Nothing beats the weekly family choir. We're working on patriotic and primary songs about summer.
A postcard came from Korea! Sweet Andy mailed us one.
The best thing that happened this week was a visit from my mother! She came to nurture Molly and Ryan while the rest of us went on Trek with the stake.
This here is Ma and Pa Oats (name from the label on our food storage bucket). We were assigned the lightest and smallest family of youth, but we destroyed all the other families. At one point we rested for 45 minutes to wait for the last group to catch up.
Papa Oats lived his best life. There is something about providing and protecting his family in the wilderness that makes him so happy.
Which meant that the Trail Boss placed us in the very back. I knew my youth would be chomping at the bit to pass the other teams, so I lead us in a 20 minute nap. Once the rest was over, we caught up in seven minutes. The rest of the day was a slog. We wanted to get her done, but we were forced to move so slowly.
Found these two siblings who found each other.
This little trekker carried her family right up that women's pull. She's strong physically and as a leader. (Of course she also won the foot race to choose the biggest chicken.)
This trekker was the work horse in his family. He did all the cooking, cleaning, pulling and maintenance. Once we walked over and just needed to shed a few tears about how hard it is to do everything. (I didn't spoil the surprise that he's at the beginning of this reality. We were so proud of him.)
The Biggle-Oats.
If we lived 180 years ago, and it was my family that needed to cross the plains, I actually think we would have made it. Yet, there is another side to my thinking knowing that Andy and Nick would have carried women across the river and died of exposure, Austin would have given me all of his food and died of malnutrition, Ryan would be involved in an accident resulting in a maimed leg the rest of his life, and Eddie would have both legs amputated because he had to be the head of our household due to the big boys' deaths......leaving Meg, Maisie, Molly, Maddie and me to pull our handcart all the way to Zion.
Trek with my children as my children -- Babcock 10 -- would be unreal. My children are goats.
Proof.
In the mean time, Grandma Kim was home reading novels to Molly and Ryan then watching the corresponding movies. They ate simply and slept soundly.
Grandma Kim also made sure that Miss Molly didn't miss her annual dance recital. Here is the proof.
Monday morning Mother was flying home again. Our 11 hours spent together meant everything.
Bendy are vacationing in beautiful Montana rn. (I hope Andy is flexing his abs -- I bet his is. AHHAHAH!)
This little kitty and her mother are a very happy duo. Milk. Lots of milk to make a chubby baby.
Elder Babcock and Hillstead are just so wonderful. They work so hard and are rewarded for their exact obedience.
Long week for Maisie. She's in the grind of real life. She's good at it. Proud of her.
