4th of July

The 4th of July is probably my favorite holiday, second to Christmas. I am sad to say, tho, that for me it all centers around the fireworks.

Don't get me wrong, I appreciate every person that fought for our freedoms, including a big chunk of my family members.

Lately, tho, our freedoms are slowly being stripped away. I realize we could have it a LOT worse, but if things continue the way they are, they just might be.

There are certain laws that strip away our freedoms. For one, the helmet law. If people riding motorcycles want to be idiots and not wear a helmet, they should not be forced to, that is their own stupidity. Same for seat belts. Then you have the car insurance, which kinda makes sense but only to safeguard the other drivers and help take care of repairs to car.

The biggest to me, tho, is the health insurance. It is our right whether or not to get health care. Its our right to choose what treatments we want and want to refuse. We should not be made to pay for insurance, nor should we be penalized if we can't afford it by having our tax refund taken away (at least half of it after the first year).

So yeah, forgive me if I am not overly excited about the "freedom" of our country. For me, its about the big boom.

That being said, Layna's first 4th was pretty good. We started on the 3rd, with the Majors' annual cookout and fireworks. She did so good, till the fireworks started. She watched a few of them, then went to sleep! Good and bad. Good, she wasn't scared by the big booms. Bad, she wasn't mesmerized by them to stay awake. Granted, it was 9pm, so she was sleepy. Hopefully next year will be fun with her.

On the 4th we had the England/Roberts/Everyone Else cookout and fireworks. We played games, visited, had great food, and fun fireworks. We also watched the neighborhood's fireworks, including some from where we thought was the next little town over....they had to have spent a fortune! They were huge over the trees and went on for a long time.

All in all, the 4th was great! Can't wait till next year!