I do like the 4th of July

In anticipation of the 4th of July, I thought it wasn't one of my favorites. I love America. I just didn't think the 4th was a big deal to me. I don't love the money and mess of fireworks. Well, this year, the 4th was GREAT. I LIKE THE 4th of JULY!

It started on the 3rd. Mom and Mel and I went down to Orem to watch the Candy Bomber drop candy over a park of thousands of onlookers. The Candy Bomber is Gail Halvorsen. He was an airman in WWII and became famous amongst children in Berlin for his drops of chocolate bars. He would tie little parachutes to his candy rations and drop them. He got more and more rations from friends and they dropped a lot of candy to brighten those kids' lives. He is featured in last year's movie "Meet the Mormons." Orem City arranged for him to do a drop on the 3rd. We went first to a mock colonial village that was interesting. We sat in the shade of a tree, playing Yahtzee on my phone, talking about how hard/awful life must have been way back then. We are so fortunate. Then we waited for the appointed hour for the drop. We got close to the crowds, but only close enough to see the plane. We didn't need to see kids trample each other for candy. The plane really came low. It was loud and cool. I was just so grateful to be there and to see a recreation of history.

92-year old Candy Bomber, ready to drop. July 3, 2015

Saturday, the 4th, we slept in. I cleaned the house and went on a nice walk. The weather had been super hot. The 4th was perfect, with clouds and slightly cooler temps. It was a great walk. Allie made red, white and blue pancakes. Yum. Then Allie and I ran some errands. We then went to the Mehr's for their annual snow cones and homemade root beer. We talked about Arkansas, BYU, and other stuff with the Bishop, RaDawn and their kids. We headed up to Ogden around 2:00, making a stop at City Creek on the way there to replace a broken bracelet of Mel's. She found a dress for homecoming, which we purchased with high hopes that she'll get asked. ;) It's really cute.

The tradition continues. Red, white, and blue

We spent the afternoon and into the evening at Jen's. We swam, ate, said our goodbye's to Andrew, who leaves on Wednesday for his mission to Canada, and had an early birthday cake to celebrate Jen's upcoming 50th. It was really fun. I'm so excited for Andrew, but glad it's not me starting on 2 years without my boy. Kamiko will be home in 4 months and I'm really glad about that. He's grown, learned, matured, loved, served, and all that is good. I wouldn't give it up, but don't want to start over.

"God Bless America and Jen on her 50th"

Allie and I had an especially good day. She rode shotgun to and from Ogden because I knew Keenan and Mel would just sleep. She's so fun to talk to. I love that girl. When we got home, Mel went off with friends and Allie and I went to Walmart. Then we decided to go get a better view of all the fireworks going off all over the valley. So, we drove for a bit and just looked around. It was just the perfect 4th of July and end of the 4th of July. I love that girl. And, to quote her: "America is cute."

It was also a big day in Chile. They won the America Cup for the first time ever. It's a big soccer tournament with all of South America. It was held in Chile, and they won. Andrew and I watched the written play-by-play on my phone as it went into penalty kicks. We read (not watched) as Chile beat Argentina. That must have been pretty exciting down there. So happy Kamiko was there. He didn't watch the game, but heard people shouting in the streets. He says it's so great to serve where the people love soccer as much as he does.

Life is good. America is good.