State Champions!

We went to Sunny St George for the Red Rocks Invitational Marching Band State Championship.  It was a beautiful weekend, the weather was wonderful.  We dropped Rachael off at the school to ride the buses to St George and Richard and I began our drive to St George.  We got there and helped to mark a soccer field for the kids to practice on

Yes, that is Richard drawing lines on the field. 

The kids arrived and practice began

First the warm ups

Then running thru the show - again and again and again

I have enjoyed watching Rachael practice.  I have gone to lots of after school practices, and seen the girls do the same 16 counts over and over again.  Then move to the next 16 counts and do them over and over again.  I don't know how they do it.  They work hard in the heat of the summer, the surprise rainstorms, in the cold of a first snow storm.  I don't know that I could have done what I have watched Rachael do each and every practice.  I am so proud of her, the leadership she shows as a captain, the persistence she shows as she does it again and again to get it right.  At the practice today they changed something at the end of the show - looking forward to see how that looks in a performance. 

After practice the band had an Awards Banquet Dinner.

Rachael and the other Guard Captains presented a gift to Tiffany and gifts for all of the Guard  girls. 

The next morning started early for Richard and I.  Back to the stadium to help get things ready for the day.  Richard was putting barriers out, helping to park buses  and semi's, doing whatever he sees need to be done.  He got do do one of his favorite things for part of the day, drive a golf cart around and take food and drinks to volunteers around the area.  Me - I had a cush job.  I got to sit inside the stadium and make sure that an area of seats reserved for the performing band directors stayed clear for them.  It was fun to be able to just enjoy all of the shows.  I was able to sign Mom and Dad up for a shift each of keeping the directors area clear, so we all got in free.  It was perfect.

It is fun to see all of the shows.  I enjoy the small bands and the big bands, they all put in a lot of time and practice to get here for the State Championships.  I was able to zip over to the hotel and help Rachael and one of her roommates with their hair.  All to soon the 5 American Fork High School Marching Band Buses arrived, the Guard already in uniform and the band members putting their's on as soon as they arrived. 

Their 45 minute warm up begins, they go into their normal warm up routine.  The next time I see them they are entering the field

And the show begins

Before I knew it the show was over.  The last show of the Utah Season, it is done, and I'm not ready for it to happen,  This has not been my of the show that American Fork has done, but I enjoy watching them each and every time, and I will miss it.

All that is left is the awards

All of the trophies waiting to be awarded.

AMERICAN FORK HIGH SCHOOL MARCHING BAND and COLOR GUARD - recieved

FIRST PLACE

and was crowned

UTAH STATE MARCHING BAND 5A

CHAMPIONS!!!

Way to go American Fork. 

Bring on the Bands of America Regional Championship tomorrow.

Davis Cup Invitational 10-18-11

Thank you, to my Sister, Amy, her husband, Jay, and their boys, AJ and Jordan for coming to the Davis Cup Invitational Marching Band Competition to watch Rachael.  It was fun to share the show with them.  

Bad lightening in the stadium, and excitment in sharing the show with the Bagwells, translates to very few pictures from the show.

So here is a group picture:

This is a great group of girls.  They have truly come together as a team, the veterans have been good to work with the newer girls.  When someone is struggling, there is someone there to give a hug, an encouraging word, or to watch them spin and give them some help on getting it right.  It has been a wonderful experience for me to show up at practice when I get off of work and watch them work together to make their show WONDERFUL!
My nephew AJ did the video today.  So it is from a different perspective.
 

I was glad that tonight was one of the nights that Rachael got to do the Awards Salute, since Amy and her family was there to watch.

Rachael with the FIRST PLACE trophy.  It is pretty BIG.  Such a HAPPY smile on that beautiful face.

Rachael with Allison

Rachael, Erin, Marquel and Eryka

This was the last show of the regular season.  Next up the State Championships in St George.

GOOD LUCK!

10-15-11 Bridgerland Invitational Marching Band Competition

October 15th we traveled to Logan with the Marching Band for a competition held there.  The last couple of years when we have gone there the weather was AWFUL, so to have a sunny beautiful day was a welcome change.

The Color Guard has their own routine that they do to prepare for a competition, they stretch out, and then have a timed warm up.  The timed warm up period is the same for every competiting group.  They get 45 minutes to warm up.  It is fun to watch as they practice some parts of the show.  When their time ends they work their way to the entrance to the field and ususally have about 15 minutes that they wait there "in ready" to go on. 

As I sit in the stands knowing that our band is on next it is hard to watch the band that is performing, I am looking to the edge of the stadium for the kids to arrive, and that is when I get excited.  There they are holding their flags and front drops, wishing each other well for the last time.

Then they come onto the field and the fun begins:

I enjoy watching the saluate - each group of drum majors has their own unique saluate.  They do their saluate when they win one of the caption awards or "place" in their category.  When a "FIRST PLACE" band is awarded all of the groups do their saluate to say Congratulations.  It is a neat thing to watch.

It is hard to see, but we won all four of the Caption awards and FIRST PLACE.

At the end of the awards, the drum majors return to where the band is waiting for them.  They salulate to the band and then the band can started celebrating.

Gabi, Elizabeth, and RACHAEL, the Guard Captains admire the trophies.

After the band is done they load up into the buses and begin their way home.  Richard and I along with the rest of the band dad load all of the equipment onto the semi before we begin our way home.    Before entering Logan Canyon we decided to get a drink for the ride home.  While we were stopped we got a text message from Rachael that bus 4 had gotten a flat tire and they were stopped off the road in the canyon.  We found them and were very glad that everyone was okay.  The first three buses had gotten way ahead of the last two so it took a while to get them turned around and back to the bus with a flat tire.  By the time the buses had returned there were about 15 cars of parents waiting.  They put as many kids as they could onto the good four buses and some of the kids went home with their parents that had stopped.  They were able to get everyone home safe and sound.

Here is the Bridgerland show.

Great SHOW!!!

2011 Rocky Mountain Invitational Marching Band Competition

Yes, this is our life, Marching Band Season, Winter Guard Season, Cycling Season.  Begin, End, Repeat.  But you know what?

WE LOVE IT!!!!!

The band competed at the Rocky Mountain  Invitational Marching Band Competition on October 11,2011.  It was a beautiful night.  I still enjoy watching the show, it doesn't get old for me at all.  Some people say "Oh, I say them at the Nebo Tournament, I don't need to watch them again."  But for me, I can try to watch something different, it is hard to watch the WHOLE THING, each time I seem to pay attention to something different.  I noticed that during the drum feature, the drummers put their drum sticks together at the end and it is AFDL.  It looks really cool.  There is always something new to notice each time

Each week Richard is helping with a different piece of equipment.

I really like the swing flags and am glad that they added this feature to the show.

As the band enters the field, the Color Guard has to "set" their equipment. 

Rachael is in the far right of the picture.

Another GREAT show.