The last 3 months have been, in memory, the busiest 3 months all in a row ever in my life! I was busy almost every second doing something that needed to be completed in a certain time frame. It started with telling Nette that I'd make the little girl dresses for the wedding. We were back and forth on the fabric and finally landed on a beautiful purple satin. Amy picked the pattern and I was able to get the fabric here. At the same time, I was asked to display 2 quilts at the Vermont Quilt Festival at the end of June, one was completely finished, but the other one was just a top that didn't even have a border. And that one needed to be hand quilted, something I don't enjoy doing because I'm not that good. But it had to be done so off I went. So between sewing the dresses and handquilting, I was busy busy. On top of all that, Calvin and I were involved in the planning of the Stake Pioneer Trek. Calvin was the Trail Boss, I went as Sister Boss. We had many meetings to prepare. The stake had never done this before so we had to start from scratch. And with going on the trek, I had to sew clothing that we'd wear, as that was a requirement. I made Calvin 2 billowy shirts of the correct time period and a vest. I tweaked old Dockers with buttons so he could wear them with suspenders. He ordered a black felt hat from a 19th century clothing outfitter. He looked good!! I made myself 2 skirts and apron and a bonnet. I ordered a pioneer blouse and bloomers. So all that sewing took up a lot of time too.
In May all the Ma's and Pa's and the Trek Committee did a practice run at the property in Michigan pushing/pulling the handcarts we made. That gave us a good idea what we were looking at. We left May 29 for the wedding, picking mom up in Des Moines. We ran into a HUGE, well 3 HUGE storms on the way. The first one was so bad, we crawled along the freeway at 10 mph. It rained most of NE. We stayed over in North Platte. Mom had her own room and it was a good stay. The next day we got into UT that afternoon. Nette fixed a good dinner, and it was fun to visit. I didn't get to see our boys till the next day.
On Friday Linda and I helped Nette with getting things ready for the bbq and reception. We were busy! I'm glad I could be there to help. Calvin was with some of the boys and all 3 came that night to the bbq. Jacob brought his family so I loved seeing the kids. Nette presented a fabulous spread. It was so clever and so yummy. It was fun to visit with everyone. We tried the dresses on Sophie and Avery and they fit. I was worried they wouldn't. Yeah!
The next day was the wedding. We picked up all 3 boys, (like the old days!) and had lunch at the Garden Café in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. Yummy food. Then we walked over to the temple for the sealing. What a beautiful experience. I loved having my boys with us, that was wonderful, the sealing was very special but when they brought Avery in, all dressed in white and so darling, I lost it. That was so wonderful to see the 3 of them, the new Moulton family, kneel at the altar. Very touching.
Pictures afterwards went well. There were many weddings that day and the temple grounds were gorgeous as usual. We dropped off Jacob at his house, and Sam at his apt. Later that day, with Colin with us, we picked up Sam and his girlfriend, Nicole, our first time meeting her. I knew she was nervous, but we just loved her! How adorable she was. They look cute together. Sam is definitely smitten. Up the canyon we went to the reception at Solitude. The room was beautifully decorated. I introduced Nicole to the aunts and grammy. We didn't stay too long and took everyone home.
We went to church with Jacob and family and had a great lunch afterwards. We brought Grammy back later to help celebrate Clara's 7th birthday. It was good for mom to see more of her great-grandchildren. Ethan had his feet in casts as he has Sever's Disease, something to do with the growth plates in his feet that made it hurt when he walked or ran, so 3 weeks in casts were supposed to do the trick and it worked. He has no pain now and can walk and run just fine. Mylyn loves to do my hair when I see her. And Galen just barely warmed up to us just as we were leaving! He needs to have glasses now. We loved spending time with the family. We just don't see them enough. Right now Jacob is in England presenting one of his writings at a conference in London. I'm so proud of him.
Monday night we had dinner at Markaye's with Calvin's side of the family. Colin came up for that. That was fun to catch up with them. We're planning the next Baker Reunion next summer which will be at the YMCA of the Rockie's in CO. Colin gave us his latest book, the 2nd in his series. I enjoyed his first book and I'm so proud that he's writing.
Tuesday night we brought mom to Kathi's house and visited while there. I love their new additions and new décor. So fun. And a garage!!!! It was fun to watch Addie and all her busyness. It was a great visit while in UT.
The next day we drove down to Moab, having never been there before. It was HOT!!! We planned to hike to the Delicate Arch, but I just couldn't do it.
The heat was scary. I saw how much farther we had and all we had were small water bottles that didn't seem like they were going to last and that frightened me. The heat was amazing. I was scared I'd get heat stroke and have no easy way to get help, so we turned around. I felt very defeated. Thankfully Calvin got up really early the next morning to hike it and took lots of pictures.
We were on our way to Colorado Springs that next day but decided to go a different route than the freeway so we took a simple highway which wound through the most beautiful valley I've ever seen. It was green with the winding Cimmeron River that went through it. It was green for miles and miles. It was gorgeous going through the mountains and then finally into the Springs where we stayed the night. We had no choice but to go the freeway across Kansas. We stayed in Kansas City, and had real Kansas City bbq that night. The next day, we saw the new KC Temple,
gorgeous and more backroads through MO up to Nauvoo. One town we drove through in MO, Hamilton, was so dead, as many of the towns were, but this one had a store front that had a huge sign that read Missouri Star Quilt Company. I knew this place. Not by being there, but I've been on their website. She's famous for quilt tutorials. I had to stop!! So Calvin sat on the bench outside while I went in. Wow. What a fun place. Very large. As I was nearing the end of my purusing when I heard someone say, "I have to meet her", referring to me. Huh? Calvin came with this woman who I recognized as the owner, Jenny Doan. How fun! But that's not the best part. She's a Mormon!!!! Calvin, when outside, noticed her and others moving furniture to an upstairs room. Jenny mentioned to him that they're moving their daughter upstairs. The young boys helping had tshirts on that read "Righteous" with an Angel Moroni that dotted the 'i'. hmmmm. He finally asked her if she was LDS and she said yes. Amazing. He had told her that I was a huge quilter and had done the Dear Jane quilt and that's when she said she wanted to meet me cuz it's not a quilt she's every wanted to tackle cuz it's so hard. (really it's not, it's just a ton of work). We chatted like we were old friends. She said her ward is bulging at the seams, it's the longest LDS chapel in the world. And how she's only had her store for 4 years, but she's trying to save her town. She employs 45 people. What they need now is a restaurant cuz her shop is becoming a destination stop for quilters but there's no place to eat. I will attest to that! The one place we did finally find allowed smoking in it. Yuck. Anyway, it was a fun visit and I was so amazed to have found this place and the owner is LDS. I love that.
We stopped in Quincy IL to have dinner with an old high school friend of Calvin's. This is the woman who's brother made the movie "17 Miracles" and his newest movie "Ephraim's Rescue" which we were able to see and we highly recommend it. It was fun for Calvin to catch up with Becky and meet her husband and a daughter that was visiting. We stayed overnight at the Woodruff Inn downtown Nauvoo.
And then we came all the way home on Sunday. We put on over 4800 miles over 1 1/2 weeks. A lot of it was all the driving we did in UT while we were picking up this boy or that and down to Salem and up to Layton, etc.
So that trip was done. Next is the Trek.
Trek was 3 days. We met before lunch to get things organized before the kids arrived.
We had 11 carts, 10 families. Lunch was provided, rules mentioned, families organized and off we went. There were puddles everywhere from the huge downpour the previous day. A while after we had left, we had our first 'vignette', an older couple who we came upon that were dressed in the time period, acting as the real people they talked about. It was a great story. We also came upon wooden plaques along the path, 12 of them over the 3 days that told more stories. Both of those ideas were mine! Then we were off again and came to this hill that did not look familiar. The first family looked at Calvin and asked "we have to climb that?". His reply? Yep!
It was not on the trail path! Calvin had taken a wrong turn, but we had to go up it or completely turn around which was impossible. So up they went. I dont' know what the grade was, but it was almost straight up. What was amazing was once the kids made it to the top, they ran back down to help everyone else. We were so impressed with that. The next area was this swampy area with small bridges that were just wide enough for the carts, that covered this beautiful winding creek that wound throughout the whole area. It was not easy. Very ooey gooey mud and mosquitoes. Some of the bridges weren't easy to cross,
some were bent at an angle or the beginning or end didn't land on the ground. Calvin admitted that he had made a mistake on the trail, but we see it as a divine mistake as that first hill was miraculous to watch and we wouldn't have had that experience if Calvin had gone the right way!
We finally got to camp and all the families had to make their own fire pit and get their own things organized. The girls and the boys were separated into two groups. Calvin and I slept on the boy's side. We made a tent with a tarp that connected to the end of the cart to the ground. Dinner was provided for us and it was a lovely evening to rest and recuperate. Now, you need to know that I was not in good shape for the trek. I had done quite well before we left on our UT trip, but sitting in the car for all those days made me out of shape again. All the walking on the trek was extremely difficult. My feet especially suffered the most. Every step hurt. That night was chilly which we were grateful for because it kept the bugs away. In fact, the weather was perfect the whole time, up to the low 70s and very nice.
The next day we had another family come in for a vignette. This was a direct ancestor from a pioneer woman who's husband was paralyzed in the Battle of Crooked River in MO. Druscilla something. We also had to bury our first baby that morning. Each family was given a baby to carry, not knowing what would happen to the baby eventually.
The names the kids came up with were funny. It was very emotional when it was announced which baby didn't make it through the night. So Calvin told the pa to get a shovel to bury their baby. Lots of tears.Friday was going to be the hard day, the Woman's Pull.
By lunch time, I was dying. I asked if the support staff that met us for lunch, if they could just take me to camp cuz I didn't think I could do anymore, but then I decided to stick with it no matter what. That was a tough decision. I'm so glad I stayed cuz of what I witnessed. The next hill we did was not only up but sideways, the carts had to be supported from the side so the hump of the family's stuff wouldn't fall off the cart. All the trails and ruts and roots and downed trees to maneuver over. Not easy at all. On the trail, we ran into 2 men who had dressed in time period military uniforms,
there to call the young men to the Mormon Battalion. The girls realized they'd be pulling/pushing the carts on their own. Lots of concern. So off the boys went. What was supposed to take 45 minutes took us 2 1/2 hours! It was by far the hardest part of the trail. What the girls did was amazing to witness. Up down sideways, every which way we went. Some will tell you that they got to a point where they couldn't go any further and then they started feeling their carts move by unseen helpers. What a testimony the girls received. There was a point where it was flat when we could rest. Calvin was the only male with us and let us rest awhile. Another baby didn't make it and had to be buried. After being physically spent by then, the emotions of having to bury a baby were real. We had one more hill to make and Calvin could tell the first cart of girls and ma were completely spent so he
helped. It wasn't his place to push/pull the carts. They couldn't have made it otherwise.
We finally made it to camp. I went way ahead of our girls and a member of the support staff came on their ATV to see where we were and offered me a ride to camp but I declined, even though my feet were on fire. I wanted to say that I had walked the entire way. We made camp. I'm not exactly sure what the boys did in the Mormon Battalion except they were drilled so I can't comment on that. But the girls were exhausted but they saw so many miracles. We cooked our own dinners and then there was the hoedown. How did those kids find the energy???? We were at a cabin by then, the leaders stayed outside on rocking chairs on the porch. Night time was later than that night before. We rigged up our tarp again but it wasn't as nicely done as before. Sleeping on the hard ground was tough so sleeping was difficult. I even had a claustrophobia attack while under the tarp. That's never happened before. I had to get out of there, plus I had to go to the portapotty anyway. So I got Calvin up and off we went. I couldn't bear to go back to our 'bed'. There was so much snoring around us, it was awful. We sat outside for a long time. I really needed fresh air.
Then it was Saturday, our last day!After breakfast and after all the carts were lined up to leave, we had a testimony meeting. That some of the kids made the connection between the toughness of the trek and how the Lord rescued us so many times was priceless. That's what we wanted the kids to learn. This day's hike wouldn't be very hard, it was mostly flat ground.
Calvin said it was 1 1/2 miles, but a pa said his GPS said it was 2 1/2 miles. I'll believe that one! I stayed up front with Calvin this time cuz I wanted to finish the trek with him. The last little bit was through this path of trees that umbrella'd above us. Then we were on paved road, and once we got to the rise in the road, we saw ahead of us all the parents, bishops and Brigham Young
standing in the middle of the road to welcome us to Zion! I lost it. I was so overcome with emotion of the significance of this moment and personally what I had just accomplished. It was by far the hardest, toughest thing I have ever done ever in my life and the most spiritual. I was weepy all weekend long, just overcome with emotions from this experience. After we made Zion, we had awards and pictures and a delicious lunch. Then the rain hit! Another miracle for us.
On the way home, we stopped at McDonald's to get a cold drink. I just wanted ice water. It was fabulous. I was beat all day and couldn't wait to get to bed. Calvin and I have talked about the trek many many times and we both agree how it was the greatest experience of this sort we've ever had before. I'm so glad we did it together. I'm so thankful for the many miracles I witnessed. I even compiled my own '17 Miracles':
1. I chose to go afterall for weeks.
2. I wasn't on my period. (sorry guys if you're reading this).
3. The weather was perfect.
4. The Lowe's Foundation property was perfect for the Trek.
5. Hardly any bugs, cold enough at night for no bugs.
6. No handcarts fell apart, though some wheels were tenuous.
7. My back did great.
8. As well as my feet, even though they hurt like h*ll.
9. Unseen helpers on the Woman's Pull.
10. Strength of the girls and leaders on the Woman's Pull.
11. The connection that many of the youth made between God and tough things in life.
12. More appreciation for those early Pioneers who gave so much for the Gospel.
13. The tick that came home with us that Calvin discovered crawling on his leg in the middle of the night that didn't burrow into his leg.
14. The healing of a ma's severely burned hands while on the Woman's Pull.
15. Taking the wrong trail. Having us climb a hill that was not expected.
16. Blessing of Sis. Aber (she was the committee head) after her eplileptic collapse and watching the power of the priesthood blessing her.
17. Accomplishing the hardest thing I have ever done in my life.
A week after Trek was Girl's Camp!
Am I a glutton for punishment or what? The theme this year was "B.O.O.T Camp (Building Our Own Testimonies") with the scripture reference D&C 87:8 "Stand ye in holy places and be not moved". We wore camo tshirts and dog tags and a camo bandana. My partner is my bestest friend Olivia and we had a great time together. We were Level 1 Leaders, the first year girls and there was 11 of them. Each cabin had AC in it, a new addition from last year. So grateful for that cuz the weather was hot all week. Our girls had an interesting dynamic. 5 were long time members of the church, 3 were brand new members and 3 were non-members and all got along pretty well. Not too much drama. We did have a girl that wet her bed a few times though
she never admitted it, we knew. She had to air out her sleeping bad twice. There was lots of walking and I didn't think I had recovered well enough from Trek. But being able to shower in the nurses cabin for leaders only was great. The food was plentiful and really good. We did have to cook 2 meals on our own. Our first night we had a tremendous storm that knocked out the power and brought down some trees. One tree landed on a girl's tent but we were all in the mess hall by then. Another tree was hit by lightning and should have fallen on the cabin, but fell sideways instead.
The good Lord was looking out for us. There were times I wasn't happy to be there cuz of the heat or all the walking but overall it was a good experience. Not the spiritual high that I got from the Trek but I do have good memories, mostly because of my girls. I just loved them. We also had two youth leaders (YCLs) that stayed with us. They helped a ton. On Friday Olivia and I couldn't wait to finally get into the car and head home.
We whooped it up as we drove out of camp!!! And our first stop was Culver's!!! I drank 2 large cups of rootbeer. All we had all week was water, which was important but can get boring. So another tough thing I just accomplished and now I don't have much to do except what I want to do.
We are meeting the Castros at Purdue for the 4th for the annual Patriotic concert they put on. Then we're going to King's Island amusement park in KY with them later in the month. Other than that, I need to catch up on so many things that were put away.
I know this was a long entry but so much happened in the last 2 months.
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