Washington, DC

We got home from Trek Thursday night at 11:30 pm. We dumped everything on the floor, showered (man nothing felt so good in my life!!), and went to bed. Sam headed into work for a couple hours, I did laundry as fast as I could, packed everyone up (including Seth for scout camp), and by lunch time headed to my parent's house to see the younger three before we left on a plane early, early the next morning. Wowsers!

Sam had a conference for work and of course I "had" to join him. We stayed in Alexandria, VA and after getting late Saturday afternoon (and so happy to be out of the plane--this girls does not do well, it's that whole throwing up thing and motion sickness) we headed out to explore Alexandria a little bit.

Behind Sam is the Potomac River and you can see the conference center across the way. He would take a water taxi over which was nice because that put me right next to the metro so I could head into DC so very easily.

And oh man is the humidity crazy!!  I came home everyday completely soaking in sweat. It didn't help that they had a heat wave going on. But I didn't let it from keeping me from seeing so many wonderful things.

 Sam started classes Sunday morning so that was the only morning I decided to relax in the hotel. Nothing better than a good book!

 After lunch he took some time off and we headed in to DC to go to the permanent exhibit at the Holocaust Museum. Wow! So very sad but I loved the way they ended it, focusing on those that helped the Jews. There are so many stories of people who gave their lives to help them and that was amazing to me.

After spending several hours in there we headed over to get on a tour to see all the monuments at night. What a fun way to see all of them. We loved it!

 Monday morning Sam headed off to a full day of classes so I was brave and took the metro into "the district" all by myself. I was so proud of myself! I spent all day walking through the Museum of American History and the Museum of Natural History.

The NH museum would be an awesome place to take the kids. I loved the exhibits and was so fascinated by pretty much everything. The AH museum was great too. My favorites were the flag that Francis Scott Key saw as he wrote our national anthem and the exhibit of the First Ladies gowns. So cool.  After that my feet and back were killing me so I headed back to meet Sam and his coworkers for dinner.

 Tuesday Sam had a late start so we headed over to Arlington Cemetery. We took a tour (that was wonderful since it is so huge). We loved looking at everything and the peace there is palpable. We watching the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. We visited JFK's grave and the Arlington House.

 Afterwards, Sam headed back to his classes and I went to the Air and Space Museum and the West Gallery of Art. The Air and Space Museum was amazing also. I loved the Universe exhibit and spent 3 hours wandering around. Afterwards I headed over to the Art Gallery and spent several more hours looking at the most amazing art. The two below were two of my favorites. 

 Wednesday Sam's last day of classes were cancelled (the water main was broken and the hotel had to be shut down, hence the conference) so we had a full day to ourselves to explore some more. We walked through the Botanical Gardens--I love plants and seeing such different ones that grow in Idaho was so fun.

 We took tours of Capital Hill, the Supreme Court Building, and the Library of Congress. The Library of Congress was my favorite. It's like a dream come true in there. So many, many books. Plus the architecture was amazing! We then walked through whatever museums that Sam wanted to see before heading back to the hotel to pack up and leave early in the morning.

What a great time we had. I am so grateful I was able to go with Sam and explore our nation's capital. Can't wait to go back to see all the things I didn't get to see!

Trek--part 4

We packed up Thursday morning and got ready to head out. My cute girls picked flowers for me--aren't they wonderful!?

We stopped  by Rock Creek Hollow which is where Rocky Ridge is. I forgot to take pictures but man that was probably one of my favorite places.  We had a short devotional with some of the leaders but lots of the kids bearing their testimonies and it was so neat to hear how they had grown and the difference it had made in their lives. It was neat to just ponder on what happened their and see the graves of those that gave so much. And now they have passed this mantle on to us--to be the 3rd rescue. We have a work to do and it was inspiring to hear.

Our good stake president left a blessing on the youth and the leaders that came and it was so very powerful. The spirit was so strong and I hope that these kids will always remember what it was like to feel that and hear that kind of blessing.

 On the way home we stopped at a park for dinner--the kids were in heaven. We took one last family shot and then we headed back on the buses for the last 3 hours. We played all sorts of games with them and it was very fun. What a privilege this was to be with the youth!

Trek--part 3

Wednesday we stayed at the Willie site. The morning was filled with taking silly pictures with our kids,

 and lots of games.

 We didn't do very well at the tug of war but 

 we beat everyone every time at gunny sack races

 and 3 legged races. Boy did we have a good time laughing at each other.

 Especially when it was the mas and pas turn to race. And man did we look awesome at it too!!  Haha....

 We also learned some new dances.  The boys were super excited but they were good sports and joined in.

 Some pictures of us just hanging out that morning.

After lunch it was time to start trekking again. We had 6 miles to cover, including another river crossing and the women's pull.  Our kids were always so willing to help with anything and we got along fabulously, so grateful for their good attitudes.

 For the women's pull we got all organized, watched as our boys left us, and then had a wonderful talk from our stake yw's president about the hard things we do in our lives are the ones that mean the most to us and the ones we grow from the most--especially motherhood.  

After that we started walking, it was a "silent pull" meaning that no one is to talk. We had about a mile to go and man was it powerful. As I contemplated how so many women did this all on their own, heck I had 4 girls to help, I can't believe their courage and strength to do it. 

Then as we rounded a bend in the road we could see our boys waiting for us, all across the hill. Man did it make me emotional.  To see them and know they were wishing they could help but praying that we could do it. The spirit was overwhelming by this point and how good it was for them to come back to us.  They were just as emotional as us. What an amazing experience, one that I will not forget.

 Afterwards we walked another couple miles back to camp where we were all exhausted and ready to chill out. They had ice cream and popsicles waiting for us (so delicious). Another couple from our ward got to be a ma and pa also. They are great friends and it was fun to be up there with them.

Trek--Part 2

Martin's Cove

 The 2nd morning we headed an hour west to Martin's Cove. We were very excited to get trekking and on our way. Above is me with "our girls"; Kylie, Maddi, Rachel, and Taylor.

 Sam with "our boys"; Kris, Chris, Blake, and Blake (yep it made remembering their names very easy!).

 Two cute girls from our ward.

 The river crossing was the most fun we had. It felt so good to take off our shoes, get cooled off, and get away from the dust for a little bit.

 We actually had awesome weather while we were there. It was definitely hot, but the wind blew just a little bit all the time (no major windstorms) and the clouds would come over in the afternoon to give us some shade.

We spent all day in Martin's Cove. As we walked around the actual cove, it was a silent walk, and it was so neat to ponder what happened here and the amazingness of the rescue. What a sacrifice these people made and all to get to the valley so they could go to the temple!

Trek--Part 1

I will do this in parts, other wise it makes for one long, long post.

We had the wonderful opportunity to go as a Ma and Pa with our Stake to Martin's Cove. My wonderful mom came to stay with the kids so we could go. We were so excited to go, so much so that at 5 am I am even smiling!!

 We were suppose to be loaded on buses and out of there by 6 am but the bus company got their days mixed up so they were 3 hours away. In the mean time we got to meet our family (they didn't know who they were assigned to till that morning).

 We made a flag with a slogan on it.

 Ate lots of doughnuts and juice, sat and waited for the busses and had a great time getting to know them.

 Our particular bus was very full so we couldn't ride on it the whole time. We had to go in shifts. When we were off we got to ride with two of our good friends--Shawn and Doug. Man did they keep us entertained. It was a riot! We loved it.

 Sam just lookin' cute in the back seat by me.

 We FINALLY made it to our destination (at 7:30 pm) and we were all so happy to be off buses and out of the cars.

 They gave us our handcart and it was off to find our campsite.

Our stake decided to have a base camp. So we were able to set up our tents and keep all our stuff at one permanent location.

 This is our little corner of the campsite and below is the rest of it.  Wow! there was a lot of us :)