This is something I look forward to every year! It’s the Colonial Heritage Festival, or Colonial Days, in Orem Utah. I missed this so much when we lived in AZ. My Independence Day experience just doesn’t feel complete unless I go to this event on the day or two before the holiday. It’s like a little bit of Colonial Williamsburg gets transported to suburban Utah for a few days every July. It features people dressed up in colonial costumes, showing what life was like back then with printing, cooking, spinning wool, and more. If you go you get to see people dressed up like Minutemen drilling to defend the townspeople. If you live anywhere close, I hope you go! It’s free! My friend Gove Allen is part of it. Hopefully he will be there this year. He used to dress up as a baker and demonstrate bread baking, but in the past handful of years or so he has dressed up as colonial printer Isaiah Thomas and told stories of the Sons of Liberty and the Revolutionary War. His stories are so inspiring. So if you go, be sure to go to the printing press area and listen to Gove/Isaiah! You won’t regret it, he’s amazing!
Hey, it’s time for another Tuttle Twins sale! Just in time for Celebrate America 250! If you believe in the spirit of ’76 and limiting the powers of government, these are the books for you! Read these books with your children/grandchildren to pass on those values.
Here’s what’s going on at tuttletwins.com (all links on this post are affiliate links):
From June 29–July 5 (extended through July 13), everything is:
• 25% OFF sitewide with code USA250 • America’s History Volume 3 — $74.99 (now shipping) • America’s History Bundle (Vols. 1–3) — $179.98 • Family Starter Pack — $249 • Mega Bundle — $529
Two hundred and fifty years ago, ordinary people bet everything on freedom.
That moment is worth remembering—and worth passing on.
That’s why we’re launching the America 250 Mega Sale, alongside the release of America’s History Volume 3 (now shipping).
America’s History Volume 3 Is Here!
This volume covers the years 1791–1849 and brings kids through the defining, often messy chapters of early America—Whiskey Rebellion, Lewis & Clark, the burning of Washington, the Trail of Tears, and the California Gold Rush.
For families who already own Volumes 1 and 2, this completes the set. For new families, the 3-book bundle gives them the full story from start to finish.
But wait, there’s more! A contest for school children to win a trip for their family!
It’s the America 250 Letter to the Editor Contest
Kids can enter our America 250 Letter to the Editor Contest by writing to their local newspaper about what America 250 means to them.
🏆 Prize: Family trip to Charleston ⏰ Entries close July 2 👉 Details on contest are here.
Contest ends July 2! Sale ends July 13! So don’t delay!
Hey did you hear that Donny Osmond recently sang with the Tabernacle Choir at the Hollywood Bowl? My missionary son told me about it today.
Here are some videos about that. I second the witness to the singers below who say there is something about singing that connects you with God and makes you feel happier. Every Sunday after church I get to practice with my church choir. I just always feel so joyful when I can feel being part of a harmony of many voices. Then when we sing for the congregation it feels doubly good as we help them feel the Holy Spirit because we are sharing sacred music that praises and testifies of God the Father and His Only Begotten Son Jesus Christ. It just feels so good! As Mikey of the old Life cereal TV commercials used to say, “Try it, you’ll like it!”
If you want a collection of religious music that is arranged by season and themes to sing with your family, go get my free family devotionals ebook.
Want more about Donny and the other Osmonds? Go here and read the top 3 posts.
Idea #10 for celebrating America 250 is to read the June 1976 Ensign magazine of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It is dedicated to the Bicentennial of the USA. You can find it here in full color with all the illustrations. The text without illustrations is here.
Idea #8 for celebrating America 250 is to watch this BYU devotional speech below by Elder L. Tom Perry of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Elder Perry was asked to head up a committee for the Church for celebrating the Bicentennial of the USA in 1976.
The video above shows Elder Perry announcing the plans of the Church to celebrate the Bicentennial. I wish I could see the posters the Church distributed that he talks about. I was alive at the time but only 5 so I don’t remember seeing any at my church building. How cool it would be to see them today! And the special FHE supplement he mentions, “God’s Hand in the Founding of America.” Anyway, I invite you to take notes and listen to the Holy Spirit as you watch this video to know what God is wanting you to do today to stand for liberty.
Then over here you can watch his report that he gave in October 1976 about the celebrations.
Want more Celebrate America 250 ideas? Go here. My goal is to share 250 ideas to use throughout the whole year of 2026. So come back and check for upcoming ones here on my blog. It’s so important that we keep the legacy of liberty from 1776 alive today!
Today and tomorrow are the last days of Amazon Prime Day Deals.
Katie of the Life in the Mundane YouTube Channel shares some deals below, which are specifically for homeschooling moms. The rolling cart above is my favorite of what she shares.
Here are the links to what Katie mentions in the video. (all are affiliate links for her. I don’t mind passing on her links as I enjoy watching her videos so this is a small way to tell her thank you for making them.)
A few weeks ago, I shared ideas, over here, to make summer with children at home a satisfying season, with just the right amount of structure and free time. I just saw this video by Julie Kreke, a veteran homeschooling mom of 10. She has some great ideas so I’m passing them on. She gives the following ideas for summer learning challenges. Watch below to get all the details.
Math Challenge. The app she recommends is here, from the Good and the Beautiful.
Reading Challenge
Journal Writing Challenge
Typing Challenge. also using a resource from the Good and the Beautiful.
Treasure Box
Here are more of Julie’s links, copied and pasted from YouTube:
If you want some songs to teach multiplication facts without having your child using a screen/app, here are some resources I recommend.
The Mathusee skip counting songs. This is what I used with my children.
Mathusee has two versions.
Here’s the Bible version:
Then here’s the science and literature version:
Then Janeen Brady of Brite Music has the Times to Times songs. They have a depth of musicality the ones above don’t. See the playlist here. I tell the story behind it here. Several years ago, I got to hear Janeen play some of her fun music on the piano in person. What a treat!
Today’s idea to celebrate America 250 is to listen to this music with your family, especially if you have children. It’s the Take Your Hat Off album by Janeen Brady of Brite Music fame. When I go on outings with my grandsons, I love to play this in the car on my phone. It teaches you a summary of the Revolutionary War, the basic features of the U.S. Constitution, and the words to the preamble to the Constitution. So delightful and patriotic!
Want more of Janeen? Go here to learn about her song to teach the times tables.
Want more of how to celebrate America 250? Go here.
Did you hear about this? Some people are inviting all American citizens to celebrate America’s 250th birthday by having a potluck on Sunday July 5th. Go here to learn more. Sounds fun!
I’ve been thinking a lot about friendship lately because of a recent Sunday School lesson on the famous friendship between David and Jonathan in the Old Testament of the Bible. This was in last week’s reading for the Come Follow Christ study guide for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Whenever I start to get too much in my head or depressed, I realize I haven’t been connecting with friends as much as I like. When I connect with my friends, I always come away feeling happier. I’ve been so blessed to have good friends when I was a child and teen. When I became I mom, I met a wonderful group of friends through La Leche League, over 30 years ago. We started having potluck lunches or dinners 3-6 times a year outside of La Leche League meetings. These are my Veggie Gals, and we still get together. Some of us have left the group, and new ones have joined, but the core group of about 6 of us has stayed the same. They provide so much support, laughter, joy and education for me. We pray for each other and cry together. I’m so grateful for them.
I’ve also been blessed to find friends in the homeschooling world, new friends when I moved to Arizona and lived there for 5 years, and then new friends when I moved back to Utah. I have been so blessed by all of them. It’s so comforting to know that I can reach out any time and get help from my friends.
My Sunday School teacher put these questions on the board:
“Who has been a true friend to me?”
“Who needs my friendship?”
“How can I be a better friend?”
All good questions for all of us to ponder and pray about.
She, the teacher, gave six principles of friendship:
Trust
Closeness
Vulnerability
Loyalty- the person will stay a friend even if it’s hard
Unity
She didn’t get to the last point because we ran out of time, but I’m thinking maybe this last principle is “Accountability.” Good friends hold each other accountable to truth. They are not afraid of bringing up truth, in a nice, diplomatic way. Not to hurt us but to help us.
A few people in the class shared stories of finding friends. The teacher and one other member each told a story of desperately wanting a friend, and then within a week, a friend showed up! Then I told my daughter about that and she said a similar thing has happened for her.
God wants us to have friends! Friendship is a principle of living the gospel of Jesus Christ. If you don’t have a close friend, I encourage you to pray and ask God for a friend and He will send one to you. Part of that process might be you following a prompting from the Holy Spirit to reach out to someone, to be the one who initiates the friendship. As my Young Women leader used to say when I was in high school, “To have a friend you must be a friend.”
One of my neighbors is famous in our neighborhood for saying over the pulpit at church “One of the greatest gifts God wants to give to us is each other.” Amen!
