Trekking through July

July 4th is always fun around here at the Milkbarn!

We had a late afternoon picnic.

 It is the one day during summer I will go all out and make too much food. Good food at that. Clay gets the smoker crackin' too.

 We had friends and our ward missionaries and a LOT of water balloons :)

obviously...not photos though!

Later in the week Audrey chose her summer field trip to Boulder Rez

They swam out to the docks and played.

 It was so hot, so so SO hot, it was about 101 that day...

 so a good day to be in the water.

 We headed to Glacier Ice Cream afterwards :)

she was happy as always at the water

I miss them during the school year so I take them everywhere...sometimes it pays off to go out with Mom :)

spending her babysitting $

our last field trip was Henry's choosing and what else would you expect an almost 13 year old to want to do?

They jumped for 2 hours straight and were dripping sweat when all was said and done

more summer ice cream treats on the bench swing

reading the BEST books an 11 year old girl could read!

We planned a camping trip, got the permit and took off for a night. Wish we could have done 2 nights.

 It was gorgeous!

4th of July trail was a little over 2 miles up

but worth it since we had this view outside of our tent and no one around except a very furry marmot who was out 

in the morning being busy

our little cousins from Alaska came for a visit and here they all are at the Denver Science and Nature Museum

then we really went for it and went to Water World in style

 a cabana and a soda machine, 6 kids, 3 adults

it was the best!

I believe in closing down amusement parks :)

Summer is time for family, friends, and playing "chubby bunny"

if you are wondering if they choked...the answer is almost. 

I made them cough the grapes out after 24

And for those of you are who not familiar with a Mormon Trek,

 don't choke. 

Clay and I were asked to be a "Ma and Pa" of a family of teenagers 14 and up from our ward.

We trekked for 4 days on the actual Mormon Trail and Oregon Trail through Wyoming.

We do this to grow our youth and their burgeoning testimonies of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.

They are worth every effort as they are our future.

I will say, I LOVE these kids.

They are now forever my sons and my awesome daughter

I've included these photos of Lucy's "family" too

I told her to meme this with

"WHEN YOU FIND OUT THERE IS NO DR. PEPPER"

her face, haha!

girls from our ward

pretty Lucy

our family at Martin's Cove

a place I will never forget and hope to take the younger kids up to this winter

It is not just sacred, but it is hallowed ground

the kids received letters from home delivered by Ephraim Hanks

 (an actor/missionary)

 and were asked to take time to reflect on words written to them

okay, we got a baby to care for, she survived :)

last night it rained upon getting to camp but cleared for dinner and square dancing

I wish we had photos of the dancing

( in fact, I did not take any of these which is

 why they are so nice!)

Clay is always game to country dance and with the square dancing lessons, we had fun...later he showed off his skills to some of the young men and taught them hilarious moves

Pulling Rocky Ridge

Clay and I were asked to reenact a scene from the story 

of Jens and Elsie Nielson. 

He couldn't go on, her small frame hauled him into the hand cart, not willing to leave him and not knowing where her child was and one she was guardian over. After a prayer, she began to climb the ridge and describes angels assisting her.

Okay, we are definitely not actors.

 As we did this down the trail, the youth up on the top  had been told the story after hymnal music was sung.

We were told to act it out. In that moment I threw my bonnet off and offered a prayer "help me get up that ridge and help me find my children". Clay has always been about 100 lbs heavier than me. 

I held his face and thought,

 I would never, ever want to leave him behind.

Then I put him in the cart...and began to pull. 

I got about 7 feet and started to slide backwards, ha!

Then a thunder of footsteps came down the hill with the face of my angels ready to bring me up....a bunch of teenage boys!

Be still my heart is what I thought :)

And there I was up at the top in no time

(and seriously out of breath)

angels are heavenly and earthly

I did not realize what effect this had on the kids until our ward testimony meeting. 

I'm so glad we could help out and was asked to do it:)

Did I tell you I fell in love with Wyoming?

It was a wonderful July and this was the  biggest highlight for me

I had so many thoughts like:

-just keep moving forward in life

-the trail is much better in life when we are on it with the same goal in mind

-when you are in the middle of nowhere, you really should never go backwards...again, move forward

-I could live out on a ranch in Wyoming please

-don't be afraid to do things that are new (and Crazy)

-bloomers are not for heat

-being saved is not a bad thing, reach up and out for those who can help

Kind of a long post but it was kind of a long July!