Trek Recap!

I didn't take many pictures of the Pioneer Handcart Trek that Damian and I just went on. I took some on the bus. When we arrived in Bing Canyon, I found there were photography people there, following us all, documenting the experience. I had so many other responsibilities, I packed my camera away (after it got wet the first day!!) .

This lovely gal is one of my "daughers," Bella. She and I worked on her pioneer outfits, so that they corresponded with her school colors. She was a walking advertisement for South High, and was so cute. She worked really hard to go on the Trek, and also kept the same pace, while on the Trek. I'm very proud of her.

Cali, my littlest "daughter" and her best friend were so excited, starting out at 4am ~ in their cute pioneer clothes. They giggled their way into all our hearts and we all loved Cali's cute enthusiasm. When we were asked to pull her IN the handcart to intesify our experience, we were all happy to do it. She is a joy, with the sweetest personality.

The little girls fell asleep pretty soon after we left, on the bus. I think they're even cuter, asleep!

Too bad these three didn't sleep more, ha, ha! AJ and McKayla on the right were 2 of my "kids." What fun they were. AJ was our Oxen. He pulled that handcart the WHOLE time, never taking a break, not even to button his shirt, as it came undone, repeatedly, BY ITSELF! Talk about a work ethic, he's unstoppable!

McKayla was a powerhouse, too. These are two of my favorite kids, so much fun and so smart. For example, AJ spent a lot of time making new friends and learning a new language. A "mother" can only be so proud. McKayla spent tons of time looking out for her "sister" Megan . . . chaperoneing, really. Thanks to you two, our family was the most popular 'hang out' place in the whole camp!

Megan and her boyfriend, dancing to some FUN pioneer music. If anyone can liven up a family, it's Megan. She was really a great "daughter" and worked really hard to help her Ma & Pa. She is obedient and creative. She and McKayla planned a skit where they both fit inside one of Megan's dresses, as Siamese Twins. They were pretty hilareous.

These two were our Big Brother & Big Sister, Ammon and Jenny. I couldn't have asked for better leaders to help motivate all the other kids. Ammon was the other Ox in the family. He encouraged everyone and treated everyone with kindness and strong leadership. Jenny was the quiet, sweet influence that our family needed. She hung back with anyone who needed a break, or needed to check on a blister. Her calm, encouraging ways kept us all working hard. I am so thankful that Julie Doll put these two with our family. I know she was inspired by Heavenly Father to do so and I'm very grateful.

Jaime, another trek "Son" had his share of challenges. He had severe anxiety about coming on the trek, and threw up 6 times, the first day. Once he got the routine down, he was able to push and feel good about what we were doing, especially the last hour of the Trek, when he saw an end in site! He was fun to be around, with his silly personality. We were also grateful that he ALWAYS went to bed RIGHT after dinner. If only some of our other "kids" could have followed his example, I would have gotten a lot more sleep!!

We played and worked HARD together, the boys looked out for their "sisters" with quiet strength, and the kids were altogether obedient and good. I was so proud of them and all that they achieved. We felt spiritually uplifted and renewed in our faith, together.

I must say, I would take these kids ANYWHERE, but give me a mini-van, over a handcart, please! You can see our last "Son," Diego, in the passenger seat. What a good young man he is, and he worked really hard, all 18 miles that we walked and pushed!

Thanks to all of my wonderful Trek Kids, I'll miss being your Ma. You can expect a body crushing hug, when I see you at other activities. And I'll smell much better, than I did on the Trek, I promise!

Trek Tomorrow!

We are leaving at 4am tomorrow and I really need to start packing . . . I finished all 200 journal/songbooks at midnight! I have 12 girls from outlying cities sleeping over tonight, so their parents don't have to drive them into town, EARLY. I need to clean my bathrooms and change all the sheets for that. Other than that, I'm READY! I can't wait and I hope this experience is all we've hoped for! Keep us in your prayers! And, if you are a devoted reader (ha, ha) posts will publish, in my absence!

A fun side note, Damian's Great Uncle John and Great Aunt Natalie are visiting. We had a GREAT BIG dinner party last night, in their honor. I missed most of it, working on Trek stuff. They introduced Damian's parents to the gospel, 30 years ago and are just about to leave on a mission to Belgium. It's the first time they've come to Oregon and it's so fun to have them here. I didn't take any pictures, unfortunately. I appologize to all their daughters that check my blog!!

Waterski Trip with our TREK kids!

This is my handsome pioneer husband, "Pa Idiart." And our "Son," Ammon. You can tell he's not our biological child, he's tall! Damian's grandfather was under 5 feet tall, so Ammon can't be ours. Plus, we were 18 when he was born. I certainly wasn't that friendly with Damian at BYU!

Ammon takes after his namesake in The Book of Mormon. He's a spiritual giant and natural leader. Plus, look at those biceps! He can waterski just as well as Ammon, of old, could cut off arms on those pesky sheep thieves! I really like this cool kid and plan to ask his mom if I can keep him. He'd be a great big brother for Josh. Maybe I can offer her my boat. And house.

This is our other "Son," Jamie. He is a good boy and fun to be around, he has a great sense of humor. He REALLY enjoyed driving our boat. It was much less scary than his driving at the Slick Track! I have 2 other "Sons" and look forward to forcing them to sing and square dance!

These are 4 of my 5 Trek Daughters. Cali, my youngest (just turned 12), McKayla, Jenny, my oldest (going to college in the fall) and Megan. I have fun "borrowing" these beautiful, smart and righteous gals and I'm very proud to be their "Ma." I don't even have to pay $1 for their weddings. It really is the best to have loaner kids.

Aren't these girls cute? Jamie didn't like the boat (except when he was driving) so I took him to the waterslide and Damian took these substandard photos of the girls on the tube. Poor man, he really isn't good with the camera. All the other shots were like this one:

Here is a funny one, legs flailing, looks of horror and pain. I'll use this photo to blackmail you girls, if you don't listen to "Ma" and do all my Trek chores.

Trek Prep and Summer School

I leave for the Pioneer Handcart Trek in a week with 160 kids that I'm trying to create individualized journals for. I'm almost ready to begin printing them. . .hopefully I can do that over the weekend. It has been a huge blessing to have 3 kids gone to Grandma's and the other 2 busy with Idiart cousins, everyday. I am so thankful for my Idiart family close by.

One of my Trek "Daughters" has been stuck on her summer school packets and spent Monday and Tuesday at our home, with me as her tutor. Now she's almost caught up and ready to focus on THE TREK. I realized I'm only as smart as an 11th grader, but JUST BARELY! It was a pleasure to have her spend 2 days with us. Katrina and Benny enjoyed her, they are missing the BIG KIDS, a lot.

NEWS FLASH!! She scored 90% on her first test and 86% on her second . . . I am so proud of my very smart "daughter."

I'm looking forward to spending 4 days playing "Ma" to the nicest group of 9 kids that any overly-active reproductive Pioneer Woman could have asked for. We are going water skiing with them this Saturday and we leave at 4am on Wednesday. I can't wait.

Goodbye, Travelers!

My mom left today and took my three oldest with her, for 3 weeks. My dad is a tour guide for Elderhostel and he gets to take his grandkids with him, every once in awhile.

They are headed to a National Parks Tour this week (Zion, Bryce Canyon and an Indian Reservation). Next week they got to Lake Powell and a Ranch. Emma and Josh have been on both trips before and they prefer the Ranch. While there, they do zip-lines, paint ball, rock wall climb, ride quads and have lots of adventures. The third week they'll be in St. George at my parent's house. I think they spend most of the time in the pool.

Rachel is going for the first time. I'll be praying really hard that she is brave and not too homesick! As I sit to type this, Katrina and Ben are feeling the effects of having a SMALL family. I think they'll miss the big kids, but have a good time~

Grandma is HERE!

My mom arrived yesterday! It's been great having her here, she's really fun and my kids adore her.

She's sewn 3 bonnets for the trek, vacuumed my house and cleaned all the kids bedrooms.

And did I mention the laundry? Check! Did that too.

She babysat while I did errands and took Josh to Piano. Tomorrow I leave for Girl's Camp and she'll watch the kids during the day.

She's promised not to feed them soda for each meal, like my dad did. But she wouldn't commit to 'No Ice Cream'. She flat out refused. And the kids all cheered and gave her a standing ovation.

She's playing games with them now, they each get to pick one. The video shows Ben's choice, the older kids are choosing board games. So that should take at least 2 hours!

HIP HIP HOORAY For MOM!!

Please don't ever leave me again.

WHAT? You're going home on Monday?

As long as you take over 50% of my kids with you, you can go.

WHAT? You will?! GREAT! And can you keep them for 3 weeks, at least?

YOU CAN??!! You're the best mom in the whole world!!

(Don't forget to pause my music, to enjoy all the screaming and laughing!)

Saying Goodbye for 3 DAYS!

If my kids are feeling particularly cranky, they'll say things like, "Mom, are you going to be on the computer ALL DAY?!" Josh's daily statement"Is it OK if I make dinner?" tells you much about our home and Emma's recent, "Can you teach me to do laundry soon because I am tired of NO CLEAN CLOTHES!?"

I've mentioned my upcoming "Pioneer Handcart Trek" with the youth from our church in July, right? Damian and I are Pa/Ma to 9 kids. We'll share one handcart and walk 20 miles in 3 days, pulling our gear. This experience will help us build testimonies of Jesus Christ. It will also help us understand the sacrifices our Mormon Pioneer Ancestors made as they traveled from Europe to Utah, giving up all their posessions, and loosing many of the family members to extreme conditions.

One of the Pre-Trek assignments is to give something up for 3 days. This in no way can mimic what the pioneers went through, but it give us a little idea, maybe?? I am giving up my computer . . . all word processing, internet, email, blogging, google, etc. for 3 days and the TV. And since I tried this before and couldn't do it, I'm making my kids do it with me.

It will be kinda like a VACATION . . . a painful one.

I doubt you'll miss me, you'll be fine. BUT I WILL MISS YOU!! I WON'T EVEN GET TO READ YOUR COMMENTS TO THIS POST. Oh, whoa is me! I'll see you soon!

Oh, and while I was hangin' in multiple airports over the weekend, I created posts that will automatically publish, while I'm away. So you'll be able to read MORE about my vacation, my kids and the books I've been reading. So check back, I'm not making you sacrifice anything!

Slick Track Fun!

Yesterday we took 6 of our 9 Trek kids and Emma to race Go Carts . . . Damian was the photographer (His recent car accident made him a likely candidate for more whiplash, especially with me behind the wheel!)

Emma was afraid to drive at first . . . you can see me helping her buckle up. If you check out this photo a little larger, you can see my exciting new "Cruise to Florida" haircolor. . . It's a little part spunky and a little part orange, I'll probably get it "fixed" when I get home!

Emma warmed up to the idea and drove herself, after 5 minutes. She was a little scary out there, purposely trying to crash into everyone . . . she's learned from the best. We had a great time, and then stopped at DQ for treats.

Slick Track $120

DQ $30

Bonding with the kids we'll spend 4 days with on the Pioneer Handcart Trek: Priceless!!

Let's go Trekkin'

We borrowed a homemade handcart to show our Trek "Family" last week. My own little ones have had a fun time, pulling each other around, this week. Today, Damian gave the littlest ones rides and they loved it!

The handcarts we'll be using on the actual Trek with the youth from church will be a foot wider in length and width, and have metal wheels.

I took a turn and it was HARD WORK! I'm glad the Ma's/Pa's aren't allowed to help their "kids" on the Trek! I'll give lots of moral support to everyone, and keep their water cups full!

My TREK Kids!

Damian and I are "Pa & Ma" to nine teenagers, for a 4 day Pioneer Trek Re-enactment that we'll be going on in July. Today we had the kids over for breakfast and tent practice. We also picked our "family" name. The kids are really full of energy and a lot of fun. I can't wait!