Time to pay the piper...

I went back to work today. It was ok - actually a bit nice. Now that I am home, I feel like I missed so much. I need to call about my camera. The lack of picture taking is ridulous.

Christa

CARROLL COUNTY, Ga. -- Emergency officials have now released the names of the victims of Sunday's deadly plane crash in Carroll County.

Brian Kearney, 51, of Marietta was the pilot and one of the owners of the plane. His body is was recovered this afternoon a little after 12:20 p.m. His wife, Christa Kearney, 45, also died in the crash, along with Timothy Dean Miller, 40, of Woodstock. He was a friend of the Kearneys.

Christa Kearney was a real estate attorney and worked as a partner for Weissman, Nowack, Curry & Wilco in Atlanta. The firm's website indicates that she was an avid sports fan, especially NASCAR. The site also shows that she lived in East Cobb with her husband and their dog, Lacey.

Investigators with the National Transportation Safety Administration said no distress signals or calls went out before the plane crashed in a Carroll County lake early Sunday, killing all three people on board.

Emergency crews found the bodies of the two passengers soon after arriving at the crash site on Sunday and the pilot's body was recovered this afternoon. The single-engine plane was a Cessna 182p, and the FAA Registry lists a Roswell man as the registered owner, among more than one who owned the plane. It was manufactured in 1975. The plane dove into the lake just before 9:00 a.m. Sunday. It was on its way from McCollum Field in Cobb County to Tara Field next to Atlanta Motor Speedway, where the NASCAR Sprint Cup Race was to take place.

"I was asleep, heard a boom, thought it was thunder," said Corey McKenzie, who lives with his family next to the privately-owned lake, called Shadinger's Lake, off of Georgia Highway 166 and Carrollton Tyus Road, just southwest of Carrollton. "I jumped up, got on my four-wheeler, rode over there and the lake was just covered in fuel. Fuel was real strong [smelling]. And debris -- everywhere in the lake, just floating. Seats floating. Just a terrible sight." There was nothing McKenzie could do to help. "I came down there hollering, you know, 'Hello, hello, hello!' And no one ever answered," he said, still shaking.

"It essentially came in nose-first, and then disintigrated upon hitting the water," said Carroll County Fire-Rescue Chief Gary Thomas, who said the large amount of fuel spilled in the crash made it impossible, at first, for divers to go into the water. "There was a bag floating on the water," McKenzie said, "with race tickets floating straight up in the air... I knew it was racing fans." The lake is 15 to 20 feet deep. The water is murkey. Georgia Department of Natural Resources rangers brought in their own boat and scanned the lake bottom with sonar to help divers look for the pilot's body, and to locate the plane. And just before 8:00 p.m. Sunday, recovery crews using a crane gently lifted the wreckage out of the water and onto shore.

The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating what happened. "

Understanding Why...

Today was a beautiful day. We slept in late and were greeted by my dear friend, Heather, to head to lunch and then the park again. We had a wonderful day. The sun was shining, the birds flying and the kids laughing. After all the fun, we headed to Target to do a quick shopping. It was at Target that we received the call. It was a call that really makes you question how this could be God's plan. The call was to tell us that one of my law partners was killed with her husband at 9 a.m. in a plane crash. Her name has not been publicly released, but her body was recovered almost immediately after the plane crashed into the pond. It is too hard to understand how someone could be excited about a trip to the races, all dressed up for a fun day, and then their life simply ends. How can that make sense and be the "plan?" How many things did they want to do before the died, which were all taken away in an instant? I cannot even comprehend the news, but I am certainly praying that their fear was minimal and their death instant.

Piper Goes Truckin'

Harrison finally convinced his sister to go trucking with him up and down the drive. She was excited at first, but screamed for me the entire time and I had to walk next to her and hold her hand. I thought she was my roller coaster kid!

Dr. Pa and Dr. Harrison

Harrison's Pa had his 4th annual Doctor's day at Harrison's school for career day. Since I am still off from work, I was invited to come along. I am so happy that I did because Harrison was beaming! He loved being the assistant doctor and he just loved that his Pa was there in class. The kids went wild over Dr. Pa and asked all sorts of questions. What a great age to teach! At the end, I asked for a kiss and Harrison said no because we were in class. Then the teacher suggested we go outside and hug so no one will see and he agreed. It broke my heart, but I guess it was going to happen sooner than later.

Naptime at Casa Lanier

I would love to say that when the kids (rarely) nap that they are sweetly tucked into their beds, but that does not seem to be our life. Here are my two sweeties one afternoon this week.

Last Week's Snow

We actually got some snow last week in Georgia. While it was fun, I truly miss the sledding days of my childhood in Pennsylvania. Mike has never really been around that type of snow and Harrison has not either. I want to plan a trip next winter to a nice winter wonderland where we can all play and have fun. Until then, we had a good time with what we had. Piper actually caught a snowflake on her tongue on our way home, but once we got home and dressed her in her snow suit she was over the whole experience.