I am now a Trekkie.

It is official only one member of my family has never been on trek. Sorry Emily maybe someday you can join us "trekkies" and have the experience of a life time.




I loved trek. I really liked training trek but I loved trek. Most people would probably say it is because I only had to do the Women's Pull on actual trek but really it was because I learned so much (not pulling just made it easier on my biceps).




We arrived at the Church at 6 am and started out with meetings and songs. The Ma and Pa's did a bunch of skits. I was to excited to really enjoy anything about the morning. Finally we got to call up our (Colton and my) children. It is kind of nerve racking to not know anyone there but in a way I am grateful that I had no preconceived notions on who my family would be or what they would be like. Of course I had awesome kids. It just makes sense.



On the way up to Deseret Lands we all made friendship bracelets. I think almost everyone had their bracelet the whole trek. Well Colton lost his for a little while, I don't like to think about what damage that did to our family friendship. But no worries all was good once he found it inside his sleeping bag.



The first day all we did was pull. Pull, push, pull, push. Around 14 miles of pull, push. They did such a good job at it though. There was such great bonding time. We pulled into camp around 10ish and slept surprising well until 6:30 am.

The next day was less strenuous. We started out the day with the Women's Pull (this one I did help with). I was pretty nervous because I was the biggest of our lovely women and we had "Old Squeaky" to drag up a hill. It went really well though. It is one of those things you have to experience for yourself to truly appreciate. I would just like to give props to my ladies for all their hard work and togetherness. AWESOME!!!

We hiked about 7 more miles after the pull and got to camp in time to set up and eat dinner. The the fun started. I was actually dreading the Hoe Down since I was asked to be a Ma on trek but it ended up being one of my favorite parts. We got assigned partners and off we went. The only bad part was when some punk kid said, when I became his partner, that he didn't want someone old!!! What a jerk!! He said he didn't want a Ma. I almost told him where to talk that smart talkin' mouth of his (or some other old sounding retort). But I had tons of fun in spite of my being reminded of my advancing years.

The next day we were in camp all day and did a variety of activities. The highlight was of course solo time where we got to enjoy nature and the ants crawling up our pants and be delighted with letters from our parents and bishops. I was even pleasantly surprised to find out that Colton's mom had gone through the trouble to contact my mom and dad to get me a slice of goodness pie.

We played activities next and I must say that my family was good sports at everything, and also good at sports. They didn't avoid any challenges and even though I was sidelined for a few events thanks to tattletale Colton (thank you Colton) I helped take out team to victory in our first tug-of-war event.

We ended the evening with a testimony meeting and a reminder of how awesome it is to be us sometimes. I am amazed at how much Heavenly Father know each one of us. I was spiritually touched by all my family members. They each did it differently but it was what I needed to hear.

The next morning we were all disgusting and gross and pretty ready to get to the buses and then hit the showers. We still had about 5-6 miles left to go and let me tell you they were some of the most entertaining 5-6 miles I have ever done. We were the loudest handcart possibly ever. It made the last day so memorable. When we arrived the buses were loaded and it was a bittersweet goodbye to our handcart, our family and our adventure.

I just want to thank my family and all those who helped put this together. Once in a lifetime experience. I am proud to be a Trekkie!

The Pictures are:

The Family; Tyler,Pete and Uncle Mike; Bergan and Jaimee; Beth; Pa and Ma (Colton and Jenny); Jenny and Amanda (Our Aunt); Thabata and Paul; Skyler;