Hope of America

Eryn has been in 5th grade this year, learning US History. For the Freedom Festival in Provo, they have a huge performance each year featuring 5th graders from several different schools in the area. It was called "The Hope of America." They have been learning a bunch of fun patriotic songs all year, and on May 5th they met in the Marriott Center at BYU to perform. They had a total of 7200 kids involved, so they had to separate it into two different performances. One on Tuesday, and one on Wednesday. Eryn's was the Tuesday performance. They gave each student a T-shirt (either red, white, or blue) and set them up in a flag formation. It was VERY cool to see. We got there later than we had planned, due to traffic, so seating was hard to find. We noticed that there were some seats close to the front, but they were roped off. They were reserved "for invitation only," but after a little questioning... Jared found out that they would open it up to everyone at 7:10 (the performance would start at 7:30), so we patiently waited, hoping that they wouldn't fill up. At 7:10 we were able to get some really great seats. We were still clear across the arena from where the kids were performing, but we were still able to find Eryn in the crowd. I'm super patriotic,(I even cry when the flag goes by in a parade) and I think my tears started sneaking out before they had even started singing. Just seeing this HUGE human flag and seeing all these kids who are being taught patriotism... I'm a bawl baby!! The songs were awesome. The kids were amazing! There was dancing, singing, video presentations to go along with some of the songs (tributes to the military, one about Abe Lincoln, etc.) It was absolutely awesome! I could have gone the next day and watched it all over again (except that Eryn wouldn't have been in it). I LOVED it, and Jared and the kids loved it, and Eryn thought it was the coolest thing in the world to be involved in. I LOVE AMERICA!!