Sedona Hiking Trip

You can't really beat a day outside with family and loved ones. I spent Saturday hiking with my family and my man near Sedona, Arizona. Jeff met John and Micah at my apartment, and T'liese and Joe picked us up there in the truck. Megan had to work and couldn't join us. We left Phoenix at 7:00 AM and arrived at the hiking parking lot by 8:45. It was a four-mile hike to the natural pool for swimming. We couldn't have asked for better weather as it was overcast and only about 85 degrees for both the hike in and out later that day. We spent the afternoon jumping off cliffs, eating yummy meals packed by Joe and T'liese, and enjoying the cool water.

We witnessed a kid who jumped off the high cliff and dislocated his shoulder. Luckily, there was a doctor there, and she popped it back into place. The water was cold and invigorating, to say the least, but it felt good after soaking up lots of Arizona sun. We carried lots of water and enjoyed a lunch of turkey wraps, fruit roll-ups, almonds, and Mike and Ikes candies. T'liese said she felt like our parents because they had packed our school lunches for us!

That evening, when we arrived back in town, we ate burgers at Dluxe then went next door and had dessert at The Gellato Spot. John and I got pretty badly burned by the sun, forgetting to reapply sunscreen before we hopped into the water. It was a wonderful day enjoying the beauty this state has to offer.

Candy Gram for Mongo

Mongo for Mongolian, that is. We went to a Mongolian restaurant in Flint, Michigan on Wednesday. It was my first time to the lovely town, and we celebrated with a fun place to eat! When I walked through the door, my head was looking down. As I looked up, I was surprised to see a huge blow-up Attila the Hun doll names Mongo. I had it all under control until HE MOVED! It completely freaked me out since I wasn't expecting him to be alive! So I got my camera from the car to have photo proof. Me and Creepy Mongo, as I like to refer to him now. We go way back.

Later that evening, we arrived very "early" for a Big Boss Week...8:30 PM. Joe asked if we wanted to go check out the waterfront, so we all piled into the FBO's PT Cruiser and headed to the water. We stopped everywhere that sounded yummy to us and ended up getting homemade ice cream and fresh clam chowder (corn chicken chowder for me, thank you very much). It was fun wandering around watching people and seeing the boats.  Our passengers are both a hoot, and it was fun seeing the town with temperatures above zero, like when we are normally there with Ron.

In addition to the beautiful boat docks, we also found old diving equipment and a portion of the original Berlin Wall. Portland, Maine is exaclty where I would put a portion of the Berlin Wall, so it made perfect sense to us! After flying from 7:00 AM that morning, I crawled into bed around 11:00 PM. Joe Weeks always mean long days and lots of flying, but it really can't get any better.

Canada is America's Hat

Hello from Canada! It was a surprise to end up here, but most things during Joe Weeks ARE a surprise! We went to Winnipeg and then on to Toronto late on the 24th. I didn't crawl into bed until 2:15 AM after flying four legs as Captain, from Milwaukee to Oshkosh to Winnipeg to Toronto. Oshkosh sure looks different without 1,000 airplanes on the field! We will be heading up there for the week of the Airventure in a month, and I am looking forward to it! This will be my fifth year at Oshkosh. It really is like no place on earth! http://www.airventure.org/

I am writing now from Flint, Michigan. This week has been my first international flights as Captain, so it has been fun learning how to do Customs and arrange Canadian flight plans. I learn something every day, which is one of the million things I love about my job.

John and I have started reading scriptures together every day, and so far, so good. It feels wonderful having goals set up together. And I love working together to make ourselves better. He is sweet. Sedona is going to be a blast when the rest of the family gets to meet him! They already love him, as do I.