Pratt & Whitney Broke my Ear

My ear has finally stopped ringing from the Tunderbird's sneaky, scare the audience while looking another direction, fly-by. It is truly amazing how frightening a very loud, ground shaking noise, such as an F-16 can be. (Pratt & Whitney makes the F-16 jet engine by the way.) Here are a few pictures of us getting up close and personal with the Air Force this past weekend.

Inside the "flying wharehouse" C-5 Galaxy

Nose of the C-5 Galaxy

Todd and me with an F-15 Eagle

Thunderbirds showing off!

Thunderbirds in formation.

Todd checking out a Predator.

Afternoon At Red Rock

Ben, always with the ladies

Todd and good buddy Sam

The picture doesn't do justice to how high he had climbed

Ben the conquering hero

Since we had school off today in honor of Veteran's Day, we decided to take a drive to Red Rock National Conservation area. We called some friends and turned it into a little group outing. It was exactly what I needed to calm my savage inner beast.

I have been feeling a bit of city claustrophobia lately. It could be that we've actually been in the state of Nevada for 2 straight months now (probably a record since we've lived here) without a trip. It could be that we've been focused on schooling so much that we've neglected other areas of our life. It could be that we live in the middle of a city and it occasionally wears on the psyche. Whatever it was, today was the perfect antidote.

The boys were so happy to climb and climb and climb. I think Todd particularly could have stayed for about five more hours and happily explored those rocks. Ben could have as well, but I don't think I could have handled worrying about him falling for much longer (and I have a very high tolerance for his exploring).

As we were wandering around, I couldn't help but think about a recent address given by Elder David A. Bednar entitled Things As They Really Are . If you haven't read it our heard it, put it on your priority list. He talks specifically about how our bodies are an amazing gift from our Heavenly Father. Then he explains that Satan tries to distract us with all forms of media to minimize the importance of our bodies, to live in a world that isn't real (virtual reality), and to distance ourselves from those things that are real. I thought about what he said not in reference to media, but in relation to my own life. As a mother, I think that I sometimes pour so much of myself into the tasks of caring for my children, my husband, my home, church, meals, laundry, cleaning, schooling, nurturing. . . .and on, and on, and on. And while all these things are good things, sometimes these are the very things that distract me personally from things as they really are. Being outside, close to Heavenly Father's creations, away from the bustle of the city, helped me to refocus my perspective a bit more.