Catching up a bit

We got Max his first pair of snow pants and jacket. In this picture he was all ready to go on a four-wheeler ride with daddy. Doesn't he look soo cute! Max was our little motocross racer for Halloween. It was a shock to actually have him wear his costume all night and not one tear! We took him trick-or-treating for the first time and he loved getting all of the candy. He was very disappointed when it was time to go home.

Braves vs. Astros

We had some time the other day so we went to the Braves, Astros baseball game. It was a lot of fun. Max did really well. I thought he'd get bored fast but he actually got into it. Every time a Braves' heavy hitter would step up to the plate they would blast some Indian song and the crowd would move their arms back and forth like a tomahawk. Max was right there with everybody cheering and moving his had back and forth. The game went 14 innings we left around the 12th. Having lived in both cities we figured that no matter who one..we'd win. I guess with that philosphy we lost too, right?

Korri and Max in front of The Braves Drum

Six Flags

Right now I'm on reserve which means that I fly a really crappy schedule and the airline can call me when they want. I have to be ready to fly within two hours of a phone call from the airline. Last month I flew a lot. There are days though when you wait for a phone call.

So here's what we have figured out:

There happens to be a Six Flags, within an 30 minutes of the airport. So rather than sitting around waiting a phone call...some of my pilot friends, Korri and I bought season passes to pass the time! We go to the park (with a uniform and travel bag in the car) and pass the day there. We've only gone a few times but it's a lot of fun. Here are videos (not ours) of some of the roller coasters there.

This is the fastest: This is the scariest: This one makes you a little sick: I didn't film any of these so it wasn't us screaming....but we did. Max has a good time too.

A Day in the life...

Here is the best way to describe my average work day.

Our Visit to Weiser Air Park

We live a few blocks from this small air strip. It's 33 feet wide and 3500 feet long. Landing on it is like land on a dirt road, but there are a lot of people who fly there. Today we decided to swing by to pick up a book.

As we were pulling into the Air Park I said to Korri, "I wonder if Max will realize these are the airplanes that fly over the neighborhood." Just as I said that Max screamed and started kicking his feet in excitement. "Does that answer your question?" Korri sarcastically asked.

While I went in to get the book Korri chased Max as he ran from plane to plane checking out the tires, admiring the wings, and props. At one point a plane taxied by, Max stopped dead in his tracks as it passed, waved then went on. I got permission from the girl in the small shop to let Max sit in one of the planes.

I opened the door, Max ran as fast as he could and climbed up the strut trying to get in. Once he was in the seat he stood there in awe looking at the controls, instruments and radios. After checking out the cockpit he grabbed the yoke and swung it from side to side, while talking his own coded language.

When it was time to go Korri put him in his car seat and that's when the temper tantrum started. He was so upset to leave! As we drove off he cried and waved at the planes. It took a few miles and a sour straw candy for him to calm down. I decided that next time I have a day off and the weather is good, I'll take him flying with me.

Photos of Max

I was going through my hard drive and found these picutes of Max. Sorry, they were taken from our video camera so the images are really grainy. He loves walking around with this flag. Every time an airplane flys by Max will stop whatever he's doing, find it in the sky, point then wave while saying "DADOO". It's really cute. He does the same when he sees big trucks, boats, & trains.

It's been a while, since I've logged on. But I have good excuses.

I can't believe it's been two months since my last post! There is a lot to update. So I'll just do a quick summary now, since I have time, and add details later. Let me say that the last two months have been busy, stressful, exciting and rewarding. As a reminder I've been training with an airline. Since my last post, I passed the company, aircraft systems, and ops written exams. I moved onto the sim portion of training, worked through that. Took and passed my oral exam and flight checkride with a company check airman. Then last week finished IOE or initial operating experience (flying revenue passengers with a check airman). Korri and I have relaxed for a moment because I'm done. Well kind of done, now comes a year of probation and rough times for the airline industry. I only saw my family a couple of times in the past few months, so the best part is that I've spent some time with them. We've had some good times. Here are some photos I look like a limo driver! but I'm not although that might be a cool job. The CRJ When Max saw me in my uniform he looked at my hat and laughed! It only stayed on his head long enough to take the picture. I got bored and plotted out places I've flown to. The Red dots are places since being with this airline, blue are places I'm flying to this month and Green are places I've flown into before getting on with an airline. Most of these places I've flown into multiple times. I was really bored. Family time shopping, Max actually likes this hat. More family time!

KITTY!!!

We have the most interesting cat! First off he's huge. Before we put him on a diet he weighed around 25 pounds (about what Max weighed). He's lost quite a bit of weight. He LOVES laying in boxes and bags. When he's outside and we come home he'll come running to the sound of our truck. When he's inside and wants out he'll meow and scratch at the back door. Same as when he wants in. He takes up the whole bed a night and wakes us up in the morning. Max loves playing with him and when he gets annoyed the cat will just leave. He reminds us of a dog. He's a pretty good cat/dog.

Remember these 3D posters?

The trick is to relax your eyes while staring in the center. If you have problems click on the image and it will go to a new page. I like the bottom one and the butterflies the best.

I've been tagged!!!

A. The rules of the game are posted at the beginning.
B. Each player answers the questions about themselves.
C. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

10 Years Ago (Feb. 1998):
I was in the MTC ready to go to Colombia. Wow, It's been that long? I didn't keep a journal but if I remember right I got to Bogota on February 10th. Ten years ago today! I heard that the Bogota airport was in a dangerous part of town. When I left the airport there were a lot of people waiting outside, most of them grabbing at us trying to take our bags. Then we got into the mission van and went to the Mission Office. Late that evening I heard police sirens and a lot gun fire from just outside. It really set the tone for the next two years.

5 Things on my To-Do List today: The day is over, so I'll tell you what I did today:
1. I went over to Flight Safety and worked on checklist flows.
2. Came back to my hotel room and studied CRJ limitations.
3. Went out for some air.
4. Came back to my hotel room and studied the electrical system on the CRJ.
5. Watched the NASCAR Shootout.
(tomorrow I'll probably to the same thing, Except watch the Pro Bowl insteed of racing.

Snacks I enjoy:
I love Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, Nuked Marshmellows and Grapes.

Things I would do if I were a billionaire:
1. Make sure my whole family was taken care of.
2. Take care of my kid's, siblings', nephews' & nieces' educations were paid for.
3. Form a charitable organization that wasn't corrupt.
4. Buy a CRJ (that plane is amazing).
5. I'd flight instruct. It's really fun and rewarding teaching others to fly.
6. Wake up, the reality is....well I just don't see it happening.

3 of my bad habits:
1. I take REALLY long showers...I think I ran the hot water out of the Hyatt Hotel in Atlanta.
2. Most nights I kick Korri in my sleep......a lot. Sorry sweetie ;)
3. What ever I bring into the truck, stays in the truck! It's usually a mess.
4. I avoid the dirty draipers

5 places I have lived:
1. Provo, UT (most of my time was past here)
2. Spanish Fork, UT
3. Springville, UT
4. Ponte Vedra Beach, FL (in northern Florida, next to Jacksonville. Very nice place to live. Just a few blocks from some beautiful beaches....I'd like to get back there some day.)
5. Houston, TX (the arm pit of the USA...It's actually not bad. I just didnt like my job all that much and that's the ONLY thing I did there. Hopefully I'll start to like it now. There are a lot of neat things there.)

5 jobs I have had:
1. Cherry factory in Payson.
2. Frandsen's Rec Center. I built motorcycles.
3. Bill's Appliance. 9 years, I really miss working with my Dad and I like fixing things and learning new stuff.
4. Standardization instructor. (Jacksonville Beach, FL) I trained new flight instructors and stuff.
5. Training Center Manger/Chief flight instructor. (Houston TX). Same company as in FL. It was a promotion to the most difficult thing I've had to do. ATP asked me to go to Houston and establish a new location. It was about 3 months before I was able to take a weekend off.

5 things people don't know about me:
1. I was thrown into fence and had a gun held to my head while being robbed on my 21st birthday. It's actually a really funny story. They took everything I had but a big bowl of rice I was carrying (It's also a long story)
2. I'm scared of heights, but I love flying.
3. When I was on my mission I was impressed with the fact that I'd marry somebody that went to my high school. But I also felt that I'd marry somebody from California. I forgot about that until after Korri and I got married. We went to the same high school and she's from California.
4. One year I played trick for Halloween. I got on my motorcycle and chase older kids down the street until they'd drop their bag of candy.
5. I've wanted a gorrilla costume for years now. My plan is to ride my motorcycle around town with it on. Maybe race a motocross race with it on. Korri laughs at me but some day I'll be laughing at her with a cool gorrilla costume on.

Where do you see yourself in 5 to 10 years.
5 years: I see myself with a couple more kids. I want to get on with Continental mainline by then. They're a good airline that is well managed, right now anyways.
10 years: Watching my kids grow, Korri and I will be enjoying the benefits of traveling. Hopefully I'd be with Continental flying international trips with enough seniority to either be a flight instructor within the company or a Designated Pilot Examiner for the FAA.

SUCCESS!!!

We finally got Max's picture taken! Korri has been trying for a month to do this. She would get him in his hair and outfit on then go out the door to get his picture taken. Over and Over. Here's the story:

Korri walks in to the photo studio in the Wal-Mart. They walk into the studio and look around for a moment. Max takes a good look and begins crying. "Oh Well, maybe he's tired. I'll try again tomorrow."

The next day she goes through the same routine. Max is fine the whole way to Wal-Mart, once they walk into the studio he begins crying! She decides to leave and try a couple days later.

A few days later they go through the same routine. They go into the Wal-Mart, once Max saw the studio he begins crying!!!

I was a bit skeptical and thought maybe Max was tired. A few days later we all went to Wal-Mart for grocercies. I told Korri I was taking Max to test something. We walked up to the studio entrance. As I got close Max got nervious. Once I walked in he began crying! So I turned around and left. Outside of the studio Max stopped. So I turned around and started heading for the studio. Instantly he began crying. So I turned around and walked away in disbelief. Of course Korri is watching this from a distance laughing.

A couple weeks later we stopped by Wal-Mart to pick up some things for me to take to Atlanta. It had been a long day. Walking into Wal-Mart Korri got embarressed because I left Max's left shoe in the truck. He spilled water on him so he was all wet too. As we left I grabbed Max and began walking to the studio. Just to see what his reaction would be. He was tense but relaxed when I showed him the pictures on the wall and the toys in the back. But he would not let me put him down. Korri stood in awe as we walked throught the studio. We decided that this may be our only opportunity. I sat Max down on the stool. Korri kneeled next to him and took off his other shoe and the photographer began snapping pictures as I made him laugh. It was hard work but the pictures were worth it. (The airplane was a toy we had bought him that day and he has no shoes!)

Last Flight in the Seminole

Well I had to stardardize the guy taking my position in Houston. I killed his left engine to test his reaction to the emergency. He did alright. It was the first time in over 200 hours that I had been in the left seat so I told him to shut down and secure the engine. Knowing It'd be my last flight in the plane I love so much; I told him to give me the controls. I took the controls and started flying at 5,500 feet on one engine. I was having SO much fun that I told him to take a picture of me flying the plane with the feathered engine. He looked at me kind of funny then I said that if he wanted to pass and keep his job he take some pictures. He did.

These Photos are at 5,500 feet on one engine (the right engine was running at full power). Notice that the left engine prop is not moving and turned into the wind. It was a fun flight....I passed him and got him on the insurance. I took a few landings though. I'll really miss flying that Seminole; Hope the Jet is as much fun.