Flying High...

SSSOOO I wrote this post a couple days back and posted it... I just went to look at it today and it wasn't there and half the post was gone...so I had to re-write a lot of it...so now it's a new post....=)!!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Saturday we were guests on the Linsley Express. The story begins three short years ago..when Steve celebrated his 40th birthday!  For his birthday I gave him a plane ride with a friend, Mark Linsley.  Well as life has it, he never took the flight. Amongst Mark's busy life....his job and his 6 kids and our life and snow and rain and wind....it just never worked out...until now! I even felt guilty tearing Mark away from his kids' Saturday morning ball games...A HUGE Thank you to him..and his wife Dusty for allowing him to go!! 

I'll have to admit it was a beautiful day!

Round 1....

Steve, Troy & Trent.  The plane is owned by Mark & his dad.  It didn't scare me too much that they had purchased the plane after it was destroyed by a hanger door and the middle area was crushed...no, that didn't scare me at all!!!!  Mark's dad had spent a year rebuilding the plane.

They tell me this is a Cessna 170...which doesn't mean a lot to me...but to some of you that means a lot! Like how many passengers you can have, how long it is, how heavy it is, how much fuel you can put in it, the wing size and on & on & on

and they are off....

and they are back

On Round 2..

Mark told Tyler to hop in the pilot's seat..what? wait? he's never flown a plane before!?!?  Mark was going to ride co-pilot!  Trent and I were riding as back seat passengers.

Here Mark is giving Tyler a short flying lesson...

Me re-thinking my decision to ride.  I'm not a huge fan of heights or pilot training

I think I can do it....

Mark & Tyler going through the take off check list.  Fun Fact about Mark----his Grandpa started the Aviation program at Grand Rapids School of Bible & Music (now Cornerstone)

Cool Cat Trent.  The kid never even batted an eye on the flight!

(This was the first time Troy & Trent had ever been in a plane)

Tyler first time flying high! He did a great job!

Those to were chatting as if we weren't cruising around the sky.  

'Hello boys we are in the air!!!'

Trent said "mom look out the window and enjoy the ride!!"

Our town...Kent City

High School in upper right corner

our house..red truck in driveway

our church..Kent City Baptist

Coming in for a landing...great job Tyler and Mark!

Tyler in front of the airport that he took his first flight at!

Some of you might not know this but Tyler has been attending KCTC in Grand Rapids his Junior & Senior year.  He gets up at 5:20ish every day to catch the bus that eventually transports him to the Kent County Airport.  KCTC owns a hanger next to Amway's where they teach Avionics and Aviation Maintenance..he attends the latter.  He has really enjoyed the program and it has given him a great foundation to pursue a career in aviation. He are so proud of Tyler's diligence in following through with the program!!! 

A HUGE thank you to Mark for encouraging Tyler and allowing him a taste of flying...a day he will never forget!

Homecoming 2010

With Homecoming, comes Homecoming games....and boy was it loud and fun! I have never been up to the High School during games till now! There was a lot of energy in that gym. And how much fun for these kids, to have a day to bond together and work together as a team, to win for their grade! They all purchase class shirts and get all decked out in red/black/white. So much fun!These kids are watching the lip sync competition. 1 group competes, from each class that lasts a max of 4 minutes. They were all good and you could tell the kids put numerous hours in after school practicing...but the Seniors sync was outstanding....the best!Seniors pulling in the tug-o-war..always a favorite! (Tyler is not in there)Tyler participating in the wheelbarrow races.He's the barrow here....Tyler doing the three legged raceTroy watching his class compete. That's Jordan, his cousin, to the left of him. Jordan is a big boy and Troy is little for his class....lol!Troy in a hula hoop raceThe football players on a KC fire truck in the Homecoming parade! We love this about our small town.....we can shut the town down for an hour to run a parade through main street! Yes! What a great place to live! Oh....and did I mention they won!

Up next...Homecoming Dance pictures!

Letting GO....

We are venturing into a new phase of life....letting go! We have had teenagers for awhile now but this is a new side of it.....driving with friends. Having a moody, disrespectful, hungry, lazy, sleepy teen is one thing....but this is different.

Tyler went with his friend Isaac to a movie yesterday. We thought this would be a great lesson for him on independence...you know, figuring out how to survive with out mom (mostly mom) and dad there to help. They left at 4pm and decided to see Seven Pounds. All was good....Tyler is a pretty responsible driver. He hasn't had a tremendous amount of winter driving though. We did our parental duty of reminding him to be careful on the road , drive slow and double check before changing lanes......

We were confident with his abilities! We got a call around 7pm stating that they had decided to go to the BK lounge for some burgers....strange thing for teenagers to do??? We were okay with that...and feeling quite proud that he had managed to get to Star Theatre, get tickets, find seats, find the van at the end of the show......

We received a call around 8pm from the parking lot of BK...I answered optimistically. "Mom...we left the lights on and the battery is dead....but Isaac's brother is on his way to give us a jump" Whew..only a dead battery. He later told us how they were planning to get a jump from a stranger and never let us know....I guess the 20 year old girl that was trying to help them didn't know how to use the jumper cables either. Plan B...call Isaac's brother..that plan worked.

He made it home around 10:30...not bad...only 6½ hrs! We all grew last night...Tyler grew more into a man that will some day be able to go to a movie & BK without me. I grew patient and learned he CAN do it without me. Steve well..I'm not sure what he learned...he's pretty laid back. Remember he was a boy just like this not too long ago!

We have the distinct privilege of attempting to raise three Godly men. We not only have to teach them to survive in the world but to be different in this world. To shine a light. They are only on loan to us for this time. We are in the process of letting them go....to be men...men of God. Warriors for HIM. Our prayer is that we can look back some day and feel confident with the job we did. We know we will not be perfect but that we will be satisfied with the job we did.

Practicing letting go!.....