Independence Day and My 200th Post!

Independence day has always been one of my favorite holidays. The music, the fireworks, the colors, the social gatherings, the food, and most important of all... the reason we celebrate.

I am so grateful to live in America.  I am grateful that we have the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. I am grateful that we can worship as we please. I am grateful we can choose where and what to study and where to work. I am grateful that we can participate in selecting the leaders of our country by voting.   I am so grateful for the sacrifice of those men and women who fight to keep our country safe and free and for those who serve our country in other ways to make it a better place. 

"And I'm proud to be an American,
where at least I know I'm free.
And I won't forget the men who died,
who gave that right to me."
~Lee Greenwood

"It is sweet to serve one's country by deeds, and it is not absurd to serve her by words." ~Sallust


P.S. This is my 200th blogpost.  Crazy.

P.P.S.  Here's a link to one of the best versions of God Bless America.  Sung by Celine Dion. 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LSarhZpnMs

Here's one more link to some famous actors reciting the Declaration of Independence.  It's actually really cool! 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jYyttEu_NLU

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY yesterday!    

 My adorable niece, Madeline and I, on Independence Day!

Pirates of Penzance + Thunderstorm + Friends = An Adventurous Night!

My family grew up watching the 80's version of Pirates of Penzance.  My siblings and I grew to love the music. So when I heard that Pirates of Penzance was coming to Wolftrap, I knew I had to go. 

On Friday night, I drove to Wolftrap with Emma and staked out our lawn seats.  We waited there for some of our family members and a couple of my friends.  It was super hot that night. But it is summertime so I can't really complain.

We watched the show and I may have sung a long with some of the songs and my feet were dancing with the beat of the music. The policemen in the second half of the show were hilarious!  I thought the major general did a good job with his "I am the Very Model of a Modern Major General"

The play was awesome but I might have been a little distracted by the lightning flashing in the distance throughout the second half. But no thunder and no rain. The play ended and literally 2 minutes later, thunder boomed and the wind picked up.  My friends and I  started up the hill to exit, the lights flickered off and on.  Then the rain started and the lights went off completely.  (I must admit I was a little scared).  But we continued on our way to our cars.  Remember it was pouring rain, the wind was howling (winds got up to 70 miles/hour that night), the lights were out, and it was thundering and lightning. 

By the time I got to my car, I was drenched.  It looked like I had jumped into a pool with all of my clothes.  And when I got to my car I could not find my keys in my purse.  I was scared. But I got in my car and prayed then waited for about 10 or 15 minutes for traffic to die down and the storm to calm a bit.

Although the storm really did not last all that long, on the way home there were many huge branches in the road that we all had to dodge. I was driving slowly, but everyone on the road was doing the same.  It took me quite a while to drive home that night, but thankfully my friends, family and I all got home safely and I said a little prayer of gratitude after arriving home safely to my pitch black and air conditionless house.

It was quite the way to end an awesome evening at Wolftrap!

Good News!

My nephew, Spencer, got his bone marrow biopsy results back and I am very very happy to report that he is cancer free!  YAY!!!!!!!!!  Thank you all for your love and support and prayers for Spence and his family during this difficult time.   If you want to read more about Spence and his family, you can read my sister's blog.

Spence and Ellie after Spence was released from the hospital on May 31 :)

I Love Wolftrap!

Can I just say that I love Wolftrap?   Well I do.  Tonight was the first night of a lovely friendship with Wolftrap this summer :)  Tonight I saw Riverdance at Wolftrap with some friends and it was awesome! The dancers were phenomenal! The musicians were awesome!  And the atmosphere was fun and entertaining!  Man those dancers can move their legs.  And all of the performers sure do need a lot energy.  Wolftrap and Riverdance rock :)  That is all.    If you would like to read more about my experience with Wolftrap click here .

I Like Jimmy Stewart!

While I was in Utah I watched Bend of the River a 1950s western with Jimmy Stewart, Arthur Kennedy, Rock Hudson, and Julie Adams. It reminded me how much I like Jimmy Stewart. As I look at the list of movies Jimmy has been in, I realize that I have not seen very many of his movies.  But the movies I have seen him in I really like. 

The Man Who Knew Too Much with Doris Day
It's a Wonderful Life with Donna Reed
Bend of the River with Arthur Kennedy
Mr. Krueger's Christmas

After I watched the movie I decided to read some of his background and it made me like him even more.

He got married for the first time when he was 41-years old and stayed married to her until she passed away after 45 years of marriage.  Jimmy stayed faithful to her the whole time they were married. (The IMDb website (where I got this info) mentions that not many men in Hollywood at the time were faithful to their wives, (and I guess that trend continues now too)). His wife Gloria had two sons from a previous marriage when they got married and then they had twin daughters together.

He was a pilot and served in World War II and received distinguished awards for his service in the war. He was friends with Henry Fonda, Ronald Reagan, and John Wayne.  He was a family man and seemed like a genuinely good, kind person. 

If you would like to learn more than you ever wanted to know about Jimmy Stewart, go to the IMDb website.

Jimmy Stewart is cool.

I Donated Blood!

I donated blood for the first time last week.  It wasn't so bad.  The people there were funny and put me at ease.  It didn't hurt too much.  And I met all of the requirements to donate.  I couldn't donate blood in the past because of all of the foreign places I've lived but the requirements have changed and now I can donate. Yay! 

The end. 

Birds!

 One of the other places we went to while I was in Utah was the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge. It was awesome and I think Adam and Emma and Ellie and Lara and Glen would have loved it.  We saw lots of cool birds and the path we were driving on was a long the Bear River and it was beautiful! 

 Since Brigham City is not very far from the Bird Refuge we decided to take a short detour to see the beautiful new temple being built there.  Look at that!  Isn't is magnificent?! 

Near the visitor's center of the Bird Refuge. 

 A new kind of self-portrait.  A picture of the back of me and what I am looking at. 

 A ring necked pheasant. 

You have to look closely but there are two birds in this picture in the water.  I don't remember what kind, but they were cool looking :)

 I just barely caught the Great Blue Heron in the picture.  But I like it.

Another cool bird of which I do not know the name.

A snowy egret.

These ducks were fighting.  The duck on top was holding the other one under the water.  And the bottom one was kicking the top one with it's feet. We watched them fight for 5 minutes and there were no signs of stopping. 

Look at all of those pelicans!

Self-portrait of Timbo, Mamachka and I  :)

I liked this shot.

This one too.

Mamachka and I

The refuge was beautiful!  The birds were awesome!  And the company was great!