Venturing Into New Territory

Last week we packed up the Burb and some of our bikes and headed north to the panhandle of Idaho. We had a wedding to attend and a famous bike trail to ride.



I don't have much time to blog about this fun trip because I have Girls' Camp on my brain and lots to do before next Thursday, but I wanted to post some pictures to share with you.

My cousin Mark Mangum, whom I haven't seen in maybe 20 years was getting married at Lake Coeur d"Alene. He found a beautiful girl named Piper to love. She has a little 8 yr old son and a 10 year old daughter. Mark is regaining his activity in the Church and is growing in testimony. Piper and her little boy have been learning about the Gospel and will be getting baptized soon. I'm so happy for them.



The wedding was right on the lake. It was a gorgeous day for an outdoor ceremony. Wow. What a place. We were enamored with the Coeur d'Alene area. I'd like to have a few million dollars and live on the street where this wedding was held.





The night we got there, Aunt Marilyn and Uncle Roger treated our very large group to a baseball game. We watched the Spokane Indians play the Tri-City ? whatever they are. Can't remember. Spokane won. Nice ball park. Much better than the Boise Hawks.



The group... us, cousin Brad's family, cousin Mark and fiance and son, bro Erik's family, aunt, uncle, ma and pa


yummy ball park food... and it was super cheap!


Now for the bike trail.



We have been hearing about the Trail of the Hiawatha for a couple of years. The trail used to be an old train route which began service in 1909. We biked 15 miles which included seven high steel trestles and ten tunnels. The first tunnel was the longest by far at 1.66 miles which goes under the Montana and Idaho border. Bike lights were definitely required!







One of the best parts of our adventure was that my brother Erik and his family came... and so did my DAD!







What fun it was to have Grandpa along for the ride! He rented a "comfort" mountain bike for his old behind:) He hadn't been on a bike in years, but he did great. He was actually pretty fast! The grade is 2% so it was a nice downhill that didn't require strenuous effort.





To come back up to our cars, we paid the extra fee and rode the shuttle bus up the mountain.





What a fun time. We gotta do it again!

Half Way to 30!

My one and only boy turned 15 on Monday.



He's not my widdle boy anymore.





Oh my goodness. Look at those eyes!

Deep voice. Taller than Matt. Hairy armpits (too much info, I know). He is a good kid. He makes me laugh. He definitely is the comic relief in our family. He reminds me of my younger brother, Jeff. I like it that he has made up his own word... "dather" (rhymes with rather). It's a combo of dad and father. It cracks me up. I love it that he still gives me hugs out-of-the-blue and an occasional kiss on the cheek. He likes it when I scratch his back.

And then there are the times he can be stubborn as a mule. And the times when he lets me know over and over what is on his current wish list... or his "I NEED this as soon as possible" list. And the times that he finds it entertaining to drive his little sister crazy.

No matter. He's my Josh and I love the heck out of him.

Here is what I surprised him with for his b-day:



He thought this snowboarding jacket, which was on clearance on-line, had sold out of his size. But that is because I was the one who bought it! Now only if only I could make it December, he'd be even more happy.

Lady Bugs

My square foot garden is growing beautifully. But last week, my tomato plants got nasty aphids all over them.



We went to Zamzows and asked what we could buy to get rid of them. We could have sprayed them or dusted them with some kind of bug killer. But Matt was intrigued when they mentioned getting lady bugs to eat the aphids. Funny. Buying bugs to get rid of bugs. We bought a container of those little critters for about $10. I think lady bugs are cute when I see ONE flying around, but when I saw a thousand bugs in this container, I was thoroughly grossed out.





We kept them in the refrigerator until it was almost time to let them out. They sat out on the counter for an hour and then Matt took them outside after it was dark. He opened the lid and placed it under my biggest plant that has the most aphids on it. They were still coming out of their sleeping state so they didn't just go flying everywhere when he opened it.

Zamzows said that most of them will fly away, but some would stay around and eat the aphids. The next morning I went out and looked to see how many stuck around. This is what I found.





The majority flew away to someone else's garden, but hopefully these little guys will stick around and eat and eat and eat.

Remembering Is the Seed of Gratitude- Day Four

Today was our arrival to Zion (aka Camp Hycliffs). We were all so excited to finish our journey. We knew it would only be a few hours of trekking before reaching our final destination. Look at these happy faces!

Mariah Simpson


Nick Thompson


One family was in such a hurry that they dropped something very important on the trail without noticing. Luckily, their ma and pa had fallen behind them, so they found what was left behind. The kids were called back to retrieve their stewardship.

Fallen baby


The landscape had begun to change as we approached the Owyhee River. Seeing a bit of greenery and the blue of the river got us all excited. We only had a couple of miles to go.

The river just up ahead


We stopped under a big, beautiful, old shade tree. SHADE! Cool, breezy shade by the river. It was the first tree we stood under since we began our journey. It was the first tree we saw. Period. Oh, how it was enjoyed. Brigs Young was playing a really cool wooden indian instrument that made it all the more peaceful.

Under the shady tree


We listened to Sister Ball give a short talk on the suffering and death of those Saints who crossed the plains by handcart. To simulate death and the impact of this loss for our Trek, she called out names from each family that had "died". There were brothers and sisters and mas and pas, and babies that were taken. Brother Hammer played "Taps" on his trumpet.

Taps


These "dead" people laid down on a tarp while Jossi Leininger played a hymn (I can't remember which one as of right now) on her violin. It was quite humbling and touching.

Losing loved ones


The families "got it" when they were asked to complete their journey without the loved ones they had just lost. Some were the very strong ones. Some were the little sweet sisters. They were missed. They were remembered. This was done in silence. No talking for the last two miles.

The "Reverence Walk"


Approaching "Zion"


We arrived


Our "Zion" was at a church owned camp called Camp Hycliffs. The surrounding cliffs were beautiful. It is a nice camp with a kitchen and covered pavilion, big shade trees and real grass.... not that nasty cheatgrass. It was so good to sit down on the cool, soft ground cover. No pricklies in sight!

Sharing what we are thankful for


The camp has showers and flush toilets... and large mirrors that I avoided. But best of all, there is a water slide. Not a water slide like at Roaring Springs, but it's a slippery, wet slide nonetheless!

The water slide


After eating pork sandwiches for lunch and letting the kids goof around for awhile, it was time to unload the handcarts and pack up the trucks and cars to go home.

The end


What an absolute wonderful, hard experience we had. I'm so thankful that I could go with Chelsea and Josh, and I'm even more grateful that the bishop asked Matt to come along and be the photographer. I am appreciative of my pioneer ancestors, and I feel like I am a little closer to them because of this experience.

Remembering Is the Seed of Gratitude- Day Three

Treating lots of blistered feet every morning


By day three, we were all looking mighty dirty. Without extra water to wash in, I was sure thankful that I had brought along cleansing wipes for my face and baby wipes for the rest of me. I didn't bring a lick of makeup with me, but I did bring along a handy little compact mirror that I kept in my big ol' apron pockets. I know that the handcart pioneers didn't carry mirrors, but they also didn't have braces on their teeth! I brought it for the sole purpose of cleaning out my teeth after I ate. Here's a shout out to the guy who invented those tiny brushes that can slide in between ones brackets. Thanks dude! My apron also carried Chapstick (another important invention for mankind), gum for anyone who wanted it (because I don't chew it right now), a Sharpie marker (very handy), my water bottle (necessary), leather gloves, and my hymnbook. At times, I also threw in some food like a granola bar and fruit snacks. Another day, I had a womanly sanitary item hidden in there for a young lady. Pioneer women were not stupid. Apron pockets rock!

My full pockets


This day, I knew was going to be a HARD one... as if it wasn't already hard. But on this day, we were headed up "Rocky Ridge". I had driven on it with Joyce and Jeff about six weeks prior. I knew how steep it would be. Joyce had pleaded with Jeff Ball and the bishop not to make this part of our journey. They compromised and decided we would go up four miles to the green valley and instead of continuing on that rough "Rocky Ridge", we would have lunch there, be met by upset indians who didn't want us on their sacred lands, and we would head back down the way we came... and camp at "White Rocks" for night three. Very few of us knew about this plan ahead of time. It's a good thing because going up was very difficult and coming back down was pretty bad also. Matt didn't take very many pictures on this leg of our journey because it was dang hard for him too. His pack full of camera gear and some water weighed 40 pounds! According to the man who oversees the church camp, we are the first trek group to ever go up the "Rocky Ridge" way!

Josh and family on their way past "White Rocks"


Helping the Hammers up "Rocky Ridge"


I thought that wearing that blue bonnet was going to be a big pain, but boy, was I thankful for it! It was so nice to keep that pounding sun off of my face. And in the evenings I wore it occasionally to keep the wind out of my ears.

Lunch time in the green valley


Sitting never felt so good


Everybody after lunch


Indian raid (by Brother and Sister Bevens)


Arrival at "White Rocks" camp


Circle of "beehives"


After dinner, we had lots of fun. The best part was the stick pull. It got a bit competitive!


As we sat in a large circle, we enjoyed listening to the bishop give a nice talk. He asked us these three questions (may not be his exact words) during our trek experience:
1) What price are you willing to pay to know God?
2) What are you willing to give up?
3) What will you do to remember?

To celebrate the birthday of our beloved Joyce Farris, the trek organizer, we had delicious strawberry shortcake. The young men served the womenfolk first. Very nice gesture of respect:) Matt was so busy taking pictures that he didn't get any and it was all gone by the time he decided to put down his camera. Way to take one for the team, Matt!

Lovely Joyce


Yum-O


Testimony meeting ended our wonderfully, tiring day!
Lights out.