Happy (Belated) Fourth of July!!!!

So, in case you didn't know, I LOVE the 4th of July. It is my favorite holiday, second only to Christmas.

This year I celebrated by getting up insanely early to go with my friends Brian and Stacey to a geocache event in Provo. We literally left my house at 5:30, and didn't return until 10:30 because we were trying to get a challenge cache which required 6 different types of caches in one day. We got a little carried away and I ended up getting 16 caches including 7 different types and even placed a new one: Star-Spangled Spectacular Cache. If you have no idea what I am talking about, visit www.geocaching.com and begin your own addiction - geocaching is SO fun!

When we got back we took a little break, during which I decided to make the traditional July 4th Strawberry Shortcake American Flag-style. It is truly one of my favorite parts of the 4th! Then I traipsed over to Brian and Stacey's and we watched the kids play in the pool, played games, and of course barbequed and lit off our own fireworks before watching the show at Memorial Hill from their neighbor's yard.

So, these are a few of my favorite things about July 4th:
1 - the fireworks. I am a pyro at heart, even if it scares me a little on the outside. There's no place better to be than right underneath them, where it looks like they're falling on you (but not actually doing so), and you can feel the boom in your stomach!
2 - the music - patriotic music always makes me cry, and I make a special mix that I play for several days before and after
3- the clothes- the kids are so cute, and I love getting to wear my own red, white, and blue combinations all week.
4- the date - although historically incorrect, it means that it's summer and that school is out!
5 - the parades - they're pretty fun to watch, and I even got to march in one every year of high school.
6 - the food - I LOVE strawberries, and I love barbequing. I get both in abundance on the 4th of July!
7 - the surrounding testimony meetings - each year when I was growing up, a family friend, Ira Dunn, who has now passed on, would get up regularly to remind us of the sacrifices made so that we can live in this blessed country, where we are free to choose to be and do whatever we want to be and do. I know that I am a patriot at heart at least partially because of his example.

(aerial view of Arlington National Cemetery, I saw this when I flew back to Utah this week - a humbling experience)

8 - the Greatest Generation - if you haven't read Tom Brokaw's book, read it. It talks about the men who fought in World War II. I love that book, and while I revere all the men and women who have and continue to sacrifice so much for my freedom, this group of men is very close to my heart, as my grandfather is one of them. Unfortunately, many of these men have already, or will soon have passed on, but we could learn much from a generation unmatched in humility, comitment to duty, and selflessness. Men and women who did what was required without being asked, and without receiving a reward, simply because it was right, although it was rarely easy.

So, amid all the festivities, the meaning of this holiday is easily forgotten, but take a moment to be grateful to those who made it possible for us to celebrate, and to have a reason to do so.