The Revolving Door at the DA's Office

      Last month I received an email from Dawn, the office manager at the District Attorney's Office.  It said, "are you ready to come back to work yet?"  My instant gut-reaction screamed, "No!"  Shoot this is the first time in my life that I don't have to work, so there is no way I wanted to come back, even part time.  I tried to ignore the invitation but there was something in the back of my mind that kept bringing it to the front.  So I sent back an inquiry.  Would you be willing to let me work one day a week from 8:00 a.m. till 2:00 p.m. on Grand Jury day, my favorite day of the week?  And the answer was Yes!

      Once my offer was accepted it was darn near impossible to turn the position down.  I am still in awe over this and I feel like the luckiest girl in the world because I have always had a revolving door open to me within that office.  I have now worked a couple of times and I just love it!  I love the work, I love the people, and I love the adult conversation.  My plan for now is to just work that one day a week and maybe once all of the kids are in school full-time I may pick up a few more days.  Who knows?  
   

Get Away Trip To Birch Bay, WA

      Getting out of town the week following the Trek was wonderful!  No email, No phone calls, No more trek stuff, No worries!  Just pure relaxation.  My get-a-way trip was to Birch Bay, WA right next to the Washington/Canadian border.  It was an opportunity to spend the whole week with my parents from Utah and my brother from New York.  My oldest brother and his family from Seattle were able to spend a couple of days with us as well.  Sadly, I honestly can't remember the last time my 2 brothers and I, along with our Dad, were together.  But the great quality about siblings is the fact that you can always pick right back up where you last left off.  The bummer part was leaving Spencer back home so he could work!  I appreciated his kindness in letting us go without him, and him not giving me a hard time that we played while he worked.

      We made two trips across the border during the week.  Our first trip was on Tuesday to White Rock.  We mostly just walked along the boardwalk.  We also had lunch, did some shopping and Uncle Cory bought the boys ice cream cones.  He knows how to win them over!

      Our other trip to Canada was on Friday to Vancouver. The Vancouver Aquarium was really cool. It's kind of like Sea World, but not quite as extravagant. Instead of a Killer Whale show they offered a Beluga Whale one. I felt it was worth the money and I know the kids thoroughly enjoyed it.

         On Thursday we parked my car and walked on to a WA State ferry that took us through the San Juan Islands.  The weather was fantastic and the islands are beautiful!  I have a strong determination to camp next summer on Lopez Island and bike around the islands.  In the picture below you can see quite a bit of Mt. Baker.  

      The rest of the trip was pretty low key.  We swam in the swimming pool everyday.  We played on the beach a couple of times.  We went to the ice cream shop down the street, and we watched the opening ceremony of the Olympics together.  It was so great getting time to spend with my family!  I have been fortunate enough to have spent time with all of my siblings and parents this summer, with the exception of my sister Brittany.  I love my family dearly!  They bring a lot of joy to my life.  I love creating new memories with them and I love it when my own children get to see me interact with my siblings. 

Pioneer Trek - Day 4

      The final day of the Trek.  In continuing with the emotional roller coaster of a journey this one was definitely the topper!  I felt RELIEF for the end; SADNESS that it was over; JOY in all that we accomplished; GRATITUDE for the hard work and positive attitude everyone had; and a sense of PEACE that only the Spirit can bring.  I can't even begin to explain the sense of unity that was present among all 200 participants.  This was our last morning as Trek families and I was so impressed by the closeness I saw when I roamed through camp.  We had our final baby burial that morning and I was so relieved to find the situation, while special and positive, much more light-hearted than the previous one.  The Winkel's did a fantastic job playing out their loss.      

      After camp was taken down we had several activities going on: Stick pull, Tug-a-War and a Survivor-type activity that looked like an absolute blast!  Everyone seemed to have had a great time.  The picture below is of the Rickenbach trek family, the one I assigned myself to for meals and such.  One of the cool things they did as a family was to hold family scripture study at the base of the waterfall.  I am so sad that I missed out on this because I heard from several of them what a neat experience it was. This family was an absolute blast!  

      Then came Testimony Meeting; and our location for the meeting was incredible!  To the right of us was the lake and to the left, or behind us, was that 40' waterfall.  It was beautiful!!  Testimony Meeting for me was the icing on the cake.  Everyone shared such heartfelt stories and talked about the things they knew to be true.  To hear how this experience touched and influenced the lives of the youth was the largest reward I could have ever hoped for.  I heard boys make a commitment at that moment to serve a mission.  I heard promises to make home life easier and I heard lots and lots of gratitude for the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  I am not entirely sure how long our meeting lasted, but I know I cried the entire time.  The Spirit was SO strong!  I will forever be influenced by the Spirit of this Trek.  I still have such an overwhelming sense of gratitude for all of the behind-the-scene workers who helped make everything come to fruition.  The last thing I'd like to share is about the rewards we are given in this life if we can stick out the not-so-fun parts.  The saying, "I never said life would be easy, I only said it would be worth it" is true.  That is how I felt about this Trek.  It was definitely not easy, but it was definitely worth it!       

Pioneer Trek - Day 3

      In the 4 days that we were on Trek, Day 3 was hands down the one that produced the most surprises for me.  The first surprise began the night before at bedtime with an amazing thunder and lightening storm.  The whole sky lit up, followed by roaring thunder that continued all night.  It was too cool!  Not too long after I went to bed the rain started.  I thought that the loud volume of the storm would have kept me up but I was so tired it had more of a lulling effect on me and I slept like a baby.  Most people I talked to the next morning did too.  The next surprise came around 6:30 a.m. with a phone call from base camp.  One of our young women had been having severe kidney pains during the night and had been taken to the Emergency Department.  Thankfully she was able to receive the help she needed, which required surgery, but everything was able to turn out okay for her.

      In the morning there was still some moisture in the air so we gave everyone plenty of time to take down camp and get breakfast completed before we moved out.  Once we got on the trail the rain had mostly stopped and we only had one more short run in with it before blue sky appeared for good. 

      What happened at lunchtime was the biggest surprise and by far the most emotional event on the trek for me.  I will never forget the emotions I felt at what took place.  In order to give this story justice I have to lay the foundation leading up to it.  When planning the Trek I felt very strongly about giving a handful of families baby dolls.  I wanted the dolls to be as realistic as possible and I was a bit worried about them being a joke so I tried to pick families that I felt could pull it off.  I also hand picked two families whose baby would die along the trail.  Once again, I didn't want this hardship to turn cheesy so I put a lot of thought into which family this hardship would fall upon.  On the morning of the first day I approached Sister Barbic, one of our Ma's, and told her I had assigned her family a baby and that on the third day her baby was going to be buried.  I asked if that was okay and she said, "as long as it's not today" that would be just fine.  I lowered my brows and asked what she meant and she told me that 9 years ago today (the 1st day of Trek) she and her husband had lost their newborn baby.  After hearing her heartbreaking story I assured her that we could pass on this, but she said it would be alright.

      When Friday came along she decided lunchtime would be the time to break the news about the baby to her family.  This is when the floodgates of emotions began for me.  I remember her approaching me with the doll in her arms and I looked at her and said, are you ready?  She nodded her head and then I saw tears starting to fall down her cheeks.  My heart broke!  I started crying too and while hugging her I once again told her to forget about the idea.  She said it'd be okay so I told her to go around the corner and that I would get her family.  As I was walking up to their handcart I noticed that her husband had seen our embrace and he obviously saw me with tears so with a somber tone he asked in more of a statement kind of way then a question, "Is our baby dying?"  Oh my goodness, I lost it even more.  I told him I understood the situation, I tried to tell her we didn't need to do this, and he said, "she's a strong woman!"  He called his family in and said there was a family emergency and that they all needed to go find Ma.  The reality of the situation, even though it was only mock, was too real!  Sister Barbic told the kids that their baby didn't survive the journey and told them her own personal story about their loss.  A couple of the boys took turns digging out a grave and then they all poured handfuls of dirt until the baby was covered.  I bawled the entire time and for about an hour afterward too.  The last thing I ever wanted was to ask them to relive such a heartbreaking experience, but she put my mind at ease and said that it was good for her.  Never in my wildest dreams when I planned this activity did I think it would have the impact it did, I only hoped it would!  I sincerely appreciate the Barbic's and their willingness to open their hearts up so freely.   Through this experience I am reminded how precious life is and how each moment counts.

      After making it over that hump, the rest of the day was fabulous as well in it's own right.  Our activity station was a ton of fun!  We had Archery, Sling Shots and Axe Throwing.  The Pony Express came before dinner and then we had a great fireside.  The real fun began at our Hoedown once darkness fell.  It was so rewarding to see everyone, adults and youth, having such a fantastic time!  I really couldn't have asked for a better ending to a wonderful day.             

Pioneer Trek - Day 2

      In my opinion, Day 2 was the most challenging out of the 4.  Not only did we walk the furtherst that day, 6.9 miles, but we had a lot of obstacles to overcome and it all started after breakfast.  Once the handcarts were packed and ready to go, each Company was called in for a meeting.  At this time the Captains explained how the history of our Church is replete with men called by a Prophet to serve the Lord by going on missions, even in the most meager of circumstances.  To help the boys in some way grasp how this might have impacted the women, the Captains asked the men to say their goodbyes, leaving the women to fend for themselves.  So that gruelling steep hill we climbed the previous day became our Womens pull the next.  I was really impressed by how well everyone worked together!  As soon as one handcart made it down the hill, people headed back up to help others.  During the Womens pull the men were taken away and given a talk on the value of women.  The actual pull was about 3/4 of a mile, but it was not easy.  It was a tender moment when we saw our men, they all came running up and took ahold of their handcart.  I think they missed the women in their family.

      The second challenge of the day, and my personal favorite, was the creek crossing.  Spencer thought it would have been funny if we could have got ahold of a Trolls costume and have someone waiting at the bridge, but that didn't happen.  Instead we found a path off to the side that was wide enough to fit a handcart through.  They then walked the handcart under the bridge and down the creek a ways.  What made this creek crossing so unique was the fact that there was no pre-carved path on the other side to get out.  We had to create one.  I honestly don't think I can give justice to the night and day transformation that took place there.  What was once trees and branches, ferns and bushes, in a matter of minutes became a path that looked like it had always been there.  It was amazing.  Try to picture 20 guys with hatches and axes in their hands working like crazy, and you might get the idea.  Clearing the path wasn't the challenge though, it was the 10 foot cliff that was the most puzzling.  How do we get fully packed handcarts up a 10 foot cliff?  Lots of ropes and about 25 priesthood holders.  After much thought they designed a pully system which got the handcarts up the hill.  It was quite the process, but oh so cool!!  My favorite part!     

      Our last pit stop for the day was at a rock quarry.  Everyone was getting so tired that we actually thought big rocks were comfortable to sit on.  I did love the panic on peoples faces when I told them to pick out their tent spot.  I got a lot of "are you serious?" responses.  No I wasn't serious.  I just had to stop here because the scenery was so beautiful.  I was so happy that Mt. Hood was out when we came through.  What a gorgeous country we live in!    

      I can't help but LOVE the picture below!  Not only does it capture how tired we all were, but it also captures the tenderness people had for their baby doll. We had 18 families total, and I passed out 6 baby dolls.  Four the first morning and two on the second.   It was sweet to see not only the girls, but the guys too, and even the adults, snuggle and love on their baby.  After an exhausting day on the trail, we finally made it to camp and decided based on time to cut our activities for the evening out completely.  Most people retired to bed early which was good timing because we were in for a wild ride that night with our weather.  More about that on the next post. 

 

Pioneer Trek - Day 1

      In all honesty, the first day of the trek was a picnic compared to the day before it!  I had never felt my patience level being tested more than in that last final day of prep-work.  We ran into so many road blocks, but even in the thick of it I knew everything was going to be alright because this trek was meant to happen. 

      4:45 a.m. Wednesday morning came way too early after only 4 hours of sleep.  Who in their right mind scheduled us to meet in Rainier at 6:00 a.m. for check-in?  Oh, right ... me.  I never felt tired though.  The excitement of seeing everyone pull into the church parking lot dressed in their pioneer gear sporting smiles wiped away any tiredness I felt inside.  The surreal moment came when 3 yellow school buses pulled into the parking lot.  That's when I really felt 'this is happening'.  The longest part that morning was just getting everything & everyone situated. Cars parked at base camp, handcarts put together, and people assigned to their new families. Everyone was so patient though. Once that work was done, I felt like a 50 lb. barbell had been lifted off me and I had a renewed sense of energy.

       From that point we started our 3 mile climb up hill.  What I enjoyed about this day was the fact that so many natural hardships occurred.  Several wheels started coming apart and we lost one of the youth (who was later recovered), but it was so rewarding to see so many people step up to the plate and help each other out.  I was very impressed by the love everyone had for one another.  We did place a hardship in their path though by means of a fallen down tree. Each company was responsible for clearing the path of a tree at different times along the way. The trees were large and heavy enough that they could only be cleared by axing through them. That was a highlight for me to watch them eagerly chop through it. The last bit of trail before we reached our spot for the night was gruelling. It was very steep, but the view once at the top was amazing! We stayed on a cliff overlooking rolling hills of evergreen trees.

      For dinner that night, Spencer and I thought it would be fun and unusual to hang 1/4 of a cow from a tree branch. Weird huh? That's what you get when you invite hunters to be in charge of a trek. The meat was cut off, washed, then sliced into strips of steak. We cooked the meat on racks that rested above hot briquettes. Dinner preparation was an activity all in itself. Just after dinner and dessert each company met with their Captain, a member of the Stake Presidency, for a fireside on Courage. I think everyone was ready for bed pretty early so camp got quiet quickly.

Thoughts About The Trek

      Eighteen months ago when Spencer and I were asked to put together a Pioneer Trek for the youth of our church I was honored and thought the Stake Presidency must like us and trust us enough to put together an event of that magnitude.  Then about a week before, I started to wonder if it was because they didn't like us that we were asked.  I say that jokingly, only because it was a lot of hard work and stress!  But for whatever reason we were called, I am eternally grateful for the opportunity I had to be a part of such an amazing event.

      My trek experience was quite a bit different from most of the other participants.  I wasn't in charge of pushing and pulling a handcart like everyone else, nor was I assigned to a family that I was responsible for.  The trek I experienced was far more personal!  My hardship was trying to plan, organize and execute a positive experience for everyone involved.  A lot of tears were shed throughout the process.  Some out of frustration, but most were out of joy.  In the end, however, I couldn't be more relieved to say that every ounce of effort proved to be worth it! The Spirit was so strong; The attitude so positive; And the unity absolutely amazing.  What a reward it was!

      I understand that Treks are meant to teach the youth about hardship, sacrifice and faith, but I too learned a valuable lesson as well.  I know that hardship comes at different times in our lives and I don't think that life is meant to be easy, but we are all meant to have joy.  That is what really hit me, we are all meant to have joy!  I have no doubt in my mind that God wants us to be happy people.  He doesn't give us hard times so he can watch us wallow in misery.  He allows us to experience hurt and pain, stress and frustration, so that we can exercise our trust in Him.  I feel the sweet rewards from that trust and I know that anyone who is willing to put their trust in Jesus Christ can and will feel that joy in their life too!   

Redwood Lake Resort

      Last month my family and I packed up and headed south to The Redwoods in northern California.  This camping trip was a small family reunion planned by my Mom and Bill who drove down from Washington.  My brother Thayne and his family also came from Idaho.  It's been over 3 years since I had last seen my brother and his family so a reunion was very much needed!

      The area where we camped was in-between Crescent City and Eureka along the Coastline.  It was a beautiful spot to camp, but cold!  The average temperature was about 56 degrees. In the afternoon it actually warmed up and you could go coat less.  We stayed Friday night through Tuesday. 

      Some people may wonder why one would travel so far to see some trees, but the Redwoods really are impressive!  We did some hiking, the kids were sworn in as Junior Rangers, and Spencer and the boys did some surf fishing.  We also went to Eureka one of the days and visited California's oldest Zoo in Sequoia Park.  Another highlight was seeing the largest herd of Roosevelt Elk that the area is known for.  They are massive animals and it was cool to see them up close.  It was a fun trip!  I enjoyed connecting with my brother again and the boys loved playing with their cousins. 

      Upon uploading photos, I noticed that half of my pictures are missing.  I remember my camera's battery died early and I ended up using Austin's camera.  So I ask Austin about it and he said he deleted them.  No!  His camera had some of the best pictures from our trip on it.  I am so sad!

"I Want To Be Healthy"

      Cameron cracks me up!  He is such a health nut!  He has been known to come home from school, put in an exercise DVD, and complete an entire workout.  I just stand back in the shadow and record him, trying not to laugh.  He loves to eat healthy too.  So today I couldn't help but laugh at this scene.  First it was 20 minutes of him running on the treadmill.  Then 30 sit ups; 20 regular push-ups; 10 one arm push-ups, each side; 20 shoulder presses with 5 lb. dumbbells; and 10 pull ups.  After all of that he ran for another 5 minutes.  He is crazy!  When I ask him why he does all of this he just says, "I want to be healthy".  I think he's going to be one tough athlete someday!   

Excited & Scared

       I just sent the kids off to school for their last day before summer vacation and it's only a half day so it will go by pretty fast.  As I sit here thinking about our summer plans I find myself having very strong emotions between excitement and feeling scared.  The thing I am most excited about is the ability to sleep in from now on!  I love, love, love my sleep!  I am also excited to just play.  But as I think about the next couple of months my heart starts to race and I feel like bracing myself.  I feel like time is going to speed up in preparing for the trek, when I actually want it to slow down.  From here on out we have something planned almost every week that involves the trek, and while the kids are still in school I feel like we still have time, but that hour glass is quickly losing it's sand. 

       So my goal is to make it through the next month and a half with harmony still in my home.  Me having patience with the kids, and the kids having patience with each other.  I will call it success if we can manage that.  Then come August, I am hoping it will be all play with very little work.  That is how a summer should be!