Memorial Weekend

Memorial Weekend is one of my favorite weekends of the whole year.  I enjoy visiting the cemetery and remembering those we loved who have passed on.  This year Debbie signed us up to help with The Sun Advocate No Grave Unadorned project.  The goal was to have every grave in Carbon County decorated.  The Thursday before Memorial weekend Debbie, Andrea Bradley, Logan, Landon, Kella, Connor, and I put a flower on every grave at the Wellington cemetery.  It was an exhausting and humbling experience.  I tried to at least look at every name as I put the flower on their headstone and remember that they were loved and missed by someone.

The next day we headed out Cat Canyon to go camping with the Bradley's and the Branch's.  It was such a beautiful weekend and so much fun!  The kids rode dirt bikes and four wheelers to their hearts content and I wish I would have gotten a picture of everyone around the fire, there were at least 35 people huddled together laughing and talking.  Sunday we decided to go visit Grandpa Denny's grave and several others at the Wellington cemetery and then to take a drive to East Carbon to see the Coke Ovens.  I had never even heard of them until Debbie brought them up the last camping trip so I was excited to see what they were all about.  They were so much bigger than I imagined and there were rows and rows of them.  There were also some abandoned buildings, a campground, and a playground.  We hiked around and explored everything we could then Rory took us out to Columbia (a small town outside of East Carbon) so I could see it since I'd never been out that way before.  After that we headed back to camp and made home made ice cream in Ziploc bags.  Connor had made it at school and I thought it would be a fun activity for the kids.  They loved it, but we ended up running out of ice, I know for next time we need a lot of ice!  The rest of the weekend was spent relaxing and getting muddy from the rain.  Camping is so much work but I enjoy spending time with my family so much that it makes it worth it.    

Just a little FYI about Coke fuel :)

Coke is a fuel with few impurities and a high carbon content, usually made from coal. It is the solid carbonaceous material derived from destructive distillation of low-ash, low-sulfur bituminous coal. Cokes made from coal are grey, hard, and porous. While coke can be formed naturally, the commonly used form is man-made. The form known as petroleum coke, or pet coke, is derived from oil refinery coker units or other cracking processes.

   

Just thought I'd share this picture of these 3 beautiful ladies.  They are such awesome grandma's.  They support the kids and come to as many activities as they can.  This picture is from Connor's baseball game last night and I just love it, I call them Connor's own personal cheer squad.