Pioneer Trek

I've been asking Connor to do a guest blog post about his recent experience at trek for a week now, and I'm pretty sure it's not going to happen so I'll try to relate what few details I got out of him. This could be a short post!

Zach and I were asked to go up to the trek site on the last day and help shuttle some of the kids home. I didn't realize that this meant we would actually get to see them pushing the handcarts up the last stretch and be their first sight of modern civilization again. It was pretty cool, I have to admit, and made me want to go on the next trek in 4 years when Emmy will be 16. I know I won't get Zach to go, so it won't be as a "ma and pa" duo, but maybe I can be a "big sister" or a widowed aunt to a family or something like that.



My biggest worry was the weather. The forecast showed near or below freezing temps every night, mild temps in the days around 60's and big chance of thunderstorms every day. I prayed every night that my boy was comfortable at night. He said that it was really cold but the 0 degree sleeping bag I got him the day before he left saved him. There was frost on the tents in the morning and some people were really miserable. He said one day at lunch it was a downpour and even started to hail. Families started praying for a break in the weather, and the storm stopped almost immediately after.

Connor went on and on about how good the food was. This is also another fear of mine - that my incredibly picky son will starve on scout camps, pioneer treks and eventually on his mission. They had beef stew, peach cobbler which he actually tried (wow) and chicken and rice to name a few dishes. I was a little envious hearing his description of some of the meals.

Several of the women from my ward told me that whenever they saw him (they were in different families), he had the biggest smile on his face and appeared to be having a great time which made me so happy to hear.

The actual pioneer that he was representing was William Page who at 17 years old was sent ahead of his family because of financial reasons across the Atlantic Ocean and on to Salt Lake City. Whenever I thought about my worries of sending Connor on this 4 day experience, I tried to imagine the feelings of William's mother sending her son nearly the same age on such a huge journey.

Anyone familiar with pioneer trek knows the tradition of the very emotional "women's pull" in which the men are asked to not assist the women in pushing the handcarts up a very large hill. This represents when the women were left behind while most of the men went to fight the war. It's a very emotional event, both for the girls/women who have the huge task of getting the heavy carts up the hill but also for the boys watching the girls and not being able to help them. Connor said that as soon as the leaders said they could help, it was the biggest relief of his life and he ran as fast as he could to help his "sisters" and "ma".

Other than being sunburned, dirty and stinky, he survived and is a better person for it, he says. I'm still holding out for a guest blog post and if he ends up doing it, I'll still post it. But here are a few pictures I captured when I went to pick them up...

Simon anxiously awaiting the sight of Connor rounding the bend

He was stripping as soon as he was allowed to. The next thing he asked for was his phone :)

Amy Camp, Aubrie Coutts and Kristan Whitney - three girls from our ward who somehow lucked out and were put in the same family.

So happy to see his big bro!

Connor's family

Everyone from our ward who went

Emmy's Performance

Several family members weren't able to come to any of Emmy's spring performances, so I have uploaded them to YouTube for your viewing pleasure :) I had to cut the High School Musical medley down to just her solo because I can only upload 10 minute videos.

School's Definitely (with an "i" not an "a") Out!

(I need everyone to study how I spelled "definitely" because that is definitely HOW YOU SPELL DEFINITELY - are we clear? There are definitely no A's in definitely.)

This last month leading up to the end of school was so stressful for me, mostly because of worries over grades (guess which child?) but also because Emmy had a lot of performances, Connor had a few end of year performances and Simon's year end preschool program. Connor passed all of his classes by the skin of his teeth, and I actually did a little victory dance when he texted me "GO CHECK MY GRADES RIGHT NOW!" from school on the day grades were final and there were no F's! I've had to learn to adjust my expectations this year a lot which is something I had to come to peace with. Every kid is different and Connor's strengths are not in the academic realm.

You know school's out when our friends the Murray's throw their annual "little" party in their circle. It has grown in popularity each year, and now there are way more kids than adults. Everyone brings treats, sets up chairs and blankets on the lawns, and the kids run wild. I honestly didn't know where Simon was half the time but it was okay because everyone in that circle pretty much is in on the party and are people I feel I can trust. The big draw for the tweens is the dancing. Jennica's husband Steve has some great DJ equipment including lights, fog machines, and music videos projected on the wall by their house. It was a serious dance party and I was right out there with the rest of 'em this year dancing mostly with Simon. I also wanted to watch Emmy get asked to dance and see how she handled it which was kind of fun. Thanks to Emmy's music tastes these days, I knew all the music and had so much fun.

Now that school is out, Emmy has her Clayton Productions (singing/dancing group) tour to LA to look forward to, and Connor has Pioneer Trek and EFY to look forward to all in the next few weeks.

Lake Las Vegas

Lake what? Lake where? Those were my exact words when Zach proposed our Memorial day weekend getaway at this supposed place 20 minutes outside of Las Vegas, which is my least favorite city to stay with the kids, or even without them. But when he showed me the pictures of the resort, I thought it looked really nice, a lot less "vegas-ish" and the price was right so we went for it. Not only did WE go for it, but we told the kids they could invite friends to come along which is a first for the Sharples family. I wasn't too sure about the idea because I thought we wouldn't get as much family time, but I tried to have an open mind knowing that it would be so much fun for them which it was.

The first thing we noticed when we arrived (just short of going to Lake Mead) was a beautiful development complete with golf course, beautiful houses and nice landscaping, but it all seemed a little unfinished. It was as if some developer had a brilliant idea about 10 years ago in the Las Vegas real estate boom, but when the economy died, so did some of the finishing touches on this place. The cute village shops that surround the lake are mostly vacant, and the golf course was not being used at all. The hotel was nice, which was all we really needed and there was a pool which was all the kids wanted.



We rented a boat for an hour to see the extent of the lake. It's pretty small and surrounded by some really fancy homes, so no recreational boating, just put-putting along which I didn't mind. It was in the 60's and windy the whole time so fast boating would have been freezing. Each of the kids took turns driving the boat.







We did head into town for a few activities since the resort couldn't offer much in the way of shopping or entertainment. We took the kids to the Shark Reef Aquarium at Mandalay Bay.






Emmy has been on a quest for the perfect 6th grade graduation outfit so a stop at H&M at the Forum Shops was on the ticket. I have to admit it was a pretty cool store with a live DJ no less. Luckily for the rest of us, it is across the way from Max Brenner's Chocolate Bar so that's where we hung out sipping italian hot chocolate in their signature "hugmugs". They remind me of little toilets, but the shape is strangely perfect for warming your hands as you sip the hot chocolate from heaven. No kidding!

Junior High - here she comes!

Emmy officially "graduated" from elementary school with flying colors. She makes me so proud with her good study habits, hard work to get straight A's every single year, and sweet personality. I couldn't ask for more from a kid. The graduation program was a little emotional for me. Watching the slide show of kids I've known for 7 years and how they've grown up had me tearing up a bit. The song I taught the kids went great. I even got them to sway from side to side in the same direction on the beat - this was a huge feat I'll have you know!

My baby girl - she'll always be my "baby". I love her so much.

Grandma Jodi and Nana Vicki are so good to support each of their many grandkids at milestones like this. We appreciate them taking the time to come celebrate with us!


Look at these two beauties! It's so fun to go to school with cousins. I never had that experience and it makes for a guaranteed friend at lunch or recess.

The three musketeers - Jaxynn, Corissa and Emmy. I don't know how they make 3 best friends work, but it seems to. Each year one of them has been alone in a different class so they have taken turns being together in classes. This year Emmy and Corissa were together and Jaxynn was on her own in a different class. But they still stay close and I really hope that continues into junior high.