I Am Ready Now

9th Ward

We were asked to be Ma & Pa for our stake's trek and we're happy we were able to go! It was amazing! Our ward was the best/funnest ward there! We also had the biggest/strongest boys to pull the handcarts. And this trek is one that will be remembered for a long time!

The before picture.Look how clean we are!

We got to ride this awesome bus. Better known as the party bus!

Look how clean everyone is!

We had quite the dance party on the bus.

Here we go!

I'm not sure why the boys kept dancing with each other, there were plenty of girls around!

The 9th ward was undefeated in the tug of war! Every single ward wanted to challenge us, but no one beat us.

Shade was a hot commodity

We had to sing a song to this mountain man so he would give us back our cookies!

We woke up to frost all over everything. No one knew it was going to get that cold. None of the girls got any sleep.

This is the actual Mormon Trail where Brigham Young camped while he was sick before he entered the valley.

Those rocks are called the needles

We had a river crossing. The water felt so good on our hot feet.

We had a lot of "hurry up and wait" moments. Luckily we had this basketball hoop to keep the boys entertained.

We made it to "Nauvoo"

Building the temple

We visited the city where this man tried to sell us "snake oil".

Our family, "AT Johnson - a family company!" The boy with the yellow bandana around his face had that there because his allergies were so bad, it was the only thing that helped. We started calling him the "muslim". We're not racist, I promise!

Nate was being shown the wonders of the "snake oil".

The plans for the temple.

Making butter to put on bread to take to the temple workers.

My dad & Kathy showed up so my dad could give the Brigham Young speech.

The kids all filled out these ancestor cards and hung them on the walls inside the temple. We were surprised to learn that many youth had the same ancestor and therefore related!

The entire Heywood family made it on trek.

Inside the temple.

We finished the temple!

The hoe down

We only had 1 injury from a flying tent pole.

Brigham Young giving his speech.

The boys in their nasty smelling tarp tent.

5 girls slept in this tiny changing room tent!

It didn't go so well.

The mob that woke us up early that morning and told us we had to get out of town.

The mob surrounded our temple and wouldn't let us in.

Then they tore it down while we walked away.

All the kids were quiet as they walked. (Each of those white flags represented one of the 150 operating temples)

I don't think any of these kids will forget they way they felt when they were forced to leave their camp and watch the temple that they'd worked so hard on get torn down.

Personal time.

Me and my "sons"

Our kids, they were the best!

All the girls!

More down time, so Toby & Davis had a speed walking contest. Toby won.

The smelly ride home.

I got to go home, take a shower, go to bed the same time the kids did and the next day hold this cute baby that was born while I was gone. His name is Will.