Pioneer Day

Yesterday we celebrated Pioneer Day a special day for Latter-Day Saint families.  The "holiday" (of sorts) commemorates the first group of Mormon Pioneers into the Salt Lake Valley on June 24, 1847, where early LDS families settled after being forced out of many locations in the eastern United States.  

Although Pioneer Day is recognized as a state holiday and is usually celebrated with fireworks and parades in Utah, we enjoyed our Pioneer Day with friends and family from our stake at a local park where we...

 enjoyed a nice picnic in the shade 

were slightly embarrassed by our pioneer-dressed dad who was one of the five people who dressed up

watched the younger kids... 

potato sack race their little hearts out for a a blow-pop

create pioneer entertainment like:

rag dolls

and these whirly-do's (or whatever they're called)

we also wheeled around with handcarts 

AND

rode on a three man tandem!

but most of all we remembered the pioneers who made the long trek on foot through the planes to Salt Lake City so that they could worship freely.