Labor Day.

We spent Labor Day in Chapman.  We have been to the Chapman Labor Day Festivities for years.  Since our kids were babies.  This holiday is even more special now that the community is two years past the tornado.  I was still working for EMS full-time and was the second ambulance in that evening.  It means a lot to me to see the community come back stronger.  The Labor Day festivities are one way that growth is happening.  The three new schools are scheduled for completion this winter.  There is now vegetation coming back in the river bed, where the twisted trees after the tornado looked like toothpicks stuck in the mud. We sat on the curb of a street that I walked down during search and rescue.  This was also an area that Todd spent hours volunteering during the debris clean-up.

Lots of memories for the both of us.

 

Todd, Mallory, and I sat and watched the parade.  There was a large crowd.  The sun beat down on us.  It was hot.  But we endured because Matthew and Hannah were in the parade.

Matthew rode the float with his guitar class.  The Fansler's have done a wonderful service to the area by opening their music store and providing lessons.  They are the friendliest, kindest, and most generous couple.

Our now seasoned horse rider, Hannah, rode the route with Jackie. 
She had a lot of fun and has become very comfortable on a horse.

It was day well spent that ended with the hamburger/hotdog meal at the Legion.