Family and Freedom

After hiking the Y, the local extended family members gathered at The Homestead (Derek's parent's house) for a barbecue, and a Memorial Day program.  We do this pretty much every Memorial Day. We come together because we love each other, and because this is a chance to remember how blessed we are to live in this free country.  We are thankful for those who served, and continue to serve to preserve those freedoms, and we know that we need to do our part to keep them.

We are also thankful for our family members who lived before us, who worked hard, and who loved us well.  We have been blessed by them!  We go to our local cemetery to visit the graves of Derek's brother Alex, and Grandparents Christensen.  Always, on the way out, I look for my Great Uncle Don's grave and remember the blessing of having him in our ward (church congregation) before he passed away.  He was a bombardier on B-17 bombers during WWII.

Then we go to Santaquin's Cemetery and visit the graves of our beloved Grandparents Heelis (Derek's maternal grandparents).  And, this year we added a visit to Aunt June's grave.  She passed away this year and we can no longer go to her house to visit, and see the difficult puzzle she is working on, and have treats.  We love Aunt June!

I had a happy Memorial Day

I hope you did too.