Pioneer Trek

 The youth in our church, ages 14-18, go on a Pioneer Trek every few years, and since Justin serves in the bishopric, he went along to help supervise.  It was a 3 day, 2 night trek, covering about 25-30 miles total, with each pioneer "family" pulling one handcart.  Everyone had to wear pioneer clothing and take only enough belongings that would fit into a 5 gallon bucket.

Ready to leave for trek

Youth gathered at the church and organized into pioneer "families" before leaving for the trek.

The first day wasn't too bad and the weather was nice...

...although there were several steep hills and not much of a trail.

Then the rain came.  They were supposed to hike up a dry river bed, but with all the rain, it quickly became a creek.

The rain continued the rest of the trek, creating deep mud, and increased difficulty in pulling the handcarts.

 

Meanwhile, back at home, the rain gave way to this beautiful rainbow, and I was extremely grateful I wasn't out pulling a handcart in the rain this week!

Justin did make it back safely, but I forgot to get an "after" picture of him!  There was no time to stop him for a picture before he ran hobbled into the shower!  He's sore with lots of blisters from hiking in wet shoes for 3 days, but he said it was a good experience and he's glad he went!  We watched Ephraim's Rescue shortly after this trek, and also after having experienced the harsh winters of Nebraska, we have a new respect and appreciation for the Mormon pioneers.

Annie Turns 12, and Summer Begins!

12 Year old Birthday Girl!

We spent some time at the zoo to celebrate Annie's birthday.

...And had to see a 3D IMAX movie while there.

Lexie helped Annie open her presents and read her her cards.

Annie got a party light ball (typically used by DJs for dances). It flashes colored lights all over the walls and ceiling and they move in time to whatever music we have playing on her stereo!  Annie loves it and now has a party in her room almost every night!  (Many thanks to my Aicardi-mom friend Carrie for the great idea!)

With the summer underway, Molly and Lexie got creative keeping themselves entertained.  They were eager to go on our trip to Utah, so they said I could just ship them there in this box!  It's always fun when Annie's monthly delivery of medical supplies arrive!

Another day in the summer, we saw something fall in front of our front room window only to discover this baby bird on the ledge!  It fell out of its nest in the rain gutter above the window.  We watched it on this ledge all day.  The momma bird was concerned but finally was able to bring this baby several worms to eat.  Later the next day the baby was confident enough to fly away fortunately.

My New Hobby

This past March I was thinking more about how fun it would be to learn to play the harp, so after some researching, I contacted a harp teacher from Creighton University and rented a Lyon and Healy Troubadour lever harp from her and started taking lessons. 

I have fallen in love with playing the harp, so after even more researching, I decided to invest in my own harp.  I just got it last week and I am in love with it!  It is a 36 string, Thormahlen Serenade lever harp.

I've been taking lessons for about 6 weeks now, but I had to take a 2 week break due to some hand and wrist problems I've been having. I'm doing just a bit better now and finally got a chance to record some of the songs I've learned.  They are pretty simple, but I hope to progress to more exciting music soon--some celtic music as well as some LDS hymn arrangements.  But what I've learned about the harp, is that even simple arrangements can sound good because of the beautiful resonance of the harp.  Here are a few songs played on my new harp.  Hopefully in a few months I'll have more videos to post so I can track the progress I make.

Amazing Grace

I Hear a Harp

Stars