Lee and I were a "Ma & Pa" for the youth conference Pioneer Trek this last week. We inherited 9 great children for this event; (left to right) Zach, Seth, Cam, Dylan,
Cas, Brenda,
Atley,
Chyna, and
Gwenelle. Our packed handcart is behind them. Notice Lee's
ingenius tying of the water cooler on back for easy access.
It was a pretty awesome sight to see.
The scenery was beautiful.
At one point they sent the men off to war and left the "ladies" to make it up a HUGE hill by themselves. The girls in our group were like "how are we going to do this without the guys?", to which I of COURSE said "we can do this - you never know how strong you are until you're put to the test" . . . oh boy WERE we. They had the guys walk down the side of the hill in silence to witness the struggles, and strength of the sisters. Here's the front of our group - UGH!! When I leaned forward to push harder, I would step on the front of my dress, making it more difficult, so I held the hem of it in my hand to keep it out of the way. Let me tell YOU I have a new appreciation for the pioneers . . . and we had good weather - it was hot and very dusty, but nothing compared to what they had to deal with at times!! I can't imagine doing this pregnant or with a young family, possibly without shoes, or in the snow/or knee high mud - and with hardly any food. This was a huge hill, and as we crested it, we were ALL gasping for air and sweating our guts off. I was
sooooooooo glad to finally make it there (the top of the hill) - it seriously brought tears to my eyes. At another point later on in the trek, we were going up what they call "heartbreak hill" (yep) - we had our entire family this time, but it was tough! Right about when I felt like I seriously couldn't make it another step, 2 "angels" came out of the bushes to help . . . ANOTHER time I felt like crying . . . okay a few tears slipped down the old cheeks. We can all be "angels" to others by lifting their loads and helping them along their way. Also, I have to say that during heartbreak hill I looked off to the side of the trail and noticed some wild "forget me not" flowers, and felt that was significant since we were participating in the pioneer reenactment. It was as if the pioneers were speaking to me from the past saying "don't forget what we sacrificed so that you can enjoy the blessings of the gospel that you do today". It truly was a special experience.
This is a picture of Lee's legs after our long day on Friday. We went 10-12 miles with our handcart - which was stacked higher than most :). Mind you the ladies had pantaloons, a long dress, and an apron on (with 25 lbs. of "stuff" in each pocket) so it was extremely hot. Our legs looked the same way. It felt so good to wash up with baby wipes and put on some clean underwear . . . only to put the same dirty clothes back on :0. Next post will be pictures of the pioneer games we played Saturday.
Lee and I were a "Ma & Pa" for the youth conference Pioneer Trek this last week. We inherited 9 great children for this event; (left to right) Zach, Seth, Cam, Dylan, Cas, Brenda, Atley, Chyna, and Gwenelle. Our packed handcart is behind them. Notice Lee's ingenius tying of the water cooler on back for easy access.
It was a pretty awesome sight to see.
The scenery was beautiful.
At one point they sent the men off to war and left the "ladies" to make it up a HUGE hill by themselves. The girls in our group were like "how are we going to do this without the guys?", to which I of COURSE said "we can do this - you never know how strong you are until you're put to the test" . . . oh boy WERE we. They had the guys walk down the side of the hill in silence to witness the struggles, and strength of the sisters. Here's the front of our group - UGH!! When I leaned forward to push harder, I would step on the front of my dress, making it more difficult, so I held the hem of it in my hand to keep it out of the way. Let me tell YOU I have a new appreciation for the pioneers . . . and we had good weather - it was hot and very dusty, but nothing compared to what they had to deal with at times!! I can't imagine doing this pregnant or with a young family, possibly without shoes, or in the snow/or knee high mud - and with hardly any food. This was a huge hill, and as we crested it, we were ALL gasping for air and sweating our guts off. I was sooooooooo glad to finally make it there (the top of the hill) - it seriously brought tears to my eyes. At another point later on in the trek, we were going up what they call "heartbreak hill" (yep) - we had our entire family this time, but it was tough! Right about when I felt like I seriously couldn't make it another step, 2 "angels" came out of the bushes to help . . . ANOTHER time I felt like crying . . . okay a few tears slipped down the old cheeks. We can all be "angels" to others by lifting their loads and helping them along their way. Also, I have to say that during heartbreak hill I looked off to the side of the trail and noticed some wild "forget me not" flowers, and felt that was significant since we were participating in the pioneer reenactment. It was as if the pioneers were speaking to me from the past saying "don't forget what we sacrificed so that you can enjoy the blessings of the gospel that you do today". It truly was a special experience.
This is a picture of Lee's legs after our long day on Friday. We went 10-12 miles with our handcart - which was stacked higher than most :). Mind you the ladies had pantaloons, a long dress, and an apron on (with 25 lbs. of "stuff" in each pocket) so it was extremely hot. Our legs looked the same way. It felt so good to wash up with baby wipes and put on some clean underwear . . . only to put the same dirty clothes back on :0. Next post will be pictures of the pioneer games we played Saturday.
3 comments:
I am so pregnant . . . I cried the entire time I was reading your captions!
On a side note, too bad you are the only person that knows what "forget me not" flowers look like . . . sounds like everyone missed out on a great object lesson except you! :)
I love how Lee's legs aren't just white from the sock mark down, but also hairless. Was that a result of the trek also??
It was a very touching pioneer post, and even though didn't have counter space or lawn chairs, you still a true pioneer :)
Very touching. I loved the pictures and I wish that I could have done that as a youth. What a great testimony building experience. Maybe I can be a Ma someday.
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