Happy 4th of July!

Belated, of course. We were out of town, having our Family Olympics and Independence Day celebration with two grandparents, one uncle, one aunt, and three cousins. All together, that's seven kids in one house. Five of those are age six and under. It's just Peter and I who are the solitary mature, dignified, wise children.

So, how much does independence mean to us? In our cushioned lives, it's pretty easy to forget that freedom comes at a price. We tend to spend a lot of time grumbling at our politicians without taking time to be thankful that we have the right to speak up.

Three cheers for freedom, y'all!

Hugs & Blessings,

Izori

9/11

All I can really remember about it was my mom crying because one of our close relatives worked in the Pentagon.

I remember seeing all of the flags and wondering what was going on. I was only about five years old.

God bless America! Never forget what happened today.

O beautiful for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee,
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!

O beautiful for pilgrim feet,
Whose stern, impassioned stress
A thoroughfare for freedom beat
Across the wilderness!
America! America!
God mend thine every flaw,
Confirm thy soul in self-control
Thy liberty in law!

O beautiful for heroes proved
In liberating strife,
Who more than self their country loved
And mercy more than life!
America! America!
May God thy gold refine
Till all success be nobleness
And every gain divine!

O beautiful for patriot dream
That sees beyond the years
Thine alabaster cities gleam
Undimmed by human tears!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
And crown thy god with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!

~Katharine Lee Bates

Happy 4th, everyone!

Well, this is kinda late. Very late, actually. I was down at my grandparents house for Independence Day, and we watched a spectacular local fireworks show.

What did you think of this 4th of July? Did you remember to thank God for our country? For the freedom to worship how we choose, and to live what we believe? Other countries aren't so fortunate. Yes, today our country may seem like a wreck. But thank God we're a country!

Ever wondered what it took for people to declare themselves free of a huge empire? That's like giving up your life. By all logical figuration, England could have just wiped us out. Do you think it's just coincidence they didn't? All those happenings wove themselves into a victory...and that gives us America.

God bless the U.S.A!

Izori

Happy Memorial Day!

Remember the heroes...if it weren't for them, our country wouldn't be free.

Izori

READ THIS!!!!

We were forwarded this, so therefore I'm going to share it 'with everyone I know' the best way I can. By blogging it. Meet Brian Chontosh Churchville-Chili Central School Class of 1991. Proud graduate of the Rochester Institute of Technology. Husband and about-to-be father. First lieutenant (now Captain) in the United States Marine Corps. And a genuine hero, the secretary of the Navy said so yesterday. At 29 Palms in California Brian Chontosh was presented with the Navy Cross, the second highest award for combat bravery the United States can bestow. That's a big deal. But you won't see it on the network news tonight And all you'll read in Brian's hometown newspaper is two paragraphs of nothing. The odd fact about the American media in this war is that it's not covering the American military. The most plugged-in nation in the world is receiving virtually no true information about what its warriors are doing. Oh, sure, there's a body count. We know how many Americans have fallen. And we see those same casket pictures day in and day out. And we're almost on a first-name basis with the jerks who abused the Iraqi prisoners. And we know all about improvised explosive devices and how we lost Fallujah and what Arab public-opinion polls say about us and how the world hates us. We get a non-stop feed of gloom and doom but we don't hear about the heroes. The incredibly brave GIs who honorably do their duty. The ones our grandparents would have carried on their shoulders down Fifth Avenue . The ones we completely ignore, like Brian Chontosh. It was a year ago on the march into Baghdad . Brian Chontosh was a platoon leader rolling up Highway 1 in a humvee. When all hell broke loose. Ambush city. The young Marines were being cut to ribbons. Mortars, machine guns, rocket propelled grenades. And the kid out of Churchville was in charge. It was do or die and it was up to him. So he moved to the side of his column, looking for a way to lead his men to safety. As he tried to poke a hole through the Iraqi line his humvee came under direct enemy machine gun fire. It was fish in a barrel and the Marines were the fish. And Brian Chontosh gave the order to attack.. He told his driver to floor the humvee directly at the machine gun emplacement that was firing at them. And he had the guy on top with the 50 cal unload on them. Within moments there were Iraqis slumped across their machine guns and Chontosh was still advancing, ordering his driver now to take the humvee directly into the Iraqi trench that was attacking his Marines.. Over into the battlement the humvee went and outthe door Brian Chontosh bailed, carrying an M16 and a Beretta and 228 years of Marine Corps pride. And he ran along the trench, with its mortars and riflemen, machine guns and grenadiers. And he killed them all. He fought with the M16 until it was out of ammo. Then he fought with the Beretta until it was out of ammo. Then he picked up a dead man's AK4 and fought with that until it was out of ammo. Then he picked up another dead man's AK47 and fought with that until it was out of ammo. At one point he even fired a discarded Iraqi RPG into an enemy cluster, sending attackers flying with its grenade explosion. When he was done Brian Chontosh had cleared 200 yards of entrenched Iraqis from his platoon's flank. He had killed more than 20 and wounded at least as many more. But that's probably not how he would tell it. He would probably merely say that his Marines were in trouble, and he got them out of trouble. Ooh-rah, and drive on. "By his outstanding display of decisive leadership, unlimited courage in the face of heavy enemy fire, and utmost devotion to duty, 1st Lt. Chontosh reflected great credit upon himself and upheld the highest traditions of the Marine Corps and the United States Naval Service." That's what the citation says. And that's what nobody will hear. That's what doesn't seem to be making the evening news. Accounts of American valor are dismissed by the press as propaganda, yet accounts of American difficulties are heralded as objectivity.. It makes you wonder if the role of the media is to inform or to depress - to report or to deride. To tell the truth, or to feed us lies. But I guess it doesn't matter.We're going to turn out all right as long as men like Brian Chontosh wear our uniform. If you are as proud of this Marine as I am, then send this to EVERYONE YOU KNOW