We had the wonderful opportunity to go to the Logan Temple on Thursday, so see our friends, Ruth and Vic, get sealed to each other and to their children. What a neat experience it was to see all of them in white as they kneeled there together and became an eternal family!

Pioneer Children Sang As They Walked!

Bryce and I had a great opportunity to go on a pioneer trek this past weekend with our church youth group. We take the kids on a trek so that they can feel what the pioneers felt like for just a few days. I was quite anxious about this trek because I have never been on one before. I was worried about blistered feet, hot days, cold nights, being extremely dirty, snakes, lightning storms, and having to wear pioneer clothes!

Our Family: We were asked to be a Ma and Pa for our family of nine: We had 5 guys; Curtis, Luek, Mark, Trenton, and Bart. We also had 4 young women; Keirsten, Shelby, Melissa, and Sarah. We were in the Zito Company(our bishop was our captain) We had a great family and we loved our kids.

Day 1

We left Henefer, Utah at 11am and started on the trail. We soon came to an uphill climb that nearly wiped us out. It took all of us to push and pull that handcart up the hill. I thought I was going to pass out...probably because I am in such great shape...right! We walked 8 miles the first day. We came into our camp to start setting up our tents, when a mob of horseman came down the hill telling us to get off their property(this was a re-enactment) They had a mormon extermination letter in their hands and they were yelling and shooting their guns to get us to leave. So, we loaded up our stuff and walked further. We set up camp a half mile away and the first night, our boys decided they would sing country songs all night until someone came and "De-Tented" them. They preceded to get out of their small tent and try to put it back up. They kept stepping on the thistles and yelling and I was sitting in my tent laughing so hard at them. I then said, "Sons, is everything OK?" They replied, "Maaa, someone detented us." It was pretty funny.

Day 2

We started our trek on the original Donner Party/Mormon Trail. The last time someone took handcarts on this path was in the 1850's. So, needless to say, it was overgrown and crazy to get through. It was a single walking path that we pushed the carts through. The men in our family were very strong and they pushed the cart most of the time, because they did not want the women to have to push. We walked for 3.5 miles and then stopped for lunch. A

fter lunch, a guy came up to our company and said, "I am General Christensen. All men, pick up your stuff and come stand in single file order. We are gathering the 'Mormon Batallion"(another re-enactment). The men left and the girls had to pull for the next 2 miles all by themselves. It was very hard and there were times I thought are cart was going to fall in a ravine. The men had a hard time (emotionally) knowing that we were down the hill pulling and pushing these carts. They wanted to be there to help us but they were not allowed to. When the original pioneers came over to Salt Lake, many had lost their husbands to the war, cold, sicknesses, and fatigue. Many women were left alone to take on the task of getting their families to Utah. The re-enactment that we did was a neat experience and really touched alot of us, even to tears.

After the women's pull, they told us a few more stories of the pioneers and then we finished the pull up the mountain. When we got to the top, we were overlooking Salt Lake Valley and it was beautiful. We then walked four miles down the hill to our campground. We set up our tents, ate dinner, and had a great devotional where the youth got to express their feelings about the trek. Many of them will never forget this experience. It was a wonderful opportunity to get to know these kids and to help them feel what it was like to be a pioneer. The most important thing was that we helped them feel the Spirit as we worked together as families and went through tough obstacles together.

That night, we had a bad lightning and rain storm come through our camp. It rained and rained and the next morning all of our stuff was wet and muddy.

Day 3

We hiked four miles to our buses and they took us to a park in Salt Lake called "This Is The Place" Park. We took pictures, looked around, ate lunch and came home. It was such a great opportunity for us. We grew to really love our kids. We are very thankful that we were asked to be Ma's and Pa's for this trek. Hopefully, we will be able to do it again in four years.

Logan Temple

Bryce and I got married here on December 27, 2000. And then on October 28, 2005, we had Cooper sealed to us here at the Logan Temple. On May 17, 1884 the Logan temple was finished being built. Roughly 25,000 people worked on the Logan Temple. Rocks and timber used for the temple was hauled from the Temple Fork area of Logan Canyon. As completion of the temple neared, women in the area were asked to make carpets for the temple, since commercially made carpet could not be bought in Utah at that time. The women spent two months working to hand make two thousand square yards of carpet. My Grandma and Grandpa Cooper and Hatch were married here. My mom and dad, Steph and Paul, Jocelynn and Kyle, and Sherrie and Brian were married here. It is my favorite temple. I think it is beautiful.

Easter 2008

For Easter, we hid a basket for Cooper out in Grandma and Grandpa Douglas' back yard. Cooper also found some bubbles and a spiderman kite. His favorite part was the bubbles. Bryce blew alot of bubbles for Cooper and he had so much fun running around trying to pop them.

We also went to Steph and Paul's for Easter dinner. We had all of the Cooper's over for lunch. It was fun to be able to see Grandma and Grandpa, Lynn and April, and Cort and Robin. We also had an egg hunt in the basement for the kids. Their were 170 eggs that we hid for the kids. Some of them were in even glow in the dark.

Easter is always a great time to reflect on the atonement and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is such a great blessing in our lives to know that we have a Savior who not only atoned for our sins and mistakes, but also knows exactly how we feel when we are going through happy times or sad times. I am thankful that Jesus came to this earth and set an example for us when he was resurrected, and that the grave was empty that beautiful Easter morning. It's nice to know that we to can be resurrected so that we can live with our families again in the next life. I know that my Savior, Jesus Christ lives and I am grateful for Him.

Why Trials?

Last night we had a program at the church that welcomes new 12 year olds into our young women organization. It's called New Beginnings. Anyway, we had a guest speaker, Brenda, who did an amazing job and I wanted to share a part of her message. She talked about when she was 12, she sat down with her bishop (happened to be her father at the time) and they discussed what she wanted to accomplish in the future. She wanted to go to college, get married, and have an eternal family. So, together, they wrote all these goals down on paper.

Well, when she was 14 years old, her parents got into a horrific accident. Her dad died in the hospital 6 weeks later and her mother was burned beyond recognition. The family(mom and six children) grew very close and really learned to love and depend on each other. Well, when Brenda was a senior in high school, she went on a date with a man who had just returned from an LDS mission. While driving to their date, she looked over at him, and got two distinct impressions.... First, this was going to be her husband one day, and second, she would not have him for very long, so she needed to take advantage of the time she had with him. Well, to make a long story, short, she married the man after high school, she finished college while having two babies, and sixteen years later, her husband died in a helicopter accident.

She concluded her story by telling us that she thinks that maybe we could have sat down with our Father in Heaven before we came to Earth and talked about what we wanted to accomplish, and who we wanted to be when we returned. She said, "I think he told me that I would have to lose my father and husband, and go through these trials, to make me be the person that I wanted to be. I said sign me up." She went on to say that she would not trade her trials with anybody else's trials because they have made her the person she is today. I really believe what she said. We each have our own set of trials and they will make us grow as individuals.

Fishers of Men

Yesterday, I had to speak in church with my presidency. I do not like speaking in public. It causes me alot of anxiety and stress. So, I asked to speak first, so that I could get it over with and relax for the rest of the meeting. We were asked to speak on being "fishers of men", which basically means following the life of the Savior. He was a perfect example of selflessness, service, compassion, and love toward others. I began my talk by telling everybody about how excited Cooper was when he came home from Christmas vacation. He kept telling everyone to 'come and see' his room and toys. Well, over 2000 years ago, that same invitation was given to fishermen on the shore of Galilee. "Come and see, come follow me, come unto me, and I will make you fishers of men." And I went on to talk about "nets" and what fills our nets.... time constraints, pressure from home or job, feelings of inadequacy.... anything that keeps us from following Christ. I ended with some ideas on how we can better be fishers of men...giving more service to those around us, being better examples, being better friends and neighbors, and there are many, many more!! I only had to speak for about 5 minutes, so I felt so much better when I was finally finished.