A Dose of Dawson: Fourth of July

So, a couple days before the fourth of July Kyle and I bought a DSLR camera! It is pretty much a REALLY nice camera. We got a beginner/intermediate camera. It takes AWESOME pics as you can tell. We really got the camera because on July 3 we bought airplane tickets to LONDON!!! Nana is moving to the states in October/November. So everyone is flying out to visit her before she moves permanently. I can't believe it is happening! We are going September 2-16. We will also spend 1 week in Paris, Sep 7-12. So 5 nights in Paris and 7 days in London (not including the 2 & 16). It is a DREAM come true for me! We are excited for Nana to show us some things and get to know her better.

Nana will be living in Grandma Betty's house because Trudy technically owns it. The house is about a mile away from where we live. So Nana will be close and I am sure we will see her often when she moves here. Nana is 86 and lives alone in London. So she wants to move to be closer to family and we can take care of her better. She is still in good shape and pretty independent, age is taking a toll as she does not drive anymore and as most things go with aging, she has a hard time remembering some things.

So, ALL of that explains why we have nice pictures all of a sudden and the reason behind it all! Haha!

July 4th was a good day to practice using our camera. All of the Dawsons were invited to the Bishop's house for the 4th (because all of the Dawsons are in the same ward!). We went to the ward pancake breakfast in the morning. We actually have a few service men and women in our ward at church because we live in San Diego. One of the YW leaders I worked with, Sister Neal, is in the Navy and she gave a wonderful patriotic speech about America and the sacrifices of those who make it possible for others to come here and have the freedoms we do. It made me and a lot of people at the breakfast cry! It hits home because I have so much family, including my father, who are in the military and their dedication and selfless service is inspiring. It is hard to explain how much I appreciate those who serve in any branch of the military.

Anyways, after the the breakfast we actually took a nap because it was at 8 am! Kyle and I were tired because we stayed up til midnight the night before purchasing our plane tickets to London! Around 4 we arrived at Bishop's house and had a potluck. Bishop lives on a huge hill in Escondido (called Hidden Meadows). He had a view of Palomar Mountain, Valley Center, and a tiered outdoor patio with a couple grills and a fire pit. He has kids around the same ages as all of the Dawsons. I am actually close in age to one of their daughters and got to know her because we served in YW together. We stayed there all night talking and eating until it was time for fireworks. We got to Grape Day Park in Downtown Escondido just in time for the fireworks. We sat down and 10 minutes later the fireworks went off. They were ok, I have seen better, but it was a tradition Kyle grew up doing that I wanted to try.

The 4th of July was laid back and nice to remember all the blessings we have as Americans!