Top 10 of 2008 - #1 Martin's Cove

Finally!! We got through the top ten. My very favorite memory of the year is a very special one. Unfortunately, only Dave and I could go - we had to leave the kids home. One day, though, we will all go. In July, we were lucky enough to be asked to go with our ward to Martin's Cove. Of course, because of Dave's expertise in the videography industry, we were asked to document the trek with pictures and video.


For those of you who don't know what Martin's Cove is, it is a very important and historical site for the church. It is located almost smack dab in the middle of Wyoming. It is where the Martin Handcart Company was stranded during the winter on their way crossing the plains to Salt Lake City 150 years ago. We also got to go to Sixth Crossing and Rocky Ridge, which are near by. Those are the locations that the Willie Handcart Company suffered through their very similar ordeal at the same time.


For the trek, the youth were put into families and had to pull their handcarts in good old fashioned pioneer clothing. Yes, that mean skirts for the women. We hiked MILES!! It was a lot of work....and I didn't have to pull a handcart. I was in charge of our tiny video camera. Poor Dave lugged around our big camera and tripod everywhere. He ran back and forth through the trek line and made and incredible video when it was all said and done. (I was tempted to upload it to blogger, but I think and hour long video would be a little much.)


These are incredible places. Really, there is nothing at either of these places but the monuments that were constructed. When I say nothing.....I literally mean NOTHING. No houses, no city, no cell phone reception, no stores (okay...I take that back, there is one tiny store in Muddy Gap, nearby Martin's Cove and I think the only reason it is even in existence is because of all the Mormon tourists who go through). But, it is one of the most spiritual places I have ever been to. Being able to walk in the same footsteps as these faithful pioneers is really a life changing, testimony building experience. I highly recommend everyone to go.


Here are a few pictures Dave took of our experience (literally FEW - he took hundreds!)

What an amazing group of kids! It was just our ward youth, but I think there were almost as many adults who came as youth. But, really, can you blame them?!?

Don't judge this picture too harshly. This is after 4 days of no showers. We were both SOOO exhausted by this point.

Top 10 of 2008 - #2 Visiting Family

We were lucky this year to get to see so much family. We live close to Dave's family, so we get to see them pretty often. But, my family lives in Albuquerque, so we only get to see them a couple of times a year. Me and the kids got to stay with them for a whole week while Dave was in Colorado working on his Master's program in June.

Grandpa & Grandma Martin, Bria, Max, Shatzi & Dave.

We also got to visit Grandma Sharon and Grandpa Frank in Oregon. We love it over in Oregon, but especially love visiting them!

Grandpa Frank, Grandma Sharon, Bria, Max, Dave & Shatzi.

Top 10 of 2008 - #3 The Oregon Coast Aquarium

After we visited the ocean, we headed down the the Oregon Coast Aquarium. It was awesome!!! Although, I do think the kids would have liked it better if they were older. They had about every fish you could imagine. The kids loved petting the starfish. Some of them were actually pretty soft - surprisingly!

There was a clear tunnel we walked through that had fish swimming all around us. It was cool. Some of the fish were very large! Look at the size of the fish Max is looking at!

Top 10 of 2008 - #4 The Ocean

We had to take the kids to see the ocean while we were in Oregon. I mean, who wouldn't want to go do that - we were already so close. So, we planned a day to go the Newport and on the way stopped at Lincoln City and went to the beach. It was May, and not very warm outside yet. I couldn't believe all the swimmers! We were way to chicken for that. I don't know if the kids enitrely knew what to think about all the water. But, they had fun and Bria got quite a collection of sea shells by the time we left.