Happy 4th of July!!!

I wanted to take a few moments to reflect on the upcoming July 4th Holiday, and share with you a few thoughts and memories that I have in regards to this glorious holiday!

Independence Day has always been one of my favorite holidays of the year. Thanks to the deep love and respect that has been shared and instilled into our hearts by my dad, his dad, and many others in our family, loving the United States, and the freedoms that it affords us has been a great piece of my life. Some of my greatest memories of my childhood are around this holiday and the many great activities we always participated in as a family. From the earliest memory of sitting along the streets of downtown Salt Lake, with lounge chairs, umbrellas, and blankets, anxiously awaiting the July 4th Parades....to the yearly tradition of gathering at Sandy City Hall for food, fun, and of course a tremendous Fireworks display at the end of the night. I love everything that this holiday represents and the incredible emotions that always come with it.

I look forward every year to waking up early on the holiday, and hopefully, if we are all together, I like to plan that we can start the day out early and make it a jam-packed, American-filled, fun day. It seems the past several years, our attempts to attend a parade have been thwarted by different elements, but nonetheless, I love to take the kids to parades. I love watching the floats...holding flags up in the air....watching the military march in place...and watch the kids dive in and out of the street for candy! All of it.

I love sharing our family tradition of gathering at Sandy City Hall for the day's festivities and fun. We've done it so many years, we know when to arrive, what tree to sit up under, and how much space to mark our territory with. As our family has grown, and as we invite friends and their families to join us each year, the Johnson "territory" tends to grow each year, and we find ourselves throwing-down for space. But nonetheless we prevail and we find ourselves with plenty of room to sit and relax.

I love sitting around for the day listening to the "terrible" entertainment. I think of the past 15+ years, that Sandy City has maybe had one or two "good" bands. But I think that having bad entertainment has become part of our tradition! We have fun making fun! I love the sharing of the food tradition, sharing of candy, and all the junk that always finds it way to our stomachs! I love of course the endless photo-ops and all the silliness that we document! Seeing and looking at all the kids dressed to the hilt in Red, White and Blue is always a plus!

But at the end of the day, my favorite part is the fireworks display. I mean, I know everyone loves fireworks, so this isn't a big surprise. But the piece that I'm particular to is that of being with my dad. Nothing means more to me than spending this time with him every year, and watching him as he watches the fireworks above, listening to his favorite Neil Diamond tune, knowing that this is one activity that dad will always love to do. As long as Dad is around, and long after, I hope my kids will learn to love this country and respect this holiday as much as their Grandpa does. I will always be thankful to Dad for sharing this with me.

So as the short week hopefully flies by...I hope and wish you all the best 4th of July Holiday! May you not melt at the parade, may the rains and winds stay away! And may God Bless America!!!!