How do you...

How do you tell your 15 year old daughters that one of their close friends, her two younger sisters and their father were killed in a plane crash the night before? Please keep this family in your prayers. I simply cannot imagine...

3 Clovis girls and their father killed in airplane crash

From http://www.fresnobee.com/

By Barbara Anderson / The Fresno Bee and The Associated Press A Clovis High School student and her two younger sisters flying to spend a Memorial Day weekend with family were killed Friday evening when the private airplane piloted by their father crashed in northern Nevada near the Fallon Municipal Airport.

Kaitlyn Elizabeth Hook, 15, Rachel Katherine Hook, 12, and Mackenzie Elena Hook, 9, were killed when the twin-engine Cessna 320 crashed near the Fallon Municipal Airport. Their father, Naval Air Station Fallon Executive Officer Cmdr. Luther H. Hook III, 44, also was killed. He was the No. 2 officer at the local naval air station.

The girls routinely flew with their father to spend weekends with him, said step-father Pat Doles of Clovis.

Gina Gutierrez, a friend of Brenda Hook, the girls' mother, said Kaitlyn, was "an amazing athlete" who loved soccer. She would bring her mother coffee in the morning and pack her lunch. Brenda Hook earned a law degree about two years ago from San Joaquin Valley College of Law and is a child custody attorney, Gutierrez said.

Rachel, the 12-year-old, recently sang at a baby shower, Gutierrez said. "She wanted to be on American Idol." And Mackenzie, who had an upcoming birthday, was "the baby," she said.

Details of the crash are being investigated, but Zip Upham, a Fallon Naval base spokesman said the Cessna 320 crashed and burst into flames Friday night about a mile from the runway after a flight from Fresno.

Witnesses told authorities that the plane appeared to be in distress and was maneuvering erratically shortly before the crash. According to Federal Aviation Administration records, the plane was manufactured in 1966 and had no prior incidents.

The National Weather Service said wind was gusting up to 40 mph at the time in the town about 60 miles east of Reno.

Hook, a 1986 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, was a decorated pilot who amassed over 2,700 flight hours in an F/A-18 Hornet, flying from the USS Kitty Hawk and other aircraft carriers.

“The fact that it’s Memorial Day weekend makes the loss of our executive officer even more poignant,” Upton said.

The crash was being investigated by the FAA and National Transportation Safety Board.

It's bothered me all day...

Today's headlines read: "George Carlin gets last laugh at death?" Hmm. Really? George is getting the last laugh? I'll never forget the first thing I ever heard from him. It was a rant about how if you leave your cereal bowl in the kitchen sink in the morning, that evening only the Cheerios around the top edge of the bowl will be dry. "It's because they are closer to the sun." That was the only thing that stuck with me because his language was just too rough for me. But is he really getting the last laugh? In fact, I rather wonder if he is laughing at all anymore.

Acts 16:31: Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.

He would have loved this day...

Professor Randy Pausch died this morning. Randy was an inspiration to anyone who read his story of being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Instead of whining and crying, he determined to make the most of the rest of his life, making wonderful memories for his wife and three young children. He chose to not discuss his spiritual life in public, but it is my hope that he stood before the Lord and knew Him.

Diane Sawyer stated, “He would have loved this day and would hope that you loved yours.”

The blame game

This morning's headlines were grand. Seems a young starlet's 13 year old sister has been quoted as blaming their father for all of big sis's problems (alcohol and drug use topping the list). OK, I don't follow this stuff, but it was in front of my face and I couldn't resist reading the article. DAD, then, blamed his OWN problems on his ex brother in law. When did we stop requiring personal responsibility? Why is it OK to have an addiction and take no part of the blame for our own actions? Can I blame my sugar addiction on my parents? I suppose I could...but it is unfounded and that won't help me turn away a lemon bar or a hot brownie with butter (yeah, it's a Texan thing). But really...shouldn't we all just say that we have a problem and it is our own problem?

I'm tired of the blame game.

Grow up, young [coughLindsaycough] starlet. Either continue the drugs and alcohol until you're pushing up daisies, or make something of yourself. It is YOUR choice, YOUR problem, and YOUR responsbility.

And on that, I am feeling like a lemon bar. Nah, just kidding. :)

How quickly they forget...

2008 presidential candidate Hillary Clinton is blasting former top White House aide Lewis Libby for allegedly lying to investigators, saying his decision to leak CIA employee Valerie Plame's name to the press was "simply reprehensible." "Taking such action for political purposes is simply reprehensible and should never be tolerated," Clinton complains in a statement posted to her web site. The former first lady, who had her own truth-telling problems in the Travelgate scandal, said Libby's attempts to "interfere with the investigation" by deceiving investigators "raises serious national security concerns."

How quickly the Clintons forget about Bill's last minute pardon of 140...

Bill Clinton has spent nearly as much of his career in the public eye for bad reasons as for good. Some say that his need to remain centre stage at all costs is behind his seemingly inexplicable series of public relations blunders, while others argue that Mr Clinton has a naive streak that enables people to manipulate him. He was busy negotiating his own immunity from prosecution in his final hours in the White House, which might have made it hard for him to concentrate on other matters - but his 11th-hour pardon of 140 people and the reduction in sentence of another 36 is unprecedented in modern political history, and Democrats and Republicans alike are demanding an explanation for some of them.

And that's all I have to say about that.

Big headlines today

This morning's big headlines:

"Tony Blair to serve as a Middle East peace envoy ... Announcement may come today." (Um, didn't it just come?)

"Blonde Justice: Paris Freed From Jail" (Whew!)

"Did this lady dismember her husband?" (Not quite sure why this one caught my eye - I guess I thought it was going to be another Bobbitt story.)

"Tiger Cub Joins Baby Pack" (Maybe I'm having baby cravings, but is this baby adorable or WHAT?! Check out the labradoodle, too!)

Coach, 40, Weds 16-Year-Old Student (Hmm. I have to say that I wouldn't have signed the consent form and still find it hard to believe the police wouldn't step in.)

And, though not a headline, check out what my OC friend did this weekend with her daughter. She's my hero of the day. And what cute shirts! ;o)

Here's the van I drove yesterday. Because our current van's miles are just getting too high for comfort, it's time to make a move. I thought maybe we were done with the van stage and looked at a Honda Pilot but they are just too small for our family. Now to get serious about trying to sell my van by myself...or else take a loss with trade-in.

OK, news is out of the way, and it's time to become a little more productive.

Have a blessed day.