I know that it is not politically correct to say that I am proud of my country, but I am. You see, I don't think of the politicians or the courts as being 'my country'. Instead I think of the million of Americans from all religious affiliations or no affiliations, from all political parties, representing all the ethnic origins - people who are just quietly going about doing good. Loving their families, serving in their communities, doing their jobs, donating money to help the poor or those who are sick, following the laws, advocating for the changes they believe in and in general making our country great.
That is why I can stand and say,
"And I'm proud to be an American where at least I know I'm free
And I won't forget the men who died, who gave that right to me
And I'd gladly stand up...next to you and defend her still today.
'Cause there ain't no doubt - I love this land!
God bless the USA."
On the 4th George and I celebrated by driving up to Bogus Basin, the local ski resort, for the day.
First we took the chair lift up to the top and hiked down.
Beautiful views.
Lots of wild flowers, which meant lots of bees.
George got stung for the first time in many years.
After a delicious lunch with Matt, we took the mountain coaster. I loved it so much that I actually laughed all the way down. I highly recommend it!
Big thanks to Matt for getting us passes and for using his employee discount for our lunch. It made our ridiculously expense lunch - just expensive!
Later we had a traditional barbecue dinner with John and family. Hamburgers, barbecued chicken, grilled veggies, potato salad, and baked beans, cooked according to my mother's recipe.
My new addition was this patriotic fruit pizza. Yummy!
The Argentina vs Ecuador game got all of us very excited.
It was a 'must win' for the team.
Monica is superstitious and doesn't watch. She thinks that if she watches they'll lose.
Regulation time ended 1-1 so they went to penalty kicks.
Messi was the first shooter and missed.
Happy to report that the shoot-out ended 4-2.
Many thanks to this man - goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez who stopped 2 goals.
Amazing how goalkeepers are willing to just throw themselves on the ground to stop a shot.
Victory to Argentina.
Next up is a semi final game with Canada.
I would love it if Leo Messi ended his career with the National Team with a Copa America trophy.
After the game we hiked up in the foothills to watch the fireworks all over the treasure valley.
I love this tradition. Isabella does too, although you can't tell from this expression.
Most of the time, she was like this.
Always fun to hike down in the dark. Love my side pony tail compliments of Isabella.
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