He honestly makes me weak in the knees. Don't you love that feeling?
PS-Plenty of Chicago pictures to come!
I'm sure you can hear us now:
(This picture was taken by my beautiful sister Heidi during Matt's grad week. Someday I'll blog about that--there's nothing quite like an Academy graduation.)
To commemorate Veteran's Day and Matt's day off of "school" here at Wright-Patt, we headed to the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force with our friend, Jon. Housed primarily in three huge air hangars, the museum takes visitors through the history of flight--from air balloons used in the Civil War to the Wright Brothers to WWI&II to today and beyond.
Throughout the exhibits, we learned about the aircraft and the men who served our country during those times. We were touched by their selfless service and bravery, and are grateful to all those who have helped make us free.Matt and I decided to take advantage of our time in Ohio by heading up north to a little town called Kirtland, which is a significant place for both our church and family histories. On the way there, we stopped about 45-minutes shy of Kirtland in an even smaller town called Hiram to visit the John Johnson Home.
In 1831, John & Elsa Johnson invited the prophet Joseph Smith and his wife, Emma, to live with them on their 260-acre farm. The Johnsons were well-off and had a beautiful home with plenty of room for visitors. That home is still standing and has been restored by our church to its original condition. I couldn't help but take a picture of the beautiful woodwork in the kitchen and the large pantry that many a mom would envy.
The picture below is of the parlor-turned-guest-bedroom where Joseph and Emma stayed. On a Saturday night in March of 1832, a mob broke into the home and pulled Joseph from the trundle bed, where he was lying with his sick 11-month-old twin son. More than two dozen men dragged Joseph about 300 yards from the home, where they tarred and feathered him and then tried to force acid into his mouth. Joseph, Emma and their friends stayed up through the night to remove the tar and Joseph still conducted a church service the next morning. A few days later, their baby son died from being exposed to the cold on the night of the attack.
Although Joseph and Emma endured unimaginable heartache in Hiram, they also enjoyed immense blessings from our Heavenly Father. In the upstairs room pictured below, they had incredible spiritual experiences and were given great knowledge that continues to bless our lives today.
We had such a neat experience visiting Hiram, and it made us even more grateful for our heritage and our faith.
And to provide you a sampling of my recent Google adventures, did you know that both Ohio and North Carolina feature the Wright Flyer on their state quarters? Apparently it's quite the rivalry. When Ohio adopted the slogan "Birthplace of Aviation," North Carolina also staked their claim--"First in Flight." Although the first flight actually took place in Kittyhawk, NC, the brothers called Ohio home and did much of their planning here in OH (hence Wright-Patterson AFB, where Matt & I are right now). In fact, they continued to do a great deal of testing right where the base is built now. Meanwhile, the second half of Wright-Patt comes from Frank Stuart Patterson, who died in an aviation accident at the Wilbur Wright field. There's more, but I think you get the idea.
How did people ever survive without Google?
PS-I am happy to announce that this post led to the discovery that my husband can do an excellent, spot-on impersonation of the Count. Yet another one of his hidden talents.
The air show started early in the morning and had scores of performers in the air throughout the day. We moved to a limited-access location toward the end and finally whipped out our camera to get a few shots of the sky. (Please ignore the fact that we didn't take pictures of the 6 other hours of awesome tricks and reenactments.) There were planes from every generation...
... doing all sorts of crazy things, like nosediving and flipping in every direction.
Thanks to Matt's job for the day, we were watching from the hangars...
... where each plane landed after its performance. (See the pilot climbing out on the right?)
Meanwhile, back on the ground, it was a madhouse trying to get anywhere!
There were dozens of incredible planes, like this spy plane that my dad has displayed a picture of in his home office for years.
I must say, seeing the real deal was pretty sweet!
Other planes allowed you to walk right on up and check out the cockpit...
... while still others let you walk right on through!
This NASA space shuttle carrier fell into the last category.
Although, as I'm sure you can imagine, the lines to get inside were quite long.
But I suppose that's what happens when 225,000 people come visit.
We're definitely looking forward to welcoming a few visitors of our own for the next air show in 2011!
Who knew Edwards AFB could be so cool?
