Happy 4th of July!

I counted at least four fireworks stands on my way in to work this morning. Everyone is gearing up to make money off this holiday! Hey! It's the capitalist way! It's a celebration! Bring on the fire and sparkly things and things that go "boom!" Gotta have that. It's a party!

We have so many things to be thankful for, living in this great country of ours. I know we have problems, and we're not perfect, but I love that we each have the freedom to live the kind of life we want to live. That's huge.

When my brother and his wife were in Washington, D.C. last week, he told me they dropped by to see their Utah elected officials just to say hi. Senator Orrin Hatch wasn't in (he and Jay go way back), but at Rep. Jason Chaffetz' office, his people offered them gallery tickets to the House and Senate. They even escorted them over to the capitol. I think both Jay and Kirsti really enjoyed that. The Senate was in session, and they got to watch a voice vote on a district judge appointment. He says, "All the big guys were there - John McCain, John Kerry, Joe Lieberman, etc. Joe Biden made a brief appearance."

Nice to know that all the "big guys" were busy doing their jobs, that "We, the people" vote for them to go to Washington to do.

I hope you all have a wonderful 4th of July holiday weekend!  Rah, Rah, America! What a country!