Happy 4th of July!!

Happy 4th, everyone.

We're planning on going to the local festival -- food, music, fun, and fireworks.

I make sure that I take time every 4th to remember why we're celebrating -- the brave men and women who stood up, at risk of death, against a tyrannical government. I have ancestors who lived in the colonies and I know at least some of them were Revolutionaries. Capt. Pendleton was in the 1st Virginia Artillery, and for his efforts in the War was granted land in Kentucky.

Ancestors came here for different reasons, starting in the 1600s through the early 1900s -- forced as punishment by the British government, for business, to escape brutal conditions in their homeland, just because it was America and they could...

My husband is a first generation American, having come here for education and opportunity, and staying to start a family and get his citizenship.

Through family history research, I have watched as they moved westward (of course, now I'm heading back the other way). One ancestor kenw Wild Bill Hickok, searched for gold, and was quite a rabble-rouser (spent a fair amount of time in jail for drinking and fighting). Most lived quietly, raising families.

So, while I enjoy travelling and seeing other countries and cultures, and admit that there are things I'd like to changed here, America is a pretty wonderful place to live -- still the land of opportunity and hope.