August 19, 2015

August 16th was the Family Trek Day.  We had Morgan's 

family come, Zach's family, and Katie's mother, Pam and her brother 

Christian and his wife Mandy and children come.  What a fun time

they had running all around the Depot and area.  Lots of

fun for them.  They bought tents and camped on the lawn

in front of the Depot.  They were lucky enough to hear

coyotes calling and howling during the night.  On the last

day, Sunday as we left to go to Church the Greene family

was able to see a coyote right by the Depot.

Miah has on my bonnet, yep I bought Pioneer clothes

for Jeff and I.  Miah looked cute in the bonnet, Ruby 

looked cute in the skeleton jammies.

This would be a truck full of boys.  There were several

we had 12 children ten and under on the trek with us.

We had several families of the other Missionaries 

come and participate with us.

This is our crew and we took one cart.  With all

the little ones we needed all the adults we could find.

Katie carried Sully the whole time.  Morgan and Jeremiah

carried Ruby the whole way.  Zach had to carry Ollie

most of the way.  They wouldn't ride in the cart.

Our Sam actually helped push the cart a lot of the way.

He was a real pioneer boy.  He found it fun sometimes

and hard at other times.

Miah helped most of the time.  This is she and Mandy

pulling the cart into the Depot.  What girl power

they showed.

Morgan and Zach looked great as they took a turn

in the front.  What a memory that made for me, watching

the two of them together pulling the cart. 

Jeff was the cute one in the puffy shirt!  Notice how short

the sleeves are.  He had a great time showing off the

ranch to all of them.

This is Jeff, sitting on a bucket telling a pioneer story

to the trek group.

This is the King of the cart.  He had the best seat

and he loved being in the cart.  He had the control of

the speed and the direction we took.

Mothers on the Prairie would have loved a carrier

like Katie has.  Little Sully was pretty content.

Ollie was a in and out rider.

The rest of the kids spent their time running along

the trail looking for all kinds of things.  Finally they

discovered the magic of Bones.  That became their

obsession.  

The scary thing is, this is not the first time Ammon

has worn bones on his head.  Should we be worried?

This was a small portion of the bones they collected.

Morgan actually let them take the cow skull home

with them in the van, it was in a black plastic bag, 

I know weird.  

After the Trek we had games and activities for the kids.

Miah made pioneer cloth dolls for her and Ruby.  They

were fun to make.

We had some square dancing.  Miah really loved that.

Sam liked the stick pull game.  

After the lunch and activities we headed to a place

on the ranch to baptize Quinn. 

What a beautiful setting it was and fun for Jeff and

I to know this is where he was baptized.

The actual name is Saleratus Reservoir 2.

This is Jeff telling Quinn, "You are the only person

I know that was baptized in a lake." 

The proud and happy family afterwards.

The only bad point was the biting red ants that decided

to attend the baptism also, they were not invited!  

Jeff and I didn't notice them when we were scoping the

place out.  They went after those who had bare toes

and bare legs.  Miah was one of those victims, so

Jeremiah was holding her up off the ground.

Christian played his guitar to accompany our songs.

The last song we sang was "I Belong to the Church

of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints", we sang it as

we quickly marched away from the BITING RED ANTS.

Little Sully was just glad to be along and he really

enjoyed the icing on the cookies Mandy brought to

share with all of us.  I think Morgan was photo

bombing without knowing realizing it.  Oh, that red

skirt of hers was covered with burr's and stickers.

We all took turns pulling them off of the skirt.

This would be all 12 of our little group, actually in

one spot at the same time.  Shortly after this photo 

Jeff discovered someone had locked the truck and his 

keys were inside the truck!  We had driven 3 trucks

down to the site so we all piled into 2 trucks and

drove back to the Depot and then Jeff and I

had to go to the Director and tell him we needed

a spare set of keys to get into the truck we had

borrowed from him.  Yes, we got a lot of teasing

from that one!  Again, we show how competent we

are!

One last photo moment on the gate as the Cowan's and

the Siggs left the ranch.  Deseret Land & Livestock

survived the visit.  

On Monday we drove up to Bone Hollow with Elder

Pratt and his grandchildren.  We took all the bones

our grandchildren had collected and we deposited them

along the trail.

Again we saw the magic of bones in delighting

the hearts of children.

They had so much fun adding to the bones that were

already there.  The teeth were a new addition to

this post.  We all thought it was rather cleaver looking.

Each one of the boys took a bone home with them

also.  Their mom wasn't to excited about the

LARGE PELVIS BONE they selected.  But,

being a great mom she relented and let them take 

it with them when they left.

Even Elder Pratt wanted a bone to take home.  This is

the one he selected.  I wish I could see it on his

desk, he is a Judge.  That should put fear into 

others hearts.  He should be called Judge Bone Collector.

Monday morning the sunrise was totally awesome.

Everyday we are amazed at the beauty that

surrounds us.

Can you doubt that God lives and that He loves us?

I know God lives for I see His hand everyday.

August 15, 2014-part B

On August 12th we traveled to the Jordan River Temple.

When we got done we drove up to Ogden and went

through the new Ogden Temple.  Wow, what a

beautiful Temple it is.  It won't be dedicated

until September so we will have to wait until next year

to go there as a group.

No words can match this picture.

On Thursday August 14th we went on a history tour

in Echo Canyon.  This is "Hanging Rock"  We had a great

day exploring all the different pioneer stops.

Lots of fun, Oh, did I mention, we also found rattlesnakes!

Yep, two of them.  We were on a trail coming back from

some fortifications on the cliffs.  I was the third one

in the line walking.  Suddenly I heard that ever

frightening sound!  RATTLE, RATTLE, RATTLE.

I look as I am running away, two big snakes in a

rock outcropping.  Their two rattles are going crazy.

Elder Simper says, "The first one wakes them up, the 

second one makes them mad, and it's the third one 

they bite!"  Good thing I am a fast runner when

it comes to rattle snakes.

We really enjoyed the whole day.

I am actually eating antelope jerky, Brother Richins, our

tour guide brought it with him.  He and his wife make tons

of jerky and it was good.  I ate probably six pieces.

This is one of the fortifications along the rock face.

Getting there was kinda scary, little trail and big drops.

The highlight of the whole day was the amount of green

trees we encountered in East Canyon.  We haven't been

this close to green leaves in almost five months.

It was so fun to smell them, touch them, see them and 

hear them.  

The fact we are on the original trail always makes us smile.

We are on Big Mountain with the Salt Lake Valley

in the background.  The best part of the trip, we

all knew we weren't headed down the canyon and 

into the city!  We all enjoy the quiet of our prairie life.

August 15, 2014

On August 6-9  we had our last trek of the year.  It was

a ward from Rigby Idaho and they were fun.  There was

only about 80 people and we got to know them all so 

much better.

This was a cover that a trekker had on his bucket.

Of course, it meant that I had to sit on it right away.  So I

did!  We had only gone about a mile when I saw it.

Shortly afterwards Jeff saw the bucket and had the same

impulse, so this I was able to photograph him on the bucket.

Jeff was able to walk on the trek with Rigby.  This was the

first time since he hurt his back.  He was so excited, and a

little nervous about it.  

After walking about 4 miles he was pretty proud and very

happy.  He was able to walk each day of the trek.

We are excited he will be able to walk with our 

family on the family Trek planned for August 16th.

This is Jeff showing off his nylon socks.  Only REAL

MEN wear nylons!  He was just glad he was using his

feet to walk again and not just be in the support truck.

For our dinner the first night they fixed our food in a

garbage can!  Really!  It was clear full and layered with

meat, potatoes, (fresh from Idaho) squash, onion,

cabbage and more.

This was the finished product.  It was really good and 

very easy to prepare.  They put water in the bottom, place

a screen on top of that, layer the food putting on the

seasonings as they go.  Put it on a gas burner and cook

on high.  They cooked it about 2 hours or less.

Next time, if I do it, I think I will use a new can

and not the old dirty one they used.  (Just kidding)

This is a caterpillar that was inching it's way along the

trail.  We were on the woman's pull and the carts had

already gone past her, I say her because she must

be a girl to participate in the woman's pull!

I thought it might be fun for you to see a typical 

trekkers feet after a few days.  She had duct tape on

all of her toes.  Sometimes they had their entire foot

taped up.  Again, for your knowledge, the expensive

brand "Duck Tape" doesn't work at all.  It doesn't

stick to their feet.  The cheaper the tape the better it 

sticks.  So keep that in mind for your own blisters.

This would be Jeff sleeping, no, resting his eyes.

We always like relaxing under a tent after hiking to camp.

This is Brother Packer, he is Jeff's twin from another world.

They both served missions in New Zealand, are left handed,

went to wood badge and are Owls, and they love to 

tell tall tales.

Here they are giving a Maori good bye face rub.

This was the finish of Jeff's straw hat.  We thought

it wouldn't last to the end, it barely did.

We had a great adventure with 8 different groups.

Each one different, each one special.  We will

cherish our memories with them forever.

August 4, 2014

This weeks trek went a little different than we had planned.  We 

had a Stake that arrived on Thursday and were staying until Saturday, so 

only two nights.  On July 30th, my brother Barlow died in

Orem.  We were lucky enough to visit with him on Monday July 28th.

He was buried in Beaver, Utah on Friday Aug 1st.  We had

a couple take our spot so we could travel to Beaver.  They

have helped us out before.  We enjoyed our time with Family

for a few hours and then drove back up to the Ranch that

afternoon.

The Stake had made wooden tokens to wear around your neck.

You were to write the name of a pioneer for whom you would

be walking in remembrance of them while on trek.  A few

weeks ago, my nephew Eric was here on a trek.  He had

his brother Robert's name on his wrist to walk for him.

Robert died in April this year.  I was so touched when

I saw that, it was such a good idea.  So this week

when they gave to me the blank token I knew immediately who

I would choose to walk for, my brother Barlow.  I know he

is running, walking, singing, joking, laughing, and hugging 

all whom he saw in his new surroundings.

We thought this Sister was pregnant, we are thinking,

"Is she crazy?  What if she goes into labor?"  No one dared

approach her until we found out it was all a joke!  Boy,

did we buy into it.  Jeff was really worried and said,

he hoped if she went into labor it would be Friday when we

were going to be gone!

This is a awesome set up.  They hung lanterns from

each one of these poles and then held a devotional each

night surrounded by the light in a circle.  This stake

has been trekking for 20 years!  They go every four years,

this was their 5th trek.  Most of the adults had been

to all of them.

I always laugh when I see all the buckets sitting out in the 

meadows.  They look kinda out of place, yet so

in place, does that make sense?

Every time there was a water break a group of kids would

gather for a game of hakie sak.  They would kick the 

sak three times then after the third time it was a free

for all to catch the sak, so everyone would dive to the middle

or wherever the sak was.  Then when it was in some one's hand

they would quickly run away from the circle because the one

with the sak could then throw hard and hit whomever

they wanted to with the sak!  Yes, they would throw it really hard!

It was fun to watch, dangerous to play.  Right after I took

this picture the sak was thrown and it landed underneath

the port-a-john!  It was Saturday so the port-a-johns were

pretty smelly.  The boy getting the sak didn't want to crawl under

them, so he used one of the plugs for the toilet to pull it out

from underneath!  He is touching this yucky thing with

his bare hands and then touching the sak with it also.  This

plug is used to seal off the toilets when we are moving them

to a different location and they are gross because the "STUFF"

gets on them!!!!!!  I said to the boy, "So do you know

what that is you are using?"  He, of course, didn't know.

When I explained it's purpose he was so grossed out and

everyone else was grossed out also!  Yuck, and yes, they

continued to use the hakie sak anyway.

This family was fun to walk with.  On the last day as they

trekked they would do the hokey pokey dance while 

walking their cart.  They would even turn themselves around

while walking forward.  It is so fun to watch those who

have a good time even while working hard, they are the

ones who you know will be able to do anything they

need to in the future.  This is the fun part of trekking.

On Sunday, August 3rd an artist Clark Kelly Price came

to visit us for a fireside.  He has painted lots of pictures

for the church and does lots of Western art also.  We have

two of his pictures hanging on our wall in our living room.

We bought this picture from him and he signed it again

for us.  He was very interesting to listen to.

We are going to finish up our trek this week.  This

will be our final trek, number 8.  It is a ward from

Rigby Idaho and will be a smaller group.  Jeff walked

a mile on Sunday afternoon and actually walked over 

3 miles today.  I followed him in the Ranger just

in case he couldn't make it to the end.  He is 

hoping to walk some of the trail this week.  Pray

for him to do so!