Boston Trek Days 2 & 3

We got up that 2nd morning and like I said, put the soggy sleeping bags in big plastic bags.  We attempted breakfast by boiling water...some kind of cooked oats, I believe, although the kids preferred the muffins provided.  We packed up our damp belongings and loaded up the handcarts again.

Luckily we didn't have to bring elephants with us.

We started out walking with our handcarts, knowing we'd have off-and-on sprinkles and sometimes rain throughout the day.  Sometimes the sun broke through the clouds.  In the afternoon, it did actually rain on us...hard!  We walked maybe an hour in the pouring rain.  Ugh.

Blessings throughout the trip were obvious, in hindsight.

NO THUNDERSTORMS.  Even though it poured on us for much of the first night, there was NO thunder, and NO lightning.  That would have moved the experience to a different level of discomfort!  We would have had to all get up at 2 or 3 in the morning, and move all of our stuff, drenched and miserable in the process.  We had NONE of that :)

Tug-of-War between "families"

BREAKS in WEATHER at the RIGHT TIMES.  There were activities planned mid-day, including laying out blankets in a big field to make our lunches.  Lunch was followed by an hour of pioneer-type games!  These included tug-of-war, stick games, and relay races.  Those blocks of time were perfect, and the kids had a rejuvenating lunch and good time playing.

PIONEER BABY.  One of the "Ma's and Pa's" in the group brought their 5-month old baby! Yes, she is braver than I am, but that was really a highlight for some of these youth.  It was especially sweet to watch some of the teen aged boys with this little baby.  They just loved her.

Little 5-month-old baby time--so sweet!

SQUARE DANCING.  The evening activities included square dancing, and again--NO rain!  It was a perfect activity to get all the kids involved and moving and laughing.  A good time was had by all.

2ND NIGHT.  It was almost comical to watch the adults "set up camp" that 2nd night.  Everybody prepared for the worst, thinking we might get the rain we had previously, on the 2nd night too.  More tarps appeared.  Lots of duct tape came out.  People were doing all they could to avoid the pooling water and waterfalls on the kids this time, if it was going to rain so much on us again!  The blessing the 2nd night: NO RAIN. :)

Here is our camp, from across the pond, that last day.  (Tents belonged to the staff: photographers, food organizers, camp doctor, etc.)

CROSSING THE RIVER (well, tiny stream).  This was a cool part.  They told the story of the Martin handcart company who left a little late in the fall and unfortunately ran into early winter weather, a snowstorm in October.  The people were out of food, were not prepared for the cold, exhausted and starving in the snow.  On November 4, 1856, they came to the Sweetwater River, 100 feet across with big ice chunks floating in it.  The people were so disheartened by that river that some of them sat down and cried.

Somehow word got back to Brigham Young, who had already arrived in Salt Lake City.  He asked the other pioneers, who were settled, somewhat, after having been there for months already, to go to the stranded pioneers and help them.

Many people in Salt Lake left that very day, backtracking on the trail they had come in on, so they knew it well enough.  Others gathered supplies and left within the next couple of days.  They got to the river and saw the people struggling on the other side.

A handful of men, most younger (early 20s maybe), got into the icy water up to their waists and chests, went across and started carrying people to the other side.  Over and over again they did this.  They helped the handcart company through this overwhelming obstacle.

APPLYING IT TO OUR CHALLENGES TODAY.  We tried to apply these pioneer lessons to our lives today.  I told the kids in our "family," that they would never be asked to walk for 4 months in the snow.  It just was not going to happen.  But we ARE asked to do hard things in our lives.  There is sickness, death, abuse, addiction, divorce, and unemployment.  Sometimes our own lives seem daunting, and sometimes we have friends going through really rough times.  The Lord gives us good, supportive people to help us during our trials.  And sometimes, we can be there for others, helping them through their trials.

Going through a Trek experience like this, I told them, shows us in a small way, that we can do hard things.  We CAN do things that are not pleasant.  We can also help OTHER people, who are going through hard things.  With the Lord's help, we have it in us.

Here is a small "river crossing" that we had on the last day.  It's really just a tiny stream, and the youth had the option of being helped across, or not. (There was a bridge right next to this crossing, and if they didn't want to be carried they could just walk across the bridge.)

I can't include all the details, really, that people went through during "Trek."  I will say, that I have a new respect for the leaders who plan events like this: they have to have a thousand details squared away, and expect the unexpected.  Keeping that many kids safe and relatively happy...there are lots of opinions and ideas to take into account!  Food, lodging, supplies, getting permits and permission to walk on both public and private lands with handcarts in 1800's costumes.  Camping overnight on private farmland.

I came away from this weekend thoroughly exhausted!  But I also felt like this experience, for the youth, is invaluable.  They form bonds and build confidence, in a unique setting and circumstance, with people they come to know and trust.  Hopefully they also felt the spirit of the Lord's love at different moments throughout.  I know I did.  I was very grateful that Frank and I were able to go.

Boston Trek 2013 Day 1

Boston Trek 2013

Stand in Holy Places

This is a synopsis of our "Pioneer Trek," kind of re-enacting the migration of the Mormon Pioneers across the plains in the mid 1800s. More than a reenactment, however, it was a chance to honor those who have come before us.  Honoring their faith, their endurance, their resolute loyalty to their cause and their beliefs.  We studied their personal history stories, learning of their hardship and trials as well as their successes and growth.

Our Trek was Thursday through Saturday.  This post will cover the first day.

ANNIVERSARY.  Oh, and by the way, did I mention that Thursday was our 21st anniversary!  Yes, what better way to spend the WHOLE day together, hiking and pushing handcarts with 100+ Pioneers!  I made bumper stickers for our handcart.  Here are the first day's bumper stickers.

CLOTHING.  The kids and adults are encouraged to wear Pioneer-type clothing.  Sometimes you can borrow dresses, aprons, bonnets or skirts from other people who have gone on a Pioneer Trek in years past.  Men and boys wear brown or tan pants with a long-sleeved shirts that does not have a collar.  Suspenders, possibly, and some kind of a hat.  Maybe a vest too.  There are also online stores that sell period dress for the 1800s.

TRAVEL.  Trek is approximately 21 miles, walked over a period of 3 days and 2 nights.  Everybody walks, and some pull handcarts behind them.

OVERNIGHT.  We have tarps and stakes and ropes.  We make our own "tents," with the handcarts in the middle!  There are a few real tents, mostly for "support staff."  We have 6 or 7 photographers, designated food people, games/activities people, and trek captains.  Those people do not have "families," and they take care of the rest of us. We can use their tents for changing rooms, at night.

"Ma and Pa Whitesell" for the weekend :)

OUR FAMILY: Frank and I (“Ma and Pa”), Ethan 14, James 16, Nadia 17, Michael 14, Laurie 17, Lilly 14.  Nadia and Laurie have gone on Trek, 3 years ago.  The rest (including Frank and I) are new to it.  Lilly was just baptized 4 months ago!  We all meet each other, load the cart and have lunch in the park before we leave.

THURSDAY, DAY 1.  The youth, all 14 to 18 yrs. old, meet at the Boston Temple in Belmont and start the day with service, cleaning up the grounds and weeding/planting flowers and other plants.  The adults drive straight to the trailhead, to meet them in a lovely park by a lake, where all of the handcarts are parked and ready to be loaded.

The youth arrive on buses.  We prepare and eat our lunches, and get to know each other a little bit.

We also learn some about our "Pioneer Family," which is for us Hyrum Smith and his wife Mary Fielding Smith.  Hyrum was martyred along with his brother Joseph Smith in Carthage Jail.  The next leader of the church was Brigham Young, who started organizing groups to travel west.

Mary Fielding Smith, though now a widow and would be traveling alone with her children, decided to travel west.

Of course the people who happen to be visiting the park today are more than a little interested in what we are doing...  20 handcarts lined up in a public park, with 130 people dressed in pioneer clothes is not a common sight in the Boston area!  People drive by and take pictures of us with their cell phones.

Handcarts with all of our stuff!

Our 3 companies of wagons line up to leave in order.  The other park visitors sit or stand by the sides to watch the parade.  One woman says as we pass, "I hope you're prepared for tonight.  It's supposed to rain cats and dogs on us!  I'll pray for you!"  It was foreshadowing, I suppose.  She was more right than any of us wanted to imagine!

We walk along the trail, with 4 of our kids pulling up front and the rest of us in back, holding the safety rope.  The first day has us warming up by walking about 5 miles.  It is overcast and cool, in the low 70s.  Perfect hiking weather.

2 of our "family," making butter by the Dutch oven

We get to the field where we are to camp that night.  First we must set up camp, and this hay field is waist-high.  Over time we trample and roll over the hay.  We start the coals burning, as they will warm the Dutch oven which will cook our dinner.  The tarps are stretched out from the handcart in both directions.  They are staked down.  We can put our sleeping bags on the ground and be covered.  Frank also sets up a "Dining Fly." This is another cover, with space for us to sit under and we can talk together during our devotional this evening.

Dinner tonight is chicken and rice inside the Dutch oven.  The kids have a chance to make butter, shaking a jar of whipping cream until it thickens.  We also have s'mores.  Just after dinner it starts to rain.  We duck under our Dining Fly and continue to eat and talk.  The rain lets up a little, then stops.

We go to sleep around 10:30.  It seems like a good set-up for our family for tonight.

Frank sets up our makeshift "tent"

Around 1:30 my eyes pop open.  The steady rain is drum-beating on the tarp above my head.  I can hear the tarps flapping when the wind blows.  Then it rains harder.  And the wind--Oh, the wind!  Who know how much noise a tarp would make in 30-mile an hour wind!  The tarps are still staked, but they are flapping and banging around.  The rain is pouring now.  It is all so loud!  I try to dose off and get some rest, but end up checking my watch about every 15 minutes for the rest of the night.

The rain stops around 5 a.m.  As adults, we are more than a little discouraged by the volume of water that has collected during the storm.  The kids cannot sleep, so they get up and walk around and talk.  One girl in another family says happily, "I'm sleeping in a puddle!" and she laughs.  This helps lift some spirits.  About 1/3 of the group is soaking wet or at least partially wet.  Their sleeping bags are like full sponges.

Our 'family' tarp set-up worked well on one side, but not the other.  The girl's side stayed dry, as did the center under the handcart, where Frank and I slept.  The boys' side did not fare so well.  Their tarp pooled and then spilled, right on their heads.  Rude awakening: eeeeewwww!

So the leaders ask for all of the soaking-wet sleeping bags, to be put in plastic garbage bags.  One adult spends the entire day in a local laundromat.  He uses all dryers available, putting in quarters and drying out sleeping bags.

I have to admit, I am pretty amazed at the good attitudes of the teens around me.  While I mentally grumble and cringe at the soppy conditions, the kids take a lot of it in stride.

Summer is finally here!

Hi!

It has been a fun couple of weeks, with wrapping up school activities and final concerts, etc.  I know I have been driving a LOT, so that means the girls are keeping busy.

LIFE LESSONS.  David is 2 weeks into his internship, so he's not helping me drive anymore :(

His "life lessons learned" so far with the full-time job...
1) Your "gross" income does not equal your "net" income.  Ouch #1.

2) Taking public transportation (commuter train) in to work ...wait for it... costs money. Ouch #2.

3) It also takes time to get TO and FROM work.  To catch a 7a.m. train, then walk from the train station to the office ... He leaves here by 6:40a.m. and arrives home around 6:20p.m.  Many people get an hour for lunch, that they're not paid for... He is gone 11 1/2 hours, and only gets paid for 8 of them.  Ouch #3.

LAST DAY.  Monday was the kids' last day of school.  Kind of late this year, but what do you do, right?  I tutored for the last time this year on Monday, also.  I just work one year at a time.  The district does not guarantee the tutors jobs more than that.  But as far as I know, I will do the same job again in the fall.  No official notification yet, but they have "told" me my position will be the same.

NOT my toes, BTW!

TMI (Too Much Information) WARNING.  Just to give the story closure (I hope).  2 months ago we hiked the Grand Canyon, and both my big toenails got all bruised, I guess from hitting the end of the hiking boot for 9 hours straight.  I lost one!  Eeeewwww.  The new nail has grown in about 1/2 way.  So now, summer and sandals and toenail polish season is finally here, and I have to wear a band-aid instead.  :(


TREK.  Every summer, the church youth in the region go on a 3-day "Youth Conference." It can be 3 days at a local university,  where they stay in the dorms and attend devotionals, listen to motivational and spiritual speakers, as well as lots of social activities with each other.

Every 3 or 4 years, however, the youth conference takes the form of "Trek."  As in, "Pioneer Trek."  The pioneers moving west and settling the untamed territories there, are actually a big part of our church history.  Those people believed in something, and were often persecuted for their beliefs.  Many were chased from their homes and had to leave everything they owned, to follow their hearts and a prophet they believed in.

"Trek" puts the youth in a pioneer-type setting.  The youth are grouped into "pioneer families," and each "family" pushes handcarts, cooks and eats outdoors, and for 3 days lives the life of a pioneer.  We also have devotionals, and give them opportunities to study scriptures and discuss gospel principles.  The purpose is to help the youth think about what they, themselves, believe, and to give them a chance to think and pray, and strengthen their own testimonies of gospel principles.  We hope they can come closer to Christ through these discussions and experiences.

Frank and I were asked to be one of the "Ma and Pa" 's of a "pioneer family."  We will have 7 or 8 youth (14-18 yrs old) assigned to our "family."  We have pioneer clothing, and we'll load up a handcart with everybody's stuff!  Our trail meanders through the outskirts of a camp the church owns in New Hampshire.  We'll hike 21 miles over a 3-day period.

Trek is this Thursday through Saturday.  Since summer is "thunderstorm season" in New England, our prayers right now are focused on "good weather" for the trek.  I'll report on it when we get back.

Have a great rest of the week!  Kari

High School Graduate!

Well it has been a whirlwind couple of weeks!  End-of-year activities, AP tests, senior's last day, and final Senior outings have filled the end of high school for David.

SENIOR AWARDS CEREMONY.  That was a neat occasion last week.  David received 3 awards:


Honor Roll for 4 Years
National Merit Letter of Commendation and
Achievement in Business Law

PIE NIGHT.  Friday night we had some of David's friends and their parents over, for Graduation Pie Night!  I had hoped for good weather, so people could be outside and the kids could jump on the trampoline some...but no, it was not to be.  Pie Night was a torrential downpour--we stayed inside!  Ha.  It was fine.

It was a record-breaker for our little house, though.  51 people were here!  24 seniors came, and quite a few of their parents came too.  It was a nice chance to catch up, and get to know better some of the parents we didn't know so well.  What a nice group of people David hangs out with. :)

We put pies at the dining room table, pies in the family room, and pies downstairs.  Yum.  Of course, I was scrambling so much I didn't take photos while the people were here...just of some decorations.

Can't forget the Graduation Ducks...and ninjas.

GRADUATION CEREMONY.  After the downpour, we held our breath...it was supposed to clear up for Sunday's ceremony, but...would it?

walking into the stadium

diploma from Dr. Tutwiler, principal

Turns out that it did clear up for us, and it would not have been nicer if we had put in a special order.  Blue skies and sunshine for the afternoon, and temps right around 80.

There were 3 student speakers, 2 adult speakers, and the band played on...there were just 215 graduates.  We live in a small town.  In the case of a graduation ceremony, this is a good thing. :)

Here are some photos.  It was a happy, happy day for everybody there!  And it was held outside, so no restrictions on how many could be there.  If it had rained, the graduates only get limited tickets.

Congratulations, David!

Home Improvements and Cape Cod

Hola!

This is the season for my head to spin just a little.  Just because of the calendar and end-of-year activities.  Add to the mix this year, that David is graduating this coming Sunday (yippee, David!) -- and that has some extra activities going on for us, too.

And, add to that our "second wind" of home improvements (yes, it's been almost 5 years since we moved in and did the first round)!  We have a few messy projects going on at the moment.

So when I think "what should I put on the blog," too many things are in my head!  So here is my "something is better than nothing" mentality.  I chose 2 things: the fireplace, and Kara's 7th grade Cape Cod trip.

FIREPLACE.  We are having the super-old fireplace remodeled, if you will.  The house is from 1950, and that's the age of the fireplace!  We'll get marble tile placed on the front--it will be pretty.

Teresa helps with the cement coming out

But the first thing was to break out the hearth, and of course Frank said "I can do that!"  Always a quick job to destroy things, right?  ...Right?  ..........ok, well, not really.

Let me just tell you that our fireplace...was built to last.  That hearth tile was NOT coming out!  Pounding and chiseling away with every tool we could find and borrow, Frank worked on it 2 hours and only had 4 of the 40 tiles out.  UGH!

Home Depot to the rescue, he went and rented a mini-jack-hammer.  Still took some time, but for sure that was a lifesaver.  Here are some pictures.

It's a work in progress.  I'll post again when next steps are further along.

CAPE COD.  The 7th graders go to Cape Cod as a class trip each year.  They follow Rachel Carson's example of studying the coastal and ocean environment, and how we affect it and how we can protect it.  They go to the tide pools, the sand dunes, on boats, take walks through marshes on boardwalks, journal things...I'm telling you this is a very. cool. trip.  They pack more into 3 days and 2 nights than I can imagine.  And the most amazing thing?  Are you sitting down?

Every. Teacher. Goes.  No, really.  They have all the students and all the kids and it is a wonderful trip where they take BIG buses down, and stay in cabins at night and do all this cool stuff together!

Then they have the assignment to gather all of their notes and photos and journaling samples and memories, and compile a "Project." It can be a memory book or a 3D type project.

Since I do so many shutterfly books, that's what Kara wanted to do for her project and memory book.  You can look at hers!  It's really quite good.

I'll try this and see if it works: Click KARA's BOOK to see her Cape Cod project. Sorry it's too small to really read any captions or journaling.  But you can see the photos.  :)


Have a great week!  Kari

Perfect Small-Town Memorial Day

decked out in stars and stripes!

This year's Memorial Day (yesterday) was picture-perfect.  We live in a small town, and every Memorial Day there is a parade down Main Street.  There are flags waving, bands playing, uniformed officers marching and people clapping.  The parade marches about a mile and a half, so it is not too long, and it ends in a nice park and cemetery.  There people find places to rest in the shade, while keynote speakers talk about honoring Veterans and giving thanks for our troops.  Someone might recite the Gettysburg Address.

Sometimes the weather does not cooperate.  But yesterday it was perfect.

Kara plays the saxophone in the Middle School Band, so she participated last year and this year.  Here are some photos from the day.

Hopefully you had a chance to remember the reason for the day!  Amongst all the varied activities going on mostly to celebrate the "day off," it's good to remember why we GET the day off.

old-timey car

Last year our family toured Pennsylvania, and one of our stops was Gettysburg.  I was probably much more interested than anyone else in the family!  Abraham Lincoln is one of my very favorite presidents, taking on an impossible job in impossible circumstances, and holding our country together through the Civil War in spite of insurmountable odds.

Flag raising ceremony

I memorized Lincoln's Gettysburg Address for our trip.  Here it is, short but profound and heartfelt, still full of meaning after 148 years.

blue skies, little wispy cloud

Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. 

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this. 

But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow -- this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract.

The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced.

It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

Thank you to all our troops!

Spring at last?

Hola!

Well we are finally into May, and I think we could possibly get a spring.  Up here in the Arctic North, Massachusets is slow to recognize the season.

It is easy for ME to recognize the season.  "Spring" means a full calendar!  Juggling transportation needs, who has what car for which appointment, and keeping track of everybody's events in a little box of the calendar  Yes, we still use a physical calendar on the countertop!  Then you can visualize the week, and anyone can see everybody else's commitments as the days progress.

But here is our weekly synopsis.  It's May.  Just to remind you. :)

PARENTS OF SENIORS.  I got a letter in the mail addressed to "Parents of Seniors," outlining the upcoming events and important dates for seniors for the rest of the school year.  I read through it and thought to myself, "Is this for REAL??"  I keet expecting Rod Serling to step out and announce, "In an alternate universe, your child will graduate.  But are you dreaming?  You may never know...unless you take a voyage into the Twilight Zone."

SCOUT CAMPOUT.  Frank is back in scouts again!  He leads a troop...takes a break from it...and then gets asked back in.  Right now he's with the 11-year-old scouts, and Friday he organized a campout for them.  People don't realize what goes into the preparation for those activities unless they have to be the leader.  All the planning and logistics can be pretty overwhelming!

KARA TRACK MEET.  Kara is trying track (as well as soccer) this spring. Last Tuesday she ran the 400 meter run and came in 3rd.  She was also the last leg of the 1600-meter relay team, so she ran another 400-meter as part of the relay team.

DAVID's FELLOWSHIP AWARD.  David found an internship to apply for.  It was pretty involved, just to apply--it was like applying for another university.  2 weeks ago, he got a phone call that the sponsoring companies had reviewed applications, and he was chosen for one of them!  It will be for 10 weeks this summer, at Draper Laboratory in Cambridge.  They arrange the internships to give the students exposure to multiple types of engineering and technology projects.  Thursday we went to the banquet where they presented the students with the awards, and we met representatives from the company.  We think it will be a great opportunity for him.

SAT SUBJECT TESTS.  Teresa is finishing up Chemistry this term, so Saturday she took the Chemistry subject test for the SAT.  Standardized tests are painful for this child!  Ugh.  (I hate to tell her that these tests are not going away.  One at a time, right!)

STOMP.  Then, as a culminating fun event to finish off the week, we went to "STOMP" at a theater in Worcester.  The whole show is amazing percussion, with the performers tapping and beating on anything from barrels to jugs to matchboxes to inner tubes.  They dance and make noise and act out skits...it's pretty funny, and they are all so talented.  You can't help but try to join in.

May sun shine on your patch of the world this week!
Love, Kari :)