Thanks, Honey, for making sure I woke up 2 hours before the parade! We didn't miss it, that's for sure! :) Thanks to Mitchell, we had a great breakfast, bundled up kids because it was freezing, grabbed camping chairs, and went to the parade with a little nervousness - he was right. There was NO WAY I could miss Gilbert Days after I shared my distress about the cancellation with the Mayor AND his council, and got personal emails from about half of them. Apparently it's been 50 YEARS since the last time the parade was "cancelled", and even then, it wasn't truly cancelled or even rescheduled, it was just changed from a celebration of the Town of Gilbert to a JFK memorial parade...so this was probably the first time EVER in Gilbert's history that something like this happened. I'm a rain-or-shine kinda girl, but I have deep respect for our Mayor & his Council--especially the Mayor for the way he treated me.
In case you didn't make it to the Dec. 7th rescheduled version of the Gilbert Days Parade this year, here's the parade for your enjoyment:
Our friends, Kai & Clarissa were there & sat right next to us. We couldn't have planned it better - they are such wonderful people, and we love their examples. They are doing a fantastic job raising their girls - one has special needs, one and they just had their third baby. Kai has been in the Easter Pageant with us, and we have so much fun with them. Shortly after the parade began, I noticed Kai gave his chair to a man with two kids, and then Kai stood for the whole parade. I didn't think anything about this man, because he was sitting on a bench with his daughters, but when Kai reached out to him, I realized how much of a difference that made. Instead of sitting on a bench, slightly further back & removed from the parade, this man & his daughters were brought right up to the curb with us, so they got candy and bags, and hand outs from the people in the parade that they wouldn't have had if they stayed back on the bench where they had originally sat down. All day I thought of the kindness & thoughtfulness that Kai shared towards this stranger. I hope someday I can be more thoughtful like that.
God Bless America!
I was hoping to snap a pic of Mayor Lewis, but we got Sheriff Joe instead...thanks, Tyson! Haha!
These horses were FAST!!!! (All these photos are also courtesy of Tyson.)
LOVE THIS! I'm so proud to be an American!
Oops, it downloaded sideways. I need to fix that someday. Happy Birthday to Gilbert Public Schools -- 100 years strong! LOVE IT!
Can't end a parade without Santa at this time of year!
Life is so good! I LOVE HOME-TOWN PARADES! It's more than just a parade for me. It's about being a patriotic AMERICAN - yes even in the months of November & December!
Thanks again, Mayor Lewis!
"GILBERT DAYS LIVES ON!"
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