Susan had given Greg and the kids a certificate for a hot air balloon adventure on Valentine's day, 2002. It took almost 9 months to get around to taking on the adventure. We finally made the decision to take the ride during a week that we had a football game in Phoenix.

We left home, caught a movie at the I-Max theater in Tempe, and found a hotel north of Phoenix.

The next morning, we rose before dawn as we had to be at the pre-launch site by 6:00. Excited about our adventure to come, the beautiful sunrise set the stage for a perfect morning.	Practicing her picture-taking skills, Brooklyn frames the family for a photo in front of the sunrise while we wait for other passengers to arrive.
Once we meet at the pre launch site, we are taken further north to the actual launch site. There, the crew has already unpacked the balloon.	The captain begins filling the balloon with air blown in by a fan. Once the balloon starts to take shape, he begins to replace the cold air with hot air.
We are chosen to get into the basket while the balloon is being filled so that when the balloon uprights itself, it won't take off. The basket is still tipped on it's side.	The heat inside the balloon begins to fill and the basket finally tips upright. The pilot warned us that it would get pretty warm inside the basket until the basket became upright. He was right. It was hot and loud!
Moments before lift off, a crew member takes our camera and takes a shot of us in the gondola. Click the button on the bottom to continue the story.