Weekly Update for 8/16/09
The weekends just keep on coming and the fun just does not stop! By
Friday afternoon we are itching to get some altitude and there is just
nothing better then starting off the weekend with a good air bath. This
Friday afternoon was no exception – just ask Mark, Mike, Colleen, or
Blake and they’ll tell ya!
We had some very excited first time jumpers out Friday afternoon and
Mark and Mike enjoyed running the show! We are all enjoying being open
Friday through Monday; it makes the weekend seem that much longer! Any
who, as I was saying, the tandems started Friday afternoon with Mike
taking his much deserved video slot! Great shots Mike!
The excited tandems were just the pre-course for the evenings main event
– the one and only Blake Collins graduated from AFF Friday evening!
With 2 jumps left to knock out there was no slowing Blake down!! The
skydives were rock solid and he nailed the canopy work without so much
as a peep on the radio. Totally deserving of a “HIM” he walked back
into the hanger after his last jump with a smile that is probably still
on his face now. Thank you to my handsome hubby for coming along and
capturing the moment, you are the bomb! And another big thanks to
Michael Wadkins for letting me call and share in the excitement of
graduating my very first AFF student! WAY TO GO BLAKE!!!
Saturday we were still so pumped up from Friday that we just kept the
momentum going. With Brian and Matt out at 730am we were moving bright
and early. Brian was out to “take the plunge” before his 2 O’clock
“leap of faith” – that’s right – Brian snuck out of the house to come
make a skydive before his afternoon wedding! When asked what his Bride
to Be might think he quickly came to the conclusion that she would
probably kill him if she knew where he was! Well we hope you two love
birds are enjoying your honeymoon dude – come out when ya’ll are back
and we will throw you AND your wife out of the airplane!
Once again Mike kept the packing mat in order while Mark busted his butt
taking tandem after tandem for the ride of a lifetime. Dave flew the
loads like clockwork and Rich and Brandon were out to get some air. We
also welcomed a new friend to the family, Dana is a traveling jumper
from Virginia and we were pleased to have him riding along with us to
altitude! On your way back through Dana stop back by – we’d love to
have you at the DZ anytime!
All right, I held off as long as I could… We also did some oh so
wonderful AFF jumps Saturday!! Matt and Victor spent the morning with
us learning everything they could in anticipation for their first
freefall. We are happy to have the two of them going through AFF with
us and look forward to their next trip out to the DZ! Great job guys!
Sunday – well – let me see here…. Friday and Saturday were AWESOME jump
days so it’s only fitting that Sunday was another daylong weather hold.
The first load went up shortly after 8am and by the time jump run was in
progress the winds were honkin on the ground. I decided to call the
plane down before the jumps exited and the winds just got worse from
there. It gave Mark and I a chance to get some moving and unpacking
done and for once I’m starting the week completely caught up on video
and the update is ready before Thursday! The glass is half full I tell
ya!
This Saturday Rookie will be joining us to knock out a big group of
tandems we have making their way over. The Suburban Journal will also
be out at the DZ Saturday to do a story on skydiving – we can’t wait for
this weekend as usual!! Jumping starts Friday and we sure hope to see
you there!
Until next week…
XOXO
Ashes
