Cairn board break routine

Andrew board break kick

Andrew board break #1

WINNER!!

 Some time ago, Andrew had entered an essay contest, the annual VFW essay contest.  I had him enter just as a school writing assignment.  I liked the topic and thought he would too.  We had a lot of fun working  through the writing process and the contest entry process.  We met lots of older Veterans and overall had a good time.  We turned in the essay back in November and kinda just forgot about it.  

A couple days ago, I casually mentioned, "I wonder who won the VFW contest?"  Andrew wondered too but we moved on and didn't think much more about it.

Then Andrew received a check and letter in the mail.  

He had WON!!  

He has won the first step at the post where he had turned in the essay.   The letter stated that his essay will now go to the regional division and they will declare a winner in the next couple weeks.  

Andrew is super excited and has a little more confidence in his writing.

Now, here is the winning essay.  There was a word limit of 250 - 400 words.  His essay was 396 words.

My Pledge to Our Veterans

     I pledge allegiance to the flag… We all know the Pledge of Allegiance, but I make a different pledge. Just like Military members make a pledge to the Constitution, I make a pledge to our Veterans. I pledge to respect them. I pledge to remember them. I pledge to help them. I strive to teach others about the sacrifices our Veterans have made throughout history. I have found several ways to honor, cherish and remember Veterans.

    I joined Navy Sea Cadets so I could learn about the military and their history. I work hard on my coursework and advancements through the ranks. 

    I attend Honor Flight return ceremonies so I can thank them personally. It is always thrilling to see so many people in the airport hall for those Veterans returning from their Washington D.C. trip. 

    I joined Children of the American Revolution so I could learn about the American Revolution and help commemorate events and people, such as Veterans. Throughout my years as a C.A.R. member, I have done a lot of volunteering that helps Veterans, such as cleaning military sections of cemeteries, raising funds for memorials such as the Freedom Memorial in Aurora, Colorado and the War Dog Memorial in Colorado Springs, Colorado and writing thank you notes to current deployed members. 

    I help place wreaths at Fort Logan Cemetery with C.A.R. and the Navy Sea Cadets so we can honor and remember them. We take pictures and map out where headstones are so we can send the family a picture. 

    I help raise service dogs for Freedom Service Dogs in Colorado. This organization gives dogs to Veterans with PTSD, spinal cord injuries or traumatic brain injuries at no cost. 

    But I do not only support the Veterans, I also support their families. At Christmas, we hang stars on our tree with a fallen soldier's name, rank, and hometown. We take a picture each year and post on the Facebook page to let the family know we are still remembering their family member. These stars are wrapped carefully at the end of the year so we can hang it again the next year. 

    In all these ways, I respect, remember, help and teach others. I continue to strive and I pledge to find new ways to help, to support and to honor our Veterans.

Wreaths Across America 2022

 Andrew's Sea Cadet unit volunteered at Fort Logan National Cemetery today to help with the Wreaths Across America event.  We met at Grandma's house.

Then when all the Cadets had arrived, we drove over in white vans to the cemetery.  5 cadets were the Color Guard that presented colors.

The rest of the unit was the backdrop for the ceremony.

After the ceremony, the unit led the general public to the section where they could lay wreaths.

As soon as the wreaths were released, some members of the unit helped hand them out to the general public, while others taught the public how to lay the wreaths respectfully.

After the general public left, the unit took a picture in front of one of the wreath trucks.  

Cairn and Skylar also volunteered at Wreaths Across America with their C.A.R. Society.  Some of them helped hand out wreaths with the Sea Cadet unit, some helped teach the public, some removed wreaths from graves that had the Star of David or were going to be placed by the family during grave specific time.

I was also there.  I was the Area Leader for general public placement area, I was also the lead volunteer for the Unit assigning them tasks as needed.

After the general public left, Cairn, her boyfriend (Andrew), Bob and I laid a wreath at Bob's Dad's grave.  Then we had 23 grave specific wreaths to lay at the Columbarium.  We spent time with each Veteran, read their name aloud, figured out what branch they were in and what war they served and took a picture for the family.  We took our time, making sure each was remembered.  

Andrew left with his unit to head back to the NOSC to finish is drill weekend.  The girls and I headed home, exhausted but feeling like we had accomplished a lot and honored our Heroes.

League Cadet of the Year!!

 It was the best kept secret in the house since September but tonight Andrew finally learned that he was the League Cadet of the Year!!

Andrew was supposed to attend the Navy Dinner in September and receive his award but that was when he was so so sick.  He didn't leave the house for month he was so sick.

Navy League doesn't have a meeting every month, so we had to wait until November.  We got him there by saying he signed up to do Color Guard for the meeting.  Now, it was easy to get him there but how could we get everyone else there without making it a big deal.  

Well, thankfully Cairn wanted to attend, and she was coming home for Thanksgiving, so Dad picked her up in Fort Collins and just drove straight to the dinner.  They took nice clothes to change into.  Skylar said she wanted to go with me since I had been gone for a few days.  I dropped off Andrew at the front door, said we would park and see him in a couple hours.  When Dad and Cairn arrived, we went into the meeting room because we knew the Color Guard wouldn't be in there yet.  The Color Guard came into practice and Andrew says that is when he saw us, but he didn't react, and he didn't come over to see why we were there.

They start the meeting, the Color Guard presents the colors, 

Everyone sits down and then the MC says, "I want to welcome some of our guests, first off, our League Cadet of the Year, Andrew Carr."  

He stands up and everyone claps and then they ask him to introduce his guests - now at this time he had no idea of any of this, so this was a total surprise!!  He did a great job introducing us and then the meeting went on.

Later in the meeting, they call Andrew up to present his award.  Commander Hall said lots of nice things about Andrew about how hard a worker he is and a good leader and role model.  They even talked about how is trying to get SLPO (Ships Leading Petty Officer) for the first time in 17 years.

Super proud of this boy and so proud that his sisters wanted to be there too to support their brother!!

Camp Timberline 2022

 Andrew went back to Camp Timberline again with his unit.  He is LPO this year so he was telling his unit what to do.  (It was very cold).

Andrew will be cross decking soon, so they need to see who the next LPO for his unit will be, so they try out different people.

Practicing handcuffing each other.

This is where they stay.

Andrew had his boards during the weekend and he is now PO1.