"Yay pioneers!"

Mormon pioneers

pi·o·neer noun : 1. a person or group that opens up or prepares for others to follow.

The Mormon pioneers made it to Utah July 24, 1847

Yesterday I had the privilege to celebrate "Pioneer Day," or the 24th of July, with the rest of the state of Utah. To start the day off right, my sister and I met up with a bunch of friends on Main Street for the city parade. We laid a blanket out on the side of the street and cheered as people walked by dressed as their pioneer ancestors pulling handcarts. We compiled quite the stash of candy and popsicles during the course of the parade. I guess some things never change! 

After the parade, we headed to Great Harvest for a yummy lunch and then walked around the city park for awhile. After lounging in the grass and giving each other fake tattoos, we decided to cool off at the city reservoir. The water was so cold we could only bear to go in up to our waists, and then we'd freak out whenever we thought a fish touched us. One guy even ran out of the water screaming a fresh-water eel had grazed his leg. Chaz, our friend from the Caribbean, said very seriously, "There are no eels in this water." Yeah. We always have a good time.

Well, the reservoir quickly became a little too cool for us after it started to downpour. Welcome to Cedar City in July. Although the thunder was quite impressive as it echoed across the water, we decided to ditch the beach and make chicken parmesan for dinner instead. There is something about a rainy summer's afternoon that is so comforting to me. I loved the feeling of spending time with good company: pots and pans clattering, people laughing, distant thunder and the smell of rain wafting through the windows. Could life be any more perfect? Yes, yes it can because we followed dinner with cheesecake and the movie "Star Dust," which is probably one of the best movies ever made. We ended the night with a bang by playing some mud volleyball in the Stadium Way Apartments volleyball pit. Due to the thunderstorm, the pit was full of wet sand and big puddles of rain water. We slipped off our shoes and had a ball running around in the squishy sand, splashing water and oozing sand between our toes. For one hilarious moment we tried to use the parking lot garbage can to scoop up some of the water, which worked to no avail. The night air was so clean and fresh, and there were fireworks exploding  in the air all around us as we played two rousing games of mud volleyball. I am so fortunate to have such a great group of friends!

Brent, David, Chaz, me, and Quinn at the parade.

 

I am even more fortunate to come from a strong pioneer heritage. My pioneer ancestors on my mother's side traveled all the way to America from England. The two women were sisters, who also happened to be royal duchesses, and after meeting two Mormon missionaries on the street one day they snuck away on a ship to come to Zion. They gave up all their riches and comforts of life in exchange for hope of a better future. These women packed only the bare necessities in a little wooden handcart and made the treacherous trek across the continent to settle in Utah. I can only imagine the determination, the pain, the relief that these women, and countless others, must have felt on their journey.  And I can only hope that if I were to be  given the same opportunity, I would have the strength and courage to take it. I owe everything to my ancestors. I would not be where I am today without them, and I will be forever grateful for their sacrifices. I am hopeful that I can continue to honor our family name  as a latter-day pioneer by paving the way for future generations to follow.