Memorial/Decoration Day 2008

Okay folks, so here goes my first blog! After all the whining I did about getting it set up, I find it strangely difficult to get started. This has been quite a different Memorial Day for me. First of all it was nice to NOT have to get to the church by 0600 so Seth and Benjamin could get on their way to Aaronic priesthood/Scout camp. Let's hear it for the big snow storm in the White Mountains! I'm sure some of the boys are disappointed but, tough noogies, it's better than being popsicles. Buck up little camper, that $5 Wal-Mart sleeping bag would have just made it easier to stack your frozen little body it the back of one of the trailers. Camp Zion will be plenty cold and much more fun for the drivers. Meeting at 1000 was sooo much better for all concerned. So much for the scouts, good-bye and good luck. In a blogoid email I sent to most of you last week I talked about the possibility of visiting Your Mom/Grandma's parents' grave/crypt (okay, that's probably too many slashes in one short sentence, but so what?). In the email I spoke of how, when I was a kid, Memorial Day was always called Decoration Day and of how my sisters (who knows where Stanley was) and I would help our mom make flowers out of crepe paper then dip them in wax so they would last longer when we put them on the graves of our family members who had passed away (as opposed to those graves of the ones still alive). Last summer I got to take a trip to Idaho with Lorna and took pictures of those graves. Most of the Howe ancestry are buried in Arimo, ID. It's a very small town right on I-15 between the Utah border and Pocatello. That's where you'll find my Mom & Dad, grandparents, and most of my aunts and uncles (Wyoma, Rebecca, and Lloyd are still on this side of Heaven). My Potter grandparents, great-grandparents, aunts and uncles are buried in the Lava Hot Springs cemetery. Lava Hot Springs is about 20 miles East of I-15 between McCammon (just North of Arimo) and Soda Springs. There is a pioneer museum in Lava that has a whole section about the Potters that settled that area. Do stop by if you are ever in the area. Anyhoo, today in keeping with the Decoration Day genre Babs, Sarah, Reese, Dan and I all made the trek to the Evergreen Cemetery (on Grant road between Wilmot and Craycroft) to visit the final resting place of Grandma and Grandpa Parkin. We had difficulty finding where their ashes are but let it be known to one and all, I had the right building and the right wall! I had to check with the office though to find their exact location. We left some flowers (artificial so they will look nice for a long time) and had a rather enjoyable time (I thought so anyway). We came home and had a fantastic barbecue with Scot & Suzie and family along with Melissa, her s & Danny (Josh is on the mountain). Of course Sarah & Reese were there as was Pete, Dan and Bekah. The following were excused: Amy-in Mesa; Jer & Linda and family-in Sedona; Benjamin-at Camp Zion Lesley & kids- her folks; Aaron & Jen and s-in Apache Junction. It was great to have everyone here for Dan's graduation last Thursday. Thanks so much for coming. You have no idea how much pleasure I get just being around all of you and listening to all the conversations going on and once amid all the noise the grandkids make! It is a joy beyond measure! Now that you are asleep or beyond bored, I'll end this mess and get it posted. I love you all...DAD/Grandpa