4th of July Taylor Style

Taylor had their 4th of July celebration Saturday. So we went up Friday. Friday night Wacey broke out the sparklers he had bought for the kids. They were a little leery at first, but it didn't take them very long to get excited about them.

Saturday me and Jamie started the day with a 2 mile fun run. The race started with the firing of the anvil, which I thought was pretty cool. Here is Jamie finishing the race.

 And us after it was over.

And here is TJ with our metals. He thought they were pretty cool. I ended up 3rd for all the girls, eighth overall and 1st in my age group with a time of 16.24. Jamie finished second in his age group and 14th overall. I was pretty proud of us both, especially Jamie because he doesn't run near as often as I do. He usually bikes or swims in the morning.

After the race it was water fun with the cousins.

And then the rodeo. Here we are waiting for it to start. They handed out little American flags and Evie absolutely loved hers.

Dawn sang the national anthem, Jeanette helped with the flag ceremony and Wyatt rode and won the bareback riding. They asked my dad to be in charge of the rodeo this year and it was a huge responsibility but I thought everything turned out good.

As I sat and watched the rodeo and felt so blessed to live in this country, I wondered how to teach that to my kids. How to somehow help them understand what was sacrificed so that we could live the way we do; how to give them the same feeling that I get when I see that American flag enter the arena. I don't know the answer to that. But I am so grateful for my parents figuring out how to teach it to me. I am so grateful for this country that I live in and I really do believe that God Blesses America each and every day.