Well after blogging for about i10 years I finally figured out how to find my pictures that are "in the computer"!  It's been so frustrating and an ongoing joke because I will download my pictures, then when I go to use them, only part of them will be available.  Ha!  I am always asking the kids to help me find them and bless their hearts, they are so sweet and try their best to help me but we still couldn't find all my pictures. Anyway, while I was trying to post about Lake Powell and could only find about half my pictures and videos, I started searching and found a place where you could enter a date or place or person and they would show you all the pictures that had any of these things in it!  Woooo!  It's like Christmas! Still seems like it can't be this easy but here goes!  This day below was from a get together my sisters and I had several weeks ago...

So for Leslie's birthday we decided to get together up in Willard and go to the cemetery there.  There are a lot of Braeggers that have lived and died there, in fact, that is where Abraham, (grampa Braegger's dad) was buried there.  So we went on a search to find his grave.  We walked over most of the cemetery and found a few distant cousins headstones, but not any names we were familiar with.  We were about to give up and Teina said that there was another Willard cemetery that was an older pioneer cemetery.  We drove down the main road highway there and saw a big monument and a park looking area.  We pulled over to see if that was what we were looking for.  There was an older lady there pulling weeds in the flowers around the monument.  We walked around for a minute looking at a few headstones that were there (there were probably only about 5 graves in the whole area) then we went up to the older lady and started talking to her.  

I tell you this had to be divine intervention!  The lady was really friendly and said she goes there all the time and tries to keep this cemetery looking nice.  She said back in 1995 there was a big flood that came down the canyon and actually washed away almost all the graves in the cemetery.  Caskets were unearthed and broken up and bones were washed  down into a big pile.  She said they didn't know who belonged where so they buried the bones under the big monument and listed all the names there.  Wow!  She asked us who we were looking for and we said Abraham Braegger.  She said "you've got to be kidding me! I'm Merlene Braegger!"  We were just flabbergasted!  Merlene Braegger (she has a different last name now after being married a few times) is the name we would see on all the geneolegy that was submitted.  I mean she was the go to for any info on the Braegger line. But we had never met her.

She was the cutest lady and told us all about her life and how she ended up taking care of this cemetery.  Then she said "well I can show you where Abraham is buried...it's in the other cemetery.  Let's drive over there and I'll show you!"       

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So we drove back to the other cemetery and she took us to an area we hadn't looked at before.  We talked for a while and she said "I've got a family tree at my house if you want to see it!"  And of course we did!  So we followed her to her house there in Willard.  It was such a neat house with a beautiful yard with flower beds and garden and big lawns.  She said she mows all the lawns and takes care of most of it herself, but her grandkids help with some of the heavy work!  Ha!    

 We went in her garage and behind her 4 wheelers that she says she likes to drive around, was this big board with all of the Braegger family geneology on it!  She had made it years ago, but has kept it up to date with the latest information she would find out. It really was the coolest thing!

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She had all our families on there down to Katie and Camille. 

 Seriously. what a treasure!

Then she took us on a tour through her house. It was the neatest old house!  And her stories as we walked through it were priceless!  She had a whole room that was filled with shelves and cabinets of geneology records, family history sheets and pictures.  We could have spent a whole day just in this room!

 Walking back to the car she told us about her blue bush.  Ha ha she was the funniest lady!  She said last year this bush she had really liked had died and she didn't want to pull it out so she spray painted it blue!  Now she say's people always ask her what kind of a bush it is!  

Then I saw growing along her little irrigation ditch these batchelor buttons and I just had to take a picture.  I have a memory of picking these cute yellow flowers that grew along the ditch on the way to church when I was a little girl.

Merlene had a cute story and a song about planting a rose bush near the lilac tree, then she showed us where she had done just that.  She was the coolest lady and reminded me so much of mum.  

It really was such a special day and I don't believe it was a coincidence that we found Merlene.  I mean what are the chances of us showing up at that cemetery at the same time as her?  It was one of those times when you just look up to the heavens and say "Thank You!"