Just Trekking Along

Caitlyn got to go on Pioneer Trek last week and I asked her to write about it. I love that she loved the experience and that she was willing to take time out of her precious summer to do this for me. Thanks Caitlyn!

In 1944, during World War II, there was a battle that had lasted for 64 days but is commonly unknown. “The Battle of Kohima” was fought by the Japanese against the British and Indian countries in order to terminate the road that British and Indian troops were supplied. During the battle, many Japanese, British and Indian people were killed. Today, a cemetery lies on the grounds of the battle where 1,420 soldiers are buried. This war cemetery has the famous inscription "When You Go Home, Tell Them Of Us, And Say, For Your Tomorrow, We Gave Our Today".
About a week ago, I got to experience to go on trek with the rest of my stake. And while walking alongside the cart with my friends, I realized that this quote can be related to the pioneers who traveled over the plains to Utah Valley. Not only do I think that the pioneers struggled through the things that they did for their own benefit, but also for their future posterity to have a better life. I think it’s amazing that they suffered extreme hardships in marching over 1,300 miles of prairie, water, snow, desert, and mountains. While they were having going through a crazy life-changing experience, my group was as well.. .....

"It’s so hot. I can’t do this. I’m gonna smell so bad at the end of the week."

"I have no make-up on, how is what’s-his-face even going to talk to me? I look hideous."

"We’re all going to get blisters."

"There is NO way that I’m going in those port-o-potties."

"It can’t rain. My hair will get wet and it will go curly!"

“Have you ever been camping? Does Girl’s Camp count? No. Okay, than no.”

"Oh my gosh, Wyoming is so ugly."

"You aren’t even helping push the wagon. I’m doing all the work."

"I hate bugs and dirt."

"I miss my cell-phone."

"You’re expecting me to set up a tent? Shut up."
In the beginning of the trek, we were assigned to walk 10 miles. As my friend, Madison, and I reached the port-o-potties, we thought that we had reached the half way mark. “We already hiked 5 miles? What were the pioneers even complaining about, this isn’t so hard.” We asked a leader how many miles we had walked, and he told us that we had walked two. Thinking he was joking, we laughed for a good thirty seconds and sai,d “Good one.” He looked confused, and without saying anything, walked away. We nervously laughed then continued to ask the same question to another 50 people. Same answer. Then we screamed and fake cried.
Throughout the total of 3.5 days, we walked a total of 26 miles. The pioneers did that in 1 day. ONE. Do you know how stupid I felt when I found that out? Actually, the miles toward the last 2 days didn’t feel so long, probably because we didn’t complain. Instead, we sang every Disney song that ever existed, an occasional rap song, also our family theme song. Our family theme song, you might ask? It’s a song by the rapper, Lil Wayne. He is more than the voice of our generation; he speaks to all of us with creatively inspiring lyrics. Whenever i hear that song “All I Do is Win”, it lets me let go all my pains and my struggles. Thank you Lil Wayne, you’re a hero to us all. I about heard that chorus of the song around a million times, and the chorus is the only part of the song that you should listen to… ....
Anyway. My favorite part of trek would have to be the Women’s Pull. The Women’s Pull is when the girls have to push their cart up a steep, long hill while the men and boys just watch. It is an example of when the men would either pass away or leave to fight in war, and the women would have to push the handcart and fend for themselves. The morning of the Pull, we all got together as a stake and said our goodbyes to the men and boys. Before they left, I looked around, and away from everyone, I saw five boys kneeling in prayer. I could hear one of the boys telling Heavenly Father that they all adore the girls in their group very much and they asked Him to help them while they were pulling the cart. It was a sweet sign of appreciation to the girls from those boys, which I don’t think you usually see these days. (The girls and I all agreed that it was nice to not hear “Make me a sandwich, woman.”)
After they all had left, my friends and I said, “Well, this is going to be hard, considering that the boys have pulled the cart the whole time...” The Bishop’s wife told us, “Let’s all say a prayer, and ask angels to help us along the way.” I never really thought about angels, but I do believe that they were there. We all felt a sense of peace while climbing the hill, along with strength, while feeling physically exhausted. I think that the prayer helped, and through prayer, you can connect with people and with Heavenly Father in a very amazing way. He connects with us spirit to spirit, or with a feeling. A feeling of peace is more powerful than words could ever be. While pulling the cart up the “nation’s second hardest women’s pull hill,” I looked up at the crying men and boys and instantly had a new appreciation for them. It was as hard for them too, to watch us go through that, because it is their nature to help us out. (And vice-versa) After we reached the top of the reeeally long hill, it was nice seeing the boys and girls came together as one while no one acted like they were better than any other person. It was funny, because after that, while eating lunch, all the girls in my family would say “Go get us our food…I don’t know if you were watching, but I just pulled that handcart up that long hill and you just stood there; I’m exhausted.” They served us that day, AND pulled the car the rest of the way.
Speaking of my trek family, no offense to any other family, but my family was THE BEST. No, really. They were so funny and so much fun to be around. We all had withdrawals after trek because three hours after we got back home, we all hung out again…at my Ma and Pa’s house. You’d think that they’d get sick of us? But no, I don’t think so. My Ma and Pa are SO amazing also!! About every 2 hours, they would say “We really do have the best family…Have we ever told you guys how much we love you? And how amazing you are?” I admired their perfect personalities to connect with teenagers and for their ability to love each and every one of us so quickly. Not only did they teach us about the Pioneers, but they also taught us many life lessons too. They are great, fun, amazing people and I will always admire them. I can’t tell you how many times I lost my water bottle, and guess who would hunt it down every time? My Pa, Bro. Bland. I also appreciated his ability to listen to my stupid stories and want to genuinely know how I’m doing in my life. Same goes to Sis. Bland. I loved listening to her talk about her mission experiences and her thoughts about a lot of things. I don’t know how they did it, but they got me talking about things that I had been wanting to talk about for some time now…Words can’t even describe how grateful I am for the experience of being their daughter on Trek. And the depressing part is that the day after we got home from trek, our ward split. They aren’t even in my ward anymore! That blows.
I don’t have anything life-changing to say, but I believe that we can all be pioneers as well. We don’t have to go through the physical changes that our ancestors went through, but we can certainly go through mental changes. I’ve definitely developed a greater acknowledgement and thankfulness for the people that came before me and I can’t wait to see them in heaven and give them a great big hug.

Shin-anigans

I think I'm old enough to know that I should expect the unexpected. Really, I should have learned by now to look for the bumps in the road and the unexpected tight turns life offers, rather than be completely surprised when presented with them. Thankfully most bumps are easily ridden out as long as I just hold on tight to the wheel. Our family most recently hit a bump which thankfully didn't send us careening off a steep drop off, but rather just rattled the car a bit.

Zach had been complaining of shin sprint in his right leg since track season. He was in a lot of pain and we did what we could to help him recover. He stayed off it and went to a sports medicine therapist who would message it out. It continued until mid-June when we took him in to see the doctor. At this point he could barely walk on it and it had just gone on too long. Brook was wondering whether or not it was a stress fracture since it wouldn't heal. An x-ray proved inconclusive and the radiologist scheduled an MRI so they could rule some things out (don't say cancer around me!), along with some lab work. He went in for the MRI and lab work the following week at which time we were then set up with a pediatric disease specialist. We thought nothing of it and I remember telling Zach we'd be no more than 15 minutes in the office (just long enough, I figured, for the doctor to bill us and tell me that he had a stress fracture and to stay off it). I quickly realized that it wasn't that type of appointment. I learned a new word that day: chronic osteomyilitis (bone infection). Isn't learning new words fun:? For an hour Zach and I were educated about osteomyilitis and how dangerous it was and what we were going to be doing for the next 6-12 months. Zach would be scheduled for surgery for a bone biopsy, a picc line would be placed in his arm so he could be on a continuous IV pump for the next 6 weeks, and his life would kind of be on hold so that they could battle the infection until it was gone. Needless to say, my head was spinning. When the doctor asked about our schedule and the possibility of beginning it that day, I just couldn't think straight. I had been completely blindsided. I told him no, that I'd rather do it the next day, and we were sent home with instructions for the upcoming procedure.


The next day Brook and I accompanied Zach to the hospital and waited while he had his biopsy. He was put under general anesthesia and had an orthopedic surgeon drill two 1/2-inch diameter pieces of bone from his right tibia. They then packed it with cadaver tissue to help it heal quicker before stitching him back up. Afterwards, the doctor said his bone looked great and that he even pulled up the MRI again to check it out. Sometimes, he told us, stress fractures can take on the appearance of infections. We then sat with Zach and waited for him to feel better before taking him home.


At home, a home health care nurse taught us all we never wanted to know about IV pumps, saline solutions, primimg a line, and antibiotics. For some people (like Caitlyn), all that stuff is interesting. For other people (like me), who get squirmish at the mere smell of antiseptic, all that stuff is stressful and nauseating. But given that there wasn't another option, Brook and I did our best to learn what we could so as not to endanger poor Zach's life. Zach felt horrible and spent the first four days on the couch or in bed. Even had he felt OK, going somewhere was a hassle given that he was now attached to an IV pump and bag 24 hours a day. He carried them around in his Nike bag, threading the tubing up through the neck in his t-shirts. On the sixth day, Brook called the doctor to ask about the test results. Remember, the reason they took the bone biopsy was so they could test them in a lab and see what type of infection they were dealing with. What kind of infection do you think he had? Any guesses? Staph (which they suspected)? Others? Well, the kind of infection he had was called nada-infectialitis. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing grew in those dang petri-dishes and nothing probably would. The doctor apologized. The nurse came to the house that night and removed his picc line. Zach thought it was better than Christmas and promptly decided to go swimming at a friend's house. I refused to talk to anyone and went for a very, very long walk with the dog and tried to sort things out. While I was EXTREMELY GRATEFUL that it had been a misdiagnosis, it had been a horrible and stressful week and I reasoned that it was ok for me to just think for a minute.

That was about 2 weeks ago. He still experiences pain and walks with a limp because the recovery for the biopsy is 12 weeks, rather than the 8 week time for a fracture. I have to admit, my stomach kind of seizes when I watch him shuffle around, knowing that the biopsy was unnecessary and only prolonged his recuperation. Brook and I have had many discussions about it and still can't quite explain the whole thing. It truly is one of those things that happen in life that make you say, "WHAT?"

I've pondered as to why this happened and what the lessons are I'm supposed to take from it. While still uncertain of the overall lesson, I have remembered some precious truths about my life. First, I have great kids. There was a moment after the disease specialist doctor's appointment that just Zach and I were driving home. I was kind of weepy at this point, and scared, and a bit apologetic to him because I knew he was thinking about football and how this just kind of wrecked it all. He stopped me in my sadness and basically said, ""Mom, look, it's going to be OK. It's not cancer or anything and I'll just fight it and be fine. It's just a trial and I'll overcome it." I was proud of him for not having self-pity, but rather for seeing it as a challenge he could grow stronger from. He's a great son. Second, I was reminded about how thankful I am for the priesthood. Brook and my brother Aaron were able to give Zach a priesthood blessing the night before the surgery. Words can't express the gratitude I have for a such a gift. The fact that I have a husband who lives worthy of holding the priesthood is a blessing beyond measure. The priesthood blesses my home and my family in so many ways. It's priceless. Third, I'm grateful for family. Family isn't just something, it's everything. I was so touched by the calls and concern expressed by every family member. I KNOW who's in my court when the unexpected happens. Fourth, I'm thankful for prayer. It's a sweet thing to know that in times of trouble I can get on my knees and communicate with my Father in Heaven. I know He hears our prayers and concerns and is mindful of our struggles. Fifth, I'm grateful for modern day medicine. While sitting with Zach one night, waiting for his pain killer to kick in, I had the opportunity to read about Joseph Smith's childhood surgery, which coincidentally, was due to osteomyilities. It was truly a miracle that anyone survived infections and illnesses back then. It gave me a profound appreciation for the advances we've had in medicine and for the amazing things doctors can do nowdays. We live in an incredible time! I'm sure there will be lessons yet to come. It's still quite fresh, but it will be interesting to talk with Zach a year from now and hear his take on this bump in the road.



FREE!!!

Father's Day

Even though we're a week late and a dollar short, we should probably still find a little bit of space and pay tribute to Brook.

In honor of Father's Day last Sunday, the kids (Caitlyn and Brynn; Zach was otherwise occupied..... more details to come) put together a darling candy bar poster and golf gift care (come on people, who doesn't LOVE a candy bar poster?) to tell Brook how much they love and appreciate him. Truly, Brook is an exceptional dad and husband. He is selfless in everything he does. His time is spent serving us or thinking up new ways to serve us. He's a keeper and he enriches our lives TREMENDOUSLY.
Dear Dad,

We just wanted to *take five* and tell you you're worth *100 grand.* You are *extra,* *extra"*special, and you love us, even though we are *nerds.* Thanks for making us such *smarties* by helping us with our homework. When it comes to sports, we never have *butterfingers* because of your help. You always make us, uh.... *whatamacallit?* Oh yeah! *snicker!* We know that our *pop rocks,* and we've never been down a *rocky road.* We would take you on a shopping *spree,* but today isn't *pay day.* Thanks for everything. You're the best dad in the whole *milky way.* We love you! From, your *three muskateers.*