Band Camp BBQ!

Since Band Camp is two weeks long, there is a little bit of a lag between the weeks over the weekend. Sure, there are concerts all day on Saturday, and a rehearsal on Sunday, but otherwise there's a void of social activities. Never fear, the Rath's are to the rescue!

We invited some of our closest friends -- and especially the ones we only see when they are in town for Band Camp -- and hosted a dinner of hamburgers, hot dogs, hash brown caserole, chips, cookies and ice cream cake (and "family friendly swill").

Here's a picture of (from L to R) Kelly Montgomery, her son, Jack, Baby Regan and John Carroll.


Brandon Haynes and Tamarie Sayger discuss the finer point of elementary general music counting systems. Yes, we did talk about band stuff. But, hey, that's what we all know and do and that's how all of us know each other, so it seems fitting... Well, Kelly and Kayla talked about motherhood. So, one token non-band conversation.



Jack looks intently while his picture is taken.

While cooking a hot dog for Jack, I managed to knock one off of the grill itself and onto the (less clean) grill lid. So, being that that one was runined, I tossed it into the alley for a stray dog to enjoy later. About ten minutes later, I loaded up a plate with five more and picked it up in an imbalanced way dumping that load. All five went straight to the alley. Fortunately, we had back-ups! But later, when Jack dropped his chip on the ground, having witnessed my earlier hot dog cooking abilities, he decided to throw his chip into the alley also!


L to R: Greg and Kelly Montgomery, Brandon Haynes










L to R: John Carroll, Tamarie and BJ Sayger.







We had a great time and are considering making this an annual get-together!

This one time... at Band Camp...

Sorry! There's just no other way to title this post!

WT (West Texas A&M University) Band Camp started this week. Here are some pictures of the drumline class I am assisting with:

The Latest on Regan

Regan is really starting to get more active and nowhere is this evidenced more than when she lays in her "under the sea" play-thing.

She can't quite reach the toys hanging abover her, but when Kayla or I moves them for her or especially plays one of the little music toys, she gets very excited!

Sleepy Time...

Saturday morning of the Pampa Camp came no earlier than any of the other days. But I think Friday night probably lasted longer... Here's what the drumline did when given their ten minute break:

Pampa Drum Camp

I was fortunate enough to get asked to lead a drum camp in Pampa. Pampa has a special place in my heart: that's where my Dad grew up and where my grandmother and aunt lived until they passed away. Pampa also has a very rich band tradition and it was very cool to be a very small part of that.

The snares rehearse a roll exercise. They are already locking some rolls!

Garrett concentrates on playing his split part correctly.

Andrew works on some tenor licks. His lips aren't really black. I'm not sure why it looks like that! Andrew is definitely not GOTH!



The cymbals hard at work.








Dustin and Jesse. Jesse has "plugs." They're kind of like earrings, but bigger (and scarier).






The keyboards in the front of full ensemble rehearsal. Robin and Courtney (and Andrea, not pictured) really came a long way!








Tenor Madness!







The snares, getting the hang of playing at 3 inches.

Independence Day!

So, we went to Elkhart for the Fourth of July and had a really good time:

It wasn't very hot there at all, but our nieces Kylie and Aubrey insisted that they get in the pool. They wanted Regan to join them, so we had to explain that she doesn't like having here bath, let alone getting in a swimming pool! Besides, do they make bathing suits for 6 week olds? Ummm, unfortunately, I know the answer to that...

Kayla's aunt and uncle Betty and Gary were there. If you ever have to play a board game with Betty, make sure you are on HER team! She's a pretty smart cookie (well, she married Gary, right?). On the few occasions I've had to be on her team or side on a board game, I've never regretted it, because we always dominate!





Monday afternoon, Rick and Sarah and I got into a very competitive game of "Dogopoly." Of course, that's just a stylized version of Monopoly. Who won? Sarah. Who went bankrupt first? Me. I'm just glad I don't really handle my own money like I did on that game...










Here's Kayla's dad, Brad with the helmet to his new motorcycle. I think he should get a side car for it, but he doesn't seem to agree with me on that...







And Grandma Peggy with Regan.









Kayla had the good idea of getting Old Navy flag shirts for all three of us. Here's a picture of the three of us in our matching shirts.








Kylie and Aubrey with Regan.








Aubrey poses next to a napping Regan.







Then on the night of the fourth, we went to watch the city's firework display.















Regan, at her first fireworks display, with her Mom. Regan did well and didn't even get upset with the loud firing!

Independence Day Concert!

It's been a busy couple of weeks. Last week, the Amarillo Symphony had a special summer concert in Palo Duro Canyon with country swing band "Asleep at the Wheel." We rehearsed on Saturday at WT and had a sound check and concert on Sunday night.

I fully intended to take my camera to the canyon with me, but didn't realize that I didn't have it until we were already in the park. I really wanted to take pictures of the canyon and document the experience. That evening would yield several "photo-worthy" events that would cause me to continually kick myself for forgetting that camera!

First, it would have been fun to take a picture of the four of us who commuted: myself, Brandon, Kristen and David. Then, it would have been great to get some pictures of the interior of the canyon and some pictures of the stage area. But, did I mention that I forgot my camera?

Then, the band that we played with, "Asleep at the Wheel," was very entertaining and are seasoned performers. I don't really care for the type of music that they play, but I really enjoyed hearing them because they are so good at what they do. It reminds me of the famous Duke Ellington quote: "There are only two kinds of music: good music and bad music." Having a picture of some of the band's rehearsal would have been cool.

But the most interesting thing to have had a picture of would have been the sporadic fires caused by the fireworks at the end of the show. We performed "Stars and Stripes Forever" to close the concert while fireworks shot behind us. When we were done, we looked behind us to see what was probably a dozen different small brush fires that had ignited. The drummer from "Asleep" would then comment to me that it's hard to remember every show that he's ever played, but he would for sure remember one where they had set the place on fire! Luckily, the Canyon Fire Dept. was on hand and put the fires out in no time.

It sure would have been cool to have had pictures of all of that...