Happy 4th of July

Well, this weekend has come and gone. I hope you each had a wonderful 4th!

I got to thinking about how blessed we all are to live in this country, where we have freedoms we don't ever think about. As many of you know, Chris travels around the world (literally) and sometimes stays in countries where there are not freedoms of speech, religion, etc. I cannot be more thankful of the wonderful country we live in. I remember several days when Chris could not even call home because some countries have "censored" or "monitored" connections. WOW. I have a hard time even fathoming that...but I know that it exists because we could not talk on the phone (well, phone via Internet) and that is an eye opener for me. Also, thanks to our wonderful military who give up years of their lives in serving this country to protect the freedoms we have. I can only understand a small portion of the sacrifice they give the rest of us, and I am so grateful for that. They give up time spent at home with loved ones, they sacrifice their lives--all for the rest of us. Thank you.

On the 3rd, our neighborhood decided to celebrate the holiday. The "party" started early--and there were things blowing up all night long. My parents and two brothers came over to see the festivities. Theodore loved the extra company and we all had a wonderful time. Our entire block comes together and has fireworks all night...it's pretty cool. So next year-anyone who doesn't have plans is welcome to invite themselves over for a good show. There are loud fireworks, pretty fireworks, and even a few smoke bombs in the mix. Plenty of entertainment !

On the 4th, we went to a fly-in at a local 99's (organization of women pilots: www.ninety-nines.org ) at an airstrip just West of Wichita. We had a wonderful time as a family! We visited with the pilots and Theodore even got to go on his first "small" airplane ride! He did REALLY well! I will try to post a few pictures soon.