America!

I LOVE the 4th of July! LOVE LOVE LOVE it! It is probably my second favorite holiday tied with New Years.  Christmas is first. (of course!)

When I was growing up in Monroe, NC we always celebrated the best way possible. We would swim in our backyard (we had a pool) for most of the day, we would sometimes go fish in the lake by our house, and we would also ride bikes.

 My dad would make these AMAZING ribs that were covered in so much bbq sauce that you had sauce stains on your face the rest of the day. My mom would make all the fixin's. Corn on the cob, baked beans, green beans, rolls, salad and fresh made lemonade. Oh man. I can still smell and taste it all today. (I was a fat kid growing up....just sayin'.)

After we would eat and swim some more we would then head over to Belk Tonawanda that was in Historic Monroe and we would put out blankets on this big hill that overlooked an amphitheatre. There would be a live band that always played all the fun dancing music. Things like, YMCA, It's Raining Men, The Electric Slide, Cotten-eye Joe, etc. We would dance until it got dark and then we would lay back and watch the fireworks. It wasn't the best show in the whole US but it was the best in my mind. It still is. As the fireworks would go off they would go through the "America" songs ending with the National Anthem. It always made me so proud to be an American when you would watch the colors fly and think of the bombs actually going off during the American Revolution.

I am so proud to be an American Citizen. I am so thankful to be placed in a Country that was founded by the hand of God and given to us as a blessing for our righteousness. I am so grateful for the men and women who have faught and who are fighting to protect our freedoms. God Bless the U.S.A.!