on september 25th we celebrated my grandma joyce freidenberger's 80th birthday! my mom and her siblings wanted to make this day extra special so they planned a day full of fun and asked everyone to come to malad, idaho to celebrate.
we LOVE a party so EVERYONE was there. all my siblings (except natalie) and their families (except a few of katie's crew), a few of my cousins, and all of my grandma's children, and my great uncle tom. this was going to be no ordinary party. uncle tom had agreed to guide us to oxford mountain to find the place where my grandma's father, ralph w. harding, had died 41 years ago that day. something everyone had always wanted to do.
on my grandma's 39th birthday her father passed away in the oxford mountains while helping with a cattle round-up. he had just recently retired as a teacher and football coach from malad high school and was very loved and respected in that little city. they found his trusty horse all alone at the bottom of the mountain and knew he was hurt. the WHOLE city started a search. they even let school out so the boys could help. they were able to find his body later that evening. they aren't really sure what happened but imagine that something spooked the horse and he fell off and hit his head.
we knew that the place had been marked not long after it happened with some metal stakes but after some years they were never really able to locate it. so, our job was to locate it!
we were told to meet at "the park" in malad at 10am in our cowboy gear. for the most part that meant dressing our little ones up but there were some men sporting their flannel shirts. that's as good as you get with these city folks. yee haw!
my boys were excited to see their great, great uncle tom because he's a REAL cowboy!
once we all arrived at the park my uncle george offered a prayer for help, protection, and guidance. we jumped in our vehicles and caravaned toward the mountains. we followed dry creek road until we came to a creek and could drive no further.
owen and carter at the creek
all 35 of us hopped out of our cars and divided into two groups looking for a weather station. we found the weather station fairly quickly and took at little break for pictures and some regrouping. up to this point the hike had been a little interesting with a slew of little kids and babies but nothing we couldn't handle. but, we were ready for a breather.
aunt janice, mom, grandma, and betty
i wish george was in this picture...then it would be all my grandma's children. don't know how i missed that.
we LOVE a party so EVERYONE was there. all my siblings (except natalie) and their families (except a few of katie's crew), a few of my cousins, and all of my grandma's children, and my great uncle tom. this was going to be no ordinary party. uncle tom had agreed to guide us to oxford mountain to find the place where my grandma's father, ralph w. harding, had died 41 years ago that day. something everyone had always wanted to do.
on my grandma's 39th birthday her father passed away in the oxford mountains while helping with a cattle round-up. he had just recently retired as a teacher and football coach from malad high school and was very loved and respected in that little city. they found his trusty horse all alone at the bottom of the mountain and knew he was hurt. the WHOLE city started a search. they even let school out so the boys could help. they were able to find his body later that evening. they aren't really sure what happened but imagine that something spooked the horse and he fell off and hit his head.
we knew that the place had been marked not long after it happened with some metal stakes but after some years they were never really able to locate it. so, our job was to locate it!
we were told to meet at "the park" in malad at 10am in our cowboy gear. for the most part that meant dressing our little ones up but there were some men sporting their flannel shirts. that's as good as you get with these city folks. yee haw!
my boys were excited to see their great, great uncle tom because he's a REAL cowboy!
once we all arrived at the park my uncle george offered a prayer for help, protection, and guidance. we jumped in our vehicles and caravaned toward the mountains. we followed dry creek road until we came to a creek and could drive no further.
owen and carter at the creek
all 35 of us hopped out of our cars and divided into two groups looking for a weather station. we found the weather station fairly quickly and took at little break for pictures and some regrouping. up to this point the hike had been a little interesting with a slew of little kids and babies but nothing we couldn't handle. but, we were ready for a breather.
aunt janice, mom, grandma, and betty
i wish george was in this picture...then it would be all my grandma's children. don't know how i missed that.
my little crew with grandma
madalyn was LOVING the sticks, dirt, and rocks.
2 comments:
Look at her hair up in piggies! She looks like a little girl!
Great pictures, as always! Love the one of Grandma and all her daughters-priceless!
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