Camping trip of the summer!

Well with all of Chad's flight training and new job we were not able to do a lot this summer, but we did finally get away for a weekend to camp.  Labor day weekend we packed up, took the ferry and camped on Orcas Island.  I have lived in WA state my whole life and have never been to the San Juan islands.  WOW gorgeous! 
This is the first year we actually camped with our own equipment.  We got a tent and all the other necessities.  You can tell we are out of practice cause we forgot so many things.  Even important things like a flashlight and camping chairs.  Oh well there was a little town where we got both.  Bummer cause we already owned everything just forgot to put them in the car.  Needless to say we have one more flashlight for our collections and now a total of 4 camping chairs.  We are set!

The first day we explored the island a bit, set up camp and cooked our first meal, hamburgers and corn on the cob cooked on the fire.  Mmm mmm good!!  Sunday we took the ferry over to Friday Harbor and did an ALL DAY kayak trip around the west side of San Juan island!  We were hoping to see the Orcas but missed one pod by an hour and the rest were over by Canada for the day.  Oh well we saw other fun things and just enjoyed being outside.  By the end of the 6 hours I was so sore and tired I could barely think.  But we came back cooked dinner over the fire again and hit the hay by 9:30 I think which is unheard of for us.

Monday morning we woke up when it was barely light, in the pouring rain and wind and got the boat we rented and went out to the lake to fish.  There were tons of trout out there.  But with me not having the right rain gear, and us not being the best of fishermen we only lasted 2 hours.  But by the end we were soaked, cold and sick of the weather.  So we packed up camp and tried to come home.  I guess we weren't the only ones sick of the rain because the first ferry was full and we had to wait 3.5 hrs for the next one and not get out of line.  So we had some breakfast, took a little nap in the car, played some go fish in the front seat, anything to pass the time.  When it was time to go we realized UH OH the motor to the fan in the heater had broken and we couldn't defrost the windows.  After sitting the car for hours everything was fogged up.  So all the way home we had to keep rolling down the windows and wiping them to be able to see outside.  It was not the most pleasant of experiences with it being cold and wet. Oh well, that problem is fixed now :-)

For more pictures from the summer look on the album to the right!

Pictures as promised

Pictures from a weekend of celebration. The dressy pictures are from dinner at the metropolitan grill in Seattle. Wish we had a picture with Billy cause he was there with us and it was very special. Chad's mom was there too don't think we got a group picture...bummer! Then the next day with lunch with my mom and step dad and Chad's aunt and uncle. What a special weekend that was!

Our friend Ann made this cake for chad!  Awesome

Finished!! Now What??

Well our dear friends and family the time has finally come, Chad finished his commercial pilot training.  He got his certificate on the 28th!  WOOHOO!  Praise God.  God has been so amazing through the past three years.  He has paved the way for Chad this entire time, and provided for us so faithfully.  Sometimes I kick myself when I worry about things because when I reflect on the past 3 years I'm amazed.  Since getting out of the Air Force Chad has gotten his airframe and powerplant license, and has become an instrument rated commercial pilot and now works for Boeing.  WOW!  And all debt free...even more WOW! 

Well we are not exactly sure what comes next but Chad is thinking of getting his multi-engine rating next.  He was going to do CFI (certified flight instructor) first but now maybe multi-engine or both at the same time.  I need to take some bible courses and we need to start really praying about and researching which organization we want to apply to. 
So if all goes well (mainly with the house Chad owns) then we want to be applying and starting the fund raising process in a year or so. 

Lots of exciting things ahead for us and we are so excited to see where God is going to lead us.  I will post pictures tomorrow.

Chad and I finally get a weekend together to go camping, yippee for that and thank goodness no worries about studying or flying just having fun!

Trip to the hot desert, aka Arizona

Last weekend I was blessed to be able to go to Arizona to see our friends Josh and Jen.  Jen is deploying in September for 6 months so it was awesome to see her before she leaves.  Chad was unfortunately not able to make it this trip and it was not quite the same without him, thank goodness we have a lifetime for trips together :-)

My first night there we just hung out around their house and relaxed which was nice.  The second night though, we went up to Scottsdale and stayed in an awesome resort, the Hyatt.  Thanks to hotwire we got it for cheap.  We swam in the pool, well we being Josh and I.  Jen had just gotten her smallpox vaccine and was not allowed in the water, but she waded a little. We then went to the Intercontinental and had dinner which was wonderful!  Best pork of my life, and WOW the view and the decor was phenomenal.

The third day we went up to Sedona. I didn't know much about Sedona me being a Washingtonian and all but WOW! Chad told me it was gorgeous but man is that an understatement. It's a different kind of beauty than here. We drove around, went to the state park, then went to slide rock! Slide rock was really neat. The canyon had a stream going through it, the rocks are slippery enough to slide down a small section or rapids, totally cool. Josh and I had a blast doing that, while Jen took video and pictures! Sorry Jen stupid smallpox.

My last day in town we slept in, then went to White Tanks national preserve, and Desert Botanical Gardens.  It was 118 degrees with the heat index and we could barely handle the heat!  But it was great last day together. 

Enjoying the warm weather

Well Chad and I finally got to spend an afternoon together yesterday.  It was a beautiful day so with the little energy I had we took Lincoln to the beach.  It was WONDERFUL.  We put our swimsuits on and enjoyed the water some too!  Thank you Lord for beautiful sun!

OHH on another AWESOME note, yesterday Chad got his certificate of completion of his commercial pilot training program YAY which means he can schedule his official check ride and oral exam.  WOOHOO.  Hopefully in a week or two I will be posting that Chad is a commercial pilot.  Praise God he is good!