Veteran's Day... Turning the Hearts of the Children to their Fathers.

Veteran's Day has come and gone, and as it did, we had some fun times together as a family.  On Saturday, we went to the Veteran's Day Parade.  Typically it is held on Veteran's Day, but for reasons unknown to me, this year it was on Saturday... 2 days before the actual day.  I didn't know about the change.  I had been planning all week prior to take the kids on Monday.  It just so happens that Friday night I was discussing it with Brandon and he mentioned that he had heard at the Varsity Scout meeting that it was on Saturday.  I looked it up online, and sure enough, it was.  I think that a lot of people missed that memo, because it wasn't nearly as crowded as it typically is.  I'm thankful that we were able to see the parade and that we had the date right.

Here are a few pictures from the parade.

This is the bomber that flies over the route right before the parade starts:

 Here is my cute family, enjoying the parade.  This is the first time that Brandon has been able to enjoy the parade with us.  Typically he is busy working.  I was really happy to have him there.  Not just for the memory, but to help with my run away Oliver... who didn't have any fear of running into the road.

 Here is a picture of Noelle and myself.  Noelle was starting to get really tired and hot at this point.  I think you can tell by the picture.

 At about an hour and a half after the start of the parade...  we got this:

That was when the parade ended for us.  It was almost over anyhow, but it was after 1 and my kids were just done.

Melanie's kindergarten class did something neat for Veteran's Day.  They put together a little tribute to the veterans in their life.  Melanie submitted the names of her great grandfathers on her dad's side, and a great great grandfather on her mom's side.  When I went to pick her up from school, this is what I saw:

I was instantly reminded of the scripture referring to Elijah and turning the hearts of the children to their fathers and the hearts of the fathers to their children.  I would like to get some nice stories of these men to put with these pictures for Melanie and my other children.  I plan to do that some time soon.

I am sincerely thankful for this country and the men that have given everything to make it "free".  Freedom is never free.  I'm also so grateful for the families of those that protect us.  They sacrifice so much for us as well.