Belated Memorial Day Post (aka the Grand Cemetery Tour)

I told the kids that this year on Memorial Day we were going to do the Grand Cemetery Tour--visit lots of grave sites all in one day. They weren't thrilled, but were willing to go along, especially after I promised breakfast at Kneader's (all-you-can-eat chunky cinnamon french toast, yum!) and a BBQ at Geoff & Marla's in the afternoon. We visited 6 cemeteries and I was able to tell them a few things about their ancestors that (perhaps) they hadn't heard before. We cleaned up the headstones of my paternal grandparents and great grandmother (my namesake). We spent lots of time in the car being silly. My favorite line of the day was when Carson, not quite 18 years old, replied to some comment made by a sibling, "I'm so old." Really? Give it a few years son!

Here are a few pictures of the day. We started out first thing in the morning at American Fork City Cemetery at Gary's grave.

After breakfast, we headed to the Provo City Cemetery to see their Nana's (my mom, Karen) grave. There are also lots of my dad's relatives buried in the same area.

Next was the longest drive--to the Ogden City Cemetery. My maternal grandparents (Dale & Dorothy Wright), great aunt (Virginia Schweitzer), great grandparents (Adolph & Grace Schweitzer), and great great grandparents (William & Emma Weber) are buried there.

We drove to the Centerville City Cemetery next. The kids' great great grandfather, BH Roberts is buried there, along with their maternal great grandparents (Lawrence & Olive Roberts).

My paternal grandparents (John Elmo & Blanche Henrichsen) and my great grandmother namesake (Else Johanna Anne Marie Nybo Williams) are buried in the Elysian Burial Gardens in the Millcreek area of Salt Lake. These headstones required a lot of trimming of grass and clearing off, so we spent quite a bit of time here.

The kids were about done, but luckily we only had one more visit to make. Gary's dad, LaRelle Hatch, and grandparents, Hugh & Ardean Hatch, (the kids' grandfather and great grandparents) are buried in the South Jordan City Cemetery. You can see by the look on Carson's face that it was time to head on over to eat!

We ended the Grand Cemetery Tour by eating yummy grilled chicken and Nathan's hot dogs with several family members at Geoff & Marla's house. I tried to take  a few pictures of my great niece with her grandparents, but she wasn't super cooperative. She's a real cutie and loves her grandma the most. And grandpa is ok too.  :)

All in all, I think it was a pretty successful Memorial Day!