Utah Part II: The Hike and Other Stuff

Lynndyl Highlight: MK drove her own four wheeler for the first time on this trip.
Delta Highlight: Since I don't have a pic of us eating at Hogi Yogi (yep, it doesn't get much better than that) the park will have to do:
I've noticed that Utah is really good at creating fake streams for MK to leap over:
On to Dixie via Provo where we helped move more stuff into J&L's apartment.and ate at J-Dawgs. Thanks for the Eskimo Pies, Justin!
After driving in the DC area for so long it was a cake walk getting down to St. George. It didn't take long for Bruce and MK to find the pool:Or for us to find Jeff and Krista:)
We also met up with G-ma and G-pa but they opted out of going with us to Red Robin since it was getting a little on the late side.
MK having too much fun:After an ever so comfy night's sleep in a Hampton Inn bed we headed out for a crazy insane (at least from this old lady's point of view) hike at Kanarraville Falls. The group we hiked with:Our fearless leaders, Jordan and his dad, Mark: Sloshing along in the cold water: MK scrambling up a ladder: A chilling waterfall:meeting a rattle snake: Dad, in front of the camera for once:
Entering the slot canyon: Traversing rough terrain Just hanging around:
Where the wimps turned around.
The cool peeps kept going but caught up to us on the return trip to the car. Next stop, Cafe Rio. Then back to the hotel where some of us went swimming:
While some of us hung out with Nathan and Steph:Next up: The amazing backyard reception at the Wades:)

Laura & Jordan's Utah Extravaganza:) Part I

Nothing like an epic trip out west to help us recover from the rigors of pioneer life. Not 24 hours after returning (with a suburban full of ticks) to civilization, we were headed off to BeeWee to catch our flight to SLC. On the way we swung by the Maryland Cruise Port to pick up the honeymooners who had the absolute time of their lives on their trip. MK was in heaven sitting with them on the plane. Not only was our flight early getting into SL, we taxied to our gate in under a minute and our 9 pieces of luggage were among the first off the carousel. It was awesome. Trek tick number one was found on Bruce's collar just before we had lunch at Wendy's on our way down to Lynndyl. L&J came with us and stayed the night after dinner at G-Ma and G-Pa Nielson's. They also got to pick out a quilt that G-ma and her sisters made for them.
All in all a good travel day. We spent the next day helping the love boids build their nest. Tom was especially helpful wearing the hot dog hat G-ma gave him.
After finding the landlord's house for the key to their place we coincidentally ran into 3 of Jordan's friends at Sonic, where we were having lunch, who helped us move. After watching L&J open a bunch of wedding gifts we helped them get stuff cleaned up and organized. Then we went to Cafe Rio for dinner where we ran into the same three guys who helped us move. Another co-inka-dink to say the least.
Let us now pause for a moment of silence as we reflect upon our post supper pilgrimage to the Jimmer Shrine, AKA home of the Jimmer Head, AKA Tom's apartment where he surprised MK with her very own autographed BYU hoops shirt. She couldn't talk him out of the ball. On Tuesday we hung out in Lynndyl and went on a nice long walk that morning. MK practicing her mad levitation skills:
and making a friend:Before we ate at hogi yogi in downtown Delta for a late lunch/early dinner I found trek tick number two on my leg. UGH! Tom came down and we played Uno with Grandma and it was hilarious. The two of them later had an epic game of monopoly that lasted a couple of hours. Tom loves his grandmas, that's for sure.

On Wednesday we headed back north and spent the afternoon with Nathan in Ogden. We ate at a Mexican restaurant that had the best salsa but the entrees weren’t so great.We walked around the as-nice-as-it-gets section of Ogden (by the temple) and saw the courthouse where Nathan is interning. There were also some pretty sweet gardens to gawk at. We saw lots of painted horses around town: We had dessert at subzero. mmmmmmmmmmmm. Liquid nitrogen never tasted so good. Meanwhile back in the void, we visited Laura's place of employment and then had a most delicious meal at the Bombay HouseIt was SO GOOD! I had lamb with some amazing yogurt sauce. MK was hilarious doing her best bollywood dancing complete with ridiculous expressions. She is a freakin hoot. Enjoyable time had by all.

Oakton Stake Pioneer Trek

Was it worth getting up at at 4:30 so I could shower before we left for trek? Why, yes, yes it was. We met at the church at 5:15 and loaded up the suburban with kids and gear and headed out to the Marriott ranch in Hume VA. We met "our kids”: 7 boys and 5 girls. We picked out our handkerchief color: navy blue. The boys got right to work assembling the hand carts while the girls painted our banner with our name to go on the side. Mostly Vienna Ward boys:

and some of the girls: Syd, MK, Meagan and Jenessa

The first morning was a little on the chilly side but I wasn’t complaining since there was a zero percent chance of rain for the next 3 days. All of our kids had good attitudes and were willing to work. Which was really nice. We had two spring lakers, Carlos Sanchez and Anthony Batres plus Matthew Fredrickson and Rachel Epps as the big bro and big sister. We also had Sarah Quan, Sarah Stevenson, Kate Heninger and Ashley Patrick. Rounding out the boys were Thomas Landrith, Peter Crawford, John Teare and Wade Whitt. The first part of the pull was WAY harder than it was 4 years ago. We were the lead cart and the kids worked hard to get over pretty rough and steep terrain. By the time we stopped for lunch we were more than ready to rest and eat. The food was absolutely fantastic the whole time. The girl's pull was ridiculously tough. Here they are before it got hard: We had to be rescued by boys. The wives of the members of the stake presidency gave good talks before the pull that gave the girls good stuff to think about. We walked 7 miles the first day and it was sunny and not too hot. Wade dug the fire pit and helped Bruce build the fire. The girls peeled potatoes, cut up carrots and celery and got them into the dutch oven. We added the canned beef towards the end of the cooking time. It was soooooo good. There were also rolls to go with it. We also made an apple crisp in the dutch oven that was good for dessert. The first night we slept under the stars for the first time in my life and it was really neat. Lucky for us there was no moon so the stars were that much brighter. It got down into the 50s but I stayed nice and warm and comfy in my sleeping bag and air mattress. I slept well but was awakened by what sounded like a bunch of girls playing a prank making lots of noise. Found out the next day that it was actually coyotes howling.

Day two was by far the longest. We were up at 6:00 and since there was a heavy dew fall it was pretty cold and wet. After we made oatmeal over our fire for breakfast we got packed up and headed out for a 3 mile pull to the place where we had the activities. After we made sandwiches for lunch there were tons of activities-- hair washing, friendship bracelets,stick pull, whip cracking, ax throwing, three legged races, stilts, scones and butter making, a water melon eating contest, leather bracelet branding and a place to brainstorm our skit. A lot of the kids just ended up socializing and playing in the stream, but they all had a good time. For dinner there was 400 pounds of chicken to feed 200 people. And that is a lot of chicken. I think the 14 of us in our family ended up throwing out at least the equivalent of a whole chicken. It was pretty cool how they prepared it on spits of rebar over a blazing hot inferno.Mikey sauced the chicken before it went over the flames and helped to get it off the re-bar. After we cleaned up from dinner and got our bed rolls laid out, we headed up to the meadow for the nights’ program. Unfortunately they staged the evening up hill so it was a killer to try sitting there on the ground. The night started out with the some cute skits put on by each family and sweet musical numbers. Sarah Q,, Sarah S and Rachel from our family played their violins and were they ever good. By the time the skits were over it was getting late so the stake presidency gave their messages in the dark. P Hatch spoke about being a Pa 4 years ago and having Laura in his family and how happy he was to see her sealed to Jordan last week. All of the messages were really good. By the time we made it back to the river it was bishop’s time and pushing 10:30.

The bane of my existence: We finally got into our sleeping bags, once again under a clear starry night. The next morning we walked back to the meadow and had a testimony meeting. It was 3 hours but really want by fast. All in all the testimonies were good and the kids were reverent and totally into the whole pioneer experience. The pull up the last hill to the catered barbecue was a breeze and the food was really good. Mikey and Garrett Bourne were among the boys who pulled the empty handcarts another mile to the sheep barn where they helped to take them apart and put them away. We got home around 3:00 in the afternoon and was I ever ready to take a shower and collapse in a heap. Instead after showering and checking for ticks, I did tons of laundry and went to the mall to pick up Laura’s glasses. At 8:00 went to the trek dance/slide show (which was a huge hit) at the stake center for a while. Mikey and MK both had a blast.