4th of July

It's the 4th of July and we took the day off of school today because I wanted a chance to celebrate with the kids.

Here are a few of my 4th of July cravings today:
*BBQ'd food
*family gatherings
*fresh corn on the cob
*red, white, and blue
*Cherry Days
*mini-truck racing
*jamming on guitars (thanks to my brother Chris)
*chasing kids around (mostly Kayden)
*scavenger hunts
*friends
*laughter
*bonfires
*firewords
*smores
*singing songs
*and so much more

It makes me a little homesick to think about all these things that we do to celebrate the 4th of July in the States...I miss that summer feeling of excitement and the smell of the BBQ grill and the fresh fruits and vegetable piled high on the table every night for dinner.

The past few years have been filled with very memorable 4th of Julys!

Last year, I had an amazing summer with friends traveling out to Colorado to spend the holiday with me at the Buzzell home. It was a blast! I picked up Bristol, Katie, Jenni, and Lauren from the airport in Denver and we met up with Sarah on the way over the mountain. Yona and Eric (pre-Isabella) also drove over from the Nix Ranch to join us for a couple of days. We had such a blast on the 4th--doing team activities like a scavenger hunt and mini-truck decorating.

The year before, it wsa Bristol, Jenni, Charmaine and I making the trip out to Ohio to hang with Lauren and Katie at their home for the 4th. What an awesome holiday that was! We had a new adventure everyday and I think I experienced more in that week than I did that whole summer. We ate ice cream from just about every shop in Cleveland and ate so much we ended up in food comas almost everyday. We saw the beautiful countryside and enjoyed time with the Majewski's crazy family. What a blast!

And the year before that, the Koldings were married on the 3rd. So, naturally, most of us stayed around to celebrate on the 4th. It was such a blast to celebrate with friends that are like family and watch the fireworks that covered the whole valley of Pheonix from the balcony of the Preston's house. Then, I made the road trip up to Flagstaff to hang with Jenni's family, along with Katie, Lauren, and Christy Lynch. What a blast that was! We roadtripped all the way back home and that was an awesome memory with some of my most amazing friends!

This year, my 4th of July is completely different. But, perhaps this year, I experienced just a taste of what it felt like for the forefathers to sign our Declaration of Independence. No, I didn't sign any documents to free an entire country--but I work daily with children who now live in freedom when even a year ago, they were enslaved. And I'm praising God that I get to see liberty first hand...in the eyes of a child named Abigail...and DK...and Mershak...and all the rest. What a priveledge!