Veteran's Day

Yesterday was Veterans Day. Most of you had school off because of it. I hope you got a chance to thank a Veteran that day, for giving us the freedom we have. Freedom isn't free and in this politically charged atmosphere too often people seem down on the USA. I don't even mean people in other countries, I'm talking about Americans- where did our national pride go? Hopefully on this day that we remember those who served and fought we can remember that this nation is great because of our many freedoms. The freedoms that allow us to criticize, allow us to worship our God, allow us to live in peace.

My aunt sent me this cool audio clip and I found the youtube video to match. A man tells the story of where the National Anthem, The Star Spangled Banner, comes from.
Enjoy.
Side note- at the end of the video is a push for some guy running for president. Now I am not endorsing him, I don't even know who he is so don't get all in a huff if you don't like him or his party (voting is important and I will vote but I'm not voting now so I don't know who any of the people are really). The rest of the video is about history- which is vital knowledge, a lot of complaints and problems in this country- if people would only look at history I think they would be more patient. Anyway- sorry about the last part, I don't know how to take it out so you'll just have to deal with it.

Marine Corps Ball!!!

We got to go to 2 different ones this year! That was great since Jim has been gone the last 2 years and we hadn't been to a ball since 2003! The first one was in Las Vegas at the Tropicana hotel. After the ball we went to see these dueling pianos. People put in requests and the piano guys sing and play back and forth- its really fun and everyone sings along:)

The second ball we went to was at Pechanga in Temecula. The general was at this ball so there was a live marching band and the ceremony was even grander then normal. We had a great time doing dinner and dancing.

Let me tell you a bit about the ball. It is a party celebrating the Marine Corps birthday- the day and year that they came into exisitence. They start by bringing in the flag with a full colorguard. THe play the National Anthem and the Marine Corps Hymm. The flag is then retired (taken to the back of the room and set in a stand and the cake is escorted in. The senior guy there cuts the cake and a piece is given to the guest speaker, then the oldest Marine present and then the youngest. It's all pretty cool. There is a lot of tradition and symbolism in things. Like they set this table for POW's and MIA's and everything on the table means something from the size of the table to the sliced lemons on a dish- very cool stuff:)

Here is my super cool dress that I got on Sale!!!

We had such a great time!

Happy Veteran's Day!!!

Well many of you know it was Veteran's Day this weekend becasue you got a holiday from school. Did you also know that it was the Marine Corps' Birthday? Yup, the Corps turned 231 years old on Nov. 10- which is older then our country!!! Every year they have a grand ball to celebrate their birthday. My husband and I got to go to 2 of them this year!!! I will have pictures up soon. Everyone gets dressed to the nines and there is this cool ceremony. I'll explain all that in a later blog- this one I wanted to share some cool Marine stuff with you- so enjoy!!!

Veteran's Day

While I hope you all enjoyed your day off from school to celebrate Veteran's Day, I just want to take a moment to say thanks to all the Veteran's out there who have sacrificed so much for our freedom and I hope you do the same. Next time you see a serviceman or woman, current or former, make sure you shake their hand and thank them for being willing to do such an incredible service to our country. So a big THANK YOU to all our troops, past, present and future!