MEMORIAL DAY

I'm feeling more and more responsible to do something to really observe memorial day.

As a girl I remember gearing up for the day and it had nothing to do with big BBQs or planning extra fun outings with the family. We would harvest mounds of lilacs and peonies from around the yard (I did not appreciate how abundantly these flowers bloomed or how they smelled, stupid little girl Tonia). Anyway, we'd harvest the flowers and make big gorgeous bundles and put them in tin cans. And then we would visit cemeteries across Northern Utah where many of my relatives are buried. I don't even need to tell you how delicious our car smelled on those car rides because you have a nose and you've smelled them and can only imagine what it might smell like if you were in a station wagon full to the ceiling with lilacs and peonies.

Today was family day. We got up and spent some time together in the morning until Clemmy was ready for her morning nap...which bled into the early afternoon. Most of the time her naps are about 60-90 minutes long but every once in a while (heaven forbid she tell me which days it's gonna happen ahead of time) she will go down for her typical nap at say, 10 am and not wake until 1pm. It's true. A three hour nap. Today was one of those days.

After she woke up and had some lunch we decided to take a walk around the lake and then stop and play in the sunshine for a while. Which is exactly what we did. Clem hung out on the blanket looking adorable and cheered us on as we tossed the frisbee. I'm not even going to try and be humble, Nate and I both throw really well. And we hadn't done that in such a long time and it was a lot of fun to be with my family, in the warm sun, having a good time together. On our way home we swung by the neighborhood gelato shop and indulged in some blood orange and ace (lemon, orange and carrot) gelato. Delish. Clem loves.

Then it was home for concert preparations. Clem got a bath and jammies, I packed dinner, made a bottle, packed warm clothes for everyone...and then we were off to Red Butte Gardens to see Blind Pilot open for The Head and The Heart who opened for The Shins. It was a good show. And then the temperature started to drop. FAST. First it went from warm to warm with a breeze. Then from warm with a breeze to cool with a breeze. Finally it finished up with really chilly with an even chillier breeze. Clementine was wearing all the warm clothes I packed plus my concert tee plus all the blankets I packed. And with all those layers stuffed into the bjorn carrier...it was a recipe for an unhappy girl. I don't blame her. I have bad claustrophobia and I can only imagine how I would feel in all those layers plus someone holding me a little too close.

So we ended up coming home early. Which was just fine because I was freezing and so was Nate and especially so was Clemmy. Now baby is sleeping away all stretched out and free in her crib (toasty warm) and Nate and I are ready to call it a day. Next year I'm gonna try and do something more thoughtful with our day so that we can give a little thought to why we celebrate. And next time I go to a concert at Red Butte I'm packing hot chocolate, more warm clothes, and tons of blankets. And probably some food that I make, too. Because I got hungry and they don't make great veggie burgers. Just sayin.

I love these two people.

We Conger girls smile even when we're freezing.