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!

Graduation

It's been a long time coming, but today was Carson's graduation. He's so happy to be done with high school and so ready to move on to the next phase of his life. I'm ready for him too, but am going to miss him a TON when he moves down to school for fall semester (luckily for me, it's only down to Provo, so I hope to get to see him a little bit anyway).

Here are a few pictures (or maybe more than a few) that I took last night at the American Fork Amphitheater and this morning at the actual graduation. (pre-photoshop since I messed up a couple of the settings...)

In his thoughtful pose

I've got an idea!

Carson in his natural state--texting :)

Looking Good!

Finally, the day has arrived!

I love this guy!

My Kiddos

Proud Mom and Happy Son

The family

Right after filing in, we're trying to get his attention from the audience

Choir singing "Battle Hymn of the Republic"  Carson is the tallest one in the back row near the right hand side

 

 

Acknowledging his adoring fans

Diploma Time

  

Jumping for Joy!

 I'm so proud of Carson and all his accomplishments so far. I know he's going great places and today is just the beginning. I love you my tallest son!

Computer/Phone issues

Computers--you love them when they're working, but can't stand it when they have problems. SOOOO, until further notice, contact us by cell phone numbers or email :)

So, It's Been a While

Yeah, it's been quite some time since I've posted here to my blog. Don't know if it's that I haven't been feeling very reflective, I've been busy with the daily-ness of life, I feel like I'm always tired, or some combination of all three (probably). But I'm still here, moving along, JSYK :)

Disneyland 2012

 Those of you who know me well know how much I love to go to Disneyland. If we lived closer, I'm sure I would have an annual pass to go far more often! But for now, I'm happy to have just gone with my kids for a great weekend together at The Happiest Place On Earth. It's a special place for our family and we had a great time! Here are a few photos to document our latest visit.

The boys were so excited to ride the new Star Tours. It was pretty crowded, so it was hard to get a picture without anyone else in the shot. So, as Gary would have said about the person on the left, "What about THAT guy?"

They were SO excited when we saw a couple of Storm Troopers. Luckily we weren't the droids they were looking for...

Gotta love the Jungle Cruise!

Kind of a blurry photo, but it shows Carson's awesome hair after California Screamin' (and those awesome chops as well)

It's hard to think of something new for the photo each time we rode Space Mountain

Carson's always creative :)

It's not a trip to Disneyland for the Hatch Family without a picture of these characters (the animals, not the kids)

I'm fine on The Tower of Terror as long as I can hold on to someone, or in this case, two someones

 

Waiting to take off on California Screamin'--LOVE this roller coaster!

 

So sad that this one turned out blurry :(   But it was pretty late and pretty dark, so the camera had a hard time picking a setting and since the person behind us in line took the picture, I should just be glad we're all in it and smiling :)

Injuries and Healing

I've been thinking quite a bit about injuries lately. Yes, my face hitting the pavement 3 weeks ago has prompted a lot of this thinking. (For those of you who don't know, I tripped on some uneven concrete in my driveway very unexpectedly. First my knees went down, then the right side of my face. I was carrying out the trash, so my hands were full and no help whatsoever--I scraped them up and sprained some ligaments in my right hand.) At this point, nearly all the outward appearances of my injuries are gone, but I am still sore and tender on the inside. I can't kneel down, my knees are still bruised. One spot on my cheekbone is tender enough that I can't rest my face on my hand on the right side. My hand hurts when I do certain motions. These are all things that can't necessarily be seen on the outside but will heal with a little more time.

 But what about injuries to our heart, our soul, our very core? These kinds of hurt aren't usually seen by those around us. We don't usually tell very many people about them. They can be deep pains felt for long periods of time. How can we be healed from those kinds of pain? Only through our Savior and His atoning sacrifice. How grateful I am for Him and all He did for me so that I can be healed and made whole again.

The Gentle Christ by Del Parson

Why I'm a Mormon by Jason Wright

I read this column today and it really resonated with me (You Know I'm a Mormon, But Do You Know Why? by Jason Wright, Deseret News 2/9/12). I feel the same way as the author, but he states it so much more eloquently. It's worth the few minutes it will take you to read it, which is why I'm posting most of the column here rather than just the link.


Simply put, I am a Mormon because over a long period of time, and after many accumulating spiritual experiences, I have come to my own understanding that the faith is true.
I like to think of my personal faith as a lengthy, never-ending manuscript. A single page, on its own, probably isn't of great significance. But over the course of weeks, months and even years, those individual pages multiply with my hard work and become something weighty and valuable.
This is how my testimony has grown. It didn't happen overnight in a singular burst of revelation from the Holy Ghost or after a weekend of nonstop reading in the scriptures. My faith has grown like that manuscript, through countless prayers and moments of worship and service. Together they've accumulated into something beautiful that I enjoy sharing with those around me.
I am a Mormon, in part, because it is the faith of my fathers. It is among the greatest blessings of my life to have been born into a good Christian family with a long heritage of worthy membership in the church.
When I was a child, my parents took me to church on the strength of their own testimonies, forged through their own long lives of obedience to God's commandments. Like all parents, they hoped and prayed that one day my siblings and I wouldn't need to rely on mom and dad's faith.
Their prayers were heard. As a young man, I began to realize that I could no longer survive strictly on the strength of my parents' spiritual manuscripts. I had to write my own.
Thus began my own journey to knowing. Day after day, year after year, here a concept, there a principle, here a doctrine and there a covenant. Each new spiritual experience refines the ones before it and adds breadth and depth to my own testimony of the truthfulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
I am a Mormon because I believe that God loves his children today just as much as he loved our ancient ancestors when Peter, James and John walked the earth and preached with his authority. I believe that in preparation for the return of the Savior, our Heavenly Father speaks through modern-day apostles and prophets who are no different than those we read of in the holy scriptures.
Because of this, I know that God has today organized his church to resemble the church that Christ founded when he walked the earth. If he had apostles and prophets during the early days, why wouldn't he have them during the latter?
He would and he does. I am a Mormon because that organization and the priesthood keys to act in his name are found in my faith and in my chapel each Sunday.
I am a Mormon because I believe that just like the Bible, the Book of Mormon is also the word of God. It is, truly, another testament of Jesus Christ. What a blessing that we have it alongside the Old and New Testaments to learn of his ministry and promised return.
I am a Mormon because I have gotten on my knees and asked to know if he hears me, if the ancient scriptures are true and if the words and counsel of today's prophets and apostles will lead me closer to the Savior.
Sometimes the answers are overwhelming and bring me to tears. But more often, the assurances come in gentle whispers, just one more page to add to the others.
I am so thankful that this manuscript gets better each time I pay attention to it.
But I know that I'm not writing alone. I know he is with me, word by word, writing and willing me to return and live with him in the eternities.
Let there be no doubt: my manuscript and I are far from perfect. But his gospel is.
And that's why I'm a Mormon.

So here's to continuing my spiritual manuscript, each and every day.