Sky Fest

This post is dedicated to a very good friend of mine, whom I know will be ecstatic to see these pictures. She's a pilot-in-training, and I couldn't stop thinking about her while I was at the Air Force Base!

This past weekend was Sky Fest in our area, and we packed up our van and headed to the Air Force Base. I'll say this: it was huge. Giant. I was floored, it was so big!

We got there and went through car security, then had our bags checked by the soldiers, then went through the metal detector. I know that sounds strict, but the soldiers have to make sure no one is going to blow up the base while there's 125,000 people there. Not kidding. That's how many people were there Saturday.

The experience was amazing, I was in so much awe that I could hardly speak. The planes were enormous, the pilots so skilled and amazing, the electricity from the crowd was contagious. I loved every minute of it. When I watched the Thunder Birds do their world famous maneuvers (flying 1,000 miles an hour, flying three miles up in ten seconds, doing roll overs, flying upside down, etc.) I could not shake the thought wow, I am so lucky to live here in America. I am so blessed that God has blessed our country. To God be the glory, I love my country, I love our military, I love my God.

Oftentimes, we hear a lot about what's going wrong in our country. Don't get me wrong, there's a lot of bad things happening that are not good, but let's take a moment and realize that we still live in one of the best countries in the world. Those pilots were not forced to join the military, they joined on their own accord. We are not forced to do anything, we are free. God's blessed our country, and I'm grateful to our military for protecting it.

Perhaps someday we won't be free anymore. That's up to God. But for now, thank God you live in America and that it's free for now! I know I will never forget this Saturday, nor the sheer feeling of amazement as I watched our greatest Air Force pilots demonstrate the dedication they have to our country.

Yesterday morning we heard a roar in the sky and chanced to look up to see all of the famous jets, the Thunder Birds, on their way home. Along with them was the refueler, the plane that carries the fuel for the jets. Not more then an hour later a bomber flew over our house, on its way home also. We couldn't get over how blessed we were to get a last glimpse of these amazing planes as they left our area after a great weekend of technical display.

We are blessed. Though things are hard, we must see the blessings in our everyday life.Though our country is messed up in a lot of areas, I wouldn't trade living here for any other place in the world. We are Americans, and God has given us that gift.

God Bless America.

-Emily

Okay, so you can't have a post like this without pictures, so here they are! I held back a lot of what I was going to say so you could get a feeling for it with these pictures. They're worth a thousand words, after all. ;)

There's the tanker plane! Isn't it huge? I loved that plane, it was really cool.

World War Two planes take to the sky!

Look at that old plane, it felt like we'd gone back in time to WWII! Except of course all of the big Air Force jets in the background. ;)

A glider gets its turn to show off some moves.

Another old World War Two plane.

My brother N, my sister A and myself under the jet of the tanker. I'm in the middle.

Army paratroopers jump out of a plane at least a mile and a half up.

More sky divers!

They look like little hot air baloons!

The Army jet that released the sky divers landing, with two World War Two era planes in the background as they take their turn in the skies.

Look at 'em go!

This guy cut his engine out and glided to the ground, doing a series of maneuvers while he flew. It was fantastic!

Army chopper! I was on a mission to find a good spot to see the jets. ;)

Here come the Thunder Bird jets!

Take off!

Diamond formation.

Flying over us.

Look at that maneuver!

Lots of smoke, there.

This one kinda snuck up on us, we were all watching the other jets and he flew right over us! It as a 'surprise maneuver' that he was demonstrating. ;)

One jet flies between the four.

Whoa! A loop!

One of the jets blasted off and went three miles up in ten seconds!

Six of the jets in a row.

Isn't that awesome?

Performing their maneuvers.

One of my favorite photos for sure!

The 'bomb' affect!

Our local Air Force soldiers climbed onto one of the chopper/planes to watch the show. They were as impressed as the rest of us!

Simply stunning.

The mirror affect.

Posing next to the bomber. My brother N, me, my brother M, my sister A and my Dad.

The caption on the bomber. I liked the tiger on the side. :)

Next to the hangers. There were tons of hangers everywhere, but this is the one we parked next to. I think the base was at least five miles across! I'm grinning from ear to ear as I pose under the hanger.