A Big Change

Our Blog has been silent for awhile and many of you have probably noticed that we are still in Idaho training with MAF even though our last blog post had said that we were done with training, and we were driving home to Washington.  Sorry for the confusion.  If you have not read our latest prayer letter yet now would be a good time:

November Prayerletter


Basically instead of serving with MAF as a pilot (slash) mechanic MAF is asking us to serve as a maintenance specialist family instead (no slash).  This change may seem abrupt to you, and believe me it felt abrupt to us too.  It wasn't an easy change for us to embrace, not in the least.  We do know this, God is good, He is in control.  We know that God's hand is in this decision, and we still believe that we are on the correct path that he has laid out for our family to follow.  

It feels as if God is asking us, "Why are you really going to Indonesia?  To serve me?"  

Our answer is of course, "Yes!  To serve in any way you need us."

It just so happens too that Tarakan, the base we are going to serve at, is in great need of a maintenance specialist!  God is in control. We are trusting in Him.  Sometimes in the midst of the chaos it is harder to trust than usual, but it is always best to trust, and especially the second part:  obey.

It's not possible to fit the whole story in this post, so if you want to know more of our story feel free to call or email, we would love to chat with you because there is more to the story.  :)

Our new look:

Here is an updated timeline for us: 

Now - Dec 13th  
Maintenance training at headquarters in Nampa, ID.

Dec 14th 
Drive home to Camas, WA.  

Dec 15th - Dec 20th  
Mike travels to Sandpoint, ID for Kodiak training at Quest Aircraft

January-Feb
Finish packing and raise the remaining 10% of montly support needed

March
Move to Salatiga Indonesia for language school

Our last week in Nampa

Our time in Idaho is coming to an end, it is surprising how quickly it began to feel like home for us here.  We are excited to be done with our training for MAF and are looking forward to the next chapter in our lives, but leaving and saying goodbye is never fun.

Last Saturday it was a beautiful day so we decided to do some exploring and check out Camelback Park in Boise.  The fall colors are so much more vivid here than in Washington (the evergreen state).  

Check out this view we had from the top!

Macie was a bit too much into her granola bar to look up and smile.  Sitting on Mom and Dad's shoulders burns a lot of calories I guess. 

We found a snake along the path all stretched out in the sun, and of coarse Mike had to grab it's tail.  This made the snake mad and it coiled up and hissed at us!  I have never seen a snake do this to me in real life.  I did not like it.  I need to toughen up when it comes to snakes, word on the street is that they are MUCH bigger in Tarakan, Indonesia.

I realized that this weekend was probably the last time I will feel comfortable.  The weather was perfectly in the mid 70's and all I had to wear was a t-shirt and shorts.  We are moving back to Washington where it will be cold and rainy and then to Indonesia where it will be very hot.  So mark it on your calendars:  October 25, 2013 is the last time I will be at a comfortable temperature outside until our next furlough in a couple of years.  (I'm not being dramatic at all right now).  :)

Monday and Tuesday Mike fly out to the backcountry in the mountains to finish his flight training in preparation for Indonesia. He took some pretty cool videos while flying, stay posted we will have them up soon. 

Colton and Macie were super excited to watch him land and come home!  Mike says that it is bittersweet to be done with his training, because it will probably be another year before he gets to fly a plane again (we have one year of language training ahead of us).

To celebrate Mike's return and say goodbye to our favorite Nampa hangout, we went to Messenger Pizza for dinner.  We will miss Messenger Pizza dearly.  We have figured out that there are 3 must sees in Nampa, ID:  MAF (of coarse), Messenger Pizza, and the Flying M coffee garage.

Mike still needs to debrief with his flight instructor tomorrow morning and we have to pack up and clean our apartment before we can head home to Washington.  We expect to be home this Friday.  Yay!  

Our timeline for leaving Indonesia is not set in stone yet, we still need to raise about $800 per month in support before we can purchase our tickets to leave.  It looks like the soonest we will be able to leave is the end of January.  We will be spending one last set of holidays in the states (Yay)!

Macie is three!

While we were in Idaho for training Macie turned 3!  That makes 3 birthdays in three different states for Miss Macers.

1st birthday in Washington...

2nd birthday in Alaska...

3rd birthday in Idaho...

I was looking for a picture to post of Macie and Colton together and I came across this gem.  It pretty much sums up their relationship.  Colton is supposed to be feeding his sister a bottle (I was trying to capture a "cute" moment) and notice what he is staring at with admiration in his eyes.  Yes, an airplane.  Not lovingly at his baby sister.  

Macie is a sweet little girl and she is always trying to make people laugh, she already has a great sense of humor.  She is pretty much a self proclaimed fruitarian, loves riding her razor scooter, likes to color, and (I don't know how this happened) loves princess things.  

Next year her birthday will be in not only a different state, but a different country!  We have a well traveled little girl.

Flight Standardization

 Hey All,

Angie figured that I would be the best one to fill you in on how things are going on the technical orientation side of things.  We have been learning a lot about what these airplanes are capable of.  MAF has been operating these planes for a long time and have a very good grasp of just what their capabilities are.  Couple that with some very talented instructors and you have what I have experienced these last few weeks.  It has taken a while to knock some rust off since I had not flown for over a year.  Some things came right back while others took a little longer.  As a result I stayed behind from the big backcountry trip and I will finish up after our non-technical orientation is done in 2 weeks. 

Practicing Aborts and Drops

These last few weeks have been really challenging for Angie and I as our plans have been up in the air.  It has caused us both to pray more and to seek God's wisdom for our lives.  He has once again confirmed that he has us right where we need to be.  The guys in the training department have been a huge encouragement.  They rearranged the timing of the backcountry trip to allow me to fly with another instructor and while the rest of my class was in the rugged backcountry of Idaho, my instructor stayed behind to help me get the things ironed out that I needed.  This was not the path that I would have taken on my own but God has walked Angie and I through this together, strengthening our relationship with Him and MAF in the process.  I am so thankful that God has put us where we are at and I look forward to what he has for our future.

Thank you all who are praying for us in this process!  We have seen God work in your prayers!

Mike

Looking Downhill at Holdout in Eastern Oregon

Taking a break at Holdout.  This little ranch has been around since the 1920's according to the owner who was out spotting deer.  5% slope and about 2000 ft long.

Not a view you would expect out of a small airplane!

Pros and Cons of Missionary Life

There are aspects of our lives as a missionary family that I absolutely love, and there are parts of it that are very hard and I do not love so much.  I love the fact that Macie and Colton have the unique opportunity to travel and see and experience places that most kids don't have the chance to see.  I love that they also get to meet a lot of different people and make new friends.  I do not love the fact that they also have to say good-bye.  A lot. 

It makes me smile to watch them make new friends so easily, and it is so fun to watch them laugh and play.  It breaks my heart at the same time though, knowing that they will have to say good-bye to their new friends in 3 weeks because their new friends parent's have a different assignment than we do and they are moving to serve in a different part of the world from us.  This is the hard part, knowing that in 3 weeks there are going to be tears and loss to deal with.  Of coarse new potential friends will be coming to MAF soon after the old friends leave, and we will start the whole process over again. 

I can't end this post on a sad note, so I will add a couple of pictures from this weekend.  Our family had the opportunity to fly on an MAF plane that was going to an event at a nearby airport.  It was actually a tractor pull/car show/air show (hey this is Idaho).  MAF had a booth set up to build up awareness in the community of what we do, and also try to ignite a passion for mission aviation in the next generation of kids interested in becoming pilots.

Macie was a little nervous to fly, it has been awhile since she has been on a small aircraft.

Colton pointing out all the different shapes of the fields we flew over.

Hanging out in Petey the Plane.

Train ride!

Bouncy House, we sure got our money worth out of this.  I think Colton jumped for 45 minutes straight!

"Mom, Dad, can we fly home now we are tired."

Nampa from the air, you can see the airport and our apartment in the distance.

Life at MAF Headquarters

I can't believe that we have been at MAF headquarters in Nampa, ID for over two weeks already!  We love living here at headquarters, it has really become a second home to our family.  

Many of you have asked what daily life looks like for us right now.  For Mike daily life consist of A LOT of studying.  He is focusing on maintenance right now for the Cessna 206 and is in class from 8am until 4:30pm.  Since the MAF hanger is right across the street from our apartment he gets to pop over for a quick lunch every day, which is nice. 

Mike was expecting to do three weeks of maintenance training followed by three weeks of flight training, but due to the fact that MAF has three airplanes available to fly and 7 pilots to train they had to shift things around a bit.  Long story short, Mike will do some flight training next week!  He is very excited to get off the ground again and back up into the air, it has been too long since his last flight. 

Macie, Colton and I have been settling into the apartments nicely (I won't lie there have been a few "bumps" along the way).  There are a lot of kids living here at MAF during standardization too, so there are always friends to play with outside.  It is awesome to always have playmates, but sometimes a bit overwhelming.  It is a good opportunity to learn how to share and how to resolve conflicts, but it can be exhausting!  The kids spend a lot of time outside whizzing around on Razor Scooters and Colton has been riding his bike a bunch.  Which leads me to this...

 This is the bottom of a flip-flop.  Notice the thorns stuck in the bottom of them?  This is what happens every time a person wanders off the sidewalk here, their shoes (or worse bare feet) are covered in these crazy thorns!  If you look at them closely you can see why they are called "Goat Heads".  They look like deranged goats!

 

What does this mean for Colton and his bike?  Four tire repairs so far!  Mike is also getting a lot of bike tire maintenance in this week too.

 

You know that you are an MK when...your bedroom is a closet.

These past couple of weeks have been a blur!  We sorted and packed all of our belongings, moved out of the house we were living in, drove to MAF headquarters in Nampa, ID, and Mike has started training.  We couldn't have done it without the help of our friends!  You know that you have a true friend when they come and help you do yard work and scrub your kitchen and bathrooms for you!  Having such good friends made it even harder to leave.  It helps to know that this is just a temporary goodbye until October when we will get to see everybody for a short while (then the real goodbyes will happen).

A HUGE answered prayer happened the day before we left!  Our beloved stray cat Orange didn't have a home lined up, and we were pretty stressed about it.  Out of the blue our neighbors walked over and asked us if they could adopt Orange!  Turns out he is friends with their cat already and has been visiting them.  We couldn't have asked for a better situation for him, it is nice to know that God even takes care of the minor details of our lives.  

Our crates being loaded up onto a trailer.  They will hang out in Battlerground, WA for a few months and will catch up with us in Indo in about a 1 1/2 years.

The kids are pretty much pros at road trippn' at this point, so a little 7 hour drive wasn't a big deal.  It also helped that Auntie Katy sent them some activity books in the mail to surprise them with for the trip to MAF.

Headed out to Nampa.

Nampa or Bust!

We are going to live in the MAF apartments across the parking lot from headquarters for the next couple of months.  It is fun, it kind of feels like camp (with a lot of homework for Mike).  I'll give you a little tour of our cozy apartment.  We went from living in a 3 bedroom house on 5 acres to a 1 bedroom apartment.  You know what, it totally works.  I have WAY less to clean!  

Here is a little tour of "home".

Our living room (complete with Mike studying). 

Our kitchen.

...and yes.  Colton is sleeping in the closet (don't worry he LOVES it). 

Where are you guys?!

Why haven't you been blogging lately?  Short answer.  We've been busy.  

I find as I sit here and scroll through this blog I have made a mistake by only posting about the fun stuff we get to do.  There are two reasons for this I think.  1.)  I don't want to bore you.  2.)  I don't like to be a "downer" and sound like I am complaining.  So from now on I promise to write out every little detail of our lives.  Just Kidding!  I will, however, make a better effort though to put the "whole" picture of our lives in this blog.

We have less than 2 weeks until we drive out to Mission Aviation Fellowship headquarters and start Standardization and Orientation training for the next 2 1/2 months.  Before we leave we need to have our possessions sorted and packed, and have our house scrubbed and emptied out for the owners who are returning after we leave.  By the way, does anybody want an Orange cat?  His name is Orange.

A couple of weeks ago we had a big garage sale trying to raise some cash to buy a stove for our kitchen in Indonesia and to clear out some space in our house.  Colton was such a trooper he not only let us sell a lot of his toys, but he actually helped.  He turned out to be quite the wheeler and dealer.  (Not sure who he inherited that trait from).  As a reward he got to pick out a Nerf dart gun to take with him to Indo.

Colton was obsessed with selling this baby food grinder (and he did eventually).

We have to (get to) sort our stuff into two different shipments.  Some of our things will be packed into a wooden crate and shipped directly to our final base in Indo where we will see it in about 1 1/2 years.  The rest of our stuff will travel with us to Language School in our checked luggage.

Our crate.  See you in a year and a half!

We also have to write out on a spreadsheet, in detail, everything that we pack and it's value.  Here is Mike going through ALL of his tools.

Sorting tools for the crate.

By the way, do you like our new couch?  We just sold our other one this week.  Kind of feel like I'm in my early 20's again sitting in camp chairs in our living room!  It is nice to have the cup holders though. 

Our current "couch".

In between all of this we have still been building our support team and sharing about MAF with others.  Mike and I had the opportunity to lead a club at our church's summer kid's program.  We taught the kids what a missionary pilot does and a little bit about Indonesia.  During the week the kids raised money for Mike's flight helmet he will need to fly with in Indonesia.  They raised over $500, praise God!  In the course of this week I also confirmed the fact that I am completely scared of talking to kids between the ages of 7-12!  I would feel more comfortable speaking in front of an entire church than a small room in front of kids.  (Something to work on).  

Watching "Petey the Plane" and learning about MAF.

Missions Weekend at Oak Harbor

This April our family had the opportunity to share about our ministry with Mission Aviation Fellowship at a church up in Oak Harbor, WA during their missions conference weekend.  It was very encouraging to share with so many people who share our excitement about missions, and it was fun for us learning about what other mission organizations are doing around the world as well.  We finally had the chance to meet a missionary in person after seeing his picture on multiple refrigerators over the past few years, which was fun.  (I'm still getting used to the fact that we are hanging on people's fridges).  

We also met two girls who grew up in Indonesia because their dad was a pilot with MAF!  How crazy is that?!  It was encouraging for me as a mom to hear that they loved growing up in Indonesia and that it was a positive experience for them.  One of my biggest fears about moving overseas and serving with MAF is that my kids would feel "deprived" looking back on the whole experience, so it is good to hear that it can be positive for them.  

Always fun riding on the ferry to Great Grandma's house.

We stayed at Grandma's house which is always a blast for the kids and relaxing for us.  Colton loves his "Whidbey Island Grandma" and Macie loves her "Island Grandma".  The weather was beautiful and we recharged our batteries running, biking, kayaking, throwing rocks into the Pudget Sound and reading.  Grandma has no internet at her house and we only got one bar of cellphone coverage (by a window) so we were forced to take it slow and relax. 

Colton helping Great Grandma in the garden.

We were invited to stay with a couple who live in Pt Townsend, just a short ferry ride away from Grandma's place.  Their house, much to Colton's liking, had a doggy door that he could fit through.  Even though we only stayed in Pt Townsend overnight, I fell in love with it!  There are so many outdoor activities to get involved in, I don't think you could ever get bored.  We went hiking/exploring at Fort Worden state park and checked out all of the old army bunkers the US built before WW1 to protect the Pudget Sound from invading ships.

Colton is FIVE!

Colton is officially five years old!  I won't be cliche and write about how fast time has gone by, I'll just post a quick timeline.  Here are some pictures of Birthdays past:

Colton's 1st Birthday

Colton's 2nd Birthday

Colton's 3rd Birthday with a "runway" cake

Colton's 4th Birthday with a "jungle runway" cake

Colton's 5th Birthday with an "aircraft carrier runway" cake

Notice that once Colton was old enough to speak his birthday cakes became as he likes to call them "runway" cakes.  Good thing his dad is a master at making them!  I wish that I could take the credit, but I can't.  Colton already has requested a "race plane runway" for next year.  We better make sure to pack "runway" cake making supplies in the crate!