Family Day at the Airfield

I was a lucky duck when Todd's unit invited me to Family Day. This was a chance for all the wives, mothers, girlfriends, kids, etc. to come watch their pilot man do his thing. It was really cool to watch Todd's helicopter and know that it was moving because TODD was working the machinery, steering it, doing all the work. I felt like a mom spying on her kid at driver's ed.

The sweetest part was that I got to go up into the control tower and give Todd some commands over the radio. You know, a little bit of, "Ninety-nine Charley, winds are calm, lane 5 panel 2 clear to land." And then he would respond back, and land his 'copter. The first time, I was a little hesitant, afraid I would say the wrong thing or whatnot. But I stayed up there and got to give Todd permission to land and take off five or six times, and by the end, I had the total radio twang in my voice, fast and furious. The control tower guy told me I was "a natural." It was awesome!

Todd got a little too comfortable, as well. The last time he gave his, "Ninety-nine Charley, coming in to lane 5 . . . " or whatever, and ended with, "Thanks, babe!" The boys in the tower thought that was hilarious. They were like, "Should I get on the radio and say, 'What did you call me?'"

I worked the video camera, and Todd spliced it all together into another sweet video for you to watch. He likes to watch it and "check out his hover," etc.

Feast your eyes on Todd the Pilot!

Good Quote

I read this in the Ensign magazine today, and loved it. It's good for me to hear these things. I even wrote it on a little card to put on my bathroom mirror so I read it again and again.

President Gordon B. Hinkley said this in the program for his wife's funeral a few years back:

"It isn't as bad as you sometimes think it is. It all works out. Don't worry. I say that to myself every morning. It will all work out. Put your trust in God, and move forward with faith and confidence in the future. The Lord will not forsake us. He will not forsake us. If we will put our trust in Him, if we will pray to Him, if we will live worthy of His blessings, He will hear our prayers."

The Weekend

This weekend Todd and I did something neither of us had done in years - we had a sleepover with our friends! We invited Troy and Rebekah over on Friday night. They came in their pajamas, arms full of sleeping bags and blankets.

We made sugar cookies, watched movies, played games, stayed up late, slept in late, and went out for breakfast. It was tons of fun. We are so grateful for the Wikle's friendship. They are really keeping us sane while we're out here in southern Alabama.


So people around here have been getting their yards decorated for Christmas. Something that's really popular around here are the blow-ups. You know, big Santa, big Grinch, big whatever. It seems like if you've got lights on your house, you've also got a blow-up in your yard. Everyone has them.

Well, I spotted a real treasure about a block away. This really says it all about Alabama. Check it out.

Yes, you really are seeing Nascar Santa. Those ARE elves changing the tires on his car. Welcome to the South!

Random Thoughts

1. Alabama Word of the Day:
"They better get theirselves warmed up."
Todd truly heard one of his teachers say that today.


2. Yesterday I took my seventeen kindergarteners to the bathroom after lunch. There was a wild ruckus in the boys' room. I heard them shouting and saying it smelled really bad in there. One of the boys was descriptive enough to say that it smelled like crap. The boys came out, one and two at a time, excitedly telling me, "It smells like crap in there!" It was kind of funny that they all wanted to tell me.

But then there was Stuart*. Apparently he's never heard the word "crap" before. His sweet little mind made a connection with the closest thing he knew about. He came out of the bathroom holding his nose, and told me, "It smells like a dead crab in there!" I laughed so loud!


3. These kids have a one-hour nap every day at school. During naptime, I've been pulling kids one at a time to come make a snowman craft for Christmas. After nap, they were all talking about their snowmen and were really excited about them. Brittany* was asleep the whole time and hadn't made one, hadn't even seen one. I guess she was really confused about the whole snowman thing. Anyway, she asked me,

"Why is the snow trying to mess with us?"

Where do they come up with these things? She sounded ready to get into a gangsta fight or something. Seriously. . .

*Names have been changed.