Memorial Day Weekend May 24-27

Thursday I made a lot of people (who come visit) very happy by having an A/C installed. I never thought I needed one but apparently a lot of people begged to differ and are now admitting how miserable they used to be in the summer at my house. It turned out to be a much more difficult job for the poor electrician as a 1 hr job turned into 4 1/2 hours.

Friday Justin, Kenzee, Nolan and Ezra came to spend the weekend. We figured it had been over 2 years since they had stayed at my house and with the new baby coming in just 6 weeks I may have another long wait. After lunch Justin, Nolan, Ezra and me joined Wayne, Karen, Mariah, Craig & Mardyne for a motorcycle/4 wheeling ride up Blacksmith fork canyon. Left hand fork up to Cowley canyon was closed so we stayed on the Gray's springs road. It was a lot of fun. I traded in my motorcycle to Craig and drove his 4-wheeler as the downhill was more treacherous than I wanted. I don't want any injuries to get in the way of hut to hut in July.

Craig harvested a feast of water cress which I must admit wasn't too bad. Here's a picture of us with our new found snack.

We all made it back safely even if Justin had to drive a four-wheeler with one hand while holding a sleeping Ezra with the other.

Afterwards we ran some dinner over to mom's so we could eat, visit and also help Mardyne and Craig unload some heavy furniture into their new house. When I asked Ezra if he wanted to play in the park by their house he ran to check it out but quickly returned declaring in a very disappointed tone of voice "THAT PARK IS HIDEOUS!" It was just so funny. Once during the weekend out of the blue he goes, "I'm happy you married Jon." Then Nolan said, "It's a good thing I passed out the rings!" LOL.

Saturday morning mom joined us for a waffle breakfast then Karen, Mom and I drove my car full of beautifully arranged flower baskets to family graves in Benjamin, Provo and Heber. Dad would have been so pleased. I'm not sure my parents ever missed decorating graves. It has always been so important and always kind of irked them that their children treated the holiday more as a day for play. In the last few years I have come to love visiting the beautiful cemeteries and hearing the stories from mom/dad of their loved ones who have passed on. We were all very happy to see the "Peay" bench that mom had erected on her family plot at the Benjamin cemetary. It's been on her bucket list for a long time and to see it finally done was so thrilling. It is perfect and got installed just in time for the holiday. The three of us sat on the bench facing the West Mountain and listened to mom tell stories of her childhood. It was wonderful......but very windy as usual.

Next we headed to Provo and visited the Peay grandparents, then on to Heber City to decorate dad's parents, grandparents and his sister Carol's graves.

Daren had been here helping Grandma Petersen decorate. He arrived just in time to help me  replace a broken sprinkler and have a good visit with Justin and Kenzee. Karen called this morning to tell us that Logan Memorial had FINALLY placed dad's headstone. It was hugely important to mom to make sure it was in before memorial day weekend. We had ordered it in January. They had promised it would be in last Wed, then Thur, then Fri then finally got it in around 10 p.m. last night. Mom had given up and decorated anyway. We all hurried over to see it. It was okay but mom was quite disappointed that the Moulton name didn't stand out like she had envisioned. The veterans plaque also had not been put on the back. I told her that the stone was already so beautiful and stunning that dad wouldn't want the name to be so bold because he wasn't that kind of a man. He was humble and would not want to call attention to himself. She seemed comforted by it but it may not last long as it is mom's headstone too and she should have it the way she wants it.

Sunday we went to church where Ezra and I had our Sacred Sunday naps. Jon and Amanda came up in time for some salmon burgers then we went for a walk up the Providence canyon trail. Poor Nolan always wants to make it to the end but there is never time. One of these days I hope to hike with him just as long as he wants. Later Jon, Amanda & I rode to the Smithfield cemetery to visit his parents graves.

Monday Karen, Wayne, Mariah, Jon, me, Amanda, Justin and Nolan went for a bike ride on the Logan River trail. Nolan was so determined to make it to the end. That kid loves being outside whether he is hiking or biking.

Justin, Nolan and Mariah all had to turn back as their fun time had ended but the rest of us finished the ride then rode up the highway to the Wind Caves trail and hiked that. I've never seen so many people out enjoying the canyon. We counted over 100 people coming down the trail.  Afterwards Jon, Amanda & I took flowers this time to his parents graves. I love visiting the cemeteries this time of year and seeing how creative people can be with their decorations. I'm sure I will be making a greater effort from now on to treat the holiday the way it is meant to be.

Amanda has an announcement.....She is filling out Mission papers!!! I'm so excited for her.

I finished off the holiday with a weenie roast up Providence canyon. It's too bad my visitors all had to return home. I didn't even get to use the A/C.