Ward Exodus...to the Promised Land!

Last Monday morning we woke up bright & early at 3:30 a.m. to get to the bus for the ride to the "Exodus". It took us 2 1/2 hrs. to get to Forest Lakes, where the handcarts awaited us. We unloaded our 5 gallon buckets, sleeping bags, & tents, and loaded them onto our handcarts...away we went. Kyle & I were the Ima and Abba (Ma & Pa) for our "family" of 9 kids. The picture at the top has Kyle pulling one of the carts with our three boys at the front and the girls pushing from behind. Our ward had 4 families, and there were a total of 350 kids that went on this trek from our stake. When the Bishop called us to do this, I thought, "how hard can it be, if teenagers can do it, so can I". But wow, it was soooooooo hard! We pulled & pushed a total of 15 miles (11 miles the first day, classes & activities the 2nd to give us a rest, & another 4 the last day). The carts were very heavy and we were on rocky terrain pretty much the entire time. The first night was freezing cold, at 30 degrees, but we survived:) Even though it was super tough, I loved getting to know all of the kids in our ward. I am amazed at how respectful, hard-working, fun, & inclusive these kids were. And all of the classes and lessons we had on Moses and the Bible were great, I learned so much. We had a lot of fun and this experience made us extremely grateful for running toilets, our bed, chairs, and best of all...a shower!! It was a wonderful three days & we were glad to be part of this experience with our kids.

Kyle's Deep Sea Fishing Trip

This video was taken at the tail end of a 25 minute fight.

They were 65 miles off the coast of San Diego.

Here is Kyle and his friends playing a prank on Damon Stratton, Kyle's cousin.

The Silver Mine in Tombstone, AZ

While on our "Tombstone trip", we also stopped by Kartchner Caverns and took the tour. It is a natural cave that two men discovered in the 1970's, but they just recently opened it up to the public a year ago. It was awesome, I was in awe the entire time. God has some beautiful creations under ground we rarely get to see. We forgot to take our camera, so we don't have any pictures of it. These two pictures are of the silver mine in Tombstone. It was just as impressive as Kartchner Caverns. The tunnels went underground for 40 miles. The tour guide told us that back when they opened the mine, in the days of Doc Holiday & Wyatt Earp, that they mined only by the light of candles. It is pitch dark down there!! They were definetely tough back then. We learned a lot about the history of Arizona on this trip. We also went to the graveyard of the famous gunfighters & toured the town, which included the OK Corral & The Bird Cage Saloon. It was a fun trip.

Tombstone, AZ

The Sheriff stopped us while we were touring downtown Tombstone. He was about to throw Kyle in jail for breaking the law...wearing pajamas in public:) It was hilarious, he was a fun guy. The kids had a blast and Caleb was in cowboy heaven. We went with Kyle's sister and her family (they live across the street from us, we do everything together!).



Liam, Madeline, Nadine, Caleb, Shaylee, and Jack with the town Marshall.

Kyle's Brother's Wedding

Caleb was the ring bearer at his Uncle Micheal's wedding in March.

Shaylee was the flower girl.

Family Picture

2008 Women's Conference

Melissa (my sister-in-law), Rachel, Jessica, Melanie (my mom)


Five of us flew up to Women's Conference and stayed for four days. We had a lot of fun & enjoyed the classes. The best part was hearing President Monson speak! His talk was great & when he walked into the room, it was overwhelming!!! I also really enjoyed Sheri Dew & Julie B Beck. But man was it COLD! We froze to death...not expecting that at all. I missed my babies and it was good to go back home to the 95 degree weather.