What a day

Yesterday my three men went on an adventure. For weeks now Keaton has been advocating for a trip to the simulator at Loft Aviation, the only place a pilot his age will be able to ride a multimillion dollar jet. But he was also very clear that he did not want Andrew, Kevin's college age student that he has been mentoring, to come along. He has been cast to second place during the last few months as Kevin has spent most of his free time getting Andrew rated. Surprising though, he did want his brother, home on Christmas vacation, to go along.

So on Friday Kev picked up Keaton at lunch, while I attempted, and finally succeeded, in getting Kellan, who would rather be sleeping, up and out the door. As they left I expected to hear about the fighting and unfairness of everything that occurred when they got back.

However, I was totally wrong. They came back full of gloating, not of themselves but of each other, with faces of joy and excitement. Kellan was amazed at his little brothers ability to speak on the radio, take off, land and fly the airplane. He was even more amazed at how well Keaton did at flying the simulator. He told me that Keaton had done much better then he and that the instructor had even commented that Keaton was a much better pilot on the jet then even Andrew. He could even get it out of situations that most would have crashed the aircraft in. Keaton loved being better at something then his brother and was open and willing to teach Kellan everything he knew and especially enjoyed teasing his brother when he messed up the radio communication on the way home. Here is a facebook entry that each posted yesterday.

Kellan:
flying down to palomar to fly in a simulator for a couple hrs, just a normal friday :P haha! I'm thoroughly impressed by the flying skills of my younger brother Keaton Rothfus! what a FlyBoy! haha

Keaton:
nice flying with you cj sim co pilot see you in the air next time ps its brackett tower not bonanza tower haha :)


Kevin just came in with a big smile on his face and a feeling of contentment. He stated that it was one of the most enjoyable days ever. The way the boys communicated and helped each other out was amazing. He even caught them several times holding hands and with their arms around each other......

Kellan came up to me and after a big hug and kiss stated "I'm so glad you made me go Mom, I would not have wanted to miss this day for the world."

Nothing, not a trip to Paris, or winning the lottery can top memories such as these.