Hanger Update

Horizontal stabilizer all cleaned and ready for fairing fitting.

Drilling out damaged rivets.

Here are a couple photos from the hanger today.  I continue for the most part detailing (clean) parts for the paint booth.  Inner mixed with the detailing I've done some rivet replacement, etching and alodining which is a process that helps prevent corrosion from forming in the future.  It's extra protection for the parts that get painted and the main protection for the areas which don't get painted.  Last week I fitted the fairings on the left side of the elevator and horizontal stabilizer as well the rudder.  Both of which were an enjoyable change of tasks   Tomorrow I will start on the right side of the elevator/horizontal.  

The projects in the hanger; C182 in the front of the hanger which is heading for Mexico once the annual is complete and the MAF modifications are complete.  C208B farthest away in the picture is nearing completion of it's MAF modifications and inspections and will soon be departing for Kenya.  The C172 in the middle is getting close to paint.  Some control surfaces and one wing are painted or in the process.  Hopefully in a couple weeks we will be able to start reassembly.  The C206 at the bottom of the picture is being used as a template for a stacking system that is in production in the welding shop.  They are hoping to stack 3 C206's over in our storage hanger as it is currently over crowed.  This would free up a lot of floor space as these aircraft wait their fate.  They most likely will be refurbished at some point but they are low priority as we are hoping that a diesel engine is soon available for them in which case they would be retro fitted with the new engine and the airframe would be reconditioned as they have been well used on the field and could use a little tlc before reentering into service.  After the Caravan rolls out I'm not sure which will take it's place as there are several aircraft waiting their turn across the tarmac.  So I don't think I or any of the other mechanics will be running short of work anytime soon.  

 

Overview of the hanger and the projects that are in progress.

That's life in the hanger for the time being.  I've been enjoying working along side a good group of guys here.

Blessings
Greg

Special Visitors

Indeed we had some very special visitors this past week.  My (Greg) parents were able to drive down from Alberta and spend a week with us.  We had some good times of visiting and seeing the sights.  

Gave them a tour of the MAF's hanger and office buildings when they arrived then that evening they helped us celebrate Julie's birthday, 33 years young now, she is looking prettier everyday.

Day two we tried our hands at mini golf. Grandpa coming out on top with the best score, he's still got it. The kids also got a hand at go-cart racing, which they had a blast doing, however their faces didn't show it until after and were begging to go again.

Trying to give Isaac a few pointers.  Which I think paid off. Our second round which was the last day my parents were with us, Isaac improve having the best score among the kids.

Round one, Franklin took best score for the kids on our first round and I think he even beat me.

 Grandpa showing us how it's done!

The Race is on!!! 

Franklin takes the lead and wins with almost a full lap lead.

Day 3 we spend a good portion of it at theWarhawk museum at Franklin's request.  We got a good history lesson from the different displays and articles around the museum.

Sunday after taking in a refreshing worship service we hit a local beach which was almost empty.  That way we didn't have to share :).  Then for supper dad and I prepared a meal of BBQ ribs, corn on the cob, bake potatoes, fried asparagus and mushrooms and some salad to make it look a little healthier.  It was quite the feast.

Monday mom and dad came to the airport and helped with counting inventory while I continued on my project for the morning.  In the afternoon we attempted to make a trek out to a historical almost ghost town town.  However 10 miles short of the town the road got pretty ruff dropping us down to 10-15mph and being late in the afternoon we turned back not knowing if the hotel would be open for supper. And good thing when we check after getting back home that night we would have been pretty hungry as they would have been closed by the time we arrived at our back breaking speed.  So we will have to make a visit to Silver City another time when we have more time to spare.

Tuesday our last day with mom and dad before they headed back to Alberta.  We spend again at the mini golf and this time we golfed our second round which was mentioned earlier.  The rest of the time was spent between the laser tag room and the arcade games.  It was an amazing week visiting with family and finding new things to do that are around here.

Front Yard

PS: Here are a couple of pictures of our new house that we are living in while in Nampa.  This was truly a blessing from God as it came fully furnished and in a great neighborhood. Isn't our God wonderful!!

Back Yard

Ride2Fly and Family Biking

Here are a couple pictures from the Ride2Fly fundraiser that MAF put on this past Saturday.  We joined in the doughnut eating and fellowship at the hanger before the bikes and the planes left for Garden Valley where lunch was served, and a flying demonstration.  

These next two pics are from our family bike trip we made Saturday afternoon in Boise.  We rode about 4ish miles before the kids had enough and we turned back for the truck.  It was a good time and hopefully we can do it again soon.

Unrelated to the pictures we think we have found a Church here that will fit our family pretty good for our time here in Idaho.

Work Pics

 This is a grand caravan that is heading for Africa once it is made bush ready.

C172 that will be heading to Asia for flight training.  

Another C172 that is being prepared for Asia as well.

Day three at the hanger it's been good.

I've done a few different things since starting work in the hanger.  The main project however that I have been involved with is the C172 that doesn't look like much of a plane yet.  It will be a matching pair once we get this one all back together with a new paint job and a few other items.  I've been enjoying working with the crew here.  There are a lot of projects waiting in the T hanger across the apron once these projects finish up and move out.  There is no shortage of work here that's for sure.

Tears, Stress and Blessings

Over the past four weeks my days have been filled with many different emotions all wrapped up inside of me.  I have expericed that wonderful emotion of stress as we packed up our house hoping that it would all fit back into the trailer again.  Which I am happy to report that it did all fit and every thing arrived safe and sound without breaking anything.  I will admit that for some reason this step was very stressful and I found myself torn between packing and wanting to sit down and play with the children. My Isaac shares the same view with me as I sat down to tuck him in last night and he shared with me that life would sure be a whole lot easier if we could just skip the packing and unpacking stage.  A huge thank you goes out to my parents as they took the children for those last few days so I could focus on packing without having to be a parent at the same time. And to our church in Michigan as they came and helped us load the trailer in the rain.  Along with the stress came many tears as we said good-bye to my family and our all wonderful new friends that we made in Michigan.  Even know as I sit and write this blog the tears have started to flow again when I think about our past year and how God just blessed us not only with physical things but with many spiritual blessings for both Greg and I.  As a wife I had the most amazing year of witnessing my husband open his heart and allow God to work in his life and lead him through a year of growth that has completely changed how he shares his faith, his passion for serving with MAF, and how he leads his family.  Man can our God work when we are willing to let Him move within us!! For myself God blessed me with really teaching me that this is truly His work we are doing and that I am just His hands and feet.  This is another part where I shed many tears over as I would become so overwhelmed with this whole process (especially during VBS) as I had to just come to the point that I would tell God that I could not possible do this and then watch as He would step in and truly begin His work and I was only a bystander.  Now we have arrived here in Nampa and of course more stress with unpacking but first came the tears as God provided a place for our family to live in.  Just picture me walking through a house that was completely furnished (remember we came with no furniture) with everything that we could have asked for.  Like desk for all the children as we are home schooling the children, to a kitchen completely setup already, and all the beds were made ready for a family to use them.  Now to a woman who has just packed up, said goodbye to friends and family, traveled to Canada for a week of intense visiting, and had be trying to entertain the children through many hours in a truck I was just unprepared for how God provided within two days!!  Then to top it all off I started Franklin's first day of school (we are waiting for Isaac's and Jaclynn's books to arrive) today as we are having him repeat grade four because of how far behind he still is with his reading and writing.  This year we want Franklin to be able to do most of the reading by himself as I did most of the reading for him last year.  Today I sat down with him and he was able to do most of the reading by himself with me as we took turns reading paragraphs!! Yes, I am still crying but they are still tears of joy as most parents will agree it is very hard watch one of your children struggle with something for so long and to finally see answers to prayers begin to happen before you is amazing.  Thank you for all of your prayers for Franklin concerning this and please keep praying that he will not become overwhelmed with how hard he has to work at his schooling.  And thank you for all your prayers throughout out this very busy month.

Julie

Nampa Idaho

We arrived safely this past Wednesday after a 2600 miles road trip which included a short stop in Steinbach MB. Our family will now be residing in Nampa for the next 8 months or so.  The trip as a hole went well with only one minor mechanical problem as the alternator went belly up 40 miles out of Idaho Falls. We are very grateful that this happen during this part of our journey as there were many miles of remote travel which would have made this repair much harder and cause a lot more logistic problems. It was with much relief that  we made it to Idaho Falls and found an alternator! I fixed it in the parking lot of the parts store and we were back on the road in short order.  The kids traveled pretty good considering the length of time I would go between stops.  Nobody had to get out and walk although we did get close a couple times (You would think that Julie would be better behaved at her age).  The children are very happy to have come to the end of this long road of travel and are starting to settle in well.  We are going tomorrow to look at what might become our home over the course of our time here in Nampa.  I will be starting in the MAF hanger possibly as early as Monday working as an intern mechanic.  This will be to help out MAF as well help me dry the ink on my newly signed A&P certificate.  Julie's main focus this coming year will be home schooling all three children which will likely be a pretty full load for her. Thank you for all your prayers as we have been travelling these last few weeks and God bless.

We also apologize as did not do a very good job taking pictures during our trip.  We have taken a few thou since we have arrived in Nampa.

Jaclynn's arts and crafts while visiting Steinbach.

MAF here we are.

Kid's making themselves at home in the sandbox.

Let's go Herbert!

Our new front door for the time being.

Not sure what he's up to? preparing for a crash or lining up his cross-hairs on something.

View Larger Map


Here is the map of our trip with our stop overs along the way.

July/August Michigan

Sorry for the delay of getting a blog post up.  We've had some eventful and busy last couple weeks here in Michigan. Julie's parents hosted a family/Constantine area farewell for us, as well our Church sent us off in style with cake, prayer and fellowship Sunday evening (August 5).  A group from our Church (Bowne Mennonite Church) here helped load the trailer Thursday night which was a wonderful blessings.  And among the packing and sorting, many goodbyes were said.  Then came the final day of packing and grad which we celebrated with my fellow classmates this past Friday in mechanic style.  Yesterday we fellowshipped with a our favorite midpoint Michigan stop over in Iron Mountain. This week we will be spending time with friends in Stienbach MB before we move on to our next stage which takes us to Nampa Idaho.  Once in Idaho I will be putting my newly learned skills to work as I will be serving as an intern mechanic until December.  The following pictures are for a few of the different fair well parties and activities we were involved with these past few weeks.  We've had to say a lot of goodbyes many tears as well.  I'm very thankful for the friends we have made this year in Michigan and look forward to seeing them again sometime in the future.

Family photo with Julie's Grandma from TX.

The boys at the horse races on last time for a while.

Franklin & Julie spent a day at Word Missionary Press helping out.

Church farewell party.

Church farewell party.

Tuesday morning Bible study group.

One of our final assignments at school.

Grad pictures, it was a great celebration to commemorate what was a great year.

So serious.

I did smile, Julie and I need to work on camera/smile coordination however!

SMAT Grad Class of 2012