The "Smooch" Family
Our family flag
It has been a crazy 3 weeks, and I have been all over the country. It has been fun and adventurous and I have much to share--but not all in one post! I'm going to start from the most recent adventure and work my way back.
Last Thursday through Saturday Clark and I got to participate in a stake pioneer trek with the youth. We got to be the Ma and Pa of a family, and it really was a wonderful experience. Here are some of the things I want to remember (or things I can't forget):
• I appreciated the opportunity for some spiritual preparation by spending a day in Nauvoo recently and by reading the stories of my own Moulton pioneer ancestors that journeyed from England and across the plains with the Willie handcart company. I thought about them often on our trek.
• We had a wonderful "family." It was great to work with and get to know the youth in our ward and stake. Lots of really great and impressive kids. Our family name was the "Smooches." We were united and worked hard!
• We were so blessed to not have rain or blistering sun during our 3 day trek. That's not to say that it wasn't hot, but it certainly could have been much worse considering the time of year.
• Sleeping was atrocious, and I didn't get much of it! Being in camping mode made it so pretty soon we didn't mind drinking water with floating specs in it and lying down on the dirt road seemed rather welcoming!
• Day 1 was filled with trekking, a trading post, dutch oven dinners, homemade ice cream and pioneer games.
• Day 2 involved lots more trekking, a "broken leg" which caused a girl to have to ride on our cart for 1.5 hours, the Mormon Battalion, coming around a bend to see a beautiful view of a lake (we couldn't swim in it, but it was still refreshing), dancing (Clark was a PRO) and homemade donuts!
• Day 3 started off with an Indian raid! They took a lot of things including our breakfast! We trekked on and got wet and dirty crossing a river (it was hard--thank goodness for the boys!) Water moccasin made it even scarier! We enjoyed a catered lunch and testimony meeting before making the final trek home.
• The Mormon Battalion experience was a touching one. It was the last part of the day when the girls were left to pull the handcart without the men. When we came upon one particularly large and sandy hill, men dressed in white came out of the woods and silently helped us push our carts. It was a sweet and touching moment to think about how God strengthened the pioneers in their trials. The girls in our family and in the stake worked together and sang hymns along the way. When we reached camp, all the boys and Pas came running to us to help with the carts. Such a happy sight!
This is how we all felt!
Making ice cream by rolling the barrels back and forth.
Clark danced the night away!
My cute and happy pioneer daughters preparing dinner
Thirsty?
We did lost of pushing...
...and pulling.
Pa Schmutz
Ma Schmutz
Almost to Zion!
4 comments:
How fun! I still remember when I went on our trek when I was in YW. It's a memory you never forget. Cam just got called to be YM Pres in our ward and I told him to prepare for the trek in a couple of years!!
You are one cute pioneer!!! That is so fun that you guys got to be the "ma and pa" I'm sure the kids in your family thought you were the best. Trek's are fun and lots of hard work. They just make me feel so proud to have pioneer ancestors.
Ok, I just love it that you were the Smooch family, and I love your flag!
The pictures are really terrific. I can't imagine doing a trek right now in my life. Maybe I'm to old???
Yay!! We love the pictures from the Pioneer trek. We especially loved the story of the Indian raid... since Yahya's ancestors are Native American, we think that they must have had a fun time re-inter-mingling in your re-inactment! Ha ha.
Our favorite picture: Clark dancing with the young woman. The caption should be changed to "Creepy?"
Awwwww... just kidding bro. Love you both, thanks for the fun pix!!! And thanks for the reminder of the blog URL. I had lost it and I'm glad to have it back.
Love you both,
Annie & Yahya
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