Memorial Day and Abe

We enjoyed another lovely Memorial Day this past week.  Once again, all the great things about a holiday-- family, food, tradition.  None of the stresses of holidays-- expenses, details, and planning.  This year's Memorial Day post is dedicated to my wonderful husband who loves and supports our traditions even more than I.

The qualities I love most about Abe are so clearly displayed on Memorial Day.
He is determined to keep traditions alive.  He makes sure we're up and going on time on Memorial Day to meet up at 9:00am at Wasatch Lawns-- to meet with my family!  It's not always an easy thing to get a family of nine to the cemetery on time on a holiday.

He is detailed--remembering to take all sorts of pictures of different groupings of family.  Here we have Pete, Re-Pete, and Three-Pete.

He is thoughtful.  Who remembers to buy the mums for the gravestones?  Not me.  He knows the little things matter.

 He is undeterred and unflappable.  He wanted to search out Faith Elizabeth Holmes Young Woolf (his Great Grandmother on the Fox side) at the Salt Lake Cemetery.  He knew the section she was in, but not a specific location.  My sister-in-law Laura was the one to actually spot the site, but he remained cheerful as he searched.  He didn't easily give up when the searching wore on a little while.

Abe is a storyteller.  I love to have Abe tell me stories and in fact, often would prefer to hear his re-telling of a movie or book than to actually see or read it myself.  He has a way with words and no where is this better shown than when recanting a family history story.

Abe loves family time.  While he does work hard to provide for our family, I know there is no place he'd rather be than spending time with family.

Peter is smelling the flowers.  Abe is very playful and fun with his children.

 Abe appreciates and loves family history (George & Cannon with George Q. Cannon).  Sadly, he knows more about my family history than I do.  He's awesome to have around on Memorial Day because he can tell you about all the family and who is related to who and how.

He's a smart guy who can figure things out and get where we need to go.  He knows the shortest, fastest ways to get all around the valley.

This might seem relatively unimportant, but I appreciate that Abe has some mad parallel parking skills!  On a busy day in a crowded cemetery with narrow roads, it comes in handy.

He is respectful of other people and what is important to them.

So much of what is good in our family is because of Abe's remarkable qualities as a father and husband.

A low-key picnic dinner with friends in the park is a perfect way to wrap up  Memorial Day.

The day had been a little warm, but the evening was perfection.

 Another of Abe's great qualities.  He is prepared and punctual!  He had the car all loaded up for our cookout before I  even thought about starting to get things ready.

I know how much he loves his family, but he also places a great value on good friendships with great people. 

Happy Memorial Day 2016!!!