Taylor in Boot Camp

I wanted to write about Taylor and what he's been up to. After being home from his mission and attending school at BYU-H for about a year he called one day from Provo where he was visiting some friends and told us that he wanted to join the Navy...I wasn't too surprised because he had mentioned it before and I knew he had been considering it for awhile. We told him we would be supportive of whatever he chose, so he enlisted in Navy special forces in January of this year.


In March he started Boot Camp in Great Lakes, Illinois where he mostly studied a lot and did a little bit of physical preparation and graduated 8 weeks later on May 23rd. Robert, Ben, Brian and I went back to Illinois for the graduation. It was a long flight and the boys were tired by the time we arrived and rented a car.

The graduation was unlike anything else we had ever been to.

The graduates stood, mostly at attention, for over an hour while the ceremony took place.

You can see Taylor here, right in the middle. There were a lot of graduates and the security was what you would expect it to be. It was very patriotic, complete with flags and musical numbers.

It was so wonderful to be there with Taylor on this important first step of a new journey for him.

Afterward, we were able to spend the weekend with Taylor...we rode the train into Chicago for the day, to a movie that night and attended church on base with Taylor on Sunday.





After graduation, Taylor will stay in Great Lakes for two months training with the other special forces groups after which he will transfer to the Navy base in Coronado California.

We are very excited for him and proud of him and hope that he will do his best so that he can join this organization of very devoted men who want to protect our country.