4th of July

Once again, the 4th found us down in Idaho Falls at the annual parade. Jeff and Holly marched with Cedar Badge. Heath was planning on it, but he came down something, and was feeling pretty yucky. After the parade, we got Heath home, and found his temp was a mild 103.2. Not a very exciting way to spend the 4th. We took him to the urgent care where his rapid strep test came back negative. BUT, since his tonsils were nearly touching each other, and the fever was a tad out of control, and he had a nasty red throat that was also sore....the PA decided to treat him as though it was a positive test. Last night, Kerry and the "kids" went down to the greenbelt (the beautiful green path around the Snake River in Idaho Falls) to watch the annual fireworks display put on by Melaleuca. (It is rumored that Frank Vandersloot, CEO of Melaleuca, spends upwards of $1 million dollars every year to put on this show. It is about 1/2 hour long, and orchestrated to music that you can find on a local radio station) Heath and I stayed home, since that fever was still out of control, and he didn't feel so hot anyway. Okay, that's not true. He felt pretty hot. His temp was 103.8 at about 8PM. It was down to 100 at 10:30, so I gave him Tylenol (I had already given him Motrin at 8). This morning, I fully expected that he'd be feeling better, but his temp was 104. It has dropped down to 100 again...but won't go lower. We will see what we have tomorrow, and go from there.
So, while Heath and I didn't get to see the fireworks display, it was still a great day. It is still just amazing to realize that we live in a country where I can take my child to the doctor when he is sick, with no more worry other than wondering what Urgent Care will be open on the holiday. It's great that my family can walk the green belt in perfect safety. We still have pride enough in our country that we can have a parade that moves us to tears at times when we see a representation of the men and women who put their lives on the line for us each day to keep our freedoms. And, although I don't usually agree with them, it is wonderful that people who don't like our way of living can complain without fear of jail or worse. We are very blessed.