Every year our family, mostly the girls, goes to Sanpete County where my mother's family is from. If you don't know where Sanpete County is, is is in South Central Utah and is the home of The Manti Temple in Manti, Snow College and Scandinavian Days in Ephraim.
This year my mother was feelong bad because she couldn't make it from Peoria, Illinois in the mission field to be here. She told my niece that she has only missed 4 times in her life and this owas once and she will miss it again next year because she won't be home until July.
Our first stop took us to the Little Acorn outside of Spanish Fork--before the canyon drive to take care of one unhappy little Brighton. He is happy as long as the car in in motion, but put that puppy in idle or stop altogether and he is not a happy camper. This picture was after a nice bottle and a chnge of a messy diaper.
We drove up Spanish Fork Canyon to the Thistle/Price turn off. There we were met by the downed railroad arms. Waiting, Waiting, Waiting!!! In all the years we have been down there, I am not sure I have ever been stopped by a train--or at least one while I have been driving.
Oh we weren't stopped by a train, we were stopped by about 8 of these little yellow--train/railroad fixer upper do-dad's that would drive by and then the next one would come along, maybe 10 minutes later--those arms never went up and we were stuck. It was worse than getting stuck behind the Sanpete sheep herds. At least you can drive a little at a time. Traffic was backed up for over a mile waiting for these train wanna be's.
In Sanpete county there is Horseshoe Mountain that was tipped with a lot of snow this year, thanks to Mother Nature. It was beautiful and I always feel like I am at home a little bit when I see this mountain.
KoriAnn said it wasn't the same as it is when gram's is with us and she was right. But we did all of the things that we alsways do, such as stopping at the Spring City fresh water Spring that has been running since before the pioneers discovered it in 1859. The water is so fresh and "COLD". We generally fill up a few jugs of water and bring them home.
After delivering the flowers to my grandparents and great grandparents graves we headed south to Ephraim to the Scandinavian Festival, where the first thing we do is head for the Swedish Meatballs and Cucumber Salad. It is a delicious meal and we wait all year to have it.
The picture of all of us at the Festival--just before leaving. We were tired--cranky, and the weather had us putting on and taking off our jackets every five minutes. First it was hot, then it was cold and then it would start the vicious cycle over again.
The final picture is one of my favorite things to see in Mt. Pleasant where a set of my great-grandparents are buried. Every year for Memorial day, they put up two more flags on the roads to honor those veterans from Mt. Pleasant that served and have since passed away or lost their lives in war conflicts. It make my heart swell with pride as our Wonderful Old Glory waves in the breeze in this tiny little town. Memorial Day to me is honoring and remembering those who have gone before us, those that have lived through the trials an tribulations of life, who gave up their lives for their children, their country, their family--whatever their cause.
Memorial Day is remembering our past. In this tiny little cemetery where my Syndergaard Great-grandparents are buried, lies a woman (Gene Rowe Syndergaard), my great-grandmother, that lost both of her daughters and one son, who lived for over 50years as a widow when her husband died of a heart attack working hard out in the fields to provide for his family at the young age of 49 and lost her home in a terrible fire. This amazing woman eeked out a living for the sons that were left behind and lived on a pittance until her death in 1981 at the age of 98. But through all of this, Grandma Syndergaard never lost her faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and even though her failing health kept her from doing a lot, she stll managed to make it to church every week and would start walking if my great uncle wasn't there to pick here up.
So happy Memorial Day to all and I hope you will take the time to remember those loved ones that have gone before and the stories that have be handed down through the generations.
