Simply Gathered: Memorial Day

Monday, May 30, 2011

Memorial Day

For Memorial Day, we went out of town to Shiloh with some friends, the Potts and their three kids Ellie, Ethan and Eli. If you know me, I am NO history buff nor do I even like it. However a trip with friends is what I was looking forward to. And a little history isn't going to hurt me ha!

However, despite the fact that I don't like history, I am very thankful for the men and the women who have given their lives for our country and the families that they left behind. It was very humbling to be at the cemetery knowing that each ones of those buried left a family at home when they left for war and put theirs lives on the line, literally.

Here are MANY pics from our day...

Brayden wanted to get his pic taken with these guys but wouldn't do it without me in it as well.

They had a memorial service at the cemetery and we watched some of it.

So sad...drummer boy.

Lucy thought this was a stool...Oh me, that is what we get for taking such young kiddos!

After we left the cemetery, we drove over to have a picnic...

The boys played some baseball...

The lighting's not great, but I had to include my family!

The Potts' crew!

This is the Shiloh Log Church, an almost exact replica of the one that burned down during the war. It was from this church that the battle was given it's name. This church served as a headquarters for the Confederate Army as well as a shelter for those wounded during the day's battle. It was rebuilt in 2001.

This is one of the mass burials for the Confederate army.

Burial site for the Confederate General Albert Johnston, who was the highest ranking officer to ever be killed in the line of duty.

This is the bloody pond where soldiers used to come through and wash their wounds. The pond got so bloody that it was given it's name.

After our tour we let the kiddos (and Brandon haha) throw rocks in the lake and wave to the boats.

On our way back we drove into Pickwick where Jay's parents had rented a pontoon boat for the day. We had just a few hours before sunset so hopped on and rode a while! It was a blast!

Lucy and Nonnie (a.k.a the twins)

We watched the waterfall for a while and watched some jump off of it...CRAZY!

Karis, Brayden and Ethan decided they wanted to get in the water for a few minutes even though we had no swimsuits. We didn't have long to swim so really they only did a little dip.