Today, our beloved country is 233 years old!  Such a very young country, but with so much history!  I was telling my kids last night that I remember when we celebrated the Bicentennial way back in 1976.  I was in 8th grade.  I don't remember much except the special quarters with the patriotic symbols on the back.  Can anyone remember what that was without looking? :)  So then we started talking about the Tricentennial.  One of my dear, smart children  asked when that will be, but we won't talk about that :)  They were figuring out how old they will be, and realized that they could possibly be around to celebrate it!!!  (If the Lord hasn't come by then, of course). My oldest will be 81, then 79 (almost 80), 78, 76, & 74. Makes me shudder thinking about them that old!!

Ok, with that, here is our favorite patriotic picture, taken in Sept 2001, about one week after 9/11, while were camping in Mt. Shasta. The giant flag belonged to the campers across from us.