Vernon, Utah

In the 1890s, Sarah's Olson ancestors immigrated to the United States from Sweden. They left beautiful, lush, verdant Kvistbro for the dry, reediness of Rush Valley, Utah, because they loved their new faith and wanted to live nearer the main body of Latter-day Saints.

Johan Emil Olson and his wife, Maria Charlotta Nilson, and Maria's parents, Erik Johan Nilson and Maria Charlotta Erickson, began homesteading in Vernon, Utah. They raised sheep, grew hay, and built two one-room cabins within yards of each other. The Olsons had children, who had children, who grew up--on the homestead in Vernon--to be Sarah's grandpa and his brother and sisters.

Sarah's Grandpa Olson left the homestead in Vernon to fight in World War II; he raised his family (and Sarah's dad) in Salt Lake City, Utah. But some of his siblings stayed in Vernon and raised their children there.

The land where the Olsons and the Nilsons built their cabins in 1892 now belongs to the Olson Family LLC. Sarah's extended family began watering the small patch of land on which the cabins are built, and this little square of grass, in the middle of a wide, yellow, desert valley, is now called the Olson Park.


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Each year during the first weekend of August, Sarah's grandpa, his siblings, and their descendants all camp out at the Olson Park. Over these weekends, Sarah has come to love this small plot of land in Vernon. It turns out, despite having lived in so many places--Utah, California, New York, Texas, Virginia, Nevada--Sarah comes fr. Because Sarah has loved those weekends so much--has loved feeling the wind and brushing her teeth under the stars and touching the very land her ancestors worked so hard to grow and grow--she thought it would be awesome (maybe even perfect) to celebrate her wedding to Jed in the place she and her ancestors love so much.

Hence, Vernon.

Sarah and Jed will be the first Olson descendants to celebrate their wedding at the Olson Park, and they will be the first in more than a generation to celebrate their wedding on the Olson homestead land. And, because of the generosity of the extended Olson clan, Sarah and Jed's party will be taking the place of the Olson family's Friday night reunion festivities. Which is so nice of them! And will, Sarah hopes, give her dear friends and new family a chance to feel the love and land from which she comes.