Over all impressions and thoughts of our trek.

Looking back at our trek there are many things that I learned, but really none of them are things that I was expecting.
We went on the trek hoping and thinking that we were going to deepen our appreciation for the pioneers and understand a little bit about what they went through and how they felt. When we talked to others who had been on the trek they often told us how hard it was physically and that they could not imagine have to walk so much. So, naturally we thought we were getting ready to go and burn ourselves our physically, especially because it was in August when it is was really hot!

PLEASE UNDERSTAND WE ARE NOT COMPLAINING AND WE ARE NOT SAYING IT WAS NOT HARD SO SOME, BUT IN OUR EXPERIENCE THINGS TURNED OUT DIFFERENT.

Robert or I did not find the physical part of this experience demanding or even challenging. We did think it was ridiculously hot and we did more than our share of sweating and of course I got a good sunburn, but each night we did not feel the trek was hard physically. Our feet did not hurt nor were we exhausted.
I thought taking 2 kids would really make it difficult mentally and more physically demanding because come on a toddler walking all day and such. But this was not so. Our trek family and our ward was so amazing that they helped with Kenya so much! Jasmin was awesome and just slept the most of the time. So, really the kids did not make it more difficult. Even when sleeping at night both girls did really well and we did not loose much sleep.
We felt that we were rushed through the places that would have let us feel the Spirit and let us get closer to those who pasted before us. Our group was trying to stay ahead of some youth groups there so that we would not be caught behind them and that we would not have to wait so long. In fact on the second day we finished at least 2 hours early and so we all just sat in our tents and then played in the water a bit and waited for dinner. This was fun and refreshing, but we feel if we had spent more time reflecting at those sacred places we might have gotten more of what we were expecting.
Well, here is our experience and what we realized while we were there.
The night of the first day Kenya was so tired because she was up late that we decided that she could not go to the fireside that night. We wanted to go so bad because it was the missionaries there dressed up and acting our stories of Ephriam Hanks, which we knew were going to be inspiring and amazing! As I sat out of the tent and Robert was putting Kenya to sleep in the tent I had an impression that our sacrifice was not going to be physical, but it was going to be that we could not partake of those extra experience while having a young family. Then it was sometime on the morning of the second day that I was getting people telling me how seeing me there with my family made them feel. People were telling me that it made things so much more real for them to see our young family out there walking the trek with them. There were a few families that went who left their smaller children at home because they did not want to deal with their toddlers on the trek. After a short reflection I was told through the Holy Ghost that our part of this journey was not going to be physical, but it was to be adding to the experience for others. I was able to think about this all day and it helped me feel as though I was there doing my part. Robert however was kind of disappointed all day because he was feeling the same way I was before about not being able to really get anything out of the experience. Then when we had a moment to ourselves after square dancing that night I shared my feels and impressions and he said that as he looked back he could see what I was saying was true. He began to feel a little better things. One other thing that I learned was that letting others help you, even if you don't NEED the help it is okay. Letting other help with Kenya and Jasmin was on this trek I think helped other to feel of worth and that they were serving. It was good to see them find join in serving us and have fun with my girls. People were genuinely worried about me just having a baby they wanted to help and that was nice to see! (Maybe without there help things would have been harder.)
We learned a lot, but just not what we were wanting/expecting to learn. Our journey was very different than most. We are just fine with that. We learned what the Lord needed us to learn and hopefully someday we will go back and get a different experience.