While organizing 'stuff' the other night, we found quite a few pictures not seen in years. Thought you might enjoy these.
Sunday, June 1, 2008
Thursday, May 22, 2008
As of May 22,'08
Talk about a busy 7 months. Mostly travel. Arlie has been just about everywhere there is a family hostel. There is probably nothing she enjoys more, than spending time with the grandkids. If their parents are around, that's OK too. She has been to Augusta, Greeley, Lincoln, Portland and Seattle, multiple times. (Sounds like a Johnny Cash song). Andy get's to go, now-and-then.
We got a TIG welder for Christmas, so Arlie has been taking a welding class. She does a prety good job. We think she would do well at ship-building. Not so sure about another Alaska pipeline though. You ought to see her dressed up in her welding outfit. She looks good in leather. So far, along with small projects, two small end-type tables have been welded up, to add to the furniture count. One was built to fit a hexagon piece of glass, Leisha gave to us. With the help of Frank (Andy's dad), to measure and hold pieces and offer advice, it turned out great. I'm sure somebody wants it listed in my will. The other was built to fit a piece of black granite we had laying around. Makes a great TV dinner table. The challenging welding is with aluminium. All sorts of tricks needed.
In April we flew to Seattle, and then drove to Montana. Had a great time with Greg, Anja and the kids. Went fishing too. We drove back to Seattle to Frank's 90th birthday party. And to add to the excitement, Marylyn and Andy welcomed a healthy baby boy into the family. 'Gavin' brings the grandkid total to 11. Number 12 (Erik & Nekell) arrives later this year. Doesn't get any better.
As for us, when we're not busy we move furniture. The front room gets rearranged every 2 months or so. Moving the bed from the loft to the middle bedroom, was an excercise in madness. We had to remove most of the steps to get it down. I promise never to do that again. I'll burn it first.
I am no longer in the Training Department for the airline. Back on the 'Line', enjoying the stress-free world of driving the bus. Stress is relative in the Airline 'bidness'. Luckily, my seniority allows for pretty good schedules and trips. Actually, this entry is being written in Lexington, Ky., while on a trip.
More to follow====Andy
We got a TIG welder for Christmas, so Arlie has been taking a welding class. She does a prety good job. We think she would do well at ship-building. Not so sure about another Alaska pipeline though. You ought to see her dressed up in her welding outfit. She looks good in leather. So far, along with small projects, two small end-type tables have been welded up, to add to the furniture count. One was built to fit a hexagon piece of glass, Leisha gave to us. With the help of Frank (Andy's dad), to measure and hold pieces and offer advice, it turned out great. I'm sure somebody wants it listed in my will. The other was built to fit a piece of black granite we had laying around. Makes a great TV dinner table. The challenging welding is with aluminium. All sorts of tricks needed.
In April we flew to Seattle, and then drove to Montana. Had a great time with Greg, Anja and the kids. Went fishing too. We drove back to Seattle to Frank's 90th birthday party. And to add to the excitement, Marylyn and Andy welcomed a healthy baby boy into the family. 'Gavin' brings the grandkid total to 11. Number 12 (Erik & Nekell) arrives later this year. Doesn't get any better.
As for us, when we're not busy we move furniture. The front room gets rearranged every 2 months or so. Moving the bed from the loft to the middle bedroom, was an excercise in madness. We had to remove most of the steps to get it down. I promise never to do that again. I'll burn it first.
I am no longer in the Training Department for the airline. Back on the 'Line', enjoying the stress-free world of driving the bus. Stress is relative in the Airline 'bidness'. Luckily, my seniority allows for pretty good schedules and trips. Actually, this entry is being written in Lexington, Ky., while on a trip.
More to follow====Andy
Friday, October 12, 2007
Latest news
This month has been really good in a lot of ways. We had Arn and Leisha , plus Jim and Inger come to see us in Houston, and then, we went to Seattle, and were able to see Andy and Marylyn, and Frank and Vonda. Then we went to Montana to visit Greg and Anja; back to Portland where we stayed with Erik and Nekell. We got into the RV8, with the plan to stop in Ogden to see Mom and Dad, and then Jim and Inger in Colorado, and back to Houston. And we did, with the exception of stopping in Colorado, because we had some problems in our return flight.
Wednesday morning, Nekell and Analiese took us to the Newberg Airport, and waved us off in our little RV8. It was a beautiful flight up there in the clouds and we were enjoying ourselves very much. We could see the trees and beautiful scenery of Oregon, and saw a variety of clouds in the sky. This was our first cross country trip together and we couldn’t believe that we were actually living a dream that we had had together for many years. I rode in the back seat with a smile on my face for miles. It also seemed like the sky was unfolding ahead of us as there were big stretches of empty sky with clouds overhead and underneath. It was chilly. I was glad for the heat in the plane. We had a great tail wind. We thought about stopping in Twin Falls to stretch our legs but as we were both doing well, continued on. Then the airplane engine stopped. ASR wasn’t expecting that and mentioned that it stopped just like our first accident. Then it started again and ran smoothly. I pointed out that I was proud of myself for not panicking in that situation. We flew a short while and then the airplane ran roughly. ASR said something was wrong. The engine quit again. Andy said this is not good, we are going down. I said we have done this before. I did not feel scared, just more resigned to the inevitable, and started looking carefully at the terrain below us. We were over by the Great Salt Lake, near Promontory point. There isn’t much there beside the lake, mountains and field.
Andy talked to Air Traffic Control, and let the man on the radio know that we were in an emergency situation. The controller asked if we could get to the Brigham City airport. Andy said no. Andy said “This is going to be rough, tightened up your seatbelt and shoulder straps”. Andy Sr. was fully aware of his airplanes capabilities, and of the odds of survival. He squared up to reality, and said his goodby. I wasn’t brave enough to do that. My mind couldn’t go there. I didn’t care to look, and ducked my head.
We hit the ground, the dirt was soft, and not far off was a marsh. The plane lurched like a bicyclist hitting a rock, and flipped over. We were upside down. Our first evaluation of each other was good, we were both alive. I felt like I was pretty much okay, hanging upside down with my face on plexiglass shards, but my weight was supported so that there wasn’t huge pressure on my head. Andy Sr. was wedged into the ground. He could not move his head at all, and his shoulder was extended in an unnatural way almost buried into the earth, and he too was held upside down by his harness. At first we thought that his neck was broken, and most likely his shoulder broken also. At that point we both felt like any physical problem was far better to being dead and it was ok. When he could move his toes we were happy. I had my camera close and we took pictures of each other in our crazy predicament. I deal with stress by talking, and had a captive audience, so Andy Sr. was stuck again! Actually we didn’t know the extent of injuries. Talking hopefully would distract from pain and help with shock. Andy passed me his blackberry phone so that I could call 911. Let me say that I do not know the workings of the Blackberry. I puttered and pressed and called 911 many times and anyone else that I got the number for. I would hate to think that we could have called for help, but I couldn’t figure it out on the phone. It turned out that there is about a mile and a half radius out there where there is no coverage. Guess where we were! But dialing kept me busy, and poor Andy who could have whipped it out and taken care of it, couldn’t move.
Andy’s head was wedged into the dirt. He asked if I could dig a hole. I could reach the back of his head barely. I pulled a comb out of my purse to help, and worked on moving the dirt making him a little bit of head room. Between us we pulled out a clump of a weed. That had to have been annoying him.
Shortly after the crash, we heard an airplane overhead. It circled the full 45 minutes or so, until help arrived. I tried waving a shard of plexiglass for awhile in hopes that the plane would see and know we were alive. That plane was a symbol of hope, a reassuring presence constantly reminding us that help was on the way.
Meanwhile we were becoming more and more uncomfortable. Who knew how long it would take- we both just focused on breathing, and not panicking. Andy Sr. was having a hard time breathing because of his head position. It was difficult for him to breath. My harness was cutting off the circulation in one of my legs. I was hesitant to undo my harness because it was such a tight space that it could put more pressure on my neck on the ground.
Andy asked me to listen- he thought he heard someone calling. I listened but didn’t hear anything.
I couldn’t handle the pain in my leg anymore and opened the harness and fell down. It felt better, but took me some time to get the energy to try moving. I heard someone with a male voice calling Andy’s name, this time Andy didn’t hear it. We started trying to figure out a way for me to turn upright. We were just trying to decide if it would be better to undo the joy stick or for me to use it to try to pull on it when we heard the sound of someone coming towards us with the labored breathing that comes from running.
This man was a member of a medical team that worked for Thiokol. He didn’t know how many people were in the plane, or who we were. We needed to wait for the rest of the crew to lift the plane, but he could push the plane over far enough to give Andy some relief. The rest of the crew came, lifted the plane, so Andy Sr. could release his harness, and we were free.
I was so happy to have the EMT’s and to get out of the plane. They rejoiced with us at our being alive. Andy Sr. had a hard time coming unbent. His head was cocked at a 90 degree angle from his neck, both eyes were bloodshot, and he had the look about him of someone who had been beaten up. He moved around a bit, then felt light headed, and was put on a gurney. Meanwhile we were taking pictures, gathering our things that spread on the ground, and gave our required information.
Andy Sr. went first to the ambulance.
The ground was marshy in places and two of the people carried me over the wet ground. I asked which ambulance Andy was in and they sheepishly admitted that one of the ambulances was stuck in the mud, and their next move was to pull it out.
The ride to the Brigham City hospital was hard. We were traveling on gravel roads and every bump was painful for Andy. He was given Morphine to take the edge off. I asked the driver to slow down, the driver did and kept saying I’m sorry because of the jerking motions the vehicle made.
We decided to call Nekell and tell her what was going on. She could tell that it was bad news, but was very calm, and then Erik said that he would call the rest of the family. We also called Mom and Dad. We barely arrived at the Emergency Room, when Glen, Nancy, Mom and Dad arrived at the hospital. They were excellent support. They waited, and made phone calls, and had Craig drive up to bring us back to Mom and Dad’s. I was looked over, and released, and Andy Sr. was taken into Xray, where they took pictures of his upper body. Nothing was broken! The people at the hospital called us miracles. Craig drove us to Dad’s house, where Kerry was waiting for us. Glen, Dad, Kerry and Craig gave Andy Sr. a blessing, and then it was my turn.
Today we are recouping. Andy Sr. went with Glen and Roger to get some things from the plane. Andy Sr. walks around carefully, but is much better than yesterday. We have had many great phone calls and expressions of concern. We are so thankful for you. And of course, very thankful to Heavenly Father who saw fit to spare our lives.
Wednesday morning, Nekell and Analiese took us to the Newberg Airport, and waved us off in our little RV8. It was a beautiful flight up there in the clouds and we were enjoying ourselves very much. We could see the trees and beautiful scenery of Oregon, and saw a variety of clouds in the sky. This was our first cross country trip together and we couldn’t believe that we were actually living a dream that we had had together for many years. I rode in the back seat with a smile on my face for miles. It also seemed like the sky was unfolding ahead of us as there were big stretches of empty sky with clouds overhead and underneath. It was chilly. I was glad for the heat in the plane. We had a great tail wind. We thought about stopping in Twin Falls to stretch our legs but as we were both doing well, continued on. Then the airplane engine stopped. ASR wasn’t expecting that and mentioned that it stopped just like our first accident. Then it started again and ran smoothly. I pointed out that I was proud of myself for not panicking in that situation. We flew a short while and then the airplane ran roughly. ASR said something was wrong. The engine quit again. Andy said this is not good, we are going down. I said we have done this before. I did not feel scared, just more resigned to the inevitable, and started looking carefully at the terrain below us. We were over by the Great Salt Lake, near Promontory point. There isn’t much there beside the lake, mountains and field.
Andy talked to Air Traffic Control, and let the man on the radio know that we were in an emergency situation. The controller asked if we could get to the Brigham City airport. Andy said no. Andy said “This is going to be rough, tightened up your seatbelt and shoulder straps”. Andy Sr. was fully aware of his airplanes capabilities, and of the odds of survival. He squared up to reality, and said his goodby. I wasn’t brave enough to do that. My mind couldn’t go there. I didn’t care to look, and ducked my head.
We hit the ground, the dirt was soft, and not far off was a marsh. The plane lurched like a bicyclist hitting a rock, and flipped over. We were upside down. Our first evaluation of each other was good, we were both alive. I felt like I was pretty much okay, hanging upside down with my face on plexiglass shards, but my weight was supported so that there wasn’t huge pressure on my head. Andy Sr. was wedged into the ground. He could not move his head at all, and his shoulder was extended in an unnatural way almost buried into the earth, and he too was held upside down by his harness. At first we thought that his neck was broken, and most likely his shoulder broken also. At that point we both felt like any physical problem was far better to being dead and it was ok. When he could move his toes we were happy. I had my camera close and we took pictures of each other in our crazy predicament. I deal with stress by talking, and had a captive audience, so Andy Sr. was stuck again! Actually we didn’t know the extent of injuries. Talking hopefully would distract from pain and help with shock. Andy passed me his blackberry phone so that I could call 911. Let me say that I do not know the workings of the Blackberry. I puttered and pressed and called 911 many times and anyone else that I got the number for. I would hate to think that we could have called for help, but I couldn’t figure it out on the phone. It turned out that there is about a mile and a half radius out there where there is no coverage. Guess where we were! But dialing kept me busy, and poor Andy who could have whipped it out and taken care of it, couldn’t move.
Andy’s head was wedged into the dirt. He asked if I could dig a hole. I could reach the back of his head barely. I pulled a comb out of my purse to help, and worked on moving the dirt making him a little bit of head room. Between us we pulled out a clump of a weed. That had to have been annoying him.
Shortly after the crash, we heard an airplane overhead. It circled the full 45 minutes or so, until help arrived. I tried waving a shard of plexiglass for awhile in hopes that the plane would see and know we were alive. That plane was a symbol of hope, a reassuring presence constantly reminding us that help was on the way.
Meanwhile we were becoming more and more uncomfortable. Who knew how long it would take- we both just focused on breathing, and not panicking. Andy Sr. was having a hard time breathing because of his head position. It was difficult for him to breath. My harness was cutting off the circulation in one of my legs. I was hesitant to undo my harness because it was such a tight space that it could put more pressure on my neck on the ground.
Andy asked me to listen- he thought he heard someone calling. I listened but didn’t hear anything.
I couldn’t handle the pain in my leg anymore and opened the harness and fell down. It felt better, but took me some time to get the energy to try moving. I heard someone with a male voice calling Andy’s name, this time Andy didn’t hear it. We started trying to figure out a way for me to turn upright. We were just trying to decide if it would be better to undo the joy stick or for me to use it to try to pull on it when we heard the sound of someone coming towards us with the labored breathing that comes from running.
This man was a member of a medical team that worked for Thiokol. He didn’t know how many people were in the plane, or who we were. We needed to wait for the rest of the crew to lift the plane, but he could push the plane over far enough to give Andy some relief. The rest of the crew came, lifted the plane, so Andy Sr. could release his harness, and we were free.
I was so happy to have the EMT’s and to get out of the plane. They rejoiced with us at our being alive. Andy Sr. had a hard time coming unbent. His head was cocked at a 90 degree angle from his neck, both eyes were bloodshot, and he had the look about him of someone who had been beaten up. He moved around a bit, then felt light headed, and was put on a gurney. Meanwhile we were taking pictures, gathering our things that spread on the ground, and gave our required information.
Andy Sr. went first to the ambulance.
The ground was marshy in places and two of the people carried me over the wet ground. I asked which ambulance Andy was in and they sheepishly admitted that one of the ambulances was stuck in the mud, and their next move was to pull it out.
The ride to the Brigham City hospital was hard. We were traveling on gravel roads and every bump was painful for Andy. He was given Morphine to take the edge off. I asked the driver to slow down, the driver did and kept saying I’m sorry because of the jerking motions the vehicle made.
We decided to call Nekell and tell her what was going on. She could tell that it was bad news, but was very calm, and then Erik said that he would call the rest of the family. We also called Mom and Dad. We barely arrived at the Emergency Room, when Glen, Nancy, Mom and Dad arrived at the hospital. They were excellent support. They waited, and made phone calls, and had Craig drive up to bring us back to Mom and Dad’s. I was looked over, and released, and Andy Sr. was taken into Xray, where they took pictures of his upper body. Nothing was broken! The people at the hospital called us miracles. Craig drove us to Dad’s house, where Kerry was waiting for us. Glen, Dad, Kerry and Craig gave Andy Sr. a blessing, and then it was my turn.
Today we are recouping. Andy Sr. went with Glen and Roger to get some things from the plane. Andy Sr. walks around carefully, but is much better than yesterday. We have had many great phone calls and expressions of concern. We are so thankful for you. And of course, very thankful to Heavenly Father who saw fit to spare our lives.
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Guess who? We had a 5 ship formation flight on Saturday. The guy in the little red airplane in the distance was tagging along. He was taking videos. We did a flyby for a Church group picnic, then headed for the Lake. We flew up and down the lake a couple times, putting on an airshow for the boaters. We flew four formations: echelon, V, double slot and trail. In the trail formation we did three barrel rolls in a row. With 5 airplanes, it looks like a kite tail, going in a circle.
Boy did we have fun.
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