pioneer trek cont.

Here are a few more pictures of the trek. It's so hard to decide which ones to put up. The first one if still from the second day. After traveling through "Indian Territory" and being put in the battalion and doing the women's pull, they had fun and games. This is one of the stations they rotated too! They gave back, hand and foot rubs to who ever wanted one. AS you can see, Dallon wanted one! It felt good too! On the third day they had the children from the families who had "died" the day before, stand in the trees, dressed like angels, waving white hankerchiefs as the "pioneers" passed by. It was pretty cool and some of the "pioneers" understood what it meant. The last picture is of me and Dallon, taking his stuff to the trailer to go home. Everyone had a good time - they know now that "I can do hard things". There were a lot of people doing lots of stuff to make things happen. It was wonderful! The only tragedy was me loosing the diamond in my wedding ring! But that's small in comparison to what happened to people as they crossed the plains in handcarts. I forgot to put in the picture of the memorial garden. Each family was given the name of one of the families that crossed in the Willie/Martin company. They put the names of maybe half of those who died on 2x1 pieces of wood and drove them into the ground. The kids walked around, looking at the names, trying to find the names of the people they were representing. It was sad to see so many stakes in the ground! It was very emotional. The missionary couple assigned to our stake was able to come and participate and she found the name of her ancestor on one of the stakes! It's a small world.

Pioneer Trek

We had our pioneer trek up by Forest Lakes, which is several miles past Christopher Creek. The weather was great, cold at night and cool during the day. Of course, I wasn’t pulling a handcart like the kids were, or walking with them, like Stanley was! The first picture is of the four of us, before it started. The next picture is of one of the down hill parts on a very rocky road. I believe that’s Emmee holding back the cart in the back so it doesn’t run over people on the way down. They went through “Indian” territory on the second day. The third picture is titled, “Yes! Brownies! I found them!” They wanted to trade brownies for safe passage. (Sis. Dees had just given them a package of brownies as a treat.) All they’d been eating was hardtack and jerky, so the brownies were precious! The “Indians” would take a bite of the brownies and spit them out and stomp on the rest of them – adding insult to injury! Some of the groups were able to hide their brownies and eat them later! One even offered to trade one of the girls instead of the brownies! The fourth picture is of the boys lined up to sign in for the battalion march. I think Dallon is about 9th boy back. What was neat about this all was, that as the boys marched off, the girls started pulling and it was very hard – the YSA came to help them, dressed like angels! They didn’t speak to the girls, but they helped them pull their carts up a steep hill. One woman said she was really upset with the “Indian” that took their brownies and here was the same boy, dressed like an angel, helping them pull their cart! Her feelings changed immediately! Sorry I don’t have a picture of that, but I’m sure someone else does and I’ll get a copy of it later. There’s more pictures to follow!

Emmee seminary and high school graduation

Here's Emmee with her seminary diploma, on the last row in the A-L section, next to the empty chair and with her brothers and sisters after graduation. The picture of her with her parents is blurry! So I didn't post it! Sorry!

Kensington

Here are couple pictures of Kensington. She is starting to put on some weight in her face - here is a picture of her double chin. I can't believe that she will be a month old next week!

New beds

So we bought new beds for the kids. We found a bunk bed that could be turned into 2 twin beds on Craigs List. We put the 2 kids in the same room so the baby could sleep more soundly in the crib when we move her over. So far it has been a hard adjustment for Maeley. The first night she jumped around and wandered around both beds for almost an hour. As you can see by the picture she fell asleep at the foot of her bed. The next night she cried at the door for almost 2 hours - I have them gated in so they can't get out - when she finally fell asleep it was at the foot of Karsen's bed - sorry there isn't a picture of that. I am hoping she will adjust soon so we don't have to fight with her every night.

Gavin Paulson Pettit after being blessed by his father, Geoffrey. In the picture are from left to right, Grandpa Glasgow, Burton, Steve, Geoffrey, Mark, JT, and Stanley.

Nice family picture after the big event.

These are pictures from the father's and sons outing this past week-end. There's a picture of the base for BuckBuck - Nathan and Brandon Merrill, then I don't know who and then Jason Tenny. Then I believe there's a picture of Ethan trying to jump on top of everyone. There's a picture of everyone waiting in line for breakfast and a picture of Dad, JT, Burton and Dallon by the suburban. They had a great time in the cool mountain air! It was just too short!

Mothers Day pictures

Here is our new family picture. Also, a picture of Kensington and Gavin chillin' on the couch together.

Merik

I took these yesterday. Merik was tyring on "hats" . He's funny at certain time of the days. Then the other one is of him with his mad face just after his bath. I wasn't giving him his milk soon enough.

Prom

Dallon and his group went to the downtown area and took pictures with the sculptures and statues. This one is of him and his date on the "big, comfy chair". The next one is of some of his group, striking a "James Bond" pose. Then there's the dress! We call it the "Princess" dress. Elise loves it! The last photo is of Ethan and Emmee, ready for the fun! They all had a blast at their alternative prom. Great music to dance to, good company and good food!

kisses

Okay one more picture. This is also from yesterday, I took it in the evening while Geoffrey was helping Merik hold Gavin. I just love these moments.

brothers

Here is a new picture of the boys. Merik has to hold his little brother once if not more a day. I hope this is a good sign that they're going to be good friends. Gavin is smiling more and more. When he hears me talking to him in the morning after I feed him he just smiles. I guess a lot of it has to do with just being fed after sleeping all night. God has blessed me and I just need to remind my self of that everyday.