Thanksgiving Break

My break was phenomenal. I did so many cool things (but little homework). I already wrote about the family dinner, but failed to mention my other two fun activities.

Hike to the Wildman’s Camp

My sister Jill, nephew Tyler and I returned to one of the favorite camping spots of my youth. As a teenager, my friends and I often used to hike and camp out at ‘The Wildman’s Camp’. The campsite is in a small desert forest in the Superstition Mountains. One of my friends dad discovered the place and we have been attracted to it ever since. When the water is running there is a swimming hole (with a small waterfall) and beautiful desert scenery.

Since there are no trails into the campsite I was a little worried I would not be able to find it again, but once out in the desert I had no problem remembering the terrain and how to safely navigate through the prickly desert.

Tyler took most of the pictures below. The whole hike was a lot of fun. We chatted the whole way and walking through the small grove of mesquite trees brought back a lot of good memories.

I was tired when we got home, but happy I did it.

Airplane Ride of a Lifetime

The most exciting thing I did all weekend was to go up in an Extra 300L plane and do acrobatics. Jay (brother-in-law) got free tickets to a place out at Williams Gateway Airport where you basically go on a roller coaster ride 1800 feet above the ground.

I can’t even begin to explain what kinds of maneuvers we did—everything from small roles, to huge loops. One thing I remember, and is easy to explain is when we stalled the airplane going straight vertical into the air and let the plane fall naturally backwards through the exhaust until we flipped over and pulled out to level.

I was up there for 45 minutes and probably did 15 different stunts, ranging from easy to advanced. The pilot did each stunt, and then let me take control of the plane to do the stunt myself (He told me which way to push the stick, and which pedals to push). Throughout the course of the flight I experienced -3 G’s (when I thought my head was going to explode) to +6 G’s. The whole flight was super intense and a blast throughout.

Thanks Jay, for making this amazing experience possible.

Here a few pics from these awesome activities.

Scott

Jill and Tyler

The cactus growing out of the rock fell over and died because the roots cracked the rock.

Me, explaining something cool I recently found in the scriptures. Afterwards Jill said I am just like my Dad. I take any opportunity I can to teach an important principle.

Tyler, the tree hugger....this one isn't so pleasant is it?

The truck was just barely able to make through the road we traveled to get to the trailhead.
Wow, that was close.

Better than any Roller Coaster

Ready for take off

Jay, coming in from his flight

Thats me:

Thanking the pilot for the ride of a lifetime

Sorry for the delay-

The last time this was updated was before Thanksgiving. Whew, that seems like a long time ago. I’ve been pretty busy and a little sick. Whenever I got some free time I just went to bed (so I can get over this sickness).

So, where do I start?

Thanksgiving was great. The whole family met at one of my sister’s house to eat Turkey and be together. That was cool. One of the highlights for me was watching everyone watch a DVD Nathan and I made from one of my Grandpa and Grandma’s family albums. I tried to match up the pictures with music from the time. I guessed the photos were probably taken in the 40’s, so I chose 40’s music. Mostly Jazz/Big Band Music.

Lynette was taking pictures of shoes for her photography class. She is asking everyone to write their feelings about a particular pair of shoes. I liked reading my families stories. My favorite stories were from my Dad and Chanelle.

We also made tiny ginger bread houses. Since we pretty much make ginger bread houses every year at Thanksgiving my parents have devised some clever tactics to be able to produce a lot of homes with little effort. It seems like each year they think of something else to ‘streamline’ or ‘standardize’ the construction process. This year we had ‘pre-manufactured’ gingerbread houses—these houses were smaller than normal but easier and cheaper. Seriously, my folks could design gingerbread subdivisions faster and cheaper than any of the competition.

Pretty much the whole family was there (with the exception of a sister) and it was a lot of fun for everyone. I did make one interesting observation—for the most part Thanksgiving with the Andreasen’s is more about spending time together than about football. There were much more people outside chatting, playing games, or making gingerbread houses than there were in front of the TV watching the game. I never realized that before. Even though that is different from modern American culture I think that what we do is a good thing.

Scott

I caught Damian cheating again on camera...
It was just a wierd coincidence...
This time while playing Don't Eat Pete
Here he is eating Pete

The look on my Moms face is priceless.

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

These hands belong to the kids that I work with at the Guadalupe Boys and Girls Club. These are some of the things they were grateful for, and I think we should be grateful too. Well, at least for most of them, the Pokemon cards just made me laugh. When I look at these it makes me thankful for children and the way they see the world. I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving Day and is able to remember their blessings.

-Lynette

Family –

Since this is Thanksgiving week I thought I’d like to mention something I am very thankful for—my family.

I’m not sure why I was so lucky to be born to the Andreasen family, but I am grateful I did. From my family I learned everything--how to speak, how to love, how to behave, and how to work. Whether they know it or not, my parents and each one of my 6 siblings have helped shape me into who I am today.

As a toddler, I felt loved. My mom feared I would never learn to walk because my brother and sisters would constantly want to pick me up and carry me. And now, I feel loved. Among other things, my family has offered to give me rides while our truck is in the shop. They have taken their time out to sit and chat or play games. They have invited me to attend their family vacations and day outings. They have served me, talked with me, sorrowed with me and rejoiced with me through every trial, accomplishment and event of my life.

I remember how great it felt when my siblings and their families came to my high school graduation. I remember the constant stream of letters I got while living in Spain. I remember the joy I felt when my ENTIRE family was waiting for me at the airport when I returned home. I remember the pleasant feelings I had while being married to my wife in the presence of my wonderful family. And now, through phone calls, emails and other means I feel that same encouragement and love.

Every good trait that I have is better because I have a family who loves me. I am more confident, more ambitious, more energetic and have a better outlook on life because of them. They are my best friends and I thank God I have them.

Thank you family, I love you too.

Scott

Senior Show –

Lynette has been super busy the last couple of weeks, and will probably double all she normally does this week. Because of that, she asked me to let everyone know about a couple of events that you are all invited to attend.

First and most importantly, (to Lynette) is her Senior Show. It will be held in Gallery 100 (if you came to the show last time is the gallery right next to the Step Gallery). The opening is from 7:00-9:00 on Monday, November 20, 2006. We hope EVERYONE can come. I put a map to Gallery 100 above. See the yellow text.

Secondly, Lynette will be selling some of her beaded Jewelry at a City of Mesa Holiday Art & Music Festival on Saturday, November 18, 2006. She will have a table, starting at 10am. She should be selling a lot of jewelry, but, like I said she is extremely busy. Hopefully she can make a lot. We will see. She is sharing the booth with two other jewelers. The event will be at the Mesa Arts Center on ‘Shadow Walk’. I’ve never been there, so I’m not sure where that is. The Mesa Arts Center is in Downtown Mesa. For more information go to:

http://www.mesaartscenter.com/EventDetail.aspx?eventID=832

Call/e-mail myself or Lynette if you have any questions.

Scott

Fall Camporee 2006 –

This weekend I took my scout troop to compete against other scout troops in a fall camporee at Usery Pass. Our troop has taken first place at this annual event as long as anyone can remember (except for last year when another troop CHEATED…leaders that let their scouts cheat make me sick). This year, they got a perfect 100 out of 100 points. The boys were assessed on uniforms, discipline, friendly service, camp cleanliness and head to head competitions.

It seemed to me, that the feeling in the other troops was that if you do everything that is asked you won’t have any fun. It will just be a burden. I’m glad my boys know that by being obedient you are rewarded, acknowledged and respected. I truly believe that my boys had the most fun of any group just because they got their assignments done fast and early. After the work was done they got to play and do their own thing without guilt or fear of some adult telling them what to do.

The theme this year was Emergency Preparedness. For several weeks we have been preparing for this event by practicing first aid, learning search and rescue, and discussing principles to follow in an emergency.

The main event was a search and rescue of an 80 lb dummy. The dummy was hid out in the desert and the boys were given a map and had to organize themselves to do a sweep of the area to find the dummy, administer first aid, and then transport it back to base camp. I built our dummy, but couldn’t weigh it, so it ended up weighing 93 lbs. instead of 80. Oops.

Even though the dummy was placed outside of our search grid, our troop was one of the first to find the dummy, and definitely the quickest to administer first aid and get it back to camp. They used walking sticks and t-shirts to make a stretcher and carry the 93 lb dummy. As was expected, our dummy was extra difficult to find, and was placed under a palo-verde tree but on top of a cactus.

The kids were prepared with gloves and got in there to splint the leg, harness the arm, put a bandage on his head, load him on the stretcher and carry him out. As leaders we didn’t tell them how to do anything (because we taught them everything earlier this month, and by telling them now would be cheating). I did have to remind them to focus a couple of times and get to work, but overall I was very pleased with their performance.

It is sort of hard to complain when they get 100/100 points.

Here are some pics.

Scott

Our Senior Patrol Leader

Our Dummy
(which was the best out of all the groups, hands down)

Being awarded with the first place feather

This isn’t supposed to happen –

This is the second weekend in a row that Lynette’s car has had trouble. This time, we were both on campus and when we wanted to leave, the car wouldn’t start. With the help of my brother I determined that there was a problem with the starter. So we pushed started the car so we could get it off campus. Lynette was not physically or psychologically able to ‘pop’ the clutch. I guess her dad trained her well when she was learning to drive. After several tries with me pushing, and her ‘easing slowly off of the clutch’ I finally decided to have her push. That was just the thing. Somebody else came to her aid and we got the car going. I’m not sure what that guy thought about me having my wife push the car...but...at least we got it moving.

Even though it was late we decided to drop the truck off at the mechanics shop with plans to bring the keys in the next morning. The next morning, Lynette found out that the truck had been broken into while it was in the mechanics parking lot. But, the strange thing was that somebody stole the doors, along with the radio, dashboard cover and A/C vent covers.

Why the doors? There are probably shady auto-body shops that will buy those instead of new ones. Maybe if I go to the auto-body shop that shares the parking lot with my mechanic I can get doors that curiously have the same dents and scratches my doors had. Hmm, I wonder.

We are now dealing with the insurance company trying to figure out the best way to resolve all this. Hopefully we can take care of it soon, but I’ve heard quite a few horror stories about insurance claims.

Until then, I guess we have a jeep.

To me, this experience demonstrated that neither Lynette nor I are overly concerned about material things. Of course we like material things, but they are not what define us. Yes, we are annoyed, frustrated and even a little angry, but it doesn’t consume us like I have seen others react in similar situations. Dealing with the insurance company will be a pain, and I would rather have avoided that, but the loss of our doors does not affect our happiness and our focus on things that really matter.

What really matters you ask? What could possibly be more important than doors? Well, there are a lot of things. Maybe I’ll write about them on another post. Until then, why don’t comment on what you think is more important than doors? I’d love to get your opinion.

Scott

Duty –

"This was a good county in the past. It is a good county today. It will be a good country tomorrow unless we fail it."

Daniel Carter Beard (first BSA National Commissioner)

Certain responsibilities come with the rights granted to us because we are citizens of the United States of America. Most of us are fulfilling some of these responsibilities to society just by doing what we do. No doubt this country needs teachers, law enforcement, engineers, scientists, writers, bus drivers, farmers and merchants. Coaches, pilots, soldiers and computer programmers are all essential to our nation’s growth and prosperity. This county depends on people stepping up to serve in the military, protect the environment, mentor youth, care for the sick and help the needy (see current Boy Scout Handbook p. 334).

While these things are all vitally important we can’t forget about voting. Learning about the issues and voting is how our nation will continually become a better place to live. Additionally, there is something a little more special about voting. Voting reinforces our commitment to this country and subtly enhances our patriotism and love for the USA.

I know all the political advertisements and accusations we see on TV and receive on our answering machines are overwhelming and even inappropriate at times. I think Lynette and I have been receiving about 3+ messages per day about political candidates, the propositions, and locally proposed bonds. The negative ads are quite disheartening but, we can’t become apathetic when it comes voting. This is what our nation asks of us—it is what our nation and communities need.

So study the issues, think them over in your mind to make the best decision. Then vote on Tuesday, November 7th--It will be the best thing you do all week.

Scott