Memorial Day 2018

Alison and I did not have much turnaround between China and Memorial day weekend. We got home late Thursday night. It gave us just enough time to do laundry and take care of a few things at home before heading to Manti on Saturday. Most of the rest of the family went down on Friday. We opted not to because we were way too jet-lagged.

We were out the door by 8am on Saturday. We met Blake, Debbie, Kristin, and Skylee at the Fairview cemetery where we put some flowers on the family graves there. We then went to the Ephraim cemetery. We met with other family members and placed flowers on our graves in that cemetery as well.

After the cemetery, we headed over to the Scandinavian festival. It felt much busier than usual this year. We stuck with tradition and ate turkey and Piccadilly chips for lunch (despite the very long line). We spent time visiting with family and listening to the music performances at the festival.

After the festival, we went back to the Ephraim cemetery to visit the graves with more of our family. We sat around telling stories and remembering our ancestors who went before us.

We returned to our campsite and had hamburgers with homemade root beer for dinner. We used root beer and some homemade ice cream to make root beer floats for dessert.

On Sunday we all got up and made a nice breakfast together. Then Blake, Debbie, Alison, Skylee, and I headed out to the farm. Kristin and Dan would join us later. The farm was a highlight of the weekend. Tex and Blu both loved being farm dogs for the day. They got pretty worked up trying to herd the cattle (although Tex mostly barked at the cattle). They nearly gave Alison a heart attack when they went toe to toe with the cattle and Blu nearly got himself trampled.

We wandered around the farm with Blake teaching Skylee all about horses and cattle. It was such a pleasant day. We ended up by the ponds and we went fishing. We didn't catch a thing, but we all had fun and Skylee learned a little bit about fishing.

After we fished we walked around some of the buildings on the farm and Blake taught us more about the economics of farming, and branding cattle and told us stories about life working on the farm. We learned a lot.

We wrapped up our adventure at the farm and went over to Mitch and Melanie's home for dinner. This has become a Memorial day tradition. They are generous hosts.

Alison and I called it a night pretty early on Sunday. We still were battling with jet lag.

On Monday we woke up and broke camp. Before we pulled out we headed over to the Manti cemetery to place a few last flowers on some graves. It was a beautiful memorial day. It was nice to gather together and visit before we all headed home.

On our way home Alison and I stopped in Springville to visit my grandma Pat's grave. I am very grateful we do this each Memorial day. This year I learned a little bit more about my family history on my grandma Pat's side. Her father, Delbert L. Johnson, served as a marine during World War II. He was in a fox hole in Iwo Jima when he received word that my grandma Pat was born. Alison and I figured he was probably buried in the Evergreen cemetery as well, but we weren't able to find his grave. After we got home we confirmed that he and his wife LaVern are buried in Springville. Next year we plan to visit their graves as well.

It was a great Memorial day weekend. I am grateful that Alison's family has shared with me their tradition of remembering their ancestors this weekend. It is a very meaningful experience every year to take time to reflect on the lives of those who went before us. As Blake's brother Charlie pointed out - it is because of them that we are each the way we are today. Taking time to remember them helps us to remain rooted and look forward with faith.