Uncle Chris Flies Into Town

A few years ago, my brother decided to join the Army, and become a helicopter pilot.  Not just any regular helicopter pilot.  He wanted to learn how to fly a Black Hawk helicopter.  It's taken him almost 4 years of serious training, and hundreds of hours in the cockpit, but he graduated from flight school about 2 months ago, and is now a fully-certified helicopter pilot.  So now, several times a week, he's in the air, with his unit in the Texas Army National Guard.  When we talk on the phone, I can tell he LOVES it.  One thing he said to me about flying a 25 million dollar aircraft sums it all up..."It's fun, but you gotta be careful and remember what you're doing."  I'll bet! :-)


There's a small, local airport just 15 minutes away from our house...David Wayne Hooks Memorial Airport.  Of course, that's a mouthful.  We just call it "Hooks," as does everyone else around here.  Chris has flow in once or twice before on assignment, but we've missed the chance to see him.  


Last Saturday, Chris was on assignment to fly a VIP (aka, a general) down to Sugar Land, and then fly back up north to Hooks to refuel.  He texted me when they were about to land, and we met him at the terminal.  I was excited to see him, and so were the kids.  After all, it's not every day your Uncle comes into town on a helicopter.  I only wish Joshua and David had been able to see him too, but they were on a Boy Scout camp out in Huntsville. 


When we got to Hooks, Chris had already landed, and was waiting for us in the terminal.  I say terminal lightly, because it's really just a big room with several large chairs and a bench.  But the kids saw the helicopter right away, and gave their Uncle hugs.  Chris was in the middle of buying t-shirts for his flight crew, and bought one for Joshua too, since he missed out on the fun.   I thought it was really sweet of him.  


After he introduced the crew, Chris walked us out to the helicopter pad, and the kids were able to walk up to the Blackhawk, sit in the cockpit, and look inside the rest of the aircraft.  Needless to say, the kids were in AWE.  I mean, on a scale of 1-10, they told me later it was a "20" and, "beyond cool."  LOL.  


Here's the pictures I managed to take.  It was SO windy that day, I'm surprised they're even in focus.  The camera was shaking like a leaf!  

Once the kids had their fill of the Black Hawk, we went back to the terminal so Chris could file his flight plan.  The rest of the crew hung out there, and my kids discovered a vending machine in the back...yee haw!  Of course, I had to buy a couple of snacks and a bottle of water to keep them happy.  But since they were patiently waiting for almost an hour, I relented to their pleas. :-)  I was secretly happy they were so well behaved.  


Once Chris was done, the crew headed back out to fly to San Antonio.  I teasingly told them to make sure and give my brother a hard time, since he's still considered a "rookie."  They assured me they would. ;-).  It took quite a while for them to put their flight gear on, and get the helicopter ready...I'd say almost 20 minutes.  The kids got pretty restless, but finally, they took off.  I couldn't get any pictures, I just couldn't.  Theresa wouldn't let me put her down, and I couldn't hold the camera steady with one hand.  Oh well.  But it was pretty awesome to see them take off.  They hovered for about 30 seconds, and then headed southwest.  One of the crew members left a window open and waved to the kids...that was fun.  


I'm thrilled we finally got to see Chris doing what he's worked so hard for.  I am DARN proud of him.  The same brother who used to torment me as as kid is now a full-fledged Black Hawk helicopter pilot.  What an accomplishment.  We love you Uncle Chris!

My Three Pretty Girls

Like any good mom, I wanted to get all 5 of my kids together for a picture Easter Sunday.  Well, I was only able to wrangle the 3 girls together...barely.  Theresa was fussing pretty hard by the time I got off about 5 shots.  She doesn't like to be contained in any way anymore. Oh well.  

I love, love, love dressing my girls alike.  I wonder how much longer I'll be able to do it.  After all, Rebecca is 10, going on 18.  Seriously y'all.  But thanks to a tip from a good friend who told me I "had" to go to Burlington Coat Factory, I actually didn't spend that much money.  I took Rebecca and Christina with me, and they picked these dresses out themselves.  Yeah!  Oh, and this same friend made the matching hair bows for me too.  I have good friends, don't I? ;-)  

Happy Easter everyone!