FOURTH OF JULY



Entire Family on 4th of July



At the Balloon Site with the Stormtroopers



 Today we celebrated the fourth of July!  I was worried about what we would do today and how to make sure it was special for ALL of my children.  With so much going on I didn't have time to plan much but luckily in our area there are TONS of things to do.  We decided to start the day off by seeing the balloon race for the Freedom Festival.  It started at 6:00 so we knew we had to wake up early.  As many nights this past I didn't sleep well and when it time to get up I told Larry I would have to catch up with them a little later.  So Larry took Anastacia and Nathanael and they went to see the balloons.  It is really a neat sight to see so many hot air balloons take off but unfortunately today the weather was bad so they did not take off.  But they did blow them up and the kids had fun seeing them anyway.  They especially loved the Star Wars Darth Vadar balloon and Storm Troopers.



Waiting for the parade

 Maria and I met up with them at 9:00 for the Freedom Festival parade, that was fun, and then we all met up with Caleb to eat lunch and play games.  We played Guestures and BS, Caleb's favorites games.  It was fun to be with him.  I miss him so much!!  We also had a little FHE lesson on the meaning of the 4th of July.  I couldn't believe that none of  my children could tell me what important event happened on this day and why it was our independance day.  Silly kids!  Finally Caleb came up with the answer.  We read through the Declaration of Independance and that was fun to do.  Then our wonderful neighbors invited us to a BBQ tonight.  I am so grateful for them because I was just too tired to do anything and we went over there, ate great food, had great conversation, and then watched all the fireworks go off all around us.  It was quite the show!  Loved it!!

Today as I was thinking of past 4th of July I was thought of many fun ones we have enjoyed as a family.  I remember being in San Diego watching them from the back patio of my sister's home overlooking the ocean.  It was a beautiful view.  I thought of the many times we watched them up in North Salt Lake with Larry's family and the kids playing in the grass with glow sticks.  I thought of the time we watched them in a swimming pool in Arizona and then last year when we watched them in ShowLow with all our Ellsworth Cousins at our Family Reunion.  I even thought of the time when Larry and I watched them while on Tammy's boat in the San Francisco Bay.  Awesome!!  I remember one 4th of July parade in Utah where my niece had just broken up with her fiance and during the parade I invited her to live with us and just like that we had one more person riding back with us to Arizona.  I remember the last 4th of July I spent with my Dad sitting in front of his Insurance office ... the "White House" in Chandler.  I have a picture of my Dad holding my boys and it was Caleb's first 4th of July ever.  I have some really fond memories of some great celebrations.  It is an important celebration not just for our country but for our families.  This is truly a great family celebration.

Then I remembered that it was on a 4th of July weekend that altered the course of my family.  It was in 1997 and I was working at the time and traveling a lot.  I happened to be in Boston for a meeting with a vender just before the big weekend.  After I had wrapped up my meetings I was heading to the airport and I thought, "I am in Boston for the 4th of July weekend...I should go hear the Boston Pops play in the park."  I also had a store that I wanted to visit so on a very rare impulse I called my assistant and asked him to change my flight to the following day and help me find a room for the night.  I was going to stay in Boston.  As I drove past the airport exit I had a small feeling and voice inside me tell me that I should get on that plane and go home.  But I quickly dismissed it thinking I am always the responsible one, just this once I am going to be impulsive and do what I want.  So I did.  Guess what happened??  The store I wanted to shop at was closed, that was kinda irritating.  But even more than that, my assistant could not find me a room to stay in that night.  Every hotel room was BOOKED!!  I didn't even think that this was 4th of July in Boston.   I started calling around, I called Larry and he started calling around, my assistant stayed two hours late that night calling.  I would call one place and they would tell me they only had suites left and it would be $350 a night.  Then after getting several "no's" I would call back and decide to take the high priced suite only to find out now all they had left was their presidential suite at $800 a night.  Frustrating!!

I started to panic.  I started seeing myself sleeping in my car, getting attacked by a homeless person and never seeing my husband again.  About 8:00 at night my husband finally found me a room.  As I got settled in the room I thought to myself, "I was prompted to get on that plane."  Although I didn't know the situation the Lord did and he tried to get me to go home but I wouldn't listen.  I had missed the concert, didn't get to shop at the store I wanted and spent the last 6 hours stressed out!  As I spoke with Larry that night he said to me that perhaps the Lord let me experience this thing to teach me a lesson when the consequences were not so horrible.  Sometimes he is preparing us for something bigger.  Sure I lost out on a little, but it was not life changing.  I pondered that all night and thought to myself, I know what the still small voice is like now and if I ever get that feeling again I will know what it is and I will follow it. 

The next day I flew home.  On the flight home I had that same feeling and voice that I had when I drove by the airport exit.  But this time it told me something even harder than to go home.  Actually it was kinda the same message.  The voice told me to quit my job and stay at home.  Larry and I had been married for 8 years at this time and there was absolutely NO prospect of any children in our future.  But I knew the feeling and I knew the Lord had set this up for me to listen.  I came home and the next day went into my boss and told him that it was time to quit.  Now just know that I LOVED my job.  I was a Vice President, in charge of pretty much everything, doing everything, traveling, planning events, creating teams, writing, doing everything I loved to do.  This was a dream job and I was being paid very well for it.  My bosses loved me and this came out of the blue.  It was one of the hardest decisions I have ever made.  But I couldn't deny the feeling I felt and the experience I had had.  It is hard to relate in writing how much they hit my heart to the core.  But I knew it was time for me to come home.  Luckily my bosses shared the same belief in God as I do and after the initial shock they understood. 

 So it was a 4th of July weekend that brought me home and started my journey to becoming a mom.  It would still be 18 months before Caleb came to live with me but at the same time Caleb was starting his journey.  It was in July of that same year that he was taken from his biological parents and placed into CPS custody.  Coincidence...I don't think so.  It was all part of the plan.