Pioneers

Last week my whole family headed to the middle of Wyoming to go on a Pioneer Trek.  It was an experience never to be forgotten.  We had such a good time together and will treasure the memories we were able to create together!  We are so thankful to my mom and dad for providing this experience for us.

Our first trek was at Martins Cove.  We walked 7 1/2 miles and had 1 water crossing.

We camped at Sixth Crossing and they had this one room school house for the kids to play in.  They played for hours in this school house, just loved it.

Todd and Analee along with her American Girl doll in matching Pioneer clothes grandma made for them!

Ashlynn walked almost the whole time!  All the kids enjoyed the trek.

Tyson and Carson never once took a break from pulling the hand carts.  They were real troopers and amazing helpers to everyone!

The second Trek was at Sixth Crossing.  We walked 4 miles and had 3 water crossings.  

This was the Women's pull.  All the men and boys had to stand at the top of the hill as if they had died or been called away.  They had to watch as us girls pull all 5 carts up this hill by ourselves.  The trail on the hill had been filled in with about 6 inches of sand to make it hard.  We worked together and made it with all 5 handcarts.  This for sure was a very spiritual experience for all of us.  It was a real eye opener for all the pioneer women who really had to do it on their own.  Braeden stayed home to participate in a basketball camp, so we had a little taste of what it was like to have to leave someone behind. (we didn't like it too much!)

We were stopped every so often to hear a pioneer story.  Something that really happened while the Pioneers were crossing the plains.

Our last stop was at Rock Creek, which is just over the mountain from Rocky Ridge.  This is where 13 people died in one single night and were buried in a circle with all their feet together in the middle.  In this picture you can see the actual trail that was used for the Pioneers, the Pony Express and the California Gold Rush.  They said the sage brush will never grow back because it was used so much!

Two out of the three nights we got to square dance at night.  Our kids loved this too.  By the second night they had the danced down perfectly, no matter their age!  It was so fun to watch how fast even the little ones caught on.

So before we left Analee cut her foot with the garden clippers and had to get 5 stitches.  While we were there Carson cut his foot with the ax.  We took him to a town about 45 minutes away to get it checked.  They didn't think it needed stitched up and they couldn't find their super glue so they just cleaned it and sent us on our way.  Uncle Christian was able to super glue it for him!  Two crazy cut feet at the same time!