I love a parade

I love parades. My favorite part is the marching band. Well, my favorite part is when the flag goes by but then I love the marching bands. Even the most horrible song sounds amazing played by a good marching band.

I have been a band mom since the day Donovan started Marching band the summer between his eigth and ninth grade years. This is my 8th year as a band mom, and I love it. Every summer I look at the sousaphones and remember how small Donovan was and how neither he nor I could lift it into the back of the suburban. By the end of Oct. that year we had both added some muscles and he had added some heigth.

The next year we started pulling the band trailer to parades and competitions. We have pulled the trailer to almost every parade and competition since then.

Trevor joined the band and he also played sousaphone. Then Matthew joined, but he played trumpet. He chose not to be in the band this year, his senior year. He wants his senior year to be a take a break year. Last year Ethan joined the band and he also chose to play sousaphone. The band director and I figured it out once, if Jacob and Brandi also do marching band, by the time Brandi graduates I will have been a band mom for 17 straight years! He said he would retire when my kids are through. I have been band parent president twice and probably will be a couple more times. Somehow last year I became the official photographer and filmer? videographer? of the band. Photos are ok because I can get Jess to fix them in photoshop, but the video software that came with my camera doesn't allow me to put the videos on DVDs so that you can watch them on a DVD player. Any suggestions?

Here are some photos from today's parade. They got uploaded out of order, but I have too much left to do today- laundry, baths, Brandi's hair, chaperone the stake dance- to take the time to rearrange them.

Eric Rushton on Trumpet. What a showoff. Silly boy.

The band getting ready to warm up

The end of the parade route which is a whole whopping 4 blocks!

Color Guard.

I am so glad that they got rid of those stupid velvet dresses they used to wear for parades. Can you say heat stroke?

We were all so excited when the band had enough money to purchase a mace for each of our drum majors

Brandi was playing around with my camera. I hadn't posted a picture of my new haircut, so here you go. It needs a trim, though

Plumes waiting for a hat
Ethan before the parade
Ethan's sousaphone. These sousaphones were old when Donovan played on them. We finally got enough money to purchase new ones. Not a moment too soon, I would say, as the sousaphone that is not put together yet? It is held together in spots by duct tape!!

Drum line

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Indeed.