Moved to Idaho. Working with MAF

I figured since it has been 5 months! since our last post.... it was time for another. 

I have been meaning to post for quite a while now, but it seems like every time I was going to, a new development would happen and I would want to wait until I had more details...

Well, the details and changes have stopped piling up :) and we are finally at a breathing spot. 

So here are some pictures! 

Once upon a time, I was pregnant with our second child.

She was born, and we named her Emma Joy.

6lbs...13oz? maybe 14? (It was 7 months ago folks!) :D

And then there were two. 

Real life.... He really does love her. :)

Owen likes taking pictures of himself.

One month and one week ago we found out Willie was accepted for an internship at Mission Aviation Fellowship in Nampa, ID. 

One week later - we moved! 

This is the backyard of our new place :)

Willie built me a raised bed for mother's day :)

I found some "free poop" on craigslist for my garden :D

(seriously... that's what I searched for)

My mom got owen this "motorcycle" (as owen calls it)

He rides it... pretty much every day.

There is a park right down the road from our new house.

It was hot :P

Can't believe she's 7 months old already!

Owen making some friends in the sand pit. 

(never met a stranger)

There is a paved trail behind our house that follows a little stream. 

We're about 20 mins from Boise. This is a picture of the mountains around Boise we saw on our way to Zoo Boise.

Owen's, Emma's, and My first time to the zoo!

Waiting for the zoo to open.

                                

The monkeys were my favorite.

They had an awesome dinosaur exhibit throughout. They moved and made noises and some of them even spit. Owen thought they were real.... and didn't want to get to close. 

LOVED! the prairie dog exhibit. 

Willie took owen through a tunnel that popped up in the middle of it. 

This one cracked me up. lol

Red panda. This one was pretty cool. 

Me and my not-so-little man

...trying to eat my face off.

"Can we go to the mall daddy?"

Not ready for her to drive just yet. 

One of the women at our church invited the 

women's group for a tour and BBQ at their dairy. 

Owen got to help feed a baby cow.

Owen loved it. 

I absolutely love this picture of Willie and Emma

Our big girl.

And a few pictures, courtesy of Owen

So, that's been life lately :) 

The move was great. 

We are still getting settled in. 

Hope to share more about the work Willie is doing at MAF very soon.

We do have a new address! 

Send us a message through the "contact us" tab if you would like our new address 

or just want to chat :)

New Pilot. New Baby. New Possibilities.

The past 2 months have held a lot of 

"Monumental" moments for us.

For one,

Willie successfully completed all the requirements needed to gain his private pilot certification!

This is a reason for celebration!!

And also a huge checkpoint for us. 

He has been working toward this since he first started the BSMAT program in 2007!

Only 3 semesters left (about a year and a half) until he graduates. 

GO WILLIE! GO!

The next big development was

the birth of our daughter

Emma Joy 

She is now 9 weeks old and doing great.

This transition has been an answer to prayer for us.

It was a little rocky with Owen the first week, but he is doing much better now. 

As for Emma, she is a doll!

She eats like a horse.

Sleeps like a champ.

And is just a huge blessing all together for our family.

Willie and I are also making the adjustment quite well.

We were blessed with meals from friends for a LONG time, which helped a ton! And Willie's mom came for a week and helped with Owen and things around the house.

By her second week home, I couldn't believe how rested and sane I was feeling. I was anticipating it taking months to get to that place. 

As I said before, we are praising God for this answer to prayer and are truly thankful. 

(birth story details yet to come!)

Another exciting development I'd like to share

 is that at MBI's Mission's Conference a few weeks ago, we had the chance to talk with a representative from Missionary Aviation Fellowship (MAF).

We spent quite a while asking questions about what it would look like if we were to serve with them in the future. And we were intrigued with the answers.Since the conversation we have been seriously considering joining with them once Willie graduates.

There are lots of things that need to fall into place to make this happen, but at this point we are prayerfully heading in that direction and will see how God directs our steps.We would appreciate prayer for this as it would be a huge decision that would impact our family for many years after. 

And Last but certainly not least,
after much prayer and consideration we decided to change Willie's emphasis at school to the Maintenance Specialist program.


This is a pretty big deal.


Up until this point, he has been on the track that would make him primarily a pilot with the ability to fix an airplane. With the transition at school, he will now graduate as primarily a mechanic with the ability to fly an airplane.

It's a small change in details, but makes a huge difference in what it looks like for us practically - both in training and on the field. Hope to share more about that switch in a later post. 


All in all, it has been a full few months but very enjoyable none the less. We are currently enjoying a long Holiday visit in Wisconsin, and will return back to Washington when school starts back up in January. 


 MERRY CHRISTMAS! 

Preparing Heart & Home for Baby #2

Willie FINALLY! got to complete his first solo cross country at school. This is a pretty big deal for us. For those of you that aren't familiar with what that means, it is basically a  long flight with multiple airports involved. Solo, means that Willie flew by himself. 

We are really shooting for him to complete his private pilot certification before our little girl comes.... but this past week of weather was giving us a run for our money. 

Poor Willie was scheduled almost everyday for the first flight of the day. That meant he had to get up at 4am and leave by 4:30 to make it to school by 5 to preflight the plane - on the off chance that the weather would clear up and he could fly... and it didn't happen, for a whole week.

 So, he finally got that one out of the way, 

and 2 more flights done yesterday!

The weather is looking good for the next week, so hopefully he will be able to make up for lost time. The next big flight coming up is his night cross country. That one will be with his instructor, but will be the first time he has flown at night time. 

As for me :) 

I'm just starting to feel like 

"I'm ready" for her to come.

and

I am SO happy it's fall. 

It's good for my soul. 

It's cool in the house and I've been cooking my butt off getting freezer meals ready for Baby Sister's arrival. 

2 weeks of meals so far. I'll probably do one more weeks worth (unless she comes first!) 

I discovered last night at the grocery store that Eggnog is here for the season!!

(I've had 48 ounces in less than 24 hours :D)

I can't figure out why they only sell it in half gallons. 

I had my first pumpkin spice latte and 

piece of pumpkin pie, 

and have 2 pie crusts waiting to be filled.

We have all the baby stuff washed and ready to go.

It's fun having *pink* stuff for a change :)

Her car seat is ready to go in the van.

I've been having some little contractions the past few days. Even though I know it's nothing "serious" yet,

 it's still pretty exciting when they happen :) 

Trying to slow down a bit and get some rest. 

Spend some quality alone time with Owen. 

He's got a big change coming around the corner.

Not going to be the "one and only" anymore.

bitter sweet

I'm trying to figure out who I am as a mom. 

Been meditating on these verses to try and clear out all the clutter in my head of what I think motherhood should be like...

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart,

and do not lean on your own understanding,

in all your ways acknowledge Him,

and He will make your path straight."  

-Proverbs 3:5-6

"do not be conformed to this world, 

but be transformed by the renewing of your mind,

so that you may prove what the will of God is,

that which is good and acceptable and perfect"

-Romans 12:2

I'm thankful for the promise of transformation 

that comes through renewing my mind in what God says and letting everything else fall to the side.

For we know that everything we can see will pass away,

but the Word of the Lord endures forever.  

His word is truth,

and what I put my hope in.

Overall, I'm feeling at peace 

as we wait to welcome home our new child.

(if you made it this far with no pictures 

thank you! and I'm proud of you!!

wish I had some to share at this time)