My birthday is July 7th and every year my dear friend in Oklahoma sends me an email to Kenya asking me what she can do with or for me for my birthday. Its so wonderful to be remembered, but it is often difficult to think of a response to her question.

This year, I realized that I have missed 7 Fourth of July celebrations because I have always been in Kenya on American's Independence Day. So, I quickly wrote her back and told her I wanted to have an "I'm Proud to Be an American". She rallied numerous ladies in the Poteau, Oklahoma area and started planning. I was told they had so much fun just looking for red, white and blue items in September!

Below are four of the 8 or 9 male helpers who came to cook and just generally stay in the periphery while us ladies' just acted crazy. These men are all veterans and we honored them with blessings and thanksgiving for their service to our country.

In lieu of a birthday cake they made these yummy cupcakes and displayed them beautifully! They not only looked yummy -- they were yummy!

These three sisters really got into the spirit of the event with red, white and blue headgear. So precious! They even had on red, white, and blue socks! I just had to be seen with them for this picture.

A 4th of July party in October wouldn't be complete without the requisite hamburger and hotdog cookout -- complete with potato salad and all the other trimmings!

What party with friends is complete without Karaoke! We sang so many all American songs like "I'm a Yankee Doodle Dandy" "American the Beautiful" and so many others. What fun we had because none of us were pros.

The evening started with The Star Spangled Banner and I cried my way through the entire song. The tears diminished after awhile, but I am such an American at heart and I loved every minute of it. What a wonderful memory!