Tuesday, September 22, 2009

WHEW!!!!!

Those of you that have been in contact with Dave and I lately know that this past couple weeks have been a little bit stressful. Dave has completed every phase of his program here except for the official Apache course. Of course that is the most important because that is what he will be flying :) not to mention it has been his dream almost his entire life.

Dave had a very difficult test on Monday which would determine if he would stay here at flight school or go home. They have implemented a new policy and of course Daves class was the first class to go through under the new policy. The policy is.... if you do not pass the entrance test then you have 24 hours to take a different test or you are out of flight school. That would mean for us and most every one else at this point in their training that you had spent 18 months here for nothing. So this meant hours and hours of studying (Ignoring others comments about not studying) and lots of anxiety in preparation.

Anyway..... Monday Dave had his test. It was actually quite a spiritual morning for our little family. I know that there were so many prayers being offered on his behalf and then to hear my little guys one by one tell me that they had said a prayer for their dad was heart melting.

Dave passed his test. Not only did his pass his test he scored 100% on both sections. Twenty people took the test and eight failed and have to retake it this morning. It was a difficult test. We are hoping for the best for the ones that are having to retake it - some of these guys are friends of Daves and he is heart sick for them.

We took the opportunity to talk to our boys about the power of prayer but also talked to them about the importance of preparing yourself and doing the work. They witnessed the hours and hours of studying that went into the preparation for this test. All in all it was a great learning experience for our family - But BOY AM I GLAD IT IS OVER!!!! :)

9 comments:

Dave and Natalie said...

Congratulations Dave...that's Awesome!!!

I'll let you guys know when they cut the field behind my house and Dave can fly you up here in that freaking cool helicopter :) (I wish that really could happen...my boys (inculding my hubby) would think it was AWESOME!!)

The Cook Clan said...

Yay!! Congrats to Dave!! Such a neat post...very inspiring...I love how you took something stressful and turned it into a great teaching moment!! Awesome!! What a great family you guys are!!

Heather said...

Way to go Dave! I had not heard of this new policy. Talk about stressful!!!

Adam and Sherry said...

YEA!!!!!!!!!!! And yes we are waiting for Dave to fly you guys here in his new chopper:) We are so happy and proud of you!!! You are an amazing person and you can do ANYTHING you set your mind to!!!
(BTW I really wish I could have seen you running through the town with your pink tutu on :) Love you guys!!!

Dave and Natalie said...

What?! Pink tutu? I think there needs to be a new blog post or at least some more info!!

The Patty Cake House said...

Ok here goes the explanation of the pink tutu comment. :) Dave flew for the very first time in the Apache yesterday. The night before he was like a kid on Christmas Eve. So when he got home he walked in the door with this silly smirk on his face. I asked him how it went and he tried to pretend like he had no idea what I was talking about. So I made the comment that he had a grin on his face like he just ran around the neighborhood with pink tutu on. :) Needless to say he loved flying the Apache every bit as much as he thought he would. :)

Hansen Family said...

CONGRATS!!! Dave that is sooo awesome, and all that hard work payed off. Way to Go. Prayer is soo wonderfull.

Keep up the good work and hurry and get done so you can bring your cute little family back home!!!

miss you guys!

This Idaho Girl said...

Yes, we've been doing a lot of praying as well. Flight school is not easy. Congrats to Dave for passing!

fausetts6 said...

Yay!!!!! Thanks for your example. We are so proud of you guys~~~~