Troopers

A lot has happened this past week. The biggest event was getting Shaun to Troopers in Casper Wyoming. The Saturday before they left we had a BBQ for the other 2 Utah Valley kids in Troopers (Anastasia Ellis and Riley Hoggan) and their families. It was sort of a send off party. I had also prepared a little family home evening for them about the Armor of God. I had found dog tags (to wear) and key chains (to put on their backpacks) to present to the kids to remind them all summer of who they are and the standards they have, and that they always need to keep their armor strong. They are determined to be the good examples for the other Troopers. It is good they have each other for a support system to do the things they know are right (and not do the things they know they shouldn’t). These are pictures of the dog tags and key chains.

Riley Hoggan, Anastasia Ellis, Shaun Walker

Shaun has another friend, Brad, who tried out for Troopers in November. Brad decided not to do Troopers because it was an atmosphere that he didn’t want to be part of. There was too much swearing etc. There was still a hole in the euphonium line and the Brass captain was trying to get it filled. He really wanted Brad to come and fill the hole so he called Shaun and was able to talk to Brad. Well, Thursday, which is the day before we left, Brad decided to come. He had only Thursday afternoon to get everything he needed. Shaun went with Brad and his mom and helped them find the right stuff and they were able to get it done. So there are now 4 Utah Valley kids in Troopers.

I was the driver to take them to Casper on May 22, 2009. We had the 4 kids, and Riley’s mom and all the gear. The van was extremely full. Riley’s mom had never gone to a camp and wanted to see what it was all about so she came with us and then stayed, her husband was coming the next day. He couldn’t leave on Friday because of work. They were staying in one of the exhibition buildings in the Casper fair grounds. I stayed overnight and I had only brought a blanket to sleep with. I assumed that it would be like the school that I stayed at before at a Troopers camp, but I woke up about 3:00 just freezing. I hope they got it warmed up a little for the kids. But then I would guess that they had warmer stuff than the blanket that I had. There was a dog show going on at the fairgrounds, and the dogs started waking up at 5:30 a.m. It was fun seeing all of the pretty show dogs. There were some beautiful ones. I watched the brass section do warm ups for awhile, and then I left for home. It was hard to leave Shaun there for all summer, but I am excited for him that he has this opportunity. Our house is going to be pretty quiet.

Martins Cove
On the way home I passed Martin’s Cove, which is a place that some of the handcart pioneers got stuck in Wyoming in early winter snows. Ray’s great and great, great grandpa and grandma were some of the pioneers that were there in that early snow storm. His great, great grandpa died about 2 days after they were rescued, and his great, great grandma and his great grandpa (who was about 14 years old) made it to Utah. I stopped to see the visitor’s center. It was interesting to see the memorials that were there to honor those who died. That area of Wyoming is a real desolate, harsh place.

I have a cute story to tell about Shaun, when Shaun was little he had this little tiny stuffed dog that he loved and always slept with, which he named Bouffer. Bouffer has been lost in Shaun’s closet for years, but was recently found so Shaun could let Braxton play with him. When we got to Wyoming I was cleaning out the car to make sure that everyone had all their stuff and there was Bouffer sitting on the back seat. Shaun came out and saw Bouffer and put it into his pocket. I thought it was real cute that he wanted to take Bouffer with him. This is Shaun with Bouffer.

Shaun with Bouffer

This is Brad (the one who just decided to come the day before), Anastasia, and Shaun at breakfast on Saturday. I don’t know where Riley was.

This is theTroopers kitchen. Fred (the Troopers director) told me that it was falling apart and that they would be getting a new one next year.

The kids have decided to read their scriptures together every morning. They started on the first day.

Fred welcoming them to a Troopers summer and giving them instructions for the day.

Troopers brass section getting ready to start warm-ups on Saturday. Shaun is on the left with the Troopers sweatshirt and hat with an O on it. (O for Orem High)

Brass section doing warm ups.

I just got a call from Shaun on May 26 – he called this morning about 3 minutes before I turned on my phone, I called back and he had turned his phone off. He left a message that he has 1 hour at breakfast to get up, get ready and eat, 1 hour at lunch, 1 hour at dinner, and 1 hour to shower and get into bed. He did call back at lunch and said he is doing good, and that they are working hard. They are going to start giving them 1 ½ hours at dinner, so maybe he will have more time to let us know how he is.