Queen's Royal Guards Drill at Taylorsville High School

Friday, 08 May 2009

The Queen's Royal Guard presented a drill demonstration on the Taylorsville High School driving range Friday. It was very exciting to have these guys perform and most of the school turned out for it. Notice how they have their fists balled up.

During their visit to the United States for a series of soccer matches, 18 members of the Queen's Royal Guard impressed students with marching precision and skill. Because of the difficulty of transporting the sizable ceremonial uniforms, only three of the soldiers wore their traditional red and black Buckingham Palace attire. The rest of the guards wore neatly pressed camouflage fatigues. Each soldier has a tunic and bearskin cap which are fashioned from the skins of Canadian black bears only when a bear hunt is authorized to thin over-population.British youth can enlist in the military at age 16, but are not allowed to deploy until they are 17-and-a-half. The code of ideals the British soldiers strive to embody includes discipline, integrity and respect for others. Their role is infantry soldiers first and ceremonial soldiers second. And on top of that, they're soccer players.

The Queen's Royal Guards stand guard at royal historic sites in England and their army infantry duties take them all over the world. They were very fun to talk to and quite willing to let students try their caps. Isn't James just stunning in it?

JROTC Awards Banquet 2009

My highly decorated son could totally

run for president. See, he's got the

wave down.

James is down in front. This is for the Team Awards

which were all on the same certificate. They were more

efficient this year. In fact, there were a number of

awards that weren't deemed important enough

to give out on awards night.

James also received a national award: the

American Legion Medal for Military Excellence.

At the end, seniors are recognized and parade through

the Honor Guard. In the spirit of those who have gone

before, James hugged fellow cadets

and pinched their cheeks.

Colonel Horton, James and Master Sergeant Hardcastle.

Disneyland or Bust!

This last week we gathered the whole family together and went on vacation. We visited Disneyland and Knottsberry Farm. Each person made the trip so memorable... here's a few of those memories beginning with a ride in a stretch SUV limo:

Hubby/Dad/Grandpa always makes an impression in his quest for the perfect picture. Sometimes it's a pain but it's always worth it in the end. He also let out the snortiest snore one night that sent James into extreme giggles.

Hillary knew where everything was without ever looking at a map. Even if it hadn't been 14 years since I'd been to Disneyland, I'd have needed a map. She was also very patient with the tagalong grandparents! I think Hillary wanted to be in the picture with the Aztec dancer at Knottsberry Farm more than her little ones did. Hee hee.

Marc did funny impressions while we waited cuz you know you wait for everything at Disneyland. He had a backpack full of snacks and jackets for his little ones which he carried everywhere and was able to take care of all of their needs.

Natasha and Emma could go on most rides so they were kind of put out about the one or two they weren't big enough for. Both were generally very agreeable and no trouble at all. (At least not for me!)

Samantha was in her own little world most of the time and proved to be quite a good escape artist but we didn't lose her. She also had to be pried off the tea cup ride. It was cute to see how enthralled she was with the airplanes coming and going at the airport and grandpa was so good to be appropriately thrilled with each one.

Adelyn loved the carousel and cried when she had to leave her horsey. She had so much fun on rides she even caught herself smiling and put her hand over her mouth to cover it!

Sonia did a lot of leg work for me with scheduling the flights, hotel, shuttles, etc. We still might not have that done if left to me. She was my go to gal and also knew where everything was found at Disneyland and Knottsberry farm.

Shawn had a donut shirt that was so funny, people stopped him to say he had an awesome shirt. Sami was really studying it too since one poor donut had a bite out of him and his poor jelly goo was spilling out.

Roxanne was a huggy girl. I got hugs from everyone but I received 2-3 each day from Roxanne. She foiled her sisters evil plan and did not grab some random person's butt like Sonia wanted her to. Undetered, Sonia then smacked Shawn's hand to try and make him do it but that didn't work either.

Leland didn't know I was watching but he looked like a little kid staring out the airplane window. He was sick with some stomach bug (for which he received antibiotics when we returned home) and was such a trooper. His big thing was to get some cotton candy. He bought two and shared with everyone. Some had fun making mustaches and other things out of their pieces of fluff.

James had so much fun running on all the rides he could. He was willing to try everything since the last time he'd been to Disneyland was at age 4. I don't think Thunder Mountain Railroad was quite as memorable for him this time as it was back then. He does seem to be having fun on one of my personal favorites... the tea cups!

Most Awesome Commander Ever!

"Woo-yeah! Look at me and my bad self! Uh-huh! Uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh!" James and his team did very well at the 16th Annual Utah JROTC Invitational Pentathlon competition. T-ville had four teams but only three of them could compete so the fourth one competed for another school that came but didn't have enough people. It was because of T-ville's 4th team that Independence High even received an award. All the T-ville teams did well and came away with several awards each. James' team won 2nd place in the Regulation Drill and Exhibition Drill competitions. While Ben Lomand High had the fastest male and female individual runners, James' team still placed 1st for the Mile Run. The absolute high-light of the awards ceremony was at the very end when James was announced as the Best Commander. Hoo-aah!

Mom Rocks!

Pasta is reported to give you natural energy so just before a competition, James likes to have pasta. The last couple of competitions (including today) he's gotten his teams together for a pasta party. This time it was at our house and I had the idea that it was a pot-luck pasta party and agreed to make a dish similar to spaghetti but the sauce is a little different and it's served over rotelle. Then last night I came across a recipe for a chicken pasta caesar salad and thought it looked good. The reviews all said it was fabulous. I had the idea that I could use up some left-over rotisserie chicken and make this salad for the kids also. Good thing! One other young man (John Grant) brought a creamy chicken and pasta dish and another brought some spaghetti makings which came in handy for a couple of very late comers! I had plenty of cooked pasta still but it was good to open the can of spaghetti sauce for them. The salad was a hit, even James liked it. We also had a jug full of lemonade which went fast so James filled it up again. The party broke up one by one until eventually the last 4-5 left together. They are sure to win their competitions tomorrow!

After everyone ate, they split up for games. X-box games for half and a rousing game of Risk for the others. They've had lots of fun and it was so cool to have a house full of happy noises.