For Some Must Push, and Some Must Pull...

There is a cute LDS children's song that goes like this:

You don't have to push a handcart,

Leave your family dear,

Or walk a thousand miles or more...

To be a pioneer.

You do need to have great courage,

Faith to conquer fear,

And work with might for a cause that's right,

To be a pioneer.

For those who aren't familiar with this newer LDS activity, let me explain briefly. In an attempt to remember our pioneer heritage and learn appreciation for their dedication and sacrifice to preserve our religious beliefs, we reenact on a small scale a "Trek" that helps us remember the pioneers.

My great, great, great grandparents traveled for 1300 miles (or more) to the Salt Lake Valley in the late 1800's. Most walked across the plains of Iowa, Nebraska and Wyoming with wagon trains or handcarts. Many died and others suffered illness or gave birth along the way. It was a true test of their faith. We honor them every July when we celebrate Pioneer Day on July 24.

So, our local congregation gathered together with seven others to arrange this experience. It's solely for the youth in our church ages 14-18. All told we had about 130 kids attend. Eric and I were asked to be one set of parents, herein after called Ma's and Pa's. There were ten couples and the kids were randomly assigned to one of the ten families. We had 12 kids to share our trek experience with, and only one of them we already knew.

On Thursday morning, we left our home at 6 a.m. to travel to the desert in Southwestern Arizona (halfway between Gila Bend and Yuma along I-8). Here we are, still early in the morning, still clean, still cool...

My new "daughters"... they were delightful!

We started off playing some get to know you games, and then put together our handcart. Then began the long journey for the day. The first day's walk would be 10 miles. It took 4-5 miles to get to this mountain range and then we walked through it before stopping for the night.

I don't know this girl, but I saw her resting on the side of the road and just had to capture this moment...One of our trail bosses brought an extra horse that ran around like a puppy... she was so dang cute, she would run up behind you and nuzzle your neck so you'd pet her. We all loved it!After walking 10 miles, even the girly girls laid down to sleep right on the rocky dirt.Walking through the desert landscape - almost done for the day!Sunset in the desertTaylor - with his Trek FamilyOur Pa...Taylor still smiling on day two... check out that bedhead!Our family hard at work pulling through the deep sand... the sand proved to be the biggest trial of the entire trip.Taking a break on the side of the trailGetting some practice in for our evening entertainment... these girls were so talented... My kids helping me to prep our chickens... the boys enjoyed eating the neck and giblets while we separated out the good chicken for the soup. It was sorta like Pioneer Fear Factor!A much deserved rest on the afternoon of day 2. The kids got to do various activities, including archery, black powder rifle shooting, leatherworking and best of all - hairwashing. Just about everyone (including the boys) got their hair washed... it never felt so good, believe me!

But the highlight of the afternoon was when a truck rolled into camp with 2 bags of ice for each family. We'd been drinking warm water for 24 hours and when it's 90+ degrees, there's no shade and you are wearing heavy warm clothing, a bag of ice for the water cooler was like getting manna from heaven! It was indeed the perfect surprise for our overheated bodies!After the afternoon festivities, we ate our delicious Chicken and Dumplin's soup and peach cobbler. Both were fantastic and for the first time in two days, we didn't have to ration out the food. We had leftovers! That evening we had a fireside testimony meeting. The spirit was strong and many tears were shed!

Just after the testimony meeting was when we had our only encounter with wildlife... some kids found a sidewinder rattlesnake under the porta potty trailer. The menfolk quickly killed and disposed it. Couldn't risk someone getting bit... But of course, this happened just before bedtime, so quite a few of us had a difficult time falling asleep wondering how many other dangerous creatures were lurking in the shrubs.This is our family on the morning of the 3rd day... we had 3 miles to walk and then we would be fed a hot lunch of sloppy joes back at the cars. Our kids ran the last mile, just so they could be done and rest!

All in all, it was a fantastic experience. Over 3 days we truly got a glimpse of what our pioneer ancestors were willing to sacrifice. We learned the hardships of life on the trail. We learned how they must have suffered in the heat with their long skirts and petticoats and no air conditioning.

Many very important life lessons were learned. Remember this is a group of kids who are part of the "entitlement" generation... between cell phones, ipods, computers and video games, most of these kids don't know what a hard day of true labor is. Every single one of them now know what it means to work hard. They all now know what it's like to see the fruit of their labors. They all know how much effort is put into preparing meals and cleaning up. They now all appreciate things like hot showers, flushing toilets, fast food, soft mattresses and air conditioning. They have all learned the value of teamwork and cooperation. Without those two things, we never would have survived this Trek.

Would we do it again? Absolutely! It was definitely a character building experience. It was a privilege for Eric and I to be part of such a wonderful adventure!

Preparation

In less than 24 hours, we'll be in the desert of Southwest Arizona pushing/pulling a handcart with a dozen teenagers. The preparation for this trip has been unbelievable. From tracking down dutch ovens, to buying second hand pioneer style clothes, to researching stories from our pioneer ancestors who walked with wagons or handcarts over 1300 miles in the mid 1800's.

I've barely had time to get on the computer. I've barely had time to do any of my RS responsibilities. I've barely had time to eat and sleep. I'm tired, and we haven't even left yet! I've been to four different Walmarts in the last 3 days and back to my local one 3 more times. I've been to every store imaginable in the valley looking for a stockpot that meets our criteria.

Eric made a dutch oven dessert last night in the backyard... click here for recipes... we did "Good Bars". They were indeed, good. ;-)

My younger three are packing their suitcases for their "extra long" playdate (3 days) with our dear friends. Overnighters are always hard for my boys. They want to sleep over, but have anxiety about being away from Eric and I. Usually Taylor is Ian's "rock" and Taylor won't be there this time. Hope it goes smoothly.... last night there was a lot of tears, but today they are doing okay.

At 5:30 a.m. we'll have 2 dozen people converging on our culdesac, wearing their pioneer finest, and expecting donuts from our recently opened Krispy Kreme. I hope they don't wake up my neighbors!

Megan has her first official babysitting job on Saturday. I'm excited for her but a bit nervous too. It's one thing for her to watch my kids, it's another thing to send her out to someone else's home to be responsible for someone else's babies... I just need to trust her... I know she can handle it!

I'll post again when I return and probably not until I've slept for a day or two... I don't anticipate getting a lot of quality sleep on this trip... mostly due to my fears about sleeping on the ground with the "creepy crawlies"... please pray for us not to have any encounters with anything frightening or dangerous!

Absent

Disclaimer: It's taken me almost 48 hours to get this dang post typed and uploaded...


There are quite a few things that have kept me from the computer this week. The first and foremost is the Trek related task that I've not been able to disclose due to the "confidentiality waver" we signed a month ago (just kidding about the waver, but we were sworn to secrecy)... For Sunday night's Youth Trek Fireside, the main event was introducing the "Ma's and Pa's" to the group. No one will know who is in what family until we get to our destination, but we did a little "skit" to show the kids we are cool and able to laugh at ourselves (at least I think that was the purpose!)





Unfortunately, Eric and I scored a spot on the 3rd row back, so we are basically invisible to the camera, but I promise we are up there doing the Thriller dance in our pioneer throwbacks! Since my teenager didn't follow my "videotaping" instructions, the dance is spliced into two videos and I can only get blogger to upload the second video - I've attempted the first video three times to no avail... so it's cheesy and short, but gives you an idea of what kind of humiliation we subjected ourselves to!




We've been practicing our Michael Jackson dance moves for weeks... and I didn't realize how much this little "dance number" must have been secretly stressing me out... Sunday night after the fireside, I got everyone to bed and then crashed and slept 12 hours!!!! And no, I wasn't sick! And yes, it did feel WONDERFUL!!!


This is another little chore that's been keeping me away from the computer the last few days. Off and on over the last two weeks, I've been trying to get the grout on my kitchen floor clean so we could seal it. I can't count the number of hours I've spent on my hands and knees scrubbing grout with softsoap and a toothbrush. Today I can say that it's finally finished and I'm thrilled! I hope this project won't require my attention again for a few years!





In addition to grout scrubbing and sealing, I got on a decluttering/purging/dejunking kick on Monday afternoon (after sleeping 12 hours straight!) We went through all the kids bedrooms on Monday and purged and cleaned. Then on Tuesday and Wednesday I worked on the downstairs. I've delivered bags of clothes, toys and other items to six different families in our ward and I have a trunkful to take to Enrichment tonight. (We are having a "freecycle table"... bring your junk, shop for things you need out of other's peoples junk, and the rest goes to Goodwill.)

My parents just got here for a long weekend, so blogging will be minimal for a few days.
Hopefully, I'll get a post in of Megan's birthday party - we are having an "Amazing Race" in our neighborhood, which should be a lot of fun. The weather will be perfect too - partly cloudy and 80 degrees.

The Force, New Shoes, "Ma" Training and Lost

Yesterday a friend needed me to take her to the mall (she needed to pick up an engraved gift for someone and her car was in the shop). I hate going to the mall, and I'd already planned my afternoon in my head, which did not include leaving the house.....


but.....


then I had this brilliant idea......


we could go shoe shopping! After reading Sheri's post about cute heels, I've been itching to get some new shoes... you know, something cute and stylish. (Anyone who knows my tastes in clothes and shoes will be falling on the floor in shock! I'm all about it being cheap, practical and comfortable.) So, I said, "Yes, I'll take you to the mall, and if we have time, you can help me look for some new shoes!"


Deal.


No more than 5 seconds after we entered Macy's, Brayden announced that he had to "go potty". So we hurried to the nearest bathroom while my friend picked up her gift. I drug Brayden into the Women's restroom, which he hates... he wants to use the boy's bathroom even when there isn't a "bigger" boy to escort him.


After he took care of business, I held him up to the sink so we could wash hands. I put him down and swiped my hand in front of the automatic paper towel dispenser machine. I got a towel for me and a towel for him. I should have known that wouldn't be good enough for him, so he held his hand in front of the sensor so another towel would come out. When it magically appeared, he said to me, "Mom, I got the towel like a Jedi. The Force!" It was hilarious... My biggest regret is that I didn't have a camera handy to take a picture of him using the "force" to get his towel.

After our detour to the bathroom, we hit a couple stores looking for shoes. I'm not really willing to pay more than $30 for shoes (unless they are running shoes). I didn't think I was going to find anything until we were on our way out any my friend saw a sign in the window of the Naturalizer store... Clearance up to 70% off... so we stopped in. I actually found 4 pairs of shoes that I loved- all were under $40, but I ended up buying this one:

It was $79, marked down to $23, which fit the "cheap" requirement. It was comfortable (suprisingly!) and it's practical, too! It looked good with the jeans I had on, and it will look good with brown trousers and church dresses. So, Sheri, I hope you are proud... I still want to go shoe shopping together soon, though!

Last night, Eric and I attended our first Trek Training. We were "hand picked" (so they say...) to chapperone a dozen teenagers on a 3 day Pioneer Trek Re-enactment for our Youth Conference this March. There are a lot of things about Trek that are kept secret from the kids before they go, so I won't be able to spill my guts about it right now, but suffice it to say that Eric and I are going to be pulled "WAY" out of our comfort zones... and we are both very comfortable with sleeping on the ground, digging a hole to pee in, and cooking over a campfire.



We will have a fireside with the Youth on February 15th, where the "Ma's" and "Pa's" will be introduced to the kids and we will have to be properly decked out in our pioneer garb for that night. I imagine we'll be doing a lot of perusing Savers, GoodWill and Deseret Industries before then, looking for just the right clothing. ;-) (Those of you who know Eric well, know that he wouldn't be caught dead in a store like that....) and shopping for 1800's period wear won't be the hardest thing we have to do for this adventure....

And last but not least, I'm giddy with excitement... only seven more hours until Lost begins!!!