Hope of America

This is what the Hope of America looks like ~ at least one thousandth of of it.

This past Tuesday my kids got to participate in the annual Hope of America Freedom Festival Night, along with 3000 other kids from about 70 different schools. Our homeschooling section was one of the largest groups, with almost 100 kids! (way to go homeschoolers!)Our group was the top red bar on the flag and we filled up both rows and both sections of red shirts that made up the whole bar. My three were on the far right side, almost to the end of the flag. The program was given to a full house in the Marriott Center on BYU campus - tons of people were there!Poor Emmett was bored to tears! We had to get there an hour before it started so the group could rehearse and get settled one last time before the program, and then the program itself was over an hour long. I made sure that we sat next to a hand rail on the stairs to have something to entertain Emmy with, and I brought snacks, but those sort of things only last for so long. We had been practicing the songs here at home for the past couple of months, so even Emms knew the words, and had fun singing along with them and even doing some of the hand signs as they sang.One of the last songs had to do with the children being the light of America and they did a cool light show with their flashlights and a strobe ball on the ceiling. This was Garrett and Teagan's favorite. Owen loved the song called "America Rocks" because they got to wear sunglasses during it. It was a long night, but I think it was a great experience for the kids to have. Through this they learned the Bill of Rights, and the Declaration of Independence. They sang about our rights as voters, about the founding fathers, and about what the Hope of America really is. They came out of it pumped up and riding high, and I came out of it with a headache and a cranky baby....two sure signs that it was a success!