New Planes at NAS Whiting Field

Last week we had the opportunity to take Greg Davis, a photojournalist, flying in the T-6B at NAS Whiting Field. Greg was in town to get photos of the T-6B, T-6A and the T-34C for an upcoming magazine article. The T-6B will be replacing the T-34C as the Navy's primary trainer. This transition will take about 3 years at Training Wing FIVE to complete. I have been lucky enough to have flown all three aircraft during my time in the Navy as a flight instructor. You can see the entire photo gallery at Focal Plane Imagery. As you can see from the below photos, the weather weather was absolutely perfect. I am flying the T-6B 166010 in the photos.

HAPPY BIRHTDAY GRANDPA JOHN!

Happy Birthday Dad! For someone who is pushing 70, you look pretty good. At this rate, you'll be shooting your age in golf in another...... 15 years?

We are all wishing you a great Birthday and thought it would be neat to look back 69 years ago and see what was happening in the world in 1940. That's a long time ago for some of us. Why don't we take a look at some of the technology when Grandpa John was born.

Thank goodness for the evolution of television. That's a long way from today's flat screens! And how about the computers of the 40's?

How about a quick peek at the automobiles of the day.

Here is the blockbuster hit of 1940:

We all are wishing you many more birthdays and want you to know how much we love you.

Jakes First Spring Soccer Game

A brief update on Jake's spring sports schedule.  Currently Jake is playing soccer at the Local YMCA here in Northeast Pensacola.  Jake enjoyed soccer so much this fall that he wanted to play this spring also.  Spring soccer at the YMCA is 8 players a side with real goalies for the first time.  Jake's first game was today, with the Cougars winning a lopsided battle 7-0.  Jake had 2 goals to start off the season.  Looks like he is picking up right where he left off from the fall season, a scoring machine.  

Jake is also playing baseball.  Right now he is just practicing with game to start in a bout two weeks.  Bailey will be playing soccer as well with his season starting in about 2 weeks.  He has his final golf tournament of the winter schedule this Saturday in Auburn, Al.  Next year we should have Owen in the mix of the sporting schedule.  The YMCA has a league for 3 and 4 year olds.  Owen is already practicing!

Home Schooling for Bailey & Jake

Next week will be the beginning of home schooling for Bailey and Jacob.  We have decided to withdraw the boys from Trinitas Christian due to the current economic situation (and our personal financial situation) in order to cut expenses.  While we are sad to be leaving the excellent academic curriculum that Trinitas provided, we are also excited to be able to take a more active role in our children's education.  This is a tremendous challenge for Cindy personally, since she will be responsible

 for the majority of their teaching.  She has been doing an awesome job with Jake for the past 3 months, assisting him in the transition to Trinitas, (where he was doing excellent.)  Cindy will be incorporating the same general curriculum that the boys were exposed to at Trinitas.  Math, science, bible, history, art, grammar, spelling and reading.  I will be helping with the math portion for Bailey and Jake as needed.  Please keep Cindy and the kids in your prayers as they tackle this huge ende

avor.  

Some of you are probably wondering, "Why not send the kids to public school?" We allowed Bailey to shadow our neighbor for one day at the local middle school.  We all were not very impressed with the entire ordeal.  You have probably noticed recently that the government is not that adept at running anything, i.e. Social Security, Welfare, VA, etc.  The top of that list is our failing public education system.  People keep wondering how to fix it.  There is no fixing it at this point.  The entire system has no foundation to fall back on and needs to be scrapped and start over.  No chance of that for the next 4 years.  So homeschooling it is.  the artwork I posted is from Bailey and Jake while they were at Trinitas.  Pretty impressive.  Enjoy.

Pinewood Derby Champion - Jake Pritchard!

The Boy Scouts of America Gulf Coast Council had their District Pinewood Derby competition today at the National Museum of Naval Aviation.  Jacob placed second in his division two weeks ago for his pack, earning him a spot in the district races.  For the past two weeks Jake and I have been making "modifications" to our car in an attempt to make it faster.  Believe it or not, there are all kinds of secrets, from polishing the wheels and axles, using graphite to lubricate the hubs to weight placement and wheel placement.  

The district races had over 70 cars registered in Jakes division.    Cars were raced 2 at a time in a double elimination format.  Well,  Jake's car won 8 races in a row and took home the first place trophy.  Awesome job Jake!   I believe Jake may continue on and be racing in Tallahassee in a few weeks.  We will keep you updated.   

                                          

Owen's Birthday

  I have to apologize for not posting anything for Owen's 2nd birthday.  January has been a busy month for birthday's.  So while we are on that topic, we would like to also wish a Happy Birthday to Uncle Shawn (23rd of Jan.) and Aunt Julie (26th of Jan.)  It has only taken me 39 years to finally keep those straight.  

We had a combined dinner for Jake and Owen with Grandma and Grandpa Bell to celebrate Jake turning 8 and Owen turning 2.  Owen also had a little party at his school with all of his friends to celebrate his big day.  As you can see from the pictures, cookies are a big hit with Little O.  

While we are on the topic of Owen, a little update on all the things that he has been doing.  The biggest change has been his transition from the crib to the "big bed" (and no, not Mommy & Daddy's)  Owen has his own mattress on the floor in his room.  He has been sleeping great in his new surroundings.  Fortunately, he has not figured out how to open doors yet, so even if he does get up he usually gets tired of trying to get out and just climbs back in his bed.  

Owen has discovered a new snack.  Cindy recently purchased a large box of Ding Dongs for the boy's school lunches.  (Healthy snacks, we know)  Owen has grown extremely fond of these little morsels.  He lovingly refers to them as "cake".  (pronounced "take" in 2 year old talk).  If you ask him if he wants cake, the response goes something like this, "Yeah, take!"  

                                                     

Bailey's First Golf Tourney

           As most of you know, Bailey has been relentlessly pursuing the sport of golf for the past 8 months. We learned at an early age that Bailey will find something he likes and focus on it to the point of being compulsive. In his early years it was dinosaurs. He would walk around the house roaring like a dinosaur and played with his dinosaur toys non-stop. Next it was trains and his Thomas the train tracks. I probably have at least a thousand dollars in wooden train tracks and trains. Bailey would build track designs for hours on end that would cover the entire living room floor.

          With sports he has been just as focused. From shooting basketballs into the night to playing soccer everyday after school. Golf has now become his new focus. Between the Golf Channel, Golf Digest and Internet sites, he has become immersed in all things golf. We just  

recently signed him up for the U.S. Kids Golf and their Auburn, Alabama Winter Tour. Last weekend was his first tournament at Auburn University Club at Yarborough Farms.

           

           For his first tournament Bailey played awesome. From tee to green he played great. Putting was his weak link this round. He shot a 113 for the round that easily could have been under 100. He is practicing feverishly for his next tournament on 24 January at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail Grand National Links course in Opelika, Ala. Bailey is really excited about these tournaments and playing great.

Jakes Special Day

Happy Birthday to our middle son, Jacob Bryson! It's hard to believe that 8 years ago today Cindy was in labor at Pensacola Naval Hospital. One of the funniest things I remember about that day was Cindy being extremely worried that being a three day weekend, theanesthesiologist would be a brand new doctor. God answered her prayers though and the Navy's senior anesthesiologist just happened to be on duty. As this poor Navy Captain is trying to tactfully discuss the different "pain management" options available, my wife looks him straight in the eye and says, " Oh, I want drugs, lots of drugs."

Jake has had a great birthday. The day started off with his favorite breakfast, french toast and bacon. Cindy had the kitchen decorated with the number "8" to celebrate the big day. Jake got to celebrate at school with Krispy Kreme doughnuts for all his classmates and lunch with mommy who brought his favorite sandwich, Subway ham and cheese. Grandma and Grandpa Pritchard sent balloons (a big hit with Owen) and Grandma and Grandpa Bell a lunch box and some cold cash. To cap off the evening we let Jake pick his favorite dinner, pizza. It has been an interesting 8 years to say the least with our little Jake. One thing is certain though, he never fails to keep us smiling with his witty comments and sparkling personality. Just when I think that Jake has succeeded in pushing Cindy over the edge, he'll come up with something and all she can do is laugh. Happy Birthday son! We love you!!

New Year's at the Lake

Here are the pictures from our New Years week in Greenwood, SC. It was a well needed relaxing week at Grandma and Grandpa's lake house. We truly had a great time just relaxing with the family and appreciate Grandpa John and Grandma Pritchard making it such a wonderful break. Looking forward to more family time in the near future. Thanks

School Pictures

School pictures have arrived.  I am still at a loss as to where Owen gets the red hair.  He is definitely the odd man out of the three.  We are very proud of Bailey and Jake for their hard work and impressive accomplishments at their new school.  Owen has taken a leave of absence from his pre-school due to a multitude of double ear infections over the past 6 weeks.  Understandably, Mommy is tired of taking care of a sick baby every other week.  I can't blame her.  The boys are excite about Christmas and looking forward to another week off from the rigors of school.  I'll be posting videos of Christmas morning so even though the family is not together, you'll be able to share some of the memories.  

Christmas Cookies

What would Christmas be without cookies?  A little tradition in the Pritchard household has developed over the years with Cindy and Jake.  A couple of days before Christmas, Cindy and Jake make those fabulous cookies with sprinkles and other delicious decorations.  This has become a special time for mother and son to bond.  Jake has always been interested in cooking and getting involved with all the preparation.  The tough part is keeping me away from the cookies long enough to have an ample supply to leave for Santa on Christmas Eve.  Cindy and Jake have once again baked a delicious batch of sprinkle cookies.  Santa will be pleased.

Christmas Card Photo Shoot

Today was our annual photo shoot to find a suitable picture for our Christmas card to family and friends.  This has always been an adventure in trying to get 5 people to look at the camera and smile at the same time.  Even more trying is attempting to get Owen just to look at the camera at the exact moment the timer expires on the auto shoot feature.  The slideshow above goes through all the attempts today to get the photo that is "just right".  Enjoy.

Scott, Cindy, Bailey, Jake & Owen  

Christmas Tree Selection & Decoration

One of the most exciting events of the Christmas holiday for our family has been picking out the perfect tree.  Typically we go the first weekend in December to the local Optimist Club who has a fine selection of trees for a good price.  Over the years as the boys have gotten older the actual selection process has become slightly more difficult.  This is due in part to Bailey and Jake each having rather strong convictions as to which tree will look the best in our living room.  This year the boys picked out a fine tree.  Owen seems to like anything his older two brothers pick out.  

Once home, the decorating begins.  My job is to hang the lights, wrap the tinsel and then sit back and watch the kids hang the ornaments.  This was really Owen's first year to be included in the tree decorating.  Nothing like small, breakable objects to get his attention; at least for a few minutes.    After that, back to climbing on furniture and tossing ornaments at the tree.  This is easily one of mine and Cindy's more cherished holiday family time.  

 

Happy Birthday Grandpa John!

Today Grandpa John is celebrating his 60 something birthday. We'll keep the specific number classifed to protect the innocent. It should not be too long though before Grandpa John starts getting close to actually shooting his age on the links, at least for the front nine!
All kidding aside, we all want to wish you a special day and thank you for being a great Dad and even better Grandpa. Bailey, Jake, Owen, Cindy and I love you and look forward to celebrating many more birthday's! Enjoy your day!

Happy Thanksgiving

Wishing all of our family and friends a Happy Thanksgiving! We celebrated this Thanksgiving at the Kagan's beautiful home in Soundside. The weather was a gorgeous 70 deg. with clear skies and a spectacular sunset on the water. Bailey and Jake got to play football with their cousins and Owen enjoyed playing in the water and knocking around golf balls.

Thanksgiving has given us the chance to reflect on the things that are truly meaningful to our family. Our 3 beautiful and healthy boys, a great job that I enjoy doing and friends and family. We have truly been blessed with so many gifts. We tend to lose sight of the important things with all the stresses of everyday life. Between school, sports, household chores and trying to keep up with Owen, the days just seem to fly by. We should all strive to make thanksgiving not just a day, but a way of life.

Scott's New Squadron

For the past 8 weeks I have been in training to get "requalified" to start instructing future Naval Aviators.  Monday morning will be my first flight with a student.  I am flying with Training Squadron SIX (VT-6) stationed at Naval Air Station Whiting Field.  Once again I will be flying the T-34C Turbo Mentor, a plane I flew from 1998 through 2002 while stationed at NAS Pensacola.  So far I have accumulated over 2,000 flight hours in this aircraft.   

In January I will be heading back to NAS Pensacola to start training in the T-6A Texan II.  The Navy will be buying the 

T-6B Texan II to replace the T-34C.  I will be involve with the transition process and training new instructors how to fly the new planes and train our future aviators.   This will definitely make my last 3 years in the Navy exciting.  

 

Jakes Field Trip

Jake and his 2nd grade class at Trinitas took a field trip this week to the Langley Bell 4-H Club in Pensacola.  What an amazing trip!  They learned about all of the organisms and animals that live in the ponds in the local area.  Things like tadpoles, frogs, shrimp, crickets and Jake's personal favorite: "gooey egg larvae".

Other interesting nature facts included discussions on the life of a tree, how cotton is grown and harvested, a walk through the corn stalks, and the intricacies of the bee colonies.  The staff and volunteers at the center did an excellent job.  I think Cindy actually had more fun than Jake.

For those of you who wonder what 4-H clubs do; it is a non-formal, practical education program for kids that focus on such projects as gardening, woodworking, small animals, food and nutrition, livestock, photography etc.  The 4 H's are "Head, Heart, Hands and Health"  Their overall mission is to develop competent, caring and contributing citizens to the world.