I'm Thankful. . . for the 4th of July

It's my FAVORITE HOLIDAY. . .

Ever has been. Since I was little.

Memories. 

So every year my family humors me and we wear matching shirts. . . 

And gather along the parade route. . .

Eat doughnuts and chocolate milk. . .

Enjoy the PARADE. . .

This year was HOT! Really hot! And it had been HOT for a long time. . . so we decided to skip the barbeques and swim parties this year and we went out for hamburgers in a nice air conditioned burger joint!

But nothing could keep us away from the FIREWORKS!

I am in LOVE with this picture!

This country fascinates me.

As I sat and watched the fireworks with this little boy on my lap I reflected on what the fireworks represented.

In college I studied Political Science.

Political scientists "see themselves engaged in revealing the relationships underlying political events and conditions, and from these revelations they attempt to construct general principles about the way the world of politics works."

I was 10 years old when I heard Ezra Taft Benson, the Prophet of my Church at the time give a talk entitled 

"Our Divine Constitution".

I still have the pages I tore from the Conference Ensign with this talk folded inside my journal from growing up.

I did not fully understand everything in this talk as a 10 year old, but I did comprehend how important it was to President Benson by the way he spoke about it.

There was one part that struck me even as a 10 year old girl.

He asked the questions,

"Have we read The Federalist papers? Are we reading the Constitution and pondering it? Are we aware of its principles? Are we abiding by these principles and teaching them to others? Could we defend the Constitution? Can we recognize when a law is constitutionally unsound?

I didn't even know what the Federalist papers were. I researched and studied (as much as a 10 year old could) and even did a family night on what I learned.

(I'm a geek I know)

President Benson ended his talk with these words,

"May God give us the faith and the courage exhibited by those patriots who pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor. May we be equally as valiant and as free."

So as I blog about Independence Day in November. . .I will forever be Thankful for this Country!