July 4, 2014 - Independence Day - Operation Gratitude

I love America!  For the past four Independence Day celebrations, I have been traveling internationally.  I love venturing abroad and the many cultures and people I have met while overseas.  I also, however, love America! I am grateful to live in a country where I have so many opportunities and freedoms.

I cannot be grateful for this nation without acknowledging those who sacrifice their families and their lives to help keep those freedoms.  Thank you to the service men and women who have given so much the past and who are presently serving our great Nation.  I am so grateful for their commitment and dedication in our behalf.

Thank you to Sandy City for including me in their annual kids craft fair! I loved talking to the children about using their handz for good! Thank you to all the great kids and adults who stopped by today and colored pictures and wrote letters of appreciation to the military.  All the letters written will be sent this week to Operation Gratitude to be included in packages for our soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines.

If you missed out on the opportunity to stop by - you can still write a letter and/or send a care package on your own.  Here's the flyer with the contact information:

God Bless the USA!

Peruvian Park AFTERNOON kindergarten

After a quick bite to eat and a change of clothes - I went back to Peruvian Park to meet with the afternoon kindergarten class.  There is only one class in the afternoon so a smaller group of children.

These kids were also so cute.  It is fun to see their personalities! One student told me that he was in the hospital recently for a burn so he could really understand how the kids at Shriners hospital felt.  Another child's parent was a doctor and shared all about how he goes to the hospital all the time.

I shared stories of my service background and a girl from India really got excited when I told them I had made kits for children in India!

Almost every child in this afternoon class brought a donation for Shriners hospital - they are clearly catching the vision of service!

Again, they drew great cards and were so excited to use their handz for good this week!

Lots of hugs from these cute kids!

Peruvian Park Elementary

My amazing neighbor, Chris Bond, was my piano teacher when I began piano at age 3.  She is a great friend and advocate.  And...she is is a fabulous Kindergarten teacher!

I had the opportunity to visit the kindergarten classes at Peruvian Park on April 11th.  In the morning there were two classes that came together to hear about using their handz for good!

They had great ideas of things they could do for good with their hands - walk a dog, pick up trash, write a letter to grandma....

They promised to do something good with their hands in the next week!  One boy wrote on his hand that he promised to "Love Lexy" and gave me a string of beads!

They brought toys and books for Shriners hospital.  

They made cards for the children at Shriners.

Their teacher, Chris Bond, shared a touching story of a girl who missed out on many activities during the summer as she went to Shriners to have a leg gradually lengthened.  This really helped the kids understand how hard it would be to need to be in the hospital.

The kids all gave me a hug or high-five and took an autograph card home to use to access thehandz4service.org resource.

I even got to see the kids to the door as we waited for parent pick up!

It is so fun to see kids catch the vision of doing good for others....