Last weekend Devin and I were lucky to be a Ma and Pa for our stake's Pioneer Trek. They called us the week before to be a last minute fill in for another couple that dropped out. We spent a busy week getting everything ready. Wednesday, the day before trek, I made (with lots of help from a friend) an apron and bonnet. Amy watched Bridger until my mom was able to make it Thursday afternoon. I didn't even worry about him, I knew he was in great hands!
One of the first things we did was assemble our handcart. One of the hardest parts of the trek was that we weren't allowed to help. We were supposed to let our kids figure things out and pull the handcart on their own. It made a rather leisurely 12 mile stroll for Devin and I, but our kids struggled, pushing and pulling our handcart over steep climbs, ruts, and rivers.
We trekked up at the Marriott Ranch only about an hour away. It had beautiful rolling hills, and green trees and grass. Gnats, mosquitoes, and ticks also included.
We had an awesome family! I'm not sure if it was because we were the clueless late-comers or if we just got lucky but we had a really great group of kids. We didn't have any big complainers. Everyone seemed to work together well. We only had to get after kids a little bit.
The men of the family.
The lovely women.
"Poulton Swag"! Our cheer/chant was "
Pull-ton Swag".
We crossed two rivers.
My handsome cowboy.
The handcart train.
The cows. Our group was obsessed with wanting to go cow-tipping. Devin let them go, but they got caught by one of the stake leaders. Devin used his farm boy background to his advantage as he joked with the kids. He would tell them a fact, like "just because a cow has horns doesn't make it a bull". Then he'd tell them a kid (because he doesn't lie) "The black cows are mean. Don't look them in the eyes or they will charge". It was hilarious. At first they all believed him, then they started to catch on and then they decided they couldn't believe "Brother Poulton" anymore.
Camp, the first night.
The second day was full of activities. It included hatchet throwing...
Two-handed sawing...
Learning how to crack a whip... Hair washing, friendship bracelet making, scone and watermelon eating, volleyball...
They did rotisserie chicken for dinner the second night, 84 chickens total! It was pretty impressive.
Our sleeping arrangements. Girls on the left, men on the right.
We felt very blessed to be able to participate in Trek with the youth. I know I gained a much greater appreciation for the pioneers and our outstanding youth. Devin and I both discovered that we have relatives who crossed the plains, neither of us knew of them before. What an incredible legacy of faith our pioneer ancestors left to us. Their testimonies had to be deeply rooted to be able to pick up and leave everything they knew, sometimes leaving behind family members for a new, unpopular faith, being heavily persecuted and enduring severe hardships along the way.
I cannot imagine being a pioneer mother and watching my kids starve, not being able to calm their crying, and having to bury children along the way. They could have turned back. One ancestor's husband was called with all other able-bodied men to go to war, leaving behind his wife and kids. That is when her parents and a brother wrote her, encouraging her to come back to their home where they could live comfortably again. However, she was firm, she stuck it out on her own because her testimony was deeply rooted. I gained a testimony that even though they gave up so much, they were richly blessed. I feel that even as little as I did, giving one weekend to honor the pioneers, I have also been incredibly blessed.
My handsome cowboy.
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