June 21

hi everyone,
things are going well. i guess erika told you about our hike from .... if i had known how far and how long i would be hiking up a steep incline in a good 5 inches of thick mud in my running shoes i don't think i would have ever have started but the thruth is i was glad i did it and that i didn't know. it was the most physically exhausting and challenging thing i have ever done. if you strapped 5 pounds weight on each foot and added some pull to that and went on a steep incline for about 2 hours that is what it felt like. i was always behind everyone but there were others struggling also and everyone was so nice and said there was no way any of their mothers would have attempted what i was doing. that helped me get through it. when i finally got to the top i was about ready to cry but had many of the group congratulating me. then we went to the coffee demo. the taught us how coffee is made from harvesting the berries and crushing them to get out the nuts then roasting them and picking out the bad ones and then grinding the beans into coffee. i had to taste it--shhh don't tell the bishop. after adding sugar i had a sip or two and it was pretty darn good. then we hiked -again! this time up to a beautiful waterfall. the hike was more level and not as muddy so it wasn't bad. At one point we had to cross a pretty scary bridge the fall could have killed you but everyone made it across safely. when we finally got to the waterfall it was worth the entire hike. it was beautiful. the most beautiful i've ever seen. we had to put on raincoats because of the mist.  you'll see our pictures later. i still haven't been able to up load any. i'll keep trying. then we had problems with our bus-getting it turned around etc. so we had to go back down the road but by this time the mud had dried enough for us to walk on top of it.  there were many people who lived on this hill and it is a daily stroll for them in fact they will walk into town every day if necessary. they were friendly and always greeted us with mombo! and then we would answer back poa!   it was very rewarding aftter the fact. well, i need to run and let the others waiting have a turn.

i love and miss you all. thanks mindy for doing our blog. there just isn't time to do everything i would like to here on the computer. give paxton a big hug and kiss from me.   love, mom