Into the Valley

 The theme of the trek was "Aspire Higher"
Trek to the Temple.
I am not sure how they pulled it off but they managed to build a temple
in the middle of nowhere and get the group there without seeing it.

It was only a replica of the temple...
But seeing it was breath taking.
To know what the temple meant to our ancestors and how much they sacrificed
made it so much more special as it came into view.

Many of the kids saw it and just started running. 
They were so excited.
They got to work on 'completing' the temple that afternoon which was fun to watch.
It's not the real thing... but it was pretty special!

We had an interesting lunch...
They handed out bags of different things. 
Maybe a bag of cheese sticks, a bag full of chips, a bag full of beef jerky, crackers...
and then a couple of families were robbed of their bags.
It was a lesson in sacrifice (not really, nobody went hungry), in bartering, sharing,
and taking what you need... being unselfish.
The kids did a great job at bartering, and got us a variety of food.
As we sat down to eat, we talked about sacrificing, and about the idea of what is really a want,
and what is a need.
The more we talked, the more the kids were excited to make sure that EVERYONE had enough to eat. 
The day before I had watched these kids quickly go through a couple of bags of jerky.
But this day... they each took a piece or two and said that there were other families that needed it more, so they loaded all of the extra food and took it around to the other families.
They came back so happy that they were able to share.  Without thinking of themselves.
There were so many little experiences that seemed to teach them a lot about giving, and a lot about serving, and a lot about life!

This was an amazing night.
We taked about the blessings of the temple. 
I watched the kids and could see that they really got it...
They wanted to experience the joy that comes from going to the temple.
I hope that I get the experience of sitting inside the temple with each one of them.
I loved watching them with each other. 
They were so kind... they acted like friends, like brothers and sisters.

Is it scary to say that I hope to do this again one day???!!!

Kinzee and her pa!

Silly girls just happy to be 'in the valley'....

My sweet Wyatt... one tough boy!



Our Temple!!!

Ma and Pa... I have to admit that I was thinking about the shower I would get to take the next day!!  We were filthy!



Group shot!

For several reasons... this is one of my favorite pictures of the whole trek!  I love these kids!!!

Pioneer Children walk and walk and walk....

 The second day!
We found ourselves pushing and pulling, up and down hills...
Big hills!  Steep hills!
Lots of work!
But so much fun to watch the kids work together.

When we were asked to be 'ma and pa'
we were given the option of having our own kids in the family.
We talked to them and gave them the option also, but said they wanted to be with us.
Thayne said he really wanted our kids in the family.
I asked him why... he said because he knows how hard they work, of course!

This was the big pull, on the last full day of the trek.
We cut through brush, up hills with no trail but the real challenge came
with the big hill before we made it to 'the valley'...
It made me truly appreciate what the pioneers went through,
knowing that their trek was for real, and ours was just to honor them.
I was amazed at how the kids worked together. 
This was a serious hill, down and then back up,
And dangerous if one of the carts got loose.
Everyone worked so well together...
and our three kids just blew my mind!
They are so protective of us... they watched over their dad,
Not wanting him to hurt his back again.  They are amazing!!!
They are TOUGH!!!

After we got our handcart down the steep hill, and back up again,
we had time to rest. 
Except our boys didn't rest.
They watched the other families headed down the hill, and ran back to help.
Over and over again.
They were exhausted... but they found so much joy in helping everyone else.
I have no doubt that they would have been the ones to go back to rescue those stranded.
They would have been the first to volunteer...
They would have carried us over the Sweetwater if that was what they had to do!
They ran up and down the hill helping everyone...
and found great joy in doing it.

I feel so blessed to have experienced something like this with our kids...
To see them find joy in helping others and to give that help so unselfishly.
I am grateful to see that they 'get' that life isn't all about them,
and that they are happiest when they are giving.
They understand that when they lose themselves in serving others,
they are truly happy.
They live that way every day of their life...
It wasn't a big deal to give, because that is what they do.

trek ~ first night

We set up camp the first night in what felt like the middle of nowhere.  We had walked and walked, in circles I am sure... in fact they tried to slow the kids down because they were moving much faster than was scheduled.  We had a great group of kids who were ready to 'trek' so there were times of waiting just because they were ahead of schedule.  But it all worked out great anyway and the first night was fun.  We had to come up with skits from different stories from the Book of Mormon.  We had the story of the stripling warriors.  I am so NOT creative when it comes to things like that but the kids muddled through and we had fun.  Then there was dutch oven dinner.  We had to sing for our dinner.  We sang Popcorn Popping On The Apricot Tree, complete with hand actions.  It was worth the delicious dinner we got for our song!

Later that night the kids had a dance.  They had to fill out dance cards.  The girls in our family loved that 'pa' (Thayne) and Star (one of the 'sons' in our family) were dragging all of the boys in to fill out their dance cards.  Only the best for Pa's daughters I guess!  (haha)   It was fun to watch them all have such a good time. 

I had an experience that has really had a lasting impression on my heart.  We had a boy that we weren't sure would show up for the trek.  We were told his family was having a hard time and going through a bad divorce.  The first time I saw him, he had my heart.  There was something about him.  He looked a lot like Thayne looked when he was younger, and reminded me of Tanner.  There was also something, a look in his eyes, like maybe he was a little leery of others, or maybe he had been hurt.  He didn't want to be around others in the beginning.  But we just kept drawing him back into the group.  As we set up camp, he quickly set the tarp up under the handcart, another tarp over it to keep the sun out, and he climbed under.  I was able to sit by the wheel and talk to him, and soon Thayne told the girls to crawl under and get out of the sun.  What is a boy to do when 5 pretty girls were blocking you in and drawing  you into their conversation???  Well... he opened up and became part of the group of course!!!  And they made him dance, and treated him like he had worth, and value to them.  I saw something come into his eyes that had been missing.  I am not sure what it was... maybe hope, maybe he felt loved, and accepted, or maybe he felt like he was not judge for his circumstances, but accepted just the way he was. 

Later that night, during the dance, a man who goes to this boys ward asked how he was doing.  I told him that in the beginning he was pretty shy, afraid to open up.  Before I could say more, he said that it was probably more this boys fault that he doesn't open up to him and the others in their ym's group.  I could hardly speak.  He was blaming this boy's lack of participation on the boy himself.  Not that just maybe this boy feels judged, and is hurting.  I simply looked at him and told him that it didn't take much love at all for this boy to open up to our 'family'.  I walked away nearly in tears.  I wanted to wrap my arms around him as a mom and tell him he is loved, and cherished and that we will always be there for him!  Thayne had shared with me that while he was growing up, he can't really remember anyone asking him to go to church with them, and he kind of stood on the outside, looking in and wanting the things that the Church could offer him.  He said he went to youth conference once and at a testimony meeting he felt the Spirit so strong and that he held onto that and that he felt it when I asked him to come to church with me, and knew that he could have all of the things he had wanted when he was younger.... and that it came from feeling the Spirit when he went to Church and seeing that we could have everything he wanted.  I told Thayne that I wanted this boy to feel the Spirit and to know that even if things were hard with his parents, or whatever else was hard in his life, that for that moment he was loved and accepted and that there is hope.  I watched this boy open up, I watched the kids in our group accept him, listen to him, cheer him on and love him.  I watched his face light up, his eyes light up... I watched him become part of the group. I still want to cry every time I see the pictures of this boy with some of the kids, with a big smile on his face.  I will forever be grateful for that experience, more than any other.  I was so proud of the kids who just accepted each other, loved each other and got along no matter what!  It was such a wonderful experience... a cherished experience.  I loved the kids, and I loved being able to work together with them!



Ma and Pa Darin and Sue at the skits.  Sue was our awesome nurse along the trail!



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Wayne kept us entertained the entire trek!  Love this boy!!!



The boys hanging out during the skits

Relaxing during the skits after a long day on the trail

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A couple of our 'sons'



Sweet Maggie

Silly Anna

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Taking a break...

Star... our shining star kept us laughing!

Thayne is supervising the group... which means he AND the boys were in trouble for something...

In charge of getting getting our dutch oven dinners

Our tough girls offered to fill the water jug... they showed those boys who is stronger!!!

Baby Heaven!!!

Last year we were celebrating the 4th of July knowing that there would soon be several additions to our family.  Noah was going to be born soon.  Candice would be adopting, and the rest were due from November to January.  Tiffany was the only one not there but we thought it would be fun to take a picture of all of the moms~to~be and then take a picture this year of the moms and the babies!  It was SO fun to be together... so fun to have all of the babies together!  These babies are growing so fast, each with their own little personalites.  Next year we will barely be able to keep up with them!!!  So many blessings, each one have brought so much joy!

Top picture is Kerry, Candice, Tammy, me and Kimi.

Bottom picture is Kerry and Sariah, Tammy and Rhiley, Kimi and Jared, Noah and me, Tiffany and Isaac and Candice and Jax.