The Last of the Firsts **July Fourth**

Today, we celebrated the last holiday in our first year here in Rigby, Idaho! Our year mark is rapidly approaching!





***Happy Birthday America!*** I absolutely LOVE Independence Day! I'm not sure if it's the bright colors; red, white, and blue, or the patriotism and pride in our beloved country (in spite of it's current difficulties), or that it's just a good excuse to enjoy being with people we care about and eat LOTS of yummy food, that makes it such a special day for me. Granted, I do love all holidays, and this one is definitely one of my tops! I love seeing the flag waving on people's front lawns. I love seeing little children all dressed up in patriotic colors including matching ribbons in their hair. I love seeing old people in old-fashioned cars driving carefully in parades, and I love hearing the marching band playing (even if they aren't so good).


It's really amazing how the Fourth of July is commonly celebrated from Sea to Shining Sea! No matter where you are in America, you can see and feel people's love for their country! This year I really wanted my children to understand that the Fourth isn't just for fireworks, but it's our country's birthday. I told the little boys that today is America's birthday, and they just looked at me with Awe and Wonder. They were a little confused at first, since our cat's name is America, but I quickly explained that it is the country in which we live that is having its birthday. I want them to learn to be good citizens. I want them to learn what opportunities can be theirs because they are citizens. I want them to learn about all of those who died for our Freedom and that Freedom is not free! Our children must be taught these things. They cannot grow up thinking that Freedom was handed to us on a silver platter and that this day is only for buying expensive fireworks and blowing them up when the sun goes down just for our pleasure. They need to know more. I think perhaps that living near our nation's capital for nearly 9 years has ingrained in me the importance of liberty. I loved living near all of that history! I loved having my children so near it that they could see it, feel it, taste it! I just hope that now that we are 2,500 miles away from where our country began, I will be able to express to my children the importance of this occasion and its true meaning.

Last Sunday, James and I were able to sing in a community choir at the Celebration of Liberty. During the program, we were able to see a reenactment of the Patrick Henry speech "Give Me Liberty, or Give Me Death." It was moving and inspiring. The choir ended the ceremony by singing Battle Hymn of the Republic. I had chills as we sang about God's hand in creating this land of Liberty. It was a wonderful reminder of how we got to where we are today. I love America, and I'm grateful that this day is set aside each year to help us remember the sacrifices made for our Independence.















On a lighter note, we did have a lot of fun today! It was significant that we started our day with the old--as our first year here comes to a close: Our friends the Ransoms paid us one more visit before heading back to VA. We said goodbye to them this mourning. Then, we turned our hearts and minds forward to say Hello to our friends, the Buskas. We spent the day with them as well as our new friends, the Leggs, in the tiny town of Menan. We ended up arriving just in time for the parade. We had not intended to watch the parade, so we started heading to the fair grounds. We were hoping to take advantage of the fact that the majority of the crowds would be lining the streets and we would experience shorter lines at all of the food and games stands. A man driving a kiddie train drove past and stopped to invite our children for a ride in the train. Of course all of the children ran screaming and got into the train. They were wisked away, to our surprise, to become PART of the parade. We didn't see 9 of our children for the next hour and a half! That POOR train driver! The adults and remaining teens and infants headed to the food stands! The food was yummy and by the time our children came back, we had snow cones in hand for the poor hot and thirsty little ones. I think we had more fun than they did!

The rest of the day was filled with watermelon eating contests, funnel cakes, dunking machines, and the best part; the new swords!

Proof that Alex DOES eat!
He almost won the contest, but became sick right at the end!

The Elders getting into it with Connor and his swords!
Emily decided to get DUNKED!
Alex goes next, then poor little Hunter gets slammed by Emily. Finally Hannah decides to cool off! What fun!

We then went to the Buska's for a fun BBQ. Then headed back to Menan for fireworks. We ended up parking next to a field to watch. We could see the fireworks all around the surrounding area! It was a great time and we all went home happy and exhausted!



Shooting off Hydrogen Rockets at the Buskas.