Class of 2010!

Congratulations to Josh - our graduating senior this year!

It came down to the wire with one or two classes and an acute case of senioritis, but he got'er done, and graduated with flying colors!


Last Sunday night was the Seminary graduation.

Josh had a tough time with the early morning time - but he was able to make up for missed days and completed all of the requirements!

Tuesday evening was the Skyview High School graduation at the USU Spectrum, where nearly 430 seniors graduated. The program was a bit long - over an hour and a half, but it was well worth it.

It all started with the graduation march, followed by the welcome and presentation of distinguished alumni.

This was followed by a speech by the Top Scholar, and then an orchestral musical number.

The next speaker was the Salutatorian, followed by graduate musical number "Whenever You Remember."

Then the Valedictorian challenged the graduates to "follow your dreams."

Next a skit was presented by 4.0 graduates,

followed by remarks from the Superintendant and Principal Swenson.

Finally the pomp and circumstance,

led to presentation and acceptance of graduates,

after which the diplomas were presented as the names were read, one by one.

Then the Senior Class President invited the graduates to symbolically move their tassels,

followed by the Skyview school song.

The hats then went flying, and hugs and smiles were everywhere - as the look in their eyes indicated something to the effect of, "Okay - what now?!"

The mass of graduates and families slowly filtered outside,

for pictures,

congratulations,

and more celebration!

We went to a quaint Korean restaurant - Josh's request. It was quite similar to the closing scene of Christmas Story - as we had the entire place to ourselves! The owner/waiter spoke very little English. When we asked questions he just said, "More!" Fortunately, the menu had English subtitles, and we ordered the right amount of mostly recognizable and very tasty food.

The gimchee, noodles and seaweed wrapped rice & vegetables were quite good. The soup was a bit spicy, so it was better for dipping the beef or pork.

The entire evening was a bit surreal - it's hard to believe that "little Josh" is actually graduated!! A HUGE THANK YOU to Everyone, both near and far, who, over the years, helped make this day become a reality!

NOW What, Joshua?!

Let the Game(s) Begin!

Landon's baseball season began last week with a road trip to Idaho against the Preston Indians!

Landon pitched the first couple of innings.

Although he allowed a few hits and runs,

He also threw a number of strike-outs.

"Steeeee-riiiike!!"

Our team was unable to mount any kind of an offensive rally, and ended up getting spanked. It was a good effort, wake up call and showed plenty of room for improvement!

Short but Sweet

The forecast for Saturday was not stellar, but Clover and I headed out to Short Divide to check it out anyway. After plenty of "Basic Life" - we were due for an "Occasional Adventure."

We were greeted by a rain shower from the big cloud hanging out over the mountain, so we hang-napped until it passed. An hour later the cloud moved and the wind picked up enough to prompt me to set up.

Chober was concerned that I would leave her behind alone on launch, so I put her sweater and harness on to quell her fears. After pre-flight we hang-checked, walked out to the top of the slot, waited for the start of a cycle and ran off into the blue.

We instantly hooked a boomer that shot us up to 500 feet over as Clobberhead yelped with excitement (or was it fear?!). That thermal promptly spat us out and tipped us nose down to say goodbye. I was high enough then to normally bench up, but the wind was so Westerly that I knew I needed to be higher today and "drift in the lift" to stay safe. The rest of the flight we were in scratchin-survival mode, at or below launch level, unable to find the ride to the top we were hoping for. We were eventually flushed out to the bailout LZ ridge, where I made one turn before our downwind, cross, and final approach. As I went upright I could tell I was going to nail the uphill sweet-spot, with a very light West wind. I leveled off in ground effect, waited a half-second after the flare cues, dragged my feet to burn just enough momentum to allow me to punch it skyward and plant my feet firmly!

I unhooked Clover and she promptly jumped up on me to lick my face and say "thanks for the flight!"

It was not a particularly memorable flight, but nonetheless some nice, safe airtime with my canine-copilot!

Airtime: 45 Minutes!