What a way to begin your 30th birthday weekend! After two false and disappointing attempts, Katrina finally experienced her wedding present from me, her beloved husband of 1 year 3 months and 6 days. Here is a shot of pre-jump conditioning.
Once all the crew (pilot, camera man, tandem master, and crazy skydiver extra, plus beautiful Katrina) were ready they boarded the small plane at Richland airport. The peanut gallery included Ryan, Ellie, Aidan, Ismo, and Christina. Rock on guys, rock on! Thankfully i was excluded from that group due to my marital status with the jumper.
Yes, i was nervous about my wife jumping out of plane at 12,000ft. I prayed and said to myself, "well Lord, here she goes." Watching her fall for several minutes was exciting. She
spun around once her parachute opened after a 40sec free fall. Katrina's parachute is the tiny green dot. Katrina spoke loud enough for us to hear her conversations nearer the ground. The landing is a rush for the observer at ground level. The tandem enters the last 50 feet at speeds of 20-30+ mph. The cool part was how soft Katrina landed with he instructor on their bums in nice grassy field. The birthday weekend had began. Will will try to upload the DVD to You Tube in the next few weeks.
And without further
delay, here is the last sighting of a middle east crazy man. Katrina was forced to watch this 1980s VHS in Davenport, WA... somebody call Home Land Security.
Looking northwest near Diamond Lake, WA. Katrina and I would love to introduce you to our new friends Creighton & Karli Knight. They are responsible for blessing us with two nights away at their parents lake house. This picture was taken on Friday morning as we hiked for 2 hours near the lake. This property includes 200 acres and one day will be fore sale. I hope the Knight's purchase it! Creighton and I agreed that it would be prime paint ball territory for the young adults at our church. As you can see, the fall weather was near perfect for getaway. We played lots of board games, ate yummy barbecue steaks, and fresh baked chocolate chip cookies. Both couples had their separate bedrooms. They let us take the master suite with full bath over looking Diamond Lake. Creighton & Karli are those special type of friends that come into your life with encouragement, peace, wisdom, and fun. Their daughter "Allie" brightens up each room she enters. Katrina and I slept in two days in a row which was needed. Katrina has been putting in extra hours at school to get a new 5Th grade rotation model up and running. Of course the wood fireplace in the great room gave a rustic flare to our atmosphere. I was able to spend Friday morning typing out most of my sermon for Sunday. God spoke to me in fluid ways that helped me preach on Sunday with a deeper sense of peace and ease of communication. What a setting to work on a sermon! We are grateful for our new friends Creighton & Karli! Here they are followed by a picture of us at the lake. 
