Jackson's Model Airplanes

Jackson spent a week in June visiting Grandma and Grandpa Stueck in Utah. He spent most of the week building and flying radio control model airplanes with Grandpa. On Saturday, June 14th, Jackson got the chance to fly one of Grandpa's airplanes at the Utah Valley Aeromodelers show and he made the front page of the Pony Express newspaper! He was the youngest pilot at the air show and he did a great job. If you can't read the small print, here is an excerpt from the newspaper article: "Just ask Jackson Downey, an 11-year-old from Las Vegas who comes to Utah to fly with is grandfather. "It does take a while to learn. I started on a computer program, and then buddy-boxed. It's fun."



Here are a couple of the airplanes they were working on in Utah:



Unfortunately, the airplane Jackson built by himself here in Las Vegas (the Fidget), crashed and broke on its first flight. We took these pictures before the crash:



Jackson is already shopping around for a new airplane to build and fly. Wish him luck!

Family Trip July 2008: Yosemite

We spent the last two days of our family trip hiking in Yosemite (Jason, Jackson, and Josh even did one hike in the rain). We saw several beautiful waterfalls and Jason enjoyed seeing Half Dome (which he hiked to the top of as a teenager). All Josh wanted to do was see a bear, and on our very last day... we finally we saw a bear! Josh rolled off the hotel bed in the middle of the last night of our trip and cut open his chin/lip on the bedside table. We rushed home and got it glued together. We had a wonderful time and made many fun memories!

Family Trip July 2008: Family Reunion

We met up with our family on the third day of our trip. We stayed in some really nice condos in Windsor, California for six days. We had such a wonderful time with Jason's side of the family. All of Jason's 7 brothers and sisters are married now and with 21 grandkids and Grandma and Grandpa, there were 39 people. Some of the activities for the week included a hike and picnic in the Redwood forest, driving to the the Northern California coast, touring a winery, golfing, visiting the farmer's market, an outdoor movie on the town green, swimming in the pool every day (and sometimes twice a day), driving into San Francisco, taking a boat to Alcatraz, and visiting the Aquarium. Most of all, the kids enjoyed playing with their cousins and we all enjoyed spending time with family.

Family Trip July 2008: Carson City

We spent the second day of our vacation in Carson City. We went on a fun train ride, toured Virginia City, swam in the pool, and went to a carnival. Jackson loved this spider car and wanted a picture. I also included these pictures of Savannah in the back pack. She spent a lot of the trip on our backs! She was such a good baby on the trip and enjoyed being around lots of family.

Family Trip July 2008: Lake Tahoe

The first day of our family trip was spent driving to Carson City and Lake Tahoe. The kids enjoyed playing (and getting dirty) on the beach at Lake Tahoe while we waited for the 4th of July Fireworks. Jason and I agree it was the most spectacular display of fireworks we have ever seen!