gathered around as a company to hear the instructions that the men were being called away on the Mormon Battalion.

 Us girls headed back to the cart and I could see terror in Elsie's eyes. She suggested we say a prayer. I was on the bar directly in front of the cart with dainty, slight Kaydi next to me. And we started pulling. And I'll be darned if Kaydi didn't give it everything she had. I was SO impressed with her and Elsie and the other girls. It was hard in the mud and I was given new respect for those boys who I knew did the majority of the pulling yesterday.

As we crested the hill, the boys who had been watching on the sidelines, swarmed around us, offering to take over. I was so proud of the girls... they were grateful for the help, but didn't want to give up their places and switch with the boys. And we made it up the last muddy embankment without running anyone over! Lots of hugs and high fives! Now it was sometime after noon and it was time to feast!! We had been given a large lunch of hoagie rolls, thick slices of ham and an entire wheel of cheese! I mean, an army of mice could have eaten on that thing for ages. We each got a roll, a slice of ham and a serious wedge of cheese. I was sooooo happy. Spirits were up! But, right about then, it started again.... the blue skies move away and what seemed like a perfect day suddenly became overcast and rainy. We all piled under the tarp, sitting on our buckets and started playing games. Well the rain kept coming and even got worse. It began to hail and hailed for like 15 minutes! We slowly kept inching closer and closer together as the rain and wind created the need. We started playing psychiatrist. I had compiled a list of get to know you questions and we asked and answered them all. As the rain kept up, I found myself wondering what would happen. Certainly we couldn't play pioneer games or have a hoe down. Even if the rain stopped, there is no way the extreme mud outside our tarps would allow for any activities. The rain paused just long enough that we decide to hike down the mountain to the "Trading Post". There, you could answer some gospel questions and earn a fudge making kit. AND memorize a hymn to get a big pickle. (Even though the general consensus by the kids was that pickles were ga-ross. Well, WE still ate ours with Stephan!) So we slid down the mountain to the Trading Post tent and did our deeds, just in time for it to start raining again. Ugh! Rain, rain, go away, come again another day! Back we went to our tarps to make fudge and play more games.
(And do some back massaging service to earn a treat for later)

 A while after this, Travis saw a strange sight. A loaded up wagon, heading down the mountain. Then we saw another. And noticed in general... well, movement. So he headed out to get more information. Apparently, we were the last to know (our company commanders were awesome people but mayyyybe not the best at getting announcements out), that the orders were to pack up camp because we were going to a barn in Cortez for the night.
(OK, back story... we didn't know this at the time, but our friends the Cashs, who were company commanders told us later. I guess the leaders were not unaware of the rain and were realizing the same things we were... that this trek could not accomplish it's goals with the weather we were having. So they decided that we would spend one more night on the mountain, then have everyone pack up the next morning and transport everyone to the church building in Cortez. Before they started making phone calls, however, they prayed about it. April said that President Rogers offered up a very sincere, and heartfelt prayer. Immediately after he finished, the trail boss, Bro. Lusk, stood up and emphatically declared, "We're getting these kids off this mountain, NOW." The Durango company commanders had a HUGE hay barn in Cortez that they so generously offered up as refuge for the night and the next day.)
Once we heard the announcement, we started taking everything down. It was then that I realized there was NO way we would have been able to sleep there that night. Our A-frame tent that most of us had slept under the night before was sagged to the ground, with buckets of water piled up on top. The floor was a swamp. Everything was such a mess. I was SO grateful we were spared that misery! After we got the handcart pack to the hilt, we did what we did best... WAITED. Green was the last company allowed to go down and somehow it ended up that we were the absolute LAST family to come off the mountain. This last climb down the embankment was the worst yet. I would even say it was a bit dangerous. You just can't even describe this kind of mud. The kids holding the ropes on the back of the cart were essentially mud skiing, as they held on tight and dug their feet in, only to be drug the whole way down, seemingly against their will.

I wondered what the scene would be like once we hit base camp. We had over 500 youth and 100 adults that needed to be transported an hour into Cortez. How was that supposed to happen?? I was so surprised to see almost no other companies and the majority of the handcarts already taken apart and loaded onto trailers. It was a picture of relative organization. Albeit, filthy organization. We pulled our cart to the side and unloaded everything onto tarps so we could take the handcart apart. Then, I noticed Sis. Lusk with a radio, directing incoming trucks and families. There was a steady line of trucks coming into camp, loading up people's gear and kids and heading out. It might come across as superficial, but another thing I noticed was that these were NICE trucks.  I got us into the line and before long, we had 2 trucks assigned to our family, getting our stuff thrown into the back, kids assigned places and leaving. Travis took a few of our kids in our own car, but they wanted me to go with the rest of our kids in another truck. As we pulled out of camp, I was shocked to see a long line of vehicles stopped up the road, waiting for their turn to help. I realized there were more cars than people left at camp and that many of these strangers would probably have to turn around with no one in their cars. I felt so bad that they had made the drive, just to be told to go home. It wasn't until after the trek that we heard the whole story. When the Durango stake president heard that we needed help, he called his wards in Cortez. I guess there was a big Relief Society activity going on that night that they canceled. And asked every able person who had a truck to drive to where we were to rescue us. And oh did they respond. The president said when he got off work that evening, he hopped in his truck and headed out, expecting to have to make multiple trips that night back and forth from the trek site to the barn in Cortez. Well, he only had to do it once. The outpouring of help from those members was incredible. No one held back. And as we drove away from base camp, in a nice, clean, capable truck, completely filthy, wet and exhausted, I could not have felt more grateful. In fact, I can't even think about it without crying. Obviously, no one was in serious danger. If we had had to sleep on the mountain that night, no one would have died. But the feeling of being rescued from a miserable situation by which we couldn't have helped ourselves out of, was so humbling. I can't even do justice to the immense gratitude that we felt. And no one was grumbling! All these drivers were getting their nice, new, leather interiors muddy. They gave up their Friday night. Drove an hour over slippery, muddy roads and an hour back out, making it really late in the night for some. And they were so happy about it! Honestly, everyone I saw was more than cheerful to be helping. The man I rode with was super friendly and happy to be driving us. He told me a little about this family that owned the barn too... the Smiths. He's apparently a multi-millionaire and this "barn" that we would be staying in cost $1.5 million dollars. His own, beautiful house was just up the road from it, on his 100+ acre property. They have 6 kids. Two their own and 4 adopted. Just a really neat, humble family. And actually their daughter was in our friend's "family" on the trek.

When we pulled up, it was obvious that this place was perfect. However they weren't able to move some of the hay left in the barn, so the majority of the kids slept in the main barn, our company slept in a massive garage attached to it on the other side.

 And another company slept in a separate garage up the road. As we walked into the garage we would be sleeping in, I realized that there were rocks lining the ground. And after we laid down our tarps and sleeping bags, I took off my shoes and tried walking. Yeah, not a pleasant experience! I was exclaiming, "Oo! Ahh! Ouch!" the whole time. I wondered how one earth we were going to SLEEP on these rocks if I couldn't even WALK on them! Around 10:30pm, the "dinner" got passed out. 3 loaves of bread with a jar of peanut butter and jelly and a bag of carrots. I sat down on my sleeping bag, with buckets for tables and started making 15+ peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. And they were amazing.

(Riley and Isaac had formed an instant friendship on the trek and were wrestling and acting like little kids all night. I don't know where he got the caffeine, but Riley sure had energy!)

We probably got to bed sometime after midnight and you know what? We slept better than we ever thought possible. I was in shock when I woke up Friday morning! I thought I would have tossed and turned, but I may as well been sleeping on clouds. SUCH a blessing.

For breakfast we got.... can you guess? Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Basically we got to eat anything we didn't finish the night before. Yum.

That morning we had a company meeting, then had "Solo Time". This was when the kids got letters from their parents and spread out over a field to read their scriptures, journal and ponder what had happened so far.

Travis was really sweet and wrote me a letter for this. He is truly the most thoughtful man. After that, we had some time for a testimony meeting for our family. We gathered in a circle on our buckets and each kid told the story of the ancestor they were walking for. I was really impressed with how seriously some of the kids took this. I was grateful for the chance I had to talk to them then and bear my testimony. The spiritual side of trek is really powerful. They also had a man come in from Texas to do a "trapper presentation", as he called it.

He is LDS, a bishop, a championship boxer, and apparently richy rich, although that's not really important. :) He also traps animals as a hobby. He came dressed in his mountain man gear and had animal skins and some traps to show the kids. His presentation was about how Satan is trying to trap us, and we are the "coyotes" of the trapping world, aka, really hard to catch. Coyotes are hard to catch because they are very aware of their surroundings. The only way you can catch them is to hide the trap really well and make them comfortable with their surroundings. So he compared that to how Satan gets us very comfortable with sexual sin. He isn't going to be very successful at getting us to deny the Holy Ghost or murder anyone, but sexual sin is the next big downfall that he can trap us in. I thought it was really well done and an excellent analogy that I'll remember for a long time.

That afternoon, we also had the chance to visit the "blacksmith" who told us the story behind the Prairie Diamond and then made each of us our own ring.

(Oh, no big deal. Travis lost his wedding ring. 9 years. It's a pretty good run. That Prairie diamond came in handy.)

And also took family pictures. Finally, we all gathered as entire group to hear from the mission president and his wife, Pres. and Sis. Batt.

They gave a fireside about pioneers that was as inspiring as it was heart wrenching. I felt like they could be professional speakers for how well they did and how smoothly they spoke together, going back and forth between stories and principles of the gospel. Our family happened to be on the first row so it was nice to be so close. As they told the stories of their own ancestors who crossed the plains, the Spirit was SO strong. It is absolutely incredible what those saints endured. This whole experience of reading about the pioneers, learning our own heritage and hearing of others was such a powerful motivator and testimony builder. These people did not die in vain. They KNEW the gospel was true and they were willing to do ANYTHING to get to Zion, to a temple and make those sacred covenants. Hunger, leaving family, cold, suffering and death were not deterrents. Their faith is truly astounding. And such an immense strength to my own testimony. I know that those people are still helping us. I know that we have family beyond the veil who are HERE helping us! Goodness knows we need it. I can only pray I live up to their sacrifices and gifts to us. I know that that is MY responsibility.

After the fireside, everyone cleared up their sleeping bags and things to get ready to go. They shortened the trek by a day and had sent out word to all the parents and wards to get their kids at 3pm on Friday. Everyone that is except Gallup. The buses that were supposed to pick up the Gallup stake couldn't come earlier. I'll admit, I was bummed. A warm shower, good food and soft bed sounded reallllly nice. But then I decided that since I knew our kids were safe and taken care of, I couldn't complain about one more day with my hunny on "vacation" ;) 

Before everyone got picked up, though, we had our Hoe Down!! We had learned the Virginia Reel and one other dance and Travis was such a good sport (as he always is) to take me out on that concrete and DANCE!

We only had to spend a little bit of time grabbing boys and pushing together couples to get them out there. Teenagers! Sheesh! It was a mighty good time. And almost as an ironic message that it was 3pm and time to end, right as cars started showing up, it started raining!! Haha! Us Gallup folks took cover under the barn while the mass chaos of 4 other stakes leaving, commenced. But first, we had to gather up our family one last time for a big, group hug and to say goodbye! I really was so sad it was over. We got such great kids and I loved spending time with them. Parting is such sweet sorrow. ;)

After the last of them left, it was now time to entertain 100 or so kids who were kind of grumpy to still be there and wearing pioneer clothes. (Even though so many of the kids who left were complaining because THEY wanted to stay longer!) Getting them to keep them on was a bittt of a challenge. Thankfully, we had some leaders who were ready for a challenge and gathered them all together for some games. We also took them on a walk down the road to their own personal lake with a bridge and fun things to drool over. President Hine brought in sack lunches for everyone for dinner. Sub sandwiches, chips, drinks, and cookies. And around 7pm they set up a projector to watch Ephraim's Rescue on the side of the barn. This maaaay have been when April, Ashley and I snuck away to grab a DQ blizzard. And it's FINALLY when someone asked us why we were dressed that way! I was waiting for that! After the movie, the kids started playing "Wink 'em". It's that game where you sit in a circle (they sat on their buckets) with people lined up behind you and you try to pass a "wink" without the standing people noticing. When we receive the wink you have to bolt away before the person behind you can grab you and keep you there. Oh.my.gosh. They LOVED this game!! They played for hours and would have played all night if we had let them! There must have been just enough flirting with this winking and grabbing business to keep these kids extremely happy. It was almost comical. But also really nice, because that meant us grown ups just got to hang back and visit. :)
At one point when the kids were begging to stay up later, Kori told them that the first one to touch the rafters on the ceiling could stay up. Bad move! Kori of all people should have known better.!Literally in half a second, two boys had scampered up the hay and were looking ready to jump. I think my heart stopped as I screamed out, "Nooooo!!!" So they turned around and just touched the ones behind them. ;)

When it was finally time for bed, they had all the boys go into the garage and the girls stay in the barn. Us leaders lined our sleeping bags up in a line across the open wall area so no one could pass without stepping over us. No hanky panky going on here!

I must say, opening my eyes on Saturday morning was a welcome moment! Even if it was 5:30am. My final night sleeping on the ground with my contacts in. I could already taste breakfast. We got everyone packed up and the busses pulled in at 6:30am. Bu-bye kids!!!

There was still some organizing of all the left over, lost and found stuff and cleaning that had to be done. This was when impish Kory pulled down the swings and decided it was time for the leaders to have some fun!

We probably drove away around 9am and headed straight for the best breakfast place the Smiths could recommend. The Morenos, Valgardsons and Mortensens met us there. Trav and I split a breakfast burrito, eggs, and biscuits and gravy. Ahem, sorry, my mouth just filled with saliva again. But this is the best part. After we finished and bade our final farewell I told Trav that I could really go for a donut. So we stopped in at a grocery store so I could grab a couple. Well, this grocery store happened to have a flippin' WALL of gourmet donuts. So I may have left with a box. It's fine.

Bless my man's heart because he drove us all the way home slapping his face and pouring the sunflower seeds in while I snoozed!! I could.not. keep my eyes open.

Walking in the door, knowing the trek was now behind us was pretty surreal. Preparing for something for 9 months only to have it be finally over is the strangest feeling.

Wayne wasn't feeling very good so him and Paula left a couple hours after we got back. Love them so much! They certainly sacrificed for us, taking care of our 3 tornados while we were gone. We will always remember that.

I'll say I was only slightly bitter afterward, knowing that all the exhausted kids on the trek got to go home and SLEEP after it was over!! Not so much the case for the Ma's and Pa's! What we wouldn't have given for an afternoon nap. I guess we kind of got one... you know the 1/2 awake, 1/2 asleep kind you get when kids don't leave you alone.

Not sure how we had the energy, but we ended up meeting the Shaheens and Cashs at Fratellis for dinner that night. It was fun talking it all over with the Cashs and hearing their perspective on everything.

The next day, nay the whole next week! was just as, if not MORE exhausting than actual trek. My washing machine ran NON STOP for 3 solid days. Just spraying off 4 gargantuan, muddy tarps was enough work for a team. Unpacking and cleaning everything was such a task. On top of normal day to day caring for a family and being ridiculously tired still.

The next month we had a reunion fireside in Farmington. I wanted to give each of our kids something, so this is what I put together...

On the trek, the kids were supposed to come up with a family "name" and cheer. So we were dubbed the "Evans Almighty" as a play off that one movie.

So I thought it would be fun to give them each a copy. Except that it was a little pricy to do so. And I couldn't find a seller on Amazon that would ship 11 used copies in time for the fireside. I had even made an order then had to cancel it because they told me they couldn't ship them in time. Wellllll, the day before the fireside, a large package showed up on my doorstep, full of Evan Almighty DVD's!! I couldn't believe it! It was a trek miracle. ;) I wrote each of them a personal card and included a bookmark inside with some quotes about trek. I hope they liked it.

Only 6 of the 11 were able to come to the fireside, but it was so exciting to see them again! All fresh and clean and in normal clothes. ;) We were able to watch a video about the trek that was compiled from pictures and video that were taken of us. I loved it. It really brought the spirit of the trek home. I was SO incredibly grateful for this experience. Absolutely priceless. I wouldn't trade it for anything and it was completely worth every sacrifice. I don't think I will ever be able to talk about it without tearing up. HOWEVER, I kind of wanted to do heel clicks knowing it was over!! Haha. Although, I think it was just the next week when I found myself wishing we could do it again. I think my Aunt MaryAnn said it best when she commented on an Instagram picture of the trek I had posted and said, "Blessings await those who participate!" I couldn't agree more!!!!!