June 28, 2015

We just finished a trek with the Logan Stake.  This was the 

Trek boss, he carried his saddle bags with him on

every step of the trek.  We didn't let him bring his horse so

I guess this was the next best thing.

This is Elder Yates he is from Virgina.  He is so fun.  On the

first leg of the Trek he led out.  I was out in the 4 wheeler back

behind the group, I was daydreaming, I come around the corner and

I see them up on a hill, not on the bottom going around the bend.

It takes me a few moments to think, "We don't go up a hill here"

Then I realize he has taken the wrong trail and is headed up

trail 28!  I talk on the radio, come back down, that is not

the right trail.  He was a good sport about it, so were the 

trekkers.  So I put a compass button on him that I had

been given the first week.  He says now he has the 

golden compass he won't get lost anymore.

This is a horny toad I picked up on the trail for the kids.

They named it "Little Foot" because he had such small feet.

The girl is Ruby, of course, this meant I loved her lots.

She isn't a red head like my Ruby but she was a fun girl.

This girl got blisters on the back of her heel the first day.

So she figured out a way to make her shoes heel less and

it actually worked.  We told her she should copyright it.

I took this picture of myself.  This is what I see everyday

as I stand listening to the different groups.  I thought I would

share with you the view.

This young man went on Trek with us this week.  He

was a real trooper and survived the heat and the bumps.

What awesome kids worked with him to pull his 

handcart and care for him.  We saw such great acts of

service all week.

This was their photographer, I see them every week

in all kinds of poses.  Pictures of the trek are an important

part of the week.

This is the tall grass.  All the rain we got this spring

made everything grow.  We need some more, it is so

hot and dry we worry about fire and dry grass, tall dry grass.

This is their trail boss showing off his whip skills.  Boy

could he make that whip crack and pop.  He let me try

it out and I got a pretty good crack and then it whipped

my on the backside of my arm!  YOOOOSH, boy did

it sting.  After that I didn't do so well cause I would

close my eyes and flinch.

On Friday afternoon they held a Priesthood and Relief Society

Meeting.  All the men wore their white shirts and ties.

Boy, what a beautiful sight they were.  The clothing really

set a mood for the rest of the evening, which was spent in

testimony sharing.  They had a great experience.

Well, three treks down, six to go.  Pioneer children 

sang and they walked and walked and walked and walked.

This week we have the Evanston Stake coming, in fact, on

Monday!  Our week starts early.  But, then we get the bonus

of having our family come up to be together.  We will

be baptizing Ammon and Jackson on the 4th of July, life

can't get better than that.  I will see my own Ruby and all

the other wild children.  We can hardly wait.

June 22, 2015

Last week the group I was with, Layton East Stake, gave

away buttons.  Each family had a button and they were

giving and trading them all week.  I was able to collect a

few myself.

My favorite ones were "Fear Not" and "Don't squat with

your Spurs On."  I gave a few away to trekkers this

week, but the squat button is mine to keep.

Our group this week was South Jordan Country Crossing Stake.

They were almost 600 people!  They had 43 handcarts.

They make quite a picture as the carts moved along the ridges.

They arrived in ten buses and the support crew arrived in

several vehicles.  They had 17 support vehicles out on the

trail with us.  We were our won parade.

This is their food truck.  It is totally breaking the rules.

We have a rule about duel wheels, and the size of the trucks.

What could we do?  It had all their food in it so we allowed

them to follow the truck.  It worked out okay, we loved

the driver and his wife.  We had a great time with them.

Last week it was rainy and colder.  This week it was hot, dusty

and dry.  Check out some of the great shade ideas they

 came up with.  

We love watching how cleaver they are with their carts and tarps.

This blurry picture is Sister Higginson and I enjoying a cool

afternoon inside the big Refrigerator Truck.

We found a cold drink and some beef jerky.  We

couldn't resist taking a "selfie" of the moment.

Our sunsets are so beautiful.  They make me smile

every time and take my breath away.

This is a picture of the 43 carts waiting for the young

women to begin the womens pull.  What a sight.

Today on Monday June 22, Jeff and I drove up to Mirror

Lake in the Uinta's.  It was a great pday activity.

Not to much traffic so it make it pleasant driving.

We saw trees, heard the sound of leaves, WOWO

They were dumping in fish to prepare for the July 4th

week end.

This is called Provo Falls, they were really beautiful.

We have never been here so it was a fun trip for us to take.

We think the grand kids would love playing on the

rocks and in the water.

Coming home we drove thru Kamas and Peoa.  There is

a little cemetery in Peoa.  We were told to look for

a certain headstone.  We found it!

It says, "Brooks Participated in the martyrdom of the Prophet

Joseph Smith."  After Brooks died a big boulder

fell on his tombstone and mashed it completely under it.

The members here said it was to keep him in the ground

during the resurrection.  We thought the story was

made up, but today we actually found the stone.

 So we are looking at our number 3 trek, a way smaller group,

Only 150 people, about 16 carts, it will feel like

nothing, we can almost spit from the first cart to

the last!  I have been offering the groups a bounce back

deal, they can return the following Wednesday for

half price, but they have to continue their "shower fast" 

until they get back home.  It always makes them smile.

I will be watching Wednesday to see if any return!!!!!

June 14, 2015

Look at this beautiful sunrise, the fog was so cool with the

sun coming up. 

On June 6 we celebrated our 42 wedding anniversary.

Jeff gave me a prairie diamond.  It has a story about it

and it was made of a horse shoe nail.  They tell the story at

Martin Cove.  I've wanted one since last year so he

actually ordered one for me on line. 

On Monday June 1st Ray and Georgia drove to Evanston

and we visited with them for a couple of hours.  That was

a nice day for us.

Just a moment of reflection, or something.

First trek of the season was this week.  Here are the four new

missionaries I had with me this week. This was our first

porta- John stop on the first day.

Notice that three of them are sound asleep!  I couldn't help

but laugh and snap a photo.  They did great but they are

pretty tired.  Long days and lots of time not napping!

I'm not napping!  I had a great time with the Layton East Stake.

This was their kitchen crew.  Fancy aprons for them.

My first Trekker to wear a kilt the whole time.  All four days.

He liked the breeze but didn't like the mosquitoes eating 

his bare legs, so on the second day he wore tights.

A tender moment after the woman's pull.

This was their third day.

Baby birds in the nest by the skunk shed.  I was showing them

to the greene's on the facetime and the mother bird 

buzzed my head.  She was pretty angry with me.

In the Trekking world at DL&L our "Mother Teresa",

is a young woman named Christy Huff Evans.  She led treks

here from 1993 until 2005.  She developed most of the trails

and worked hard to build up the program.

This week, she had two nieces and three nephews trekking

with us.  They were from the Centerville Stake.  Jeff was

assigned to their group and they were on trail 6 that Christy

started.  It has a woman's pull that we call "Christy's Kid Killer".

The weather was so bad that they didn't get to be on 

that pull because of the mud, the support vehicles couldn't

get into the camp.   At the end, their two moms and Christy's 

mom came to pick them up.  We got to spend extra time

with them and took them on a tour of the depot.

We were excited to be with them.  The sign that

say's Christy's pavilion was actually found in pile of wood.

We were burning it and Elder Nordgren happened to look at

it just before throwing it on the fire.  He saw the writing and

brought it to us.  How excited we were.  On Monday June

8th the sign was put back up on the building and the little

signs were old trail markers we have been collecting since

last year.  On Tuesday morning I got a phone call from Christy, and

she was asking us to let her family see the depot.  How

fun for her to know we knew of her and still talked about

all she did.  Her family was amazed at the respect we all

have for her.  We will be putting the picture of Christy up

in the Trek Center.  We are very proud of her and all that she

did for trekking.  Her love of trekking still continues.

Our love of trekking is growing everyday.  Four of the

five groups that came this week signed up for 2019.

Trekking is here to stay, remember, Adam and Eve were

the first to go trekking.  The walk continues.