Friday, July 4, 2008

Happy Fourth!


Happy Fourth of July! LOVE the Fourth of July! It's one of the highlights of my summer. The fourth of July has always been extra fun, because it's my cute mom's birthday. Happy Birthday, Mom! When I was younger, my brothers and I used to make her a cake every year (that normally coincided with her morning sickness, and made her, well, sick). But, it's always been fun celebrating her birthday along with the Independence Day celebrations.

I'm missing Flagstaff a lot today, because two of my favorite Fourth of July memories are from when we lived there. If you really want to enjoy fireworks, then you HAVE to be up in northern Arizona. Totally worth the drive. They (used to, anyways) have a huge display at the golf club, and it was totally free, and we brought our chairs and sat on the grass. It was so nice and cool, and we were so close, that it seemed that the fireworks (which were HUGE), were just going to fall down on us. When the fireworks show was cancelled in Flagstaff, we travelled down to Cottonwood, where it was just as fun. Mike and I always promised ourselves that after he got a 'real' job after graduation, that we would still travel to northern Arizona every year for fireworks. But, that was when we thought we'd be living in Phoenix. And the 4-hour drive with crazy gas prices is not happening. This year, at least.

Sigh... I love Flagstaff.

Anyways, our plans today are swimming, packing a picnic, and then heading over to Henderson (city by us) for their activities and fireworks. We are also making homemade ice cream. Yum! Last night, we drove down to the baseball game at about 9:00, and got really good parking outside the field. We waited about an hour, and then watched the HUGE fireworks display after the game. We were really, really close and it was SO loud! Grace freaked out, and then calmed down after I held her. She ended up LOVING them. And I totally forgot my camera, so no pics, sorry. But, some tomorrow. Promise!

I am so thankful to live in this incredible country. Sometimes I get a bit cynical with politics and politicians and various things that happen that drive me crazy. But, listening to the National Anthem last night made me realize how thankful I am for this country, and the freedoms we have. Even if I disagree with some things, I need to be better about appreciating what we have.

Happy Fourth!

1 comment:

Grammy Suzzy said...

Thank you for the Happy Birthday wishes. And, as for those wonderful cakes, they nearly killed me then (especially the one with the separating whipped cream!)but the memories of you kids: the whispers and secrets, the late night trips to the store for the hershey kisses, the smiles and the pure love from all of you will last me forever and ever!!