The Big 5-0 for George

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MY GEORGE-EE...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!!!

 

Mike celebrated his 50th birthday this past week!  And we celebrated with fun, family and flying.

You read that right...flying!

 

I saved up and hired Utah Paragliding to take Mike on a tandem paragliding ride.  They were awesome!  Jonathan kept in touch with me throughout the week about the weather, and even texted me at 7 am with an update, and Hal did all the flying with Mike.

 

No one told Mike what we were doing, and if you know him at all, you know that may not have been the best idea.  ~ANXIETY~!  He stewed and worried about it for 2 days before, up until we pulled into the parking lot and I showed him a sign of where we were.  I kept telling him I would tell him if he wanted me to, but he held tough and was relieved he was going paragliding and not having a surprise party for him.  (Someday this man will trust me!!)

 

When I showed him the sign, Oakland asked what we were doing there.  Cali said, "Papa's going to jump off that mountain."

 

"NOOOOO!  I don't want Papa to jump off a mountain!"

 

I woke him up early so we could get to the site by 8:30.

 

 It was REALLY windy up on top so he had to sign them in the van so they didn't blow away.

 

 And everyone else hung out in the van waiting for him and Hal to get ready.

(Brandon, Alex, and TJ)

 

 (Ash with a cold, red nose held by Kierra)

 

 (Kierra holding Ash, Mo, Colby, Oak, and Cali)

 

 

 Getting suited up

 

 

 Hal and Mike walked down the hill a ways...

 

 ...Hal took the 'wings' out of their container and hooked each of them up...

 

 ...the fam got out of the vans long enough to watch...

 

 ...they took a few running steps...

 ...and they were off!!

 I took this picture to show how far away they got at times.  And to show the guy with the red wings; he just flew there.  In that same spot.  The whole time...

We got to watch a few hang gliders take off...

Mike and Hal did some see-saw moves...

 



This is a tandem hag glider taking off.  Notice the dog...

That's the dog in the middle of the bottom of the picture.  If the pilot isn't doing a tandem flight, the dog jumps on his back as he's takin off and goes on a ride with him.  The lady in the blue coat had to yell, "NO!"  "STOP!" until the 2 had actually taken off so he wouldn't jump on the pilot's back.

 



Then Hal and Mike swirled down, down, down...

 



...took 2 or 3 steps when they reached land and that was it!  It was that easy!

 



After the 45 minute ride, he was all smiles.

 



I guess I did ok with his 50th birthday present!?!

 



And then the girls threw rocks!  What a day!

 

We went home and vegged for a few hours, then we all went to lunch, including both sets of parents. 

 

I love this man so much!  He is my best friend and he makes me happy.  I hope that at least for this day, he could feel some of the joy that he gives me!!!



Alex the Amazing part 2 with pictures (from Alex's perspective)

I had a great day yesterday.  I shouldn't have because my sugars were crazy, but I laughed throughout the day and worked hard.  Then came my favorite time of day; wrestling!  It was a bit different than most practice days.  We still had practice from 2:45 - 5:30 but then all our parents were invited to come watch us in an intramural scrimmage.  That's wrestling-ese meaning we got to do a match against our own teammates.  My mom came and took some pictures during practice warm up and then my sister took pictures of the match.  They did OK.  It's hard to see my muscles ripple via pictures, but they tried their best.

 

 

 

 

Here's a great butt shot my mom took (she can be soooo embarrassing) but I wanted to show this because check out my form! Everyone else around me is squatting, but I am able to keep my legs perfectly straight!
 

 

Here's another technique of mine; roll around like crazy while everyone else sits still stretching their legs.  It keeps my opponents guessing, even during warm ups!

 

 

 

My mom took this picture of me with a few of my teammates.  I don't know why that kid is sticking his tongue out at my mom, but I thought it was a good pic anyway.

 

 

When coach called us out of the stands I gave a wave to my adoring fans.

 

 

 Then I sat where coach told me to and waited....

 

 ...and waited...

 

 ...and waited.

 

This is a great picture because it shows the difference in the size of me and my opponent.  The poor kid never had a chance!

 

A little smack talk; "I'm gonna take you down!"

 

 And then we are on the mat!

 

 

 This is the ref.  He had to put some kind of ankle bracelet on me. Probably to give my opponent a better advantage.

 

 

 Then we bust knuckles at mid-mat...



...then let me at him.  I could do a complete commentary explaining my moves, my motivation, my thoughts while wrestling, but I think I will let the pictures do the talking!

 

I pinned him!!

The ref put my hand up in the air and the crowd went wild!  Actually, the crowd was cheering for me the whole time!  Screaming my name, yelling through their excitement at seeing such a great match.  I have to give my opponent credit.  He wasn't a sore loser.  I need to work on that for that one chance in a million that I am on the other end of a pin.  But, I must say again, the poor kid didn't have a chance!

 

I got a few congratulation bumps...

 



...then I make my move on the ladies!

Don't worry girls!  There's enough of me to share!

 



Then we ban together as a team and wrestle the mat.  It took all of us, but we finished it off!

 



 

A congratulatory kiss and hug from dad...

...and TJ. 

 

I'm the winner!!!  Yeah.  I know I am amazing!