Firsts

This Memorial Day was my first Memorial Day as a married woman. Not just any married woman, but a woman who married the one and only truly wonderful Lance Rees, whose family has a huge reunion up at their grandparents' cattle ranch in Morgan, Utah every year. Therefore, it was also my first time at the annual Rees Family Memorial Day Reunion.

We started out the day by visiting the cemetery up in Morgan, where Lance's grandparents, great-grandparents, and others are buried. This was also a first for me, considering that visiting the gravesides of our loved ones on Memorial Day was never a tradition for the Fifes. Nevertheless it was very interesting (and educational, too). After that, we all headed over to the ranch, which is now run by one of Lance's uncles.
Although this was my first participation in the annual family get-together, it wasn't my first time visiting the Ranch. The place is huge, and it's beautiful. There's hills, a spring, a river, a reservoir, acres upon acres of land, and of course, cattle. We had a huge potluck picnic out on Grandma Rees' old lawn, with lots of games and general merry-making for the all the little ones. I was a little nervous at first, knowing there would be about a hundred people there that I didn't know, but it ended up being a wonderful day. The weather was great and the company was, too. And of course, the Rees Family Reunion wouldn't be the Rees Family Reunion without shooting the breeze-- and I don't mean conversation.

Yes, I'm talking about rifles and .22's. Clay pigeons and soda cans. Oh yeah, and some microwaves filled with fertilizer bombs. Of all the "firsts" of the day, I suppose this has to be the most notable: Even I took a few shots, believe it or not! I have to admit, this is a culture totally foreign to me, and I've never fully understood the draw of hunting. However, I will say that although I did it mostly to make Lance proud of me, it was in fact, enjoyable--mostly because I blasted my first two clay pigeons right outta the sky. And we'll just stop there! I was mostly afraid of knocking out some of my molars, and as anyone one who knows anything about shooting will see how wrong my technique is, I did manage to keep a hold of the gun and only had a mildly sore shoulder the next day.

All in all it was a great day. Hope the weather's just as good next year!