Proud to be An American!

Another 4th of July without my hero by my side. This year was the same as last. We were here with my parents at the Taste of Minnesota event. It's a huge event held at Harriet Island overlooking the Mississippi River, which is where the fireworks were shot from. There were rides, yummy food, games and good music. We had fun last year and we had a ton of fun this year!

Here is Caiti on the pony she wants her daddy to buy her!
Mom and Dad
Cory coming off the King Kong obstacle course
Caiti and Mommy on the carousel
Cory and Caitlyn each won these trumpets while playing one of the games. They ended up putting on a show as we walked back from the game area to our seats, which was quite a walk. Blowing them very loud and making some pretty silly faces, people were laughing so hard. It was a Cory and Caiti parade, lol!! I had fun watching them put on a show for everybody!
Me and my mom
Me and my dad
The kids playing with Nanny

Laying on the grass with the kids...Caiti was giving Daddy love

(on the back of my shirt)

My family on the 4th of July!

The kids playing with their glow sticks that a very nice lady gave them.
Watching the fireworks is always difficult for me when Jay is not here. I sat there with the kids watching and listening to my favorite 4th of July song (Proud to be an American by Lee Greenwood) and it just got the emotions running. I started to think about my husband and all he has done for not only our family but families he's never met before. I thought about those who gave their life so we could even have this holiday. My husband lost some of his brothers and I think that made this 4th of July so much more meaningful. I began to cry as I sat there thinking about all of this. A lady came up to me, told me thank you and your husband and she gave me a hug. It's pretty cool how a hug from someone you never met before can give you so much comfort. I turned to my dad and just broke down. I am so thankful to be who I am today and who I am today is because of the freedom I have. The freedom I have means a lot to me because it is fought for by my husband, as well as all the other men and women in the military. They are some pretty amazing people and I hope everybody who celebrates the 4th of July realizes just how amazing they really are.