Just Another Day in Paradise!: June 2014

Pioneer Trek

June 12-14, 2014

"One Heart, One Mind, One Purpose"

It was our ward youth conference this year but our ward and four other wards got together and did the pioneer trek. I had never been before and was so excited when Adam and I were called to be a Ma and Pa. I was also really excited that we would be there for Calli's first trek as well.

I think the hardest part about trek was the preparation for it. As ma's and pa's were had to bring three times as much stuff as the youth. It took me weeks to gather and pack everything. On top of the packing list we were asked to get each member of our family a matching bandanna, a journal and a gift. Our family was the Jewell family and we had the color green. Calli's family was the Thompson family and they were purple.

The journals that we got our family.

with the "When the Angels came" story and picture included in the front.

Our gift for the family was some "jewels" AKA marbles...

We put them in a cute bag and attached a key chain for each member.

(Thanks Kerry Bang for making the key chains)

We also got our family water bottles with the trek theme on each.

Day 1 Thursday, June 12th: Met at 6:00 am and headed to Cedar mountain, met our families and hit the trail, hiked 12 miles stopping for breaks and lunch along the way. Made it to camp at 6:00pm. Set up camp, made dinner, (beef stew, corn bread and taffy) had Family Home Evening and played games with our families.Bedtime.

The youth from our ward that went on trek.

Back: Anisa Denning, Tristan Craig, Nikki Craig, Calli, Katelyn Flowers, Joely Stout, Daria Decker, Brynli Borrowman. Bottom: Haden Flowers, Megan Bang, Andrea Craig, Brianna White and Ashley Bang. We also had seven adults go as well. Chuck and Amber Gillette, Adam and I, Kerry Bang, Scott Moody and Kristen Stout.

Our Family: The Jewell's

Robyn, Spencer Schroath, Anisa Denning, Adam, Jordan Denning, "Uncle" Scott Moody, Coby Clark, Sam Conner, Ashley Richens, Riley Snow, Cassie Charter and Josh McDonald

Calli's Family: The Thompson's

Jansen Sorenson, Jean Singleton, Calli, Savannah Viator, Jakob Pendleton, Katie McDonald, Summer Rogers, Christian Rogers, Pa Conner, Ma (Andrea) Conner, Andrea Craig, and Deven Oliphant

Just us three...

before heading out.

Handcarts all packed ready to go.

Didn't take Calli long to find Damon.

Calli's "brother" Deven, Calli and Damon

Potty break before hitting the trail.

Andrea and Calli

"Pa" ready to get the show on the road

Riley, Jordan and Spencer in front

Cassie and Sam taking up the rear. It was funny how a couple hours into the trek everyone in our family found their spots they were comfortable with on the handcart and stayed there for the remainder of the trek.

Jewell Family leading the pack. Ten minutes into the trek Uncle Scott decided to help in the front middle. As he was going under the bar his pack got caught and he went down and got caught under the cart. He laid down and waited for the cart to just go right over the top of him but we had tied our dutch ovens to the bottom and they came crashing into him. We had to stop and pull him out from underneath. Luckily he was not hurt.

The handcart train behind us.

Potty break 2 miles in.

back out on the trail.

Calli pushing her families handcart.

Lunch time and blister checks.

Jordan had a huge headache and took a rest.

Back out on the trail. The trail was up and down the entire way. When pushing the handcart uphill we had two ropes and poles in the front and pushers in the back but when going down we moved the front pole back to help hold the handcart back in front and then had ropes in the back to help hold the handcart back as well. I think going down was way more difficult then going up. Sometimes it was so steep that the ones in the back could "ski" down the hill.

While Josh was skiing down the hill he slipped and slid into Cassie knocking her down as well and rode under the cart for about 20 yards before we could get them to their feet again. Good Times.

After 12 miles we finally pulled into camp.

We unloaded our handcarts, found a spot in the grass and laid down for a bit.

Some of the boys in our family got creative and made hammocks out of their tarps.

After resting, we had the family add their hand print and name to the banner, had family home evening and explained to them why we were the Jewell Family. (My great, great, great grandmother was Ann Jewell Rowley. She was a member of the Willie Handcart company and suffered much as she made the trek alone as a widow with 8 children, losing one along the way. She is most remembered by the lady with the biscuits in the film 17 miracles.) We also handed out their journals and gifts and then...

played chimes. This was actually really fun. It took a bit to get the hang of it but then they were awesome. After dinner we had free time. I was amazed at even though they were free to wander and visit friends they all stayed with our family. We gathered them around and taught them the game "sounds" They loved it. They didn't want to quit even when it got so dark we couldn't' see anymore. It had been a pretty physically exhausting day so we tucked in around 10:00 pm. The night was fairly warm but still no one slept very well.

Day 2 Friday, June 13th: Woke up at 6:30 am. Ate breakfast, (eggs, ham, and hash browns) made our sack lunches, packed up the handcart and hit the trail. We were told we were only walking 5 miles today but it ended up being just shy of 10. This was a mentally exhausting day because no one was prepared to go twice as far as we had anticipated. We also had the women's pull. We made it to camp at 6:00 pm. Set up camp, made dinner, (Chicken, Potatoes, rolls and Smore's cones) played pioneer games, got a visit from the Pony Express, had a Ho down, devotional and fell into bed.

Damon and Calli exploring that morning before heading out.

Adam chatting with some of the other Pa's.

Until the sun came up morning's were cold so I had on my bandanna and jacket. Calli saw me and said I

looked liked a gangster.

Out on the trail again.

Break time. Love this picture of Calli and Damon. There were 8 handcarts and we all stuck close together so at every stop Calli and Damon would find each other to hang out while we rested.

Lunch time. Calli and some friends found a piece of shade to eat lunch in. Days were hot and shade felt so good....when you could find it.

Adam used lunchtime for a quick nap.

The Women's Pull...

I wish the women's pull had been a little harder but it was still cool. We joined forces and had two families pull one handcart and then go back down and get the other one.

My favorite part was looking up and seeing all the men scattered on the mountain looking down on us.

Ma getting a little loven' from Pa after the women's pull.

Calli taking her turn pulling her families handcart.

She realized I was taking a picture and really got into it.

Breaktime. This was about 7 miles in. We had thought we were only going 5 so after walking 2 more, everyone was exhausted mentally and physically.

I love this picture of my family just laying on the handcart.

The rest of the company resting and wondering how much farther. Every time we asked we were told, two more miles, just around the next corner, 35 minutes, so by the time we pulled into camp that night we were TIRED.

The view however from the top where we camped was beautiful and after a rest we were able to enjoy it.

There was not much shade at this campsite so Riley made his own. We had the coveted spot.

Calli and Andrea helping with dinner.

The Pony Express delivering mail from home.

The Hoe Down. This was so much fun. I was surprised to see 99% of the kids get involved with this. After the ho down we played "sounds" again. This time getting lots of visitors from other families that wanted to join in. That night we had a devotional and then family testimony meeting. This was one of Calli's favorite parts. She loved her Pa's testimony and shared her own as well. We bore a few testimony's in our family and but then stayed up for quite a while a visited, told stories and laughed. That night was so COLD. I don't think anyone slept a wink this night. Not to mention it was a full moon and felt like a spotlight was shining on us all night. We woke up to frost and ice on all our sleeping bags and supplies.

The family gathered around the camp chef trying to get warm as we prepared breakfast. (Oatmeal and scones) We ate, packed up and headed out for our 3rd and last day.

Day 3 Saturday, June 14th We hiked about a mile and met up with the beehives and deacons that were coming to help us pull the last mile and stopped to play games before making the final march and gathering with parents for a big lunch.

Group photo of the company on the last day before heading out.

Family Picture on the last day. By this time we had all gotten to know each other pretty well and had come up with nicknames for everyone in our family. Spencer: Sunshine because he went from being a tough guy to having a great time and in the mornings we would say "Good morning Sunshine, Josh: Pony boy because he was always riding the reins in the back, Coby: At Least because he was so positive and when someone would complain he would say "well, at least...", Riley had 3: Macgyver because he can make something out of nothing, Einstein because he always had bright ideas and Cedric because he was always entertaining us. Ashley: Rock star because she rocked it the entire time. She never walked once, she pulled the entire time. Jordan: Peach because he said that people call him George so we changed it to Georgia Peach. Cassie: Swag because she was just so cool and got along with everyone and has such a fun personality. Anisa: Solo because during one of our breaks she wanted to get in the front of the pack so she picked up our cart and pulled her by herself to the front. Sam: Caboose because she was the the baby of the family and was always in the exact place on the cart all the time...in the back.

Rounding out our last mile. We were making such good time that we stopped and played games for a while before continuing on.

Leg wrestles.

And stick pulls. Calli taking Damon on.

A little off roading.

The final push around the reservoir.

Coming op over our last hill. It was so emotional making that last stretch and seeing parents look for their kids and cheer us on. We made it. We spent the next hour, unloading, eating and meeting parents of "our trek children"

We rode home with Stouts. Calli was exhausted. She fell asleep on the way home. I've been asked several times which was my favorite part. I have 2. One was the bond that takes place within your family. I had heard about it a lot but to actually witness it, was amazing. The kids in our family truly loved each other and helped each other. They hung out together even during free time. The slept by each other, they stayed up talking with each other all night and really got to know each other. I had a few proud "Ma" moments as I watched them interact. My other favorite part was Spencer. On that first day he showed up in camo pants, a black tank top, a baseball cap and earrings in each ear. He made a statement that he did not want to be there. But as the trek went on and we talked with him, got to know him, found common ground with him and the other members relied on him and accepted him, we saw a change occur. He was a part of the family, he played games with us, shared ancestor stories with us and laughed with us. After the first night his earrings stayed out for the remainder of the trek and he put on a sweatshirt. At the finish line his mom sobbed as she heard that he was involved and that his nickname was Sunshine and...that he stayed. She said she expected him to come home that first night. But he made it and found some friendships along the way. I don't know what kind of an impact we had on him, if any. But hopefully we planted a seed and he knew that we loved and accepted him no matter what. I loved the entire experience and I would defiantly do it again. The days following the trek were hard and I yearned to be back on that trail again.

While we were on trek the girls went to stay with grandma. Kassi had been down for the week as well, which actually really helped with Sadie being willing to sleep away from her home.

They had a great time going to dinner, Fiesta Fun, the temple and to Cedar City for summer games.

Jaicelyn, Sadie, Lacey and Kassi at the temple doing baptisms. Gentry was able to go as well and sit in the waiting room. She thought that was pretty cool.