Oh Beautiful, for spacious skies
For amber waves of grain
For purple mountains majesties
Above the fruited plain!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee!
And crown the good, with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!

As I sang this song in my head while typing it out, I could see my Gram, Lois Liddick, standing in her Americana shirt on the fourth of July, singing this song while standing tall and waving an American flag in her hand. My gram loves America, and when it came to the fourth of July, she didn’t mess around. When we were younger, she would take us downtown to see the fireworks. She let nothing stop her, no matter where we were, celebrating America’s birthday. She loves Jesus, her family, and America more than anything. She always had her house decorated with lots of Americana things for summer, and even for Christmas she had a Christmas village and made sure it had a firework stand with an Uncle Sam inside. I have that piece now.

Gram was a kid on the fourth of July. She loved fireworks and sparklers just as much as a four-year-old child. She would light two sparklers and run around with them high in the air yelling, “Happy Birthday America! Happy Birthday America!” My gram is seriously adorable, and a respected lady by so many. Every year I think of her on the fourth, being she can’t get around very well anymore.
I remember when we got our first boat and got to witness the fireworks on the river for the very first time. I used to look down and see the glow on the river from all the boats and thought how cool that would be to be down there on a boat, watching the fireworks from the best seats in the house. When the fireworks went off to the American classic tunes, it gave me goosebumps. The fireworks shot up in the sky, and reflected off the water. It was like two shows!
I looked at my husband and said “Gram would have loved this!!” 
The following year, we brought her with us, and I remember how excited and how proud she was standing tall on our boat waving her flag proud. Each song she sang just pouring her love out for America. I even brought sparklers and snacks. There’s nothing like some white cheddar popcorn and watching the show. Gram loved everything about it.

Now, we missed it on the water last year, but this year the fireworks are back in their original spot. Where they reflect off the water and we have the best seats in the house. That one night where it feels like as a country, we all stand proud and united TOGETHER. Happy, celebrating and APPRECIATING this country we live so freely in. My husband will put our big American flag on our boat for this weekend, and I’ll stand proud for my gram and my country! Waving those sparklers high, with white cheddar popcorn in my belly, and proud to be an American!

Happy Birthday America the Beautiful!

Pillsbury Red, White and Blue Cream Cheese Cookie Bars
1 roll (16.5 oz) refrigerated Pillsbury™ Sugar Cookie Dough
1/4teaspoon each red and blue gel food colors
1/4cup butter, softened
4oz cream cheese, softened (half of an 8-oz package)
1/2teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2cups powdered sugar
Heat oven to 350°F. Line 9-inch square pan with foil, leaving extra hanging over edges; spray with cooking spray.
Divide dough into 3 sections; place 2 sections of dough into 2 small bowls. Tint 1 bowl red and 1 bowl blue by stirring in each food color, until color is mostly incorporated.
Drop tablespoons of each of the 3 colors of dough in a pan in random pattern. Press dough together to cover the bottom of pan. Bake 23 to 27 minutes or until dough is light golden brown.

In a large bowl, beat softened butter and cream cheese with an electric mixer on medium speed 1 to 2 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally, until smooth and creamy. Add vanilla and powdered sugar; beat until smooth. If necessary, add more powdered sugar until frosting is spreadable. Spread on top of cooled bars; top with sprinkles. Store covered in refrigerator.