Happy Fourth!

It's Independence Day, and like any red-blooded, American, LDS family we kicked things off by attending the scouts' pancake breakfast at the chapel. Joy loved the scrambled eggs and deigned to sample a bite of sausage, but she stubbornly refused to let even a crumb of pancake into her mouth. When we finally slipped some syrupy goodness past her defenses, thbbp!--it came right back out. There is truly no accounting for taste.

After the breakfast we headed to the Hendrickson homestead for additional festivities.

A good book makes any car ride go faster, right? Like mother like daughter.

After a nap for Joy and a game of hearts for the grown-ups (I actually shot the moon! Huzzah!), Little Girl and I enjoyed some fresh air out front . . .

. . . while Daddy instructed Aunt Laura in the fine art of grilling burgers.

You know, I've eaten plenty of All-American food today, but I don't feel like I've said, thought, or felt anything particularly patriotic so far. I think it's hard for Americans to fully appreciate our liberties when we've never known anything different, or to appreciate the enormous sacrifices that earned them when we've had to sacrifice so little to maintain them.

America, for all its flaws, stands for so many good things: the principle that every person is important, the opportunity to choose your own destiny, the freedom to speak your mind. While we certainly have room for improvement, there is no better place on earth to live. I hope we'll live up to the legacy of faith, hard work, and good character that have made this country what it is today.