Happy Birthday America and Grandma Risser

I'm a Yankee Doodle Dandy....... Ahh, the fourth of July. I think it is becoming one of my favorite holidays. I love watching fireworks, all the different colors, bouncing and radiating in the sky. One question came to mind last night, though. Why do places do the fireworks on the 3rd instead of the 4th??? AND, why are fireworks always set to music now??? Back in my day........ it was Hills parking lot stuffed to the gills, people laying on the windshields of their cars watching the pretties and hearing big booms! We had a fun time once the kids settled down from running free in the field. We snapped photos, and enjoyed the colors dazzling before our eyes. About two minutes from the end I look down and Elijah has a gagging look on his face. That all too familiar look that says, I am about to puke... on you... I lifted him off of me, held him over my arm and watched him vomit what seemed to be half of his body weight! The advantage.... we didn't have to clean it up.

Today is also my Grandma's 92nd birthday. Yes, 92! I pray God blesses me with her long life genes! One of my fondest memories is having a surprise birthday party for her 80th. She lived in California at the time. I was pregnant with Elizabeth. My dad and his wife had flown out. MDR and I flew out... The look on Grandma's face when we walked in the door was priceless! A day later my brother and his family arrived and then my cousins from Las Vegas. It was so great to have all our family there together! That was the first time since 1978 all of the Risser kids had been together with Grandma! So, I am thinking about her today. She is now in a nursing home in Las Vegas. She has watched one son die (my dad) and is now watching another battle the same kind of cancer. If I could be there to make this day special for her, I would. I am grateful for the time I got to spend with her late summer last year. The photo is from her 90th.