Thursday, July 5, 2012

Life Liberty and The Pursuit of Happiness Right Here




Today was a wonderful day.  There were so many special moments and we try to capture as many as possible .  Each picture tells a a little story.  Each one shows a unique view of the 4th of July through the eyes of children and adults.  The Henaos' hosted the first part and open their home for swimming and nachos .
The party then moved over to The Sanders home where we started with decorating for the neighborhood parade.  There is a family in the neighborhood that has been hosting a parade for 12 years how we have been lucky enough to attend 4.  Each year this parade grows bigger and bigger .  It starts off with the La Habra High School Drum line.  It is really amazing as we drive through the streets and they are lined with neighbors cheering and waving the parade along.  Its like something from years gone by and has such a feeling of love of country and community. They even had a llama this year ..look for Cammy's close up.
We had a delicious array of food.
Thanks you for all the donations to make sure we were all well fed, all day long and into the wee evening .
As family and friends we came to together to celebrate our Freedom.
Our Patriotic Program helped everyone remember how grateful we are to live in 
America.  Billy led a flag salute, Noah sang a solo to the Star Spangled Banner, we had several 
readings by our young ladies, The little ones waved flags and sang Your a Grand ole Flag.
Little Wyatt Powell stole the show as he stood and helped me led a coral reading of the preamble.
The entire group ended our program with Happy Birthday sung to America.
Bill, Alex and Kenny were our pyrotechnics crew. Alex also was the DJ with amazing music to go along with out fireworks show.  It was an amazing fireworks show.  The entire neighborhood for miles around was lighting up the night sky with amazing colors and sounds.
I try to capture pictures of everyone who was there but I know I missed a few but each person really added to the evening's fun.  This was a super memorable evening, maybe because Freedom means more and more to me as I get older.  But one quote we read from Ronald Reagan reminds us that for 
Freedom to live its needs to be talked about at home, at the family dinner table, and what it means to be an American  !  I love America and I appreciate the Henao's and Sander's opening their homes to 
allow us all the opportunity to share love, friendships and Celebrate our Country's Birthday.
Talking about how this traditional began bought me right back to the best people I know.  Mom and Dad Renouf started this tradition and welcomed anyone and everyone to join in their celebration and the Patriotic Program.  This tradition went on until they left to serve their mission in Nauvoo but it was carried on from  family to family. A huge thank you to everyone who helped make this evening happen from traditions started, for good husbands who share what they have to help the event  financially and manpower, thank you for the constant growth of friends and family who keep coming out and sharing good times with us.
God Bless America Now and Forever !



We miss our family in Nevada,  Those sweet little faces and the Elisalez family is greatly missed at our party but we take heart in knowing that they too are building new traditions and carrying on some of the old. We love you  !  We can't wait for a 4th of July closer to a weekend for you to join us and we promise it will be a huge celebration.  !