Much Needed Update

I have a few things to write about.

First, my grandma Rosalynn passed away this morning. She was my dad's mom. She was 88 and her health had really gone down hill over the past few years. These last few weeks have been really bad, so I'm glad she is not suffering any more. But it's always hard to see someone go. Watching my parents in their grief has been so hard. They took really good care of her, which wasn't easy. We will all miss her. She was a neat lady. I will blog more about her soon....I love you, Grandma!!

Second, my shoulder is getting better, slowly. I went in for my two week check up, and the OS said I'm doing "wonderfully". He told me that I could stop using my sling (unless I wanted a little more sympathy from the fam). He also wanted me to start doing more aggressive physical therapy, but the best part is I get to sleep in my bed (sleeping in a chair is the pits!). I'm happy about this news!

Third, we sent Katie off to her first girl's camp!! She has driven us crazy the past few weeks getting ready. She was SO excited!! I hope she is having fun. I know I keep saying this, but it is just so weird to see her growing up so fast!! I'll give you a full report when I get one. I miss her. She has been an absolute angel these past few weeks I've been sick. She has helped me so much. But Lauren has certainly picked up the slack!! My daughters are so wonderful!!

And, my last bit of news is that I've written this entire post from my new iPhone!! It's my new toy and I LOVE IT!!!! I can do so many cool things with it (I watched part of the movie "Hitch" while waiting for the doctor!)

So, there's an update...I am now going to go to bed....IN MY BED!! I hope Ryan will let me back in after my long absence!

I'm Alive And Well....Sort Of

I am typing on the computer right now, so it can't be all bad, right? If my very protective mom finds out (Love you, Mom!) she might go a little crazy, so I will make my comments brief so I can go ice my shoulder and rest.

Last Monday, I went in for shoulder surgery. The Orthopedic Surgeon (OS for short) found an impingement and a few other things on the MRI, so wanted to go in. But once he was in there, he also found a partial rotator cuff tear (RCT). For those of you who don't know what that is (I had no clue), it's bad. Fortunately, it wasn't torn all the way through, but RCT require a lot more recovery time. I'm so glad he found it, fixed it and the impingement and that we are finally on the road to recovery. But I don't think I was prepared in any way for this surgery, emotionally, mentally, physically. I guess I was just excited for the chance to get better, but had no idea what I was in for...but it's all good.

I didn't end up going to Sun Valley on Wednesday (big surprise!) Ryan needed to go for the Bar Convention, so he took Katie, Lauren and Braiden. They had a blast but I really missed them. Ethan and I moved over to my mom's and she took excellent care of us. It was nice to relax and not worry about anything but getting better. We are all back together again, which is wonderful, and I'm getting a lot of help from everyone, including the kids.

So... here's the situation:

• I need to be in my sling (deluxe version, very nice) 24/7 for at least four weeks, unless doing my PT exercises.

• I am not allowed to move my arm even 4 inches away from my body, again for four weeks

• I can't get my shoulder wet until the incision heals (about two weeks), so I have to plastic wrap myself like some sort of left-over dinner (and trying to wash my hair and shave my legs with one hand is quite an adventure!)

• I can't get dressed by myself, it takes a team of highly qualified people, or my kids, whichever one is available to get my shirt on

• I have to do everything left-handed, from brushing my teeth, to eating with a fork, to buttoning up my pants. I'm sure I look very humorous.

• I have to sleep in a recliner (thanks Mom and Dad for lending me yours!!). This is somewhat of a joke, but it is better than sleeping on the bed, I was resting on my bed for a few minutes the other night, and was very uncomfortable. However, I am afraid that Ryan won't let me back in when I'm better, because he now takes up the whole mattress. Maybe we will switch, and he can take the chair and I will take up the whole bed!

• There is no way I can do my hair...the girls have put it up in pony tails, but I won't feel completely normal again until I can feel like I look half way decent (I had no idea I was that vain!)

• But I'm getting off the pain meds...the pain hasn't been too bad, as long as I don't move! So without Lortab, I'm feeling more like myself.

• I've received a lot of yummy dinners, Cokes, flowers, chocolate, phone calls and get-well cards, so THANK YOU, everyone!! You are all so sweet to think of me and my family!

This is a small update on the goings on. It has definitely changed our summer a bit, but it will be so nice to do normal things without pain again. I can't wait!!

UTA Man Saves The Day And Other News....

This morning, I woke up to find that I didn't have a car. We went to the Bees game after work yesterday, and Ryan left his car in Salt Lake. So Ryan had taken my car to the Trax station because I was too lazy to get up and drive him. I had a doctor appointment scheduled for this morning, so I thought it was a brilliant idea to walk the two miles to the Trax station instead of having Tiff or someone drive me over there. It was a beautiful morning and I needed the exercise, so it seemed like a perfect idea.

I left a little later than I was hoping, so I just walked a little faster (hoping I wouldn't really stink by the time I found the car)...but I started to get a sinking feeling that maybe Ryan had taken the bus instead, and my car was parked at the Park 'n Ride lot instead of the Trax lot. We live halfway between both lots, but they are in the opposite direction of each other. If I picked the wrong lot, I would be very late for my appointment. I tried to call Ryan to check, but no luck. I just kept walking and hoping I wasn't going to regret this idea.

It was starting to get hot and I was really bookin' it. When I finally got to the Trax lot, I looked around and I found.....nothing! No car! Aahh! I debated for a moment of what I should do...walk to the other lot (which would take me about a half an hour), call someone to pick me up (how embarrassing), or what?

As I was walking through the lot, I did see a Trax employee in his official Trax truck taking a nap. He was staying nice and cool with his truck running and the A/C on. I decided to ask him for help. He wouldn't wake up at first, I had to keep knocking on his window, but he finally jumped, rolled down his window and listened to my bizarre story. I told him my husband had taken my car to what I thought was the Trax lot, but since I couldn't find it, I needed to go to the Park 'n Ride lot instead, how I had a doctor appointment that I was late for....blah, blah, blah. He laughed, told me to get in the truck and we would find my car together. How sweet! We found it right away and I was only 5 minutes late for my appointment.

Thank you, UTA man!!! I'm sorry to have interrupted your nap, but you are my hero for the day!!



In other news, I went and saw an orthopedic surgeon today. He went over the MRI I had for my shoulder and decided I need surgery. I have an impingement, meaning my bursa and tendons are being pinched due to an inflammation. I also have calcification somewhere in my shoulder (can't remember where) that needs to be removed and severe bursitis and tendinitis. Fun, huh? At least I know I'm not making all of this stuff up! My shoulder and arm have hurt so bad for a year and a half, and I've had doctors tell me they can't help me. I really like this surgeon, and I'm very optimistic that this will help. Of course, I'm also scared. I've never had surgery...ever...I still have my tonsils, all of my organs, and have had no C-sections. This is new territory for me, so it's a little nerve racking, but I'm excited to be able to move on and get better!!

So...I'm going in on Monday morning. It is an out-patient procedure, so I will be home later in the day. I will have a sling for a while and a pain med drip (cool!) for a couple of days. Then lots of PT and rest. We are planning to head up to Sun Valley on Wednesday....the doc seems to think this will be the best thing for me: a husband around all of the time, no laundry or housework to worry about, and lots of rest and relaxation. I was looking forward to riding bikes around Idaho, but Ryan and the kids will have to go ahead without me (good movies and good books, here I come!!).

That's the latest scoop from our neck of the woods. I will keep you all posted as best as I can. Any prayers will be greatly appreciated....

Small Town Patriotism

Growing up, July 4th meant that my whole family went to Raging Waters for the day...cousins, aunts and uncles, etc. It was a fun tradition, but not very patriotic, but good nevertheless. We would then always end up at my Aunt Kathy's house for a summer BBQ and watch the Davis High fireworks from her driveway across the street (best seats ever!!). Good memories!!

I love the 4th of July holiday...I've always felt a sense of reverence and respect when it comes to our country and it's history. The stories of the Revolution always fascinated me. I was always told growing up that we lived in the greatest country God had ever put on this earth, and I believed it.

I think part of this appreciation has to do with the unlimited respect I have for my dad. He is a true patriot. Growing up, he never talked a lot about the service he has given for our country, but we somehow always knew about his sacrifice. He had served in Vietnam and was in the Army Reserves when I was growing up. We would see him in his uniform a lot and knew it meant a lot to him. He is a wonderful example to me of a true American. I'm so proud of him.

The summer Ryan and I were engaged, he took me to Oakley for the July 4th celebration. I had never really even heard of Oakley before I met him. What on earth do you do there for the 4th of July? He had talked up the festivities pretty big, saying that it's the best way to celebrate America's Independence. I was a little skeptical going into it, but I'm here to tell you that he was absolutely right!! I haven't missed an Oakley July 4th celebration since!

We start out by gathering at Grandma Roberta's house. It is right in the middle of town and is right on the parade route. We visit with family members, set up our parade chairs, gather on her porch, and wait for the fun to begin.

Here I am waiting for the parade to start by holding little Cora in her darling red, white and blue dress. What a sweet baby!! I love this kid!

The parade is definitely small by most people's standards. Only a handful of floats, one high school band, a fire truck or two, and lots of horses, but that's OK. The kids love the parade. We get to sit so close and usually a family member or two is in the parade...plus, we get lots of candy. What is not small is the crowd that comes to see the parade. Tons and tons of people...I can't believe that many people can fit into this small town...I love it!! The amount of American pride in this small town is unbelievable, it's very inspiring.

This year the parade was interrupted because a horse tripped, sending it's rider to the hospital with a broken leg. The horse also suffered from a broken leg and had to be put down. It was sad. But overall, the parade was great! I have grown to love to love the small town parade!!

After the parade, everyone heads over to the town meeting hall for a small town patriotic program. When I first started coming up to Oakley, Grandma used to write the program every year. I remember she would start writing it around January and finish tweaking it mid June. She always did such a wonderful job. Her grandson, Joe has since taken over that job. He is a history major and a very good writer. I love listening to the program because it helps me to focus on what we are celebrating. I love learning more about what our forefathers did to create this country of ours. There is always a community choir and the musical numbers are great. There are always neat and touching stories about war, peace and what being an American is all about. What a fun, home town tradition!!

After the program, it's time to eat!! The whole extended family gathers in Grandma's backyard for a feast. It is always so good and we love the chance to visit with each other and catch up on what's going on.

This year, Grandma purchased a huge inflatable water slide for all of the kids. They, of course, had a blast! We were out there for the rest of the day, playing and laughing.

Grandma has a huge property, so we put it to good use by playing a friendly game of water balloon volleyball. We had a blast, but I don't think Ryan or I should quit our day jobs....though Katie and Lauren were pretty good!



Here are some cute close-ups of the kiddos having a great time....

The day ends with a trip to the Oakley Rodeo. It is a blast. Before I married Ryan, I had only been to one rodeo. Now we go every year. We love it! The kids are getting old enough now, that we can actually sit for the whole thing! It was a really good rodeo this year, too. The bull riding was the best (as usual).

I thought this was a fun picture of us waiting for the rodeo to start. Tanya turned the camera at an angle, so cute! Katie loves that cowgirl hat that Grandma Geneal bought her one year. Now she never goes to the rodeo without it!



During the rodeo, Uncle Jason and Ethan started being silly. Uncle Jason is always so cute with my kids!! They love him to death!

Bareback riding...good stuff!

Dad and Ethan just chillin'. I could have just watched them all night instead of the rodeo and been a very happy mom.

Gotta love the bull riding!!

The day ended with a very good fireworks display. I love everything about this holiday, especially now that I spend it in Oakley every year. These wonderful people really know how to honor this special day and I'm grateful for the chance to participate!

Happy 4th of July, everyone!!!

I Don't Know Where He Gets It....

I was going through my pictures on my phone, and found this....

I have no idea when he grabbed my phone and went to town with the camera (I didn't even know he knew how to use the camera!) I thought it was so funny!! It is now my wallpaper picture on my phone. I get to look at that darling face all of the time. Thanks, sweetie!

Trekkin' (Days Three and Four)

If you haven't checked into my blog for a while, scroll down to Trekkin' (Day One) first, then go up to day two before reading this post. It will make a lot more sense and make me feel better (whether or not I ever even find out). Just do it, OK?

So, day three of Trek was Friday, but we pretended it was the Sabbath. We spent the morning in camp, which was a really good thing for several reasons. First, we were all still exhausted from Thursday's events, emotionally and physically. Second, after the hoe-down, it started to rain, and rain, and rain, and rain. It wasn't just a sprinkle, either. It really came down and didn't stop until about 7am on Friday. The entire camp was soaked. Most of the tents flooded, sleeping bags, pillows, clothes, and everything else was drenched. Fortunately, we stayed dry because we borrowed army spring bar tents (way to go, Dad!) but we were the lucky few. We were told to not pack up our things in the morning, but to wait until after the Sabbath activities and they would make the decision then.

We attended several "church meetings" on various subjects like prayer, family unity, and gratitude. They were all very good. We were then given free time to ponder, read scriptures, or pray.

We then gathered together by the stream where we witnessed a real baptism. A little boy in our ward, whose dad was on Trek helping out, was chosen to be baptized here. It was such a neat experience to watch! The bishop tied it to our Savior and his baptism in the river Jordan. The talks and music again brought my emotions to the surface. It was a wonderful morning!!

The word was then sent out that we were not going to pack up our tents and move on to the next camp. Things were simply still too wet. But we were to pack our buckets (what we used to sit on in camp and also put our personal things in) and water and head out into the hills for a short walk. It sounded wonderful! Our tents kept us nice and dry, but they were also SO heavy! Our handcart was so much lighter with only our buckets. We also were only going about 4 or 5 miles instead of our original 8 to 10 to get to our next camp site--another bonus. And don't forget the joy of not having to take down our campsite and put it back up somewhere else. We thought it was great news! So this is us heading out of camp with our lightened load.

We first went back to the giant kilns where we heard a talk on keeping your promises to people and keeping your covenants with God. Good stuff.

We then went up the road to Piedmont, the ghost town and heard from a pioneer who was one of the rescuers of the handcart saints. He was sent from Salt Lake by Brigham Young to help those freezing and starving in the mountains. He told us he felt it was a privilege and an honor to have been called to help those people.

This was the rest of the ghost town...a few houses and a school. Pretty neat.

We then started up another hill and at the top, we met Miss Fortune for the last time. This time, she took the life of our little baby, Ephraim. He was just a doll that we had to carry around and one of our sons even used him as a pillow. We hadn't taken excellent care of him along the trail (often putting him in his "cart seat"), but when it came to burying him, it became real to me. Ryan and I had to speak at the funeral. I, being a big boob, cried through it and expressed my feelings about what the pioneer had said just moments before. I, too, felt so honored and privileged to be called as a mother in real life, and also to be called to be a Ma on Trek...to be allowed to feel the spirit so strong and to have the experiences that we were having was a gift. There were so many great people who could have been asked to go instead of us, but we were given the opportunity, and I was so grateful. I cried when they put my baby in the ground, it was tough to watch.

We then went further on and found King Lamoni. He was a king of the Lamanites in the Book of Mormon who led a group of people who had made a covenant with God to never fight another battle. They buried their weapons in the ground and when their enemies came upon them, they kept their covenant and perished. But by keeping their promise, many of their enemies were converted to the gospel. At this trailside, we were asked to make a covenant with God of something we would do to draw closer to Him. We wrote our promises down and put them in the hole, to be later buried, symbolizing our own personal commitment. It was neat to see all the youth make promises to Heavenly Father to do a little bit better in their lives.

That completed our journey of day three. We walked back to camp and had the rest of the afternoon to hang out with our families. We had a great time. We had really bonded the past few days while pulling that handcart, and it was so nice to just be together. We played games and just talked. It was so neat to hear them opening up to each other. My love for them grew even more. I was so glad we didn't move camp--we wouldn't have gotten that chance to be together in that way.

Chris and Brittany changing hats...the bonnet looks good on you, Chris!

Hanging out at our tent...sitting on those very uncomfortable buckets and just chillin'

So, that concludes day three. Day four was Saturday and "going home day"! We had a morning fireside and testimony meeting with both our company and then the whole camp. We then packed up our handcart one last time....

And here is one final shot of us heading to the buses. On the handcart was our family flag...it was the Wilson Family flag. We walked all that way and had all those experiences in honor of Ryan's great, great grandpa, Thomas Wilson. He crossed the plains with his family when he was just fifteen years old! I looked at my sons, and knew that each one of them could have done what Thomas had done. I was so proud of all my kids!! What a great experience!

OK...so I wanted to write a few more things down, so hang in there with me---almost done!

What I LOVED about Trek:

• My youth "kids". It was amazing to me how wonderful they all were. They each had such different personalities, but they all came together. Some have been through some tough things in life already and they are so strong. Stronger than I was at that age. Being with them made me miss serving in Young Women.
• Having my wonderful hubby there. What a neat gift to be able to share all of these experiences with the one you love. I felt bad for some of the adults that were there helping along the way, but without their spouse. I loved spending time with him, every minute with him is so precious--I don't get very many sometimes. I was lucky to have him there!
• All of the hard work people put in to pull this off. What a huge undertaking to feed, corral, and herd hundreds of people in the wilderness!! It was marvelous and I don't know how they all did it!
• Of course, the spirit that I felt almost every minute of the Trek. What a spiritual shot in the arm!
• No cell phones, computers, TV, or any other distractions! This was especially great for Ryan who is swamped at work. I'm so glad he could get away from "crazy central" and come out here for some peace and quiet!
• Another big shout out to my dad who scored us three huge army tents! They kept us nice and dry! Yahoo!

What I didn't LOVE about Trek:

• Sitting on those horrible buckets. We sometimes had to sit on them for hours and let's just say, that it's not so great for the back or the behind.
• Trying to open the buckets. It was so frustrating!! I always needed help getting mine open!
• My bonnet tried to kill me all along the trail. It would fall off my head and immediately try to choke me---luckily I survived.
• My feet didn't make it through Trek. All along, we kept telling our kids to make sure they weren't getting blisters. If they started to feel a "hot spot" on their feet, we would stop and put padding called Mole skin over the area to prevent it from turning into a blister. Well, after the second day, my toes were really sore, but they didn't feel like blisters, just jarred from all of the walking. But upon further inspection, I had blisters all over. My baby toes were the worst, they were completely liquefied! The ENTIRE toe....liquid!! OOOUUUUCH!
• To go along with the last entry, I'm going to have to say my hiking boots. Apparently, they weren't as good as we previously thought.
• Outhouses---that's all I'm going to say about that one.
• Cow Pies---again, 'nuff said
• Wait, I lied. I have to say a little bit more about the Cow Pies. They were bad enough the first few days, but after the huge rain storm, they all became "fresh" again! Watch out!
• We were given Gatorade powder to mix with our water out on the trail. It was really refreshing, but the powder would get everywhere because of the wind! I was so sticky and smelled like Gatorade for a large portion of Trek (I guess that's better than smelling like BO)
• Bloomers!! What a pain in the butt! I feel sorry for anyone who had to actually wear those things on a daily basis!
  

So, there's my synopsis of Trek. It is more for me than anyone else. I wanted to jot these things down while they were fresh in my mind so I would never forget these four days. I'm glad to be home with my kids in my nice warm bed, but I am also so grateful for the chance to go.

Trekkin' (Day Two)

Day two of Trek was a lot more emotional than day one. I hope I can blog about it adequately. The day started early...we had to pull down our camp, eat breakfast, hold a family devotional, and load our handcart before 9:00 am. We had had a horrible time the first day with the bedding falling out of our handcart, so we were excited at how well we packed our handcart the second day...everything was organized and easily accessible, should we need something (it's the mom in me). We were the third company scheduled to be moving out, so we spent the morning playing pioneer games in our camp.

In this game, everyone wore aprons and threw water balloons to each other with their aprons. You also had to catch the balloons with your apron...our family was not so good at this game, but it was fun to watch, especially since Pa had to wear the "Ma" apron.

We then moved on to rifle shooting and axe throwing. Maybe some people would worry about teenagers using these weapons for sport, but I thought it was fun to watch.

This game was called "Amoeba". We held hands in a circle around the garbage can, and tried to make everyone else touch the can without you touching it. If you touched it, you were out. I have some really strong kids. It came down to Pa and McKay....they called a tie when they were both too pooped to go on.

Then, of course, was the stick pulling. It has been told that this was one of Joseph Smith's favorite games (he was known to be very good at it). Our kids had fun, and Brittney kicked my butt. Either she is really strong, or I am a huge wimp....the jury is still out on that one.

Brittney and Wilson were fun to watch walking on their stilts...

This game was called the "A frame pull". Someone stood on the A frame with about a dozen ropes attached to the top. We then needed to work as a team to get the A frame to move, some by pulling on their ropes, others by moving their ropes. It was harder than it looked, but really fun. We had to communicate really well, so the person in the middle didn't fall.

This was a reoccurring theme...Pa's hat trying to choke him to death. My bonnet had a death wish for me as well.

After the morning of games, we got ready to cross the river and start our journey to the next camp. I love this picture of my family's tootsies....

So, here is where the day gets hard to write about. We started our walk at about noon and faced a lot of challenges, some we knew would be coming, others we didn't.

We met up with Miss Fortune shortly after leaving camp. A baby in our company passed away, and we attended the funeral. The Ma talked about her own kids and how precious they are and how this little rag doll represented a real baby who died on the trail. It was touching.

Our misfortune was that our handcart became stuck in the sand, and we therefore had to remove everything from our handcart, pull it empty 10 yards, and re-pack it. Ugh! This was after we had done such a great job packing our handcart in the morning---oh well, the real pioneers really did get stuck in sand, mud, ravines and snow, so I won't complain. The second packing job wasn't a good as the first, but we managed--it took us over a half an hour to complete the task.

Once back on the trail, we ran into "John Taylor". He was a prophet of our church and was in Carthage Jail the day Joseph Smith was murdered. He sang "A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief". It was absolutely beautiful and touched my heart.

We stopped to rest a little while later...here is where the actual pioneers came through on their way to the valley. There were several people buried here and a member of our Stake Presidency talked about how their sacrifice made this spot of desolate land sacred. He told us we need to make our homes and secret places sacred and a place we can go to where we can escape from the temptations of the world.

I really wish I had a picture of this next part, but I don't. Shortly after this, we came upon a huge hill. We all stopped at the base of it, and gathered around a lady who was standing there. She told us she was a pioneer and she had lost her sweet husband during their long journey. One night, she woke to find him not breathing. No one in her tent could help her, so she laid beside him until morning. The next night, she couldn't bear to sleep in that tent, so despite the bitter cold, she sat on a log with her three little children, one on her lap, and one on each side of her and sat there through the night. During that long, cold night, her husband came to her in a dream and told her to cheer up, that all would be well. Eventually, she and her children made it to the Valley together.

She then told us that our husbands and sons had all "died" and that we would need to pull our handcarts up this hill without their help. It was so steep and long. I was scared, to say the least, but was determined to succeed. She told us to return to our handcarts and wait our turn. Our handcart was the last in line, so we went back there and waited. When we looked up, every other woman and young woman in our company was pulling the first two handcarts up the hill without us. We felt really dumb about being left behind and not helping with the rest of the group, so we took the next handcart in line and started up....just me and my two teenage daughters. The cart was about 300 pounds I would guess and it was really hard, but we were slowly making progress. We got about half way up when we heard shouting and encouraging words....it was our men cheering us on and telling us we could make it. It made me start to sob, and I mean sob. Our wheel fell into a huge rut and we used every ounce of strength we had. I couldn't believe how strong my girls were, but we could not get that heavy handcart out of that hole. Finally, the rest of the women had pulled the first two handcarts to the top and were on their way back down to help us. We pulled the handcart free and went the rest of the way up.

We then had two more carts to go, and I didn't know if I could do it. I was still sobbing and had no strength left in me. I could hear that sweet Pioneer woman singing "Come, Come Ye Saints" and some of the men joining in. It was just too emotional to take much more. I slowly made my way down the hill and helped the fourth handcart to the top, where I was shaking from exhaustion. I just sat there and cried. Ryan was finally allowed to come and see me, and he was so overcome with emotion, that he could barely speak. He couldn't believe that we would pull that handcart halfway up the hill without help from the other women. We spent several wonderful minutes in each other's arms crying and sobbing, sobbing and crying. Our spirits were one, it sounds so cheesy, but it's true...it was all worth it for that moment. I could really feel his love for me and I knew he was proud of me.

I felt bad that I didn't help get our handcart up the hill, which was the fifth and final one, but I honestly don't think I could have done it...I was disappointed in my lack of strength. I caught a little bit better glimpse of what the pioneers actually went through, only it was everyday, without good hiking shoes and enough food to eat. What amazing people they were! How I learned to love them on that hill!

Ryan said it was one of the hardest things he has ever had to do, watching me pull that handcart and he wasn't allowed to help. But his frustration didn't end there. Before we could even catch our breath, Ryan and our TWO strongest sons were called to go on a "mission" to England. We had to watch them leave while we were forced to move on without them. They caught up to us a little while later. It was again, so emotionally taxing, but we made it through. Oh, to have the faith of those pioneers!!

Here is a picture of me and my two daughters shortly after the "Women's Pull". They are both so strong, spiritually and physically. I was so proud of them!!

The rest of the day was no where near as exhausting as earlier---we made it to Piedmont, which is a small ghost town. Just outside of camp were these HUGE kilns that were used when the trans-continental railroad was being built. They were neat to see, and we were allowed to go in them.

Once we got to camp, we set up, ate dinner, and had a hoe-down with the whole camp. I just watched, I had used all of my energy earlier in the day.

I went to bed with emotions still very close to the surface. What a wonderful experience! One that I will certainly never forget. I am very grateful for the opportunity to experience a little of what these pioneer Saints went through, and honored to be called a Saint as well. I hope I can live up to that name!