Trek 2016

It's a three day weekend and I am trying to get all caught up. During my summer blogging sprees I briefly mentioned that Brodie and I participated in the youth trek for our church. I didn't say much because I hadn't received any of the pictures back. Then when I finally got them, I had to sort through 5,000 pictures (literally!!) Now I have them and can finally share more about it. Be warned. . . there are a lot of pictures :)

For me, this was my second trek experience. I went when I was 18 years old with my church youth group. Brodie did not go on trek in his teenage years, so this was his first time around. He wasn't thrilled, but I told him it would be a blast. It was definitely dusty, difficult, and discouraging at times, but it was well worth it!! And I think the kids totally won over Brodie's heart :)

The purpose of trek is to help the youth of the church understand/appreciate the many miles that our pioneer ancestors trekked across the plains in order to escape religious persecution. Church youth from ages 14 - 18 recreated this experience by hiking through the wilderness dressed in pioneer clothing and pull their belongings on a hand cart. Trek was 3 nights and 4 days. We slept outdoors, cooked our own food, and survived "mobs" and "illnesses".  My favorite part was bonding with the youth and seeing them disconnected from technology and the modern world. We danced, sang songs (endlessly), solved riddles, and played all sorts of team games. It was amazing to see the bonds created in just a few short days. An article was written about our trek and published in The Columbian which you can read here.

Day One (8 miles): packed up the cart, "heartbreak hill", silent mile, and setting up camp

first morning before all the trekkers arrived

loading up the handcart

 first family pic (Brodie and I are on the left)

and we're off!

lunch break 

"heartbreak hill" 

Trek leaders came around to each group and asked for volunteers to participate in something hard. Every kid who raised their hand was then taken and had to sit and watch as the rest of the group pulled the handcart up a very steep hill. Our family was left with only 4 out of the 10 kids, one of which had a broken arm and couldn't pull. Just the three of them got up the entire hill (barely). 

The hill was so steep the cart handles were above their head. Brodie and I had to pitch in a little so the cart wouldn't go backward down the hill. 

almost there! I wish we had a picture of making it to the top . . . our kiddos did an amazing job!

The last mile was the "silent mile". During this mile we were asked to not talk and to think about people in our lives that we could serve. This part of the trial was through a blackened forest. While it was very eerie, it was cool to see the new growth that had come in after the fire. 

After a long day, we finally made it to camp! Isn't it gorgeous??

Brodie was away the first night of setting up camp. He was with his bluegrass band playing a concert for the other trek company. Which meant that I was left alone with my 10 "children" to set up camp! The boys set up the makeshift tent in the background out of tarps, while the girls got started on dinner.

refilling water

enjoying a stew dinner!

Day Two (6 miles): surviving "illness" and bluegrass band concert 

lots more walking

Day two had lots of rough terrain. There were even parts where the youth had to remove fallen trees from the path

"Illness" struck our family on day two. Trek leaders visited each family and tapped family members on the shoulder. These members were labeled as "sick" and were pulled to the back no longer able to help with the handcart. 

Haha and this is what it looks like when we reach camp. Everyone heads for the shade and doesn't want to move. . . 

bluegrass band concert 

you can't see Brodie in the picture, but he was the drummer in the band

 lining up for the hoe down

Day Three (6 miles): more walking, service walk, and devotional with the other company 

There were 28 families on trek. Because there were so many, we were split into two companies. We did not even see the other company until the third day. The other company was "mobbed". They went for a day hike, and when they came back all of their stuff had been taken. This company was told that they would have to sleep without their sleeping bags and go without food. While they were dealing with this, our company came across all of their "stolen" handcarts. Each family from our company took on an extra handcart in order to bring all of the supplies to camp. At first it was easy, but as the miles wore on, it became quite a struggle. It was a sweet reunion when we found the other company and were able to give them their supplies back! 

everyone back together again!

dinner 

games

devotional

Day Four (3 miles): crossing the "finish line"! 

all packed up and ready to finish the trek

bird's eye view 

this perfectly describes how we felt by the end of the trek :) 

last family picture

finish line!!

Paver Installer Competition

I'm only a month behind, which isn't too bad! Back in September, Brodie competed in a Paver Installer Competition. This competition was a regional competition in which 10 landscaping companies were selected from the states of Washington and Oregon. Shovel & Thumb (Cohan and Brian's landscaping business) was selected as one of the ten teams to go. Cohan, Brian, and Brodie all traveled to Lacey, WA to compete and represent Shovel & Thumb!

Really Brodie is the one who should be writing this post, since I wasn't there that day. But I will do my best to explain (based on what Brodie told me) even though I do not know/understand all of the landscaping terms and competition rules.

getting all set up and ready for the teams to arrive!

From what Brodie explained to me, there were two rounds of the competition. The first was a "speed round". In this round teams competed to build a 8' x 10' paver patio. The fastest 4 teams would then move on to the second round. The Fish Boys completed their patio 52 minutes and were able to move to the next round!

. . . and the speed round begins! 

almost finished. . .

In the second round, teams were all given the same materials and a time limit of 90 minutes to build a patio of their own design. Teams were then judged based on the quality and aesthetic appearance of their design for first, second, and third place. The Fish Boys were awarded 3rd place and brought home a variety of landscaping apparel (hats, sweatshirts, shirts, etc.) plus $100 each to Home Depot! Way to go!

working hard to finish up!

First Place 

Second Place

Third Place (Go Fish Boys!!)

Fourth Place

Brodie had a blast and hopes Shovel & Thumb is selected to compete again next year! He used his winnings to buy tools at Home Depot. He has become quite the little carpenter. Remember that outdoor table he built over the summer? Now he is working on building some benches to go along with it. 

new Milwaukee tools!

Hello, School!

Well, I am back on here sooner than I expected! I honestly thought it would be months from now, since the first trimester of school is always chaotic. But I have survived the first week of school and have even found time to catch up with some pictures of Labor Day and the start of school.

For our last hoorah before school started, we went to the coast for Labor Day weekend. We spent the weekend sleeping in, watching movies, walking on the beach, and exploring Long Beach. For our weekly date, we spent one morning walking the boardwalk and the beach.

aren't they the cutest friends??

Long Beach is also a registered highway. So after walking the boardwalk, we grabbed some smoothies and drove along the beach until we found a quiet spot. 

the beach is Luna's happy place

We got back from the beach Monday night before school started, and I had to wrap my head around going back to school. There was lots to do. . . make lunches, shower, last minute planning, ironing my dress, etc. I was beginning to stress, but Brodie stepped right up and saved the day! He packed my lunch and even ironed my clothes! I sneakily snapped this picture of him because I think he's so adorable. He has made this back to school week so much easier and less stressful!

and here I go! My 4th year of teaching has officially begun! 1 week down . . . 35 more to go!

Goodbye, Summer

August is over and I'm in mourning :( The last week of August was spent setting up my classroom and attending meetings. Which was definitely not the most exciting part of August. So here are pictures of the more exciting parts, which include our trip to Seattle and some date nights. Brodie and I have been killin' it with the weekly date nights, and I sure hope we can keep it up once school starts next week!

Seattle - I took this picture on a lazy Sunday night. It was one of those nights when everything was calm and perfect. Mom was reading, Dad was asleep, Brodie and Luna were playing on the shore, and I was just soaking it all in :) 

second time surfing this summer 

Brodie has been working on getting more air

hahaha and this is a short sequence of his "accidental front flip"

Date to the Ape Caves - The hole in the background is the entrance to the cave. There are multiple entrances to the cave, the main entrance being the most popular and crowded. The entrance seen in this picture is tucked back in the woods and it took us awhile to find it. It paid off though! We didn't see a single other person in the caves, which was pretty surprising for a Saturday morning.

Once you get inside there is ladder down into the heart of the caves

Some spots you have to crawl through smaller tunnels 

Date to the Farmer's Market - Downtown Camas has a farmer's market every Wednesday afternoon. We took advantage of the sunny weather and went to check it out! We didn't buy anything, but it was fun to look at the different booths and chat with some familiar faces. Thanks to a gift card, we were able to slurp on some yummy smoothies from the local shop down the street. 

Date to Cavalia (aka the BEST DATE EVER!!!) - We have been seeing the Cavalia billboards for the last 4 months. All summer I've been begging to go, but I knew that it wasn't a very realistic idea. Tickets can be pricey and Brodie isn't nearly as horse obsessed as I am. If you haven't heard of Cavalia, it's a Cirque du Soleil type show that combines horses, acrobatics, and dance altogether. Basically it's everything amazing in one show. As the Cavalia Portland tour was reaching its end, and with lots of encouragement from Brodie's mom, we decided to go and snagged some last minute cheap seats! We were even more thrilled when we showed up and they upgraded our seats FOR FREE! It rocked. Definite highlight of the summer.

the "Big White Tent"

waiting for the show to start

freaking out over our new seats!

(we were originally supposed to be sitting behind the tent pole in the "obstructed view" section)

my hot date

You aren't allowed to take pictures during the show, but this was as the curtain was closing, so I figured it was ok. Shhh, don't tell!

Date to the Washougal River - One thing I love about these date nights is that we spend more quality time together without spending lots of money! Most of our dates have been completely free. Which is what we're all about. Last week we took Luna down to the Washougal River to celebrate National Dog Day.

These two are best buds. Luna just loooves playing fetch with Brodie.

blurry selfie

pretty sunset

we totally staged this picture, but we thought it was hilarious. . . Luna just chillin' by herself and enjoying the view

Random Tidbits - Here are a few other random pictures from this month. 

 Brodie and I bought this bread machine about a month ago at a garage sale for a couple bucks. We decided to try it out last week and were amazed!!  4 ingredients (water, yeast, flour, salt), push a button, and voila!! The yummiest bread ever. I'm a fan!

I know it's weird to take pictures of your food. . . but, hey. We were just so dang surprised to find out that making bread is such a piece of cake (lol).

Another pretty sunset pic that I snagged while dropping off "Back to School" goodies to my Beehive girls.

 . . .and this is just too adorable not to share. I have a whole collection of "Sleeping Brodie" pictures, but this one is probably my favorite. 

And that's a wrap! Summer vacation is officially over in 3 days and I will probably be so swamped in school work that nothing will be posted here until Christmas. So . . . yeah. See you in December.