Sunday, January 12, 2014

It's a new year!

Wow, 'long time since we've posted here. We brought back some bad germs I'm afraid, and it took us almost two months to recover. Toss in Christmas festivities and all that goes with ending up the year and that's about all the activity we've been able to muster.

We are pretty much back on track now, and we got ourselves organized enough to venture past the county line, south to San Antonio for the U.S. Army All-American Bowl in the Alamo Dome. What a great experience!

The pre-game activities included ceremonies honoring those currently serving in the Army, veterans, and a pinning ceremony for two service members.

Kendra and a few of her fellow AMVET post members were among the veterans honored. She's shown here with friends from  AMVETS post #115,  James Clements and Bryan Fuentes, and with the two Tuskegee Airmen who were also among those honored.


They created a grand entrance for the active military..... almost as exciting as fireworks!

Musical entertainment was provided by an active military band. Then the presenting of the colors was performed by a group dressed in Revolutionary War uniforms. Very impressive over all.

The roster of players included 90 senior high school students from all over the country. It's so uplifting to see such hardworking kids. And I don't mean just the players.

The band and flag team was All-American too, with practically every state represented. They put on  a fantastic half-time show....better than any we have seen at a college game. The technical crew also included high school students.


We thoroughly enjoyed the game, and as an added bonus the West team won!

Three of the four touchdowns were made by Royce Freeman, who is a UofO Duck recruit. Budda Baker, another Duck recruit from Washington, also played.

There were two other Duck recruits on the West team, and it was fun to see them this early in their careers. We'll enjoy watching them as they develop their skills over the next few years as college players.

Jaxen enjoyed the game too, happily clutched his little football during the whole game, though he did try to make a pass onto the field a few times, his father managed to rescue it just in time. I think he was a bit in awe of the goings on, but it was no where near as loud as a Duck game, so at least the noise wasn't too much for him.

We're looking forward to tracking those new recruits!