Monday, July 7, 2008

Happy Independence Day!



We enjoyed Independence Day Weekend in El Centro, California and in Mexico. The long drive was worth it to eat authentic Mexican tacos with Pedro's grandparents in Mexicali on Thursday. They showed us old pictures of when they were teenagers. At 17, his grandma was absolutely gorgeous. She still doing pretty good. Later, we visited his other grandma, Nana Flora, who fed us way more than we were capable of eating. She loves to tell stories about Pedro when he would visit her as a little boy. She explained how his mom would dress him in spotless white shirts, shorts and shoes, but when he got to grandma's house, he was free to take it all off and run free. In the evening, we ate the traditional shrimp with Pedro's dad. After dinner we went to the stake center for a ward basketball game. Pedro got to see some of his high school friends and play basketball with his dad. It was nice to see family and friends before taking off to the cold north of Minnesota.

Friday, the fourth, we enjoyed a pancake breakfast with the ward in El Centro. Their ward does a kids parade with red, white and blue decorated bikes and lawn mowers just like we did growing up in Holladay. Later that afternoon, we headed out of the 110* heat into the mountains above San Diego for a camping trip. At night, from the top of a hill, we could see thousands of stars. I sang quietly to myself some of my favorite songs: "America the Beautiful" and "My Country Tis of Thee." The next day we headed to Ensanata, Mexico, where we enjoyed a boat ride in the harbor and shopping in the streets.

Going back and forth over the border so easily made me grateful for my citizenship. How blessed we are to live in a free nation. I LOVE AMERICA!!!

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