Ok,Ok,Ok finally a new post

I know I have really been slacking on the site since the baby being born, but hopefully with everything getting settled in I might be back up in the air soon. I know that I am still watching the wind every morning and afternoon checking for flying weather. Sometimes I see the tree tops sitting still and think about slipping over to the field but I know their will plenty of time for flying soon enough especially once we figure out how to put a baby seat on it. haha
These pictures were taken at the Rowell reunion this year.

Cool Pirate Chute

I was reading the new Ultralight magazine and found an article about this guy who designed a powered parachute w/ the pirates of the caribbean theme to it. It was really neat to see the pictures of it and I hope you can see the chute in the picture cause it is one of coolest ones I have seen.

Ready to fly again

I know that the site has kind of taken a back seat to Noah and I should get back to posting on us flying in the next couple weeks. Kiwi called and bragged about going flying the other day down at the lake w/ Chris. He told me they got to fly around an hour and half but it was a hot and humid day. Old Kiwi is a regular pilot now and should be signed off whenever Jeff gets around to training again. We should all be testing for our BFI soon so we can take passengers up and they can enjoy what we are always telling them about.

I am still working on a baby seat to take Noah up when we get home but I guess he might have to wait a little while to get the flying bug. Leah told me I needed to go flying some since I have all this time off and it would be a shame not to get to fly any. I can't wait to get back up in the air and see if I can still remember how to get that powered parachute up and down safely.

New Blog started for Noah

We decided to make a new blog so we can devote it to family and friends. The new blog is Noahs-Arkives.blogspot.com and that is where all our new photos of Noah and family will be placed. I also put a link to the blog in the links section of this blog so it would be easier to find.

Were Going Home

We are all finally getting released from the Hospital. Everything looks good and Noah and Mom are doing great. We will probably leave around lunch time today. We are looking forward to sleeping in our own bed again. All those tiny clothes that we have for Noah are still to big but we are hoping he will grow right into them w/ no problems. Everyone at the hospital here in Roanoke were great to us and could not of asked for a better group of nurses and doctors. I will keep the site full of new photos as we take them.

Happy Grandparents

Here are a couple new shots from today. Everything is going great so far and Noah is doing awesome. He is sleeping most of the day until it is time to eat and he lets everyone know when that time is. According to the Dr. we will probably being leaving tomorrow afternoon w/ the baby. We all three want to thank everyone again for all the visits, phone calls,emails and support. We have been so lucky to have all of you guys to help us through this new journey and we both know that we have only just begun. I will keep posting any new info. and photos as I get them.

Noah Alexander Franks Born July 16th,2006

Well, we have a new addition to the Franks family and his name is Noah Alexander Franks born on July 16th, 2006 at 15:47. He weighed 5lbs and 12 ounces, 17 3/4 inches long. Noah came 4 weeks early, but since Leah's blood pressure became elevated due to pre-eclampsia the doctors decided to induce her. The baby was 36 weeks so they were not to concerned about any problems due to early delivery. Leah was amazing during the entire process never complaining about anything and having no problems. We are all resting at the hospital together and will probably be released on Tuesday to go home as long as their are no problems. Thanks to all the family and friends that came by and called w/ support and we look forward to sharing more pictures as we get them.

Where I spend my days not flying!

I finally got a shot of the firehouse where Kiwi and I work. We spend our days looking at the weather for upcoming flying days and searching all the other powered parachute sites. We have an engine, medic truck, one reserve engine, and than we have on the back side the ARFF trucks. Kiwi has been w/ the city for 23 years and he now on the ARFF crew as a Lt. so he can drool over planes coming and going from the airport.
I have been w/ the city for 2 years now and ride on the engine and the medic truck. We have a good time while working at the station messing around w/ each other to help the time go by. Kiwi is one of the best pranksters in the city so we hardly have a dull day or night around here. I will try to get a shot of all the nuts I work w/ one day if I can get them all awake at the same time.

Family Reunion Powered Parachute Flying

Here are a couple shots from the family reunion at Joe's this year. I wasn't at the house this day to fly, but the wife got some good shots of Joe and Frank flying. Frank is a BFI so he was able to take some family up and show them what its like to fly in a powered parachute. The 4-wheeler you see is loaded down w/ the wife's cousins that were out watching the flying or maybe they were to interested in seeing how many clowns they could get on one 4-wheeler. I was able to come over the next day and get about an hour of good flying in. I hope to have my BFI by next year so I can take people up and show them what it is like to see everything from the air. I know my parents are both very eager to go up.
Joe and Diane have their family reunion at their house every year and I don't know how they do it. They have anywhere from 40 to 60 people stay at their house and they stay anywhere from a couple days to a week. I couldn't imagine having that many people stay w/ us that long, I think I would go insane. It is neat to see all the family get together every year and basically have a week long party at the funny farm. I know that all the kids love it and most of them do not want to leave when its over.

Flying Powered Parachutes at the Family-Reunion

Here are a couple shots from the Family Reunion this year at the Joe's place. This is a picture of Frank(Half-Rack) posing w/ his Buckeye right before heading home. The other is a shot of a couple signs we have that warn drivers of potential low flying powered parachutes coming in and taking off from the field. I really like these signs as long as I don't catch one w/ the machine on the way up or down...haha.
Frank got his nickname this weekend at the reunion because of his great idea of trying to para-sail behind a 4-wheeler. Frank had a parachute, a harness, 100' of rope, and a 4-wheeler w/ driver to pull him across the field w/ dreams of flying like a bird. Frank's plan was working like a charm until some minor design flaws and Frank fell out of the sky more like a rock than a feather from about 30 to 50', depending on who you ask? This is where the nickname comes in Half-Rack, due to his 6 broken ribs he suffered from the fall and thankfully nothing else was broken except his pride.
I have more photos of the reunion but they are on a different camera, and as usual for around here I have misplaced the cord to download them to the computer. Soon as I find it I will post some more shots of us flying at the reunion.