Ethan participated in his second Pinewood Derby as a Cub Scout. 2007 was Ethan's first year to participate, and Ethan & Dad built a camouflage-painted battle tank (complete with gun turret). It was so much heavier than the other cars, it simply flew down the track. He came in 2nd place! Due to being over-allocated with school and work projects this year, we decided to race the tank again instead of creating a new derby car. We raced over to the competition after Ethan and Tristan had each played their soccer games in the chilly weather, so they were both wearing their warm sweats topped with their soccer gear. Ethan didn't win the race this year, but we did have a ton of fun watching the race!
On April 19, Dad hosted a really cool event called a Fly-In at Best AeroNet's hangar located at Grayson County Airport. Chris, Ethan, Tristan and I drove up to Sherman with Mom that morning to attend the event, dropping in quickly on Kate and Roger's garage sale in Anna to say goodbye to her, as they were moving all of their belongings to their new home in Florida.
We arrived at the Fly-In just as the airplane race was concluding, so we saw the winners zooming in to collect their prizes. The hangar was covered with airplanes of all shapes, sizes and ages. Many people had brought their planes to display and to sell, and it was fascinating to see them. There were a few military planes on display, including some GIANT ones that I can't name. There were lots of different types of exhibitors, helicopter rides, a bounce house, real military jeeps (with loaded guns included!!!), and an incredibly delicious catered lunch. It was incredible, and next year we're going to invite our Cub Scout troop to attend, because it was SO educational. I often reflect on how many unique experiences our family has because our dad is a pilot with an airplane hangar and a fuel company. You're so cool, Steve!
So we were barely finished with that fun when the next experience happened. Both Clark, my brother in the MBA program at BYU and our sister Staci, in the Psychology program at BYU, were graduating! Of course, Mom & Dad would go up to Utah to see them, but we siblings who WEREN'T graduating decided that it would be fun to plot with Mom & Dad to plan a surprise for them.
Individually, Dallin, Lana and I all spoke to Clark and Staci and gave our sincere regrets... we simply couldn't make it up to Utah for graduation. Too many other commitments, couldn't get time off work, couldn't get babysitters, etc. We shared our legitimate reasons for missing their walk across the stage. Chris and I even sent emails to the family expressing our regret that we couldn't be there in person to celebrate their accomplishments. But see, Dallin, Lana and I ALL had our airline tickets to Utah purchased & ready to go! We weren't going to miss this for the world!
Mom & Dad flew from DFW to SLC the morning of April 23, and Chris' mom Kathy gave Dallin and I a ride to the airport that afternoon. Our flight was supposed to take off around 5:00 pm, landing us in SLC a couple of hours later and giving us plenty of time to get to Provo that evening to surprise both Clark and Staci. However, our flight was delayed before we arrived at the airport, and delayed again once we checked in. When we finally boarded the plane it was after 8:00 pm and there was a thunderstorm approaching. They came over the intercom system at the gate and asked everyone to board as quickly as possible so we could beat the storm. I have NEVER seen people so efficiently board an airplane! We were ready and willing once we were in our seats, and then the pilot told us that our flight couldn't take off right away because they had discovered a mechanical problem in the pre-flight check. We all stared at the rain starting to pound the windows of the plane and knew this wasn't going to be good. About an hour later, every single American Airlines staff member on the plane got off and were replaced by an entirely new and fresh crew. Somehow, we knew this foreboded a long wait. They finished the work on the plane, but the thunderstorm had stationed itself directly over the airport. We couldn't go anywhere until the lightning had stopped.
Every time we got an update from the pilot about how much longer it would be, I called Dad or Mom on my cell phone and delayed our arrival. Poor Schteevie was the one planning on coming to Salt Lake to pick us up, and he was constantly "on call." By the time it neared 11:00 pm in Provo, they decided to have Lana go surprise Clark & Staci on her own, since her flight from Mesa, AZ had arrived with no delays. I was excited to hear all the details of her surprise, but I was so helpless and frustrated and disappointed that we couldn't be there all together. After their third our fourth "delay announcement," I simply bowed my head and sobbed. All in all, Dallin and I waited for over 4.5 hours parked on the tarmac in front of our gate. We finally took off about 1:00 am CST, arriving in Utah at 3:00 am MST. 7.5 hours on the plane! Our heads hit the pillows in Aunt Carol's basement guest room at about 4 am, which was 5 our time. To add insult to injury, it turns out that all of our luggage was left on the tarmac in the rain instead of being loaded on the plane before the thunderstorm hit, so my clothes were literally dripping wet when I pulled them out of my suitcase. *sigh* Thank goodness we weren't staying in a hotel, and Carol & Larry were kind enough to lend their dryer!
It wasn't the best experience to kick off the trip, but we MORE than made up for it over the next few days. We dropped in on Clark and Guinevere the next day, and Clark was appropriately surprised and thrilled to see us. After a bit of time spent with them, we went to BYU campus to surprise Staci at her job in the General Studies counseling department. They were having a reception for the graduates, so she was expecting Mom, Dad & Lana to join her. When she saw Dallin and I with them, she burst into tears and hugged us so tightly. It was the most fun surprise!
We proceeded to party and enjoy ourselves together. We went to Staci's yoga class, we went to dinner at several awesome restaurants, we shopped and went to movies and picnicked in the park and played and laughed and celebrated. Graduation was awesome, and of course being together as family was awesome. I am so grateful to have such darling brothers and sisters and parents! Congratulations again to Clark and Staci. I am thrilled for you!
1 comment:
Such fun at graduation. Thanks for putting in it writing so we can always remember. For your information: we picked up Lana at 8:30 p.m. and drove straight to Staci's apartment, so their first surprise happened at 9:15 p.m., then we went to Clark's and surprised him, just after Guinevere and Ben arrived in their car from California for the week. All fun for sure. Great story.
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