7.7.21 A busy 3rd of July

The fourth of July was mostly celebrated on the 3rd this year. Early in the morning Addie decided to run the 5k race. Aunt Alena joined her see them in the back row. 

Aliza helped with the organization of the race. We were there to watch and eat watermelon. 

The race ended in an exciting rush to the finish line. Addie was hot on the heals of the man seen in the blue shirt. He is a good friend of Alena's. Addie was about 2 seconds behind him.  She placed 2nd and 1st in the womens group. 

After Addie's exciting return Harold decided to see if he could still win the 1 mile race. He competed in tennis shoes this year instead of boots. He came out on top 6:41 minutes for a mile. He hasn't ran since football. I love his heart. 

I assured the girls that came in after him this was his last race for a few years. 

After the race we attended the ward breakfast and helped clean up. Mark enjoyed visiting with the men there. 

We headed home to gather towels and swim supplies. When all was gathered we headed to the lake. 

After the annual lake and picnic Mark, Anna, Aliza, and John went to the rodeo to sell tickets. 

Those at home worked on recovery. Lots of water, some sleeping, and cool cloth on the face to help take the burn down. 

I decided burgers sounded delicious however that plan took a suprising turn when we found this. We asked Uncle Kevin who instructed us to play fireman and get that grill wet. 

Not all the burgers were lost. We enjoyed the ones that were not black and moved on. Addie posed with her race trophy rock. 

 We are thankful for this country we live in founded on belief in the Bible and the principles of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We are thankful for the integrity and grit of our founders to learn, sacrifice, and envision a world of Agency, of people allowed to live  lives they chose. We are thankful we have had that opportunity. We are blessed and we have a sacred and urgent need to learn what American means and why it is unique. We are working to uncover that lost understanding. We are working to instill patriotism and testimony and love of God then love of fellowman in our family. We have a lot of work to do but it is important and thus we will not give up. Life is fragile, freedom is quickly disappearing as we fail to understand where it comes from and how to hold and use it.