Happy fourth to you

We arrived at my Mom's on friday, and spent the day preparing.

Growing up in Liberty, UT, there was only one other day a year that was equal to Christmas; that day was July 4th. We would plan our bike decor for months, do pay jobs for Mom so we could play the park games, and plot out the best spot at the park for watching fireworks. We could never sleep the night before.

The kids got a nice long reading session in before bed to calm them down. I wrote about this parade last year. There's just nothing like it.

Here comes Emmy! Watching my own kid ride her decorated bike in this parade is a funny thing to experience.

She was watching my friend Lori who was cheering her on across the street from us, so we only got photos of the back of her head:) Breakfast is always awesome, and seeing the people and friends that I grew up with is always a treat.

And what would Liberty days be without the lawn mower train guy?

This train runs non stop all day long. I can't even imagine the mulah they pull in. The kids LOVE it!

I love this country, can I just get that out in the open?

I'm not saying there's no corruption in our government. I'm not saying we're even close to perfect.

I'm just making the conscious decision to love the goodness. There's so much of it, and it's so easily hidden beneath the garbage.

This huge chunk of land we call America is the greatest place on earth, for a huge chunk of reasons. I live in a family with varied beliefs, and in this country we're free to do that. No one's forcing us to believe or worship any one thing, and we're able to respect everyone's choices. That we're able to choose is the point!

We live in a time of casual patriotism, and that's hard for me. My Mom, as our school teacher, deeply instilled in us a gratitude for the place we live.

I hope my kids can learn that too. Our government is wacky, for sure, but at least it's based on truth. And isn't truth what we're all looking for?