Welcome to the 47th
Tales of the Traveling Tote,
where women who love
MacKenzie Childs and
love to travel, take their
totes all over the place.
Come explore with us!
As many of you know,
we are serving as full time
missionaries for our church,
The Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter Day Saints.
We are serving just less than
an hour from our home at
Heber Valley Camp. The
camp serves 40-50 thousand
youth each summer and
another 75,000 visitors on
the Faith Walk each summer.
We were chosen to work
on the Challenge Courses,
so we have been training
since the first week of
April to be certified
Challenge Course workers.
The camp has 125 missionary
couples. Others work as
Camp Hosts, Greeters,
Mountain Maintenance,
and Building Maintenance.
At the end of the season
we will help build two
more Challenge Courses
like the one above.
This is our home for
the summer and we will
return again for another
six months next summer.
We are at a high elevation
here so we have had to
climb the courses twice
while snowing.
(Let's just say I am not
a thrill seekers, so this
has stretched me, but I am
growing!)
Once a week we get a day
off - our Preparation Day.
We usually come home
and see the family and
get things done at home.
This week my son said
we should go visit
Ballerina Farm and do
their farm tour up in
Kamas, Utah.
They also have a store
just down the mountain
from us in Midway, Utah.
I grew up in Wisconsin
and my aunt and cousin
had dairy farms, but I
have never seen one like
this. The stalls you can
see on the left are
"waterbeds" so that
the cows don't get sores
from laying down.
The cows freely walk around
the barn and decide when
they are ready to go into
the milking stall. They
line up and it is all
automated. The manger is
a 29 year old woman and
she told us that one cow
likes to be milked 5 times
a day and another 3 times!
They also had Rhumba type
cleaners that automatically
muck the floors. It was so
fun and educational.
The grands got to pet the
new babies.
At birth the manager
decides which cows
will become meat cows
and which will be milk
cows.
I love how these kids
wore their western hats!
Another P Day we went
to visit a local cheese
place. My favorite cheese
that we bought was a
Lemon Sage Variety.
Speaking of cows, just
before we left on our
mission our daughter
who lives next door and
our son and their families
decided they wanted a milk
cow. She has wanted one
for years. Ballerina Farms
has convinced a lot of
young moms that they
want a cow!!!
Ruby is a Jersey milk cow and
is expecting. She was
very unhappy being all
alone so we also got a
Black Angus for meat.
We are renting a neighbor's
pasture for them.
And my daughter also got
these ducks and my son
got six Runner ducks.
It is turning into a menagerie!
Thanks for visiting,
now on to our giveaway!
Pop on over and visit
Ricki Jill and leave a
comment to win this
great bag.
And then
visit these other ladies to
see where they have been
off to lately!
Jackie and Miss Madi K @ Purple Chocolat Home (you are here)
Debbie with Miss Aurora @ Mountain Breaths
Patti with Miss Kenzie and Miss Taylor @ Pandora's Box
Linda P with Miss Lola @ Life and Linda
Rita with Miss Luna C @ Panoply
Sarah with Miss Merri Mac @ Hyacinths for the Soul
Ricki Jill and Countess de Monet @The Bookish Dilettante
