Ma and Pa Vader

AKA Mammy and Pappy Vader

I can't believe what an amazing time we had. We got lucky with 9 children, 5 girls and 4 boys. We got to share our testimony with them and they shared their testimonies with us and it so enriched us.

They kids wrote us thank you cards one day and kept saying how funny we ( I already knew this) are and how they have been laughing since they arrived.

So after we all got off the buses in the middle of nowhere in Wyoming, they made us do the dreaded "Shake Down". Where Mark and I had to go through the kids stuff to make sure they didn't have anything that was not on the list of approved items to bring. Mark and I where dreading this. So Mark had to lighten the whole situation. When he was going through the first of the boys bags (Thomas') he slipped in a beanie baby stuffed octopus. He then proceeds to say at the top of his lungs, "What is this? You can't bring your stuffy on trek." to which almost everyone on trek turned to see what was going on and which President Chug got all on video. Thomas, a shy sweet kid looked at Mark in absolute horror and wanted to die. Everyone just busted out in laughter. So we named the Octopus TJ (Thomas Junior, of course). And Thomas carried him everywhere.

Thomas giving TJ a ride on his hat.

The kids took better care of TJ than they did of our adopted baby Elizabeth. Elizabeth got tied to a spoke of handcart and went for a ride. I strongly objected to the abuse but as Mark said "If it wasn't so funny I would make them take her off." Elizabeth was a little doll that we were suppose to carry around like our baby. The kids then knew they could get a rise out of me if they continued to abuse my baby. So Elizabeth got tied up , well actually hung, she had to endure so much.

Halee being so sweet to baby Elizabeth, yeah right.

So to sum up our family dynamics on Trek, I must share another little story. So on Wednesday it was our Sabbath and we had to attend all of our regular meetings ( I kept asking where Primary was being held but no one knew, bummer!) So I went to the Society of Relief, I think its also called Relief Society. The Stake young Womens Presidency spoke to us about strengthen our families. My dear friend Carol Watson was teaching about how we could each influence our families in a positive ways. She then said "We can not be a smart aleck." WHAT? I leaned over to my girls and whispered "I don't agree with that." To which one of my girls said "We wouldn't have anything to say in our family." Okay so Mark and I's sarcasm might have worn off a little bit on the kids, woops. Our kids left a lot funnier than when they arrived, at least a lot more sarcastic.

So one of the girls kept asking me wether or not Mark was being serious when he said something sarcastic. I told her that I've know the guy for ten years and still can't tell, so good luck. We had a blast with the kids and I think they had fun too.