August 3, 2016

Here we are waiting for our own ward to arrive on Tuesday

July 28th.  It was about 2:00 pm when they got here.

It was so fun to have people we already knew and

we didn't have to memorize names or try to even remember

if we had talked with them before.

They had 60 of them including their wonderful support staff.

They had great helpers in the kitchen, porta johns and water buffalo.

One of the great things they did was what we call solo time.

They spread out on their buckets and spent some alone

time reading and writing in their journals.  This was

a spot on Lake Hollow Road on Thursday morning.

They did a silent walk where they passed people who

stood on the side of the trail holding up signs with different

things written on them to  inspire them to think about

their lives and the choices they are making.  After the

walk they spent 30 minutes alone thinking.

Then they took family pictures in front of their carts and

at the end a big group picture of all of them.

What a great photo.  I love this place.

On Friday morning we did the womans pull, Christy's Kid 

Killer, lucky for all of us, no one died.  Because it was

my ward I decided to push the cart all the way to the top.

Each week I  walk the trail but don't push the cart with

them.  But this felt different and I wanted to be a real part

of it.  So I helped with the Baker Family cart.

It will be a special memory forever and one that

will always be in my heart.  Thank you Willowwood

for coming here with us.!

After the pull while we were eating some lunch this is the

sky we got to see.  It was amazing to look at.  We all

took several pictures.  I think they call it a sun dog and it

is said that when you see this it means rain in the next few days. 

That was Friday, today is Monday and it has rained all day long.

This is Jeff with our two missionaries.  Bret leaves in two

weeks for California and Geneal leaves in a couple of months

for Mexico City.  They were such a great example to all

the youth.  What service they provided to all of us.

Photo bomb by Jeff, Dee and Sue were so much fun to

have on the trek.  They took care of the water truck for

us plus so many other things. Dee and Sue  faithful blog readers

 so I figured they deserved to see

their cute faces on the screen!  Hello and THANKS!

This was our youngest trekker, 11 years old.  He did

a great job and walked the whole way pushing and pulling.

At the finish they let the kids change their clothes for the bus

ride home.  This one didn't want to part with his 

suspenders.  I think it is a great look, don't you?

The bus assigned to pick them up got wrong instructions and

drove past us and on to Fort Bridger, a hour away.  So

they had to find shade and wait for the bus to turn around and 

return to pick them up.  As they waited they welcomed into

staging two other trek groups.  They cheered them and rang

our cow bells we have.  It was fun to watch them encourage

other groups.  We were real proud of their attitudes.

Each morning they would go out kneel and pray by themselves.

What a beautiful picture that is.  I will miss seeing that each morning.

My favorite Brenda spent all her time fixing and caring for

all the trekkers, all 59 of them.  She did an amazing job and

they kept her pretty busy.  Thanks Brenda for being such

a good sport and coming on Trek.  I think she even enjoyed

the nights under the stars.  Spending time with Brenda

made the week even better.

Saturdays finishes are always a happy day.

Willowwood spent 5 days and 4 nights with us.

We share memories that will link us forever.

On Monday, today, Ray and Georgia came and picked

us up and we drove up to see the Temple being built in

Star Valley Wyoming.  We drove through Cokeville

and I decided I needed to drink a Coke in Cokeville.

Somethings are too good to miss.  We rode around

the town.  It rained most of the day on us and 

what beautiful scenery we saw.

They have a visitor center that is a trailer there on site.

We are excited to know that this week, Aug 8 the gold

shovels goes in the ground in Cedar City!

They had a pile of rocks there for you to take.  They were

from the ground where they dug the foundation.  They

were offering them to each visitor, so we took one.

We will have to return in a couple of years and see the finished

building.  What a great place for a Temple.  Who knows, 

maybe we can live there, work in the Temple.  Jeff

likes it because they have a golf course, of course.

Thanks for a great day Ray and Georgia.  We saw

beautiful country, talked non stop, ate great food and

have four bags of Georgia's homemade chocolate chip

cookies in our freezer, life doesn't get any better.

This is our last week of trekking, nine weeks in all.

Now we have family trek, trek training and the 

work of putting everything away.  How quickly the time

has passed.  We miss our family but we will miss the

peace of the DL & L.

July 26, 2015 part 2

I thought I would add some more pictures.  

We had the opportunity to Trek with Evanston Stake. 

It was like being with our own Stake we knew

lots of the people and will get to see them every

week at church.  This was a drone they used to take

pictures with for their Trek.  It sounded like a 

huge bee hive coming down to get you.

This is a shofar that Bro Richens used to call the kids to

different activities and to wake them up in the morning.

It is from Jerusalem and is a rams horn.  It is what 

the Prophet Joshua would have used to blow down the walls

of Jericho.

Elder Kennedy shot a bear in Wyoming last year and he

showed the hide to the Evanston Stake.  Look at the claws.

He will show his collection of skulls and hides to Willowwood

Ward when they come this next week.

While with Evanston I got hit in the face with the front

bar of the handcart.  I was trying to keep them out of a 

badger hole and instead I got whacked and I went down into

the hole.  I thought for sure my nose would be broken, my

glasses busted, but I was truly protected.  It hit with a 

loud whack sound and everyone thought I was knocked

out because I went down into the hole.  But it didn't hurt

me at all, it cut the bridge of my nose but no bruising and

it never really touched me.  I now call the place where it 

happened the "Valley of Angels" because they protected me.

This was the finish of our Evanston day.  The week they

came we had 90 degree weather and we were roasting.  We

didn't have any real problems and felt truly blessed by

Heavenly Father.

This last week we were with a Stake from Murray and

they did a river crossing without the water.  They had the

boys carry all the girls over the stream bed and it was

fun to watch them try to get across.  I know it sounds,

and looks kinda silly but it really was a bonding time

for each of the families.  They told them the story of 

crossing the Sweetwater and how hard it was for them.

We truly do feel the stories as they act them out.

One Pa with this stake brought a big rock with him from his home.

They named him "Uncle Ted" and painted up his face.

This is his backside, with a tattoo they gave him.

The Pa was feeling kinda bad that they had a mark across his

name, the kids loved teasing him.

This is Tracy, they picked her up along the trail.  She has

a injury from a accident she had with a horse but Uncle Ted

loves her anyway.  By the time the trek ended they had little

babies along with them also.  It was a quick wedding and

fast family but they all loved the fun they had with it.

I thought they were a fun family and they agreed to 

let me be an adopted member while on trek.

This is the view for their woman's pull.  I love seeing

all the men standing on the hill waiting for the sisters

to get to the top.

The men were dressed in White shirts and singing as the

sisters pushed the carts up.  We are so lucky to be part of

this every week.

Check out this hair, I was totally jealous of her hair.  When

I told her that and then showed her my hair under my hat

she laughed out loud.  She said it takes 3 days to do it.

That is crazy.  I figure it must be super hot so then I

think maybe my short hair is better.

Along the trail on the last day they staged this scene for

the trekkers to walk past.  It was pretty moving and made all

of us think about how hard it would be to leave behind

a loved one along the trail.

At the finish they enjoyed Pizza and then loaded the bus

and headed for home.  The pizza businesses love the

trek groups.

On July 6th, we got a visit from Joanne Baird and Doreen Lloyd.

They are sisters to Marjorie Hinckley.  They love Trekking and

have great pioneer heritage.  The Goble and Pay families came with

the Hunt Wagon Company that was with the Martin Company.

They brought with them a grave marker of Edith Goble who

died on the trail.  It was recovered and given to them

by a couple in Idaho.  The story is remarkable and very

touching.  We were lucky enough to hear them last

year and even happier to see them again this year.

They drive themselves here and love an adventure.  They

have a beautiful sense of humor and they truly love to 

bear witness of the gospel and all that the pioneers did 

to leave a legacy to us.  They truly stand as witnesses of

God.  We hope to see them again real soon.

On Tuesday our ward comes to Trek and I will be sure

to take lots of pictures.  The best part I don't have to spend

time memorizing names and trying to remember faces,

I already know them and love them and will get

to be with them when we return home.  There are so many

I can't wait to sit and visit with and spend time with.

This is going to be a GREAT WEEK AT THE

DL & L!

July 26, 2015

I know it has been a month since I posted anything.  We have been so

busy.  We had no days off, they were busy with visitors and 

groups coming, firesides and other things.  So this is a quick

look back at some of the moments.  This is Jeff with

a log chewed by a beaver.  It was a awesome beaver pond 

and all around it lay the results of a pretty busy beaver.

Todd Black the wildlife manager for the ranch took the

missionaries for a tour of the "HIGH COUNTRY" the part

of the ranch they keep us out of.  They have a fancy lodge and

it is always fun to go there.  They let us look but we can't stay.

I thought you'd like to see what we see everyday, our shadows.

Elder Johnson is the one on the side.  I have gotten so I talk

to my shadow, we have become such good friends.  When the 

groups are doing things we find ourselves standing and listening 

and my shadow is always along for the ride.

This is a game one stake had.  They had stilts for the kids to use.

Well some of the boys decided it would be fun to hold themselves

up with the stilt and slowly lower themselves to the ground with

only their feet touching, Then reach out and move the knife in

the ground and put it further out, then push themselves back

up the stilt until they were standing.  WOW.  They were

working really hard to lower and raise themselves back up.

Did we mention that big knives like this are not allowed! 

Needless to say, we watched and even took pictures.

We teased this young man that he was a Missionary in Training.

He had the tan pants and light blue shirt.  So the rest of the Trek

we let him show his skills and make decisions for the group.

He did and great job and at the end we told him he had

passed the pre-test.  (Did we mention the big hunting knife

belongs to him!  Just like the missionaries, always breaking the rules).

Check out the beautiful purple flowers in the field.  Yes

they look so cool but they are actually THISTLE!

Not so good, yet pretty.

Can you see the little weasel in the corner of the porta john?

Waiting for the group to come Elder Cowan spotted the

little guy coming out from under the john.

We aren't sure when he decided not to go with us on the

Trek, to bad.  I think it would have been fun to see someone

when he came out under their legs.

One Trek we had some beautiful storms come in to lessen

the high heat we had been having.  I was so excited for the rain to

come.  We were so hot and dry.

The bad side of that was the lightening that also came with the storm.

We had to leave the carts on a ridge and go down into the valley to avoid the

lightening.  We got wet but not "LIT UP"

The result of all the rain, She had a two Tone dress from then

on.  They had been trekking about 15 minutes before it began to

pour on them.  This is what I heard, "Do you think we should put on

our rain gear?"  "Yeah, I would say that was a good idea".

"Oh no, it is buried in my bucket, buried under all the 

sleeping bags and stuff"  Yes, we love trekking

The next morning they used those same stilts to make clothes

lines to dry all the wet sleeping bags.  Pretty cleaver use of a stilt.

This is my new YELLLOW rain coat, I love it.  Jeff says I

look like a yellow banana.  His make him look like Gumby!

Lucky for us we have used them several times during the last

three weeks.

Time for the annual yearbook pictures of the missionary couples

This is our favorite thing.  We always think we look kinda silly

when we are supposed to look nice.  We don't mind snap shots

but to pose is kinda tough for us.

All ten couples in front of our favorite Depot.  What do all those

old people thinking going on Treks every week.