Okay, so the month of June was a quick one. It ended up with Howard, Melanie and Braden participating in a Pioneer Trek for three days and two nights. It was quite and interesting experience. Melanie and Howard were parents of nine children, aged fourteen to eighteen. There were six girls and three boys. The girls were amazing! We were very challenged by our boys. They were a constant drag on the handcart and the girls ended up pulling and pushing more than the three boys did. We had the allest and presumably, the heaviest of the handcarts, with the tallest and supposedly strongest young man (not so!). We took everything the Stake told us to take, and it was to our detriment. If we had been on the Plains, we would have pitched out a few of our items to be left to the Plains Marauders.
The first day it was hot and humid, but the sky was overcast with clouds, which was a blessing. There was a good breeze, which was also a blessing. We hiked six miles that day, which doesn’t seem like much, except when you are pushing/pulling a 1200-pound handcart. We had a few sandy, steep hills that required all our help and several times we stopped to help those in front and those behind us to get the carts up the hills. We learned that it doesn’t work to try and do things on your own. The cart behind crashed and split the frame. Luckily for us, someone had Duct Tape (no, not Pioneer style) and taped the cart together, which held for the rest of the trip.
The first night we corralled our handcarts in a very haphazard and unorganized fashion. Our boys wandered off several times and the girls set up their own camp in an organized and timely fashion. They also assisted with dinner and clean up. We then had a fireside and went to bed. About an hour after we turned in for the night, the heavens lighted up with the most amazing lightning storm that I have ever beheld in the out of doors. When I first woke up to the light display, I thought that someone was playing the “flashlight strobe-light” game that is so common on camp outs. It wasn’t that, there were lightning strikes every thirty to forty seconds (as timed on my watch). The interesting thing about camping in the East is that most of the time, there are large clearings, surrounded by trees and that is where we tend to set up the tents.
Howard and I were in one of our own tents and the girls in our family were in another of the Bolton family tents. We knew that we would be dry and relatively safe. Howard and I went back to sleep. A few hours later, we heard a “knocking” on our tent door that startled us out of sleep. It was Braden. He was soaked and so was his sleeping bag, which he had left behind in his tent. He had abandoned his pioneer family to come to his eternal family. Howard and I shared a sleeping bag over and under the top of Braden. An hour later, we heard his tent mates. The tent had collapsed. It was a torrential rainstorm and they were all wet. But instead of going back to sleep in other tents, the other boys proceeded to wake the entire camp at 5:00. I wasn’t happy. Howard reminded me of the shirt that he had purchased me: Sometimes I wake up happy, sometimes I let her sleep. I tried to change my attitude. The boys were so loud and so rude. It reminded me of the scripture that Satan wants others to be miserable, like unto himself. My attitude changed.
We got rolling after making breakfast, cleaning up and breaking camp. We then walked for another three miles. We came to a stop when we met Brigham Young and a member of the United States government (who is actually a General in the modern day Mormon Battalion, his great-great- grandfather had been in the original unit), who called out all our young men and a few leaders to serve in the Mormon Battalion. The young women then had to proceed for two miles on their own and push their handcarts, unaided by men, up a very steep hill. I relied on my Heavenly Father’s help and some very determined young women, to help us up that hill. We knew that we could do most anything, because we had been given the boys that didn’t do much. Still it was very hard work and I was glad that Howard could help out after that. The young men came back after a long march in the hot sandy dunes, we had our lunch, which consisted of a roll, water and a piece of battered fruit. Then we were rolling off again to our final destination. We walked another two miles and pulled into a better-organized camping system. We set up camp, and then participated in Pioneer games and lessons. That night we had a big dinner and fireside with Shane Jackman as our speaker. After Brother Jackman’s music, we divided back up into families and did an hour of square dancing. Then it was time for a much needed night of sleep. Braden again abandoned his family, as they didn’t have a tent for him and he slept with our family. I am not sure where the other five boys from that family slept. I think they just slept on the ground without cover.
On Saturday, the last day of the Trek, we had a great breakfast of old fashioned oatmeal, which most of our Pioneer family wouldn’t eat. It was a good thing we didn’t have to work very hard that day or I don’t know that they would have had the energy sufficient to carry it out. We broke camp and had a devotional. Then we had a wonderful Testimony meeting.
Where were Mikaela and Ben? My Second Counselor in the Young Women organization sent her husband and two daughters on the Trek, so she felt like she could handle my two children. They had a great time at Jennifer’s and made better friends with their children (who they were already friends with). They said that they were glad to be back as a family with us though. After that, we had a week together, we sent Braden off to National Youth Leader Training at the Boy Scout Camp, Squanto. He was chosen to go from our troop because he is the Senior Patrol Leader. He had a great time. He was worried at first when he got there and discovered that it was set up like Boot Camp. The leaders were all ex-Navy Seals. They knew what it was like to teach others how to behave. Braden learned that discipline doesn’t always have to cause conflict, which was a good thing. He also learned how to take orders and how to work with others. Overall, he ended up really enjoying his time there. When he was done with that, he left two days later for Utah and you all know the rest: he was there for a week, then went to Especially for Youth at BYU, stayed at AnnMarie’s, Grandma and Grandpa’s, and friends of Siovhan’s. He had a great
time and wanted to stay longer.
Ben went to Scout Camp the third week of July. He had two nights of thunderstorms, but at Squanto, they sleep in old army style tents with cement floors. He wasn’t too worried. The last night while doing Wilderness Survival, his lean-to that he had fashioned himself, leaked during an all night rainstorm and he ended up sleeping in a wet sleeping bag. He put his feet inside a plastic bag and then put a towel over the top of him. What resourcefulness. Needless to say, he was glad to come home and sleep in a solid house.
Mikaela has had several play dates, but more time with Mom than she realized that she would have. Most of her friends have been in Utah or on vacation or at Camp. She has had to do things with Mom that she didn’t know she would or could do. Her newest craft craze is Shrink Art, formerly called Shrinky Dinks. She loves to be social and looks forward to Achievement Night with a new found passion; much like us older girls look to Enrichment Night as a time to get away from those that we love so much.
Well, that is all for now. The Epistle of the Boltons is at an end for another month. Look to our next installment when we tell tales of our family trip to Montreal and Quebec, Quebec.
With love, Melanie and family
