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)

Life on The Farm

Just before leaving for Alaska, we were asked by a family at our church if we had found a place to live yet. We were just planning on signing a lease at an apartment, but it wasn't our first choice since it would be more expensive than what we were previously paying while sharing the townhouse. 

They, the Altmeyers, invited us out to their home to see if we would consider coming to live with them. We said, "Sure, why not!?" 

Well you will soon see why we said, "YES!!!" to their amazing offer. 

We technically moved in about 1 week before leaving for Alaska. But have been officially here since returning in June. I'll give a tour of our apartment in another post, but for now here's a little of "Around the Farm" 

View from our bedroom window... Mt Spokane

Owen relaxing on the front porch

The Garden. from the back; Corn, potatoes, a few kinds of tomatoes, best dang sweet squash in the world, yellow squash, zucchini,  beans, cucumbers, onions, blueberries, eggplant, and cilantro, with sunflowers and beans along the far right fence. Raspberries fencing in the left and rear.

Fresh picked breakfast from the garden.

Karen's beautiful roses. She has all sorts of flowers EVERYWHERE. 

It's beautiful

Oh yea, and we have Raspberries. :)

LOTS OF RASPBERRIES

The sign I spent a lot of time making that sits at the end of the driveway.

And the sign I whipped up real quick, that sits on the other end of the driveway.

We've got 4 Long, tame, rows like this

and 6 short, wild rows .... like this
(they look scary... but this is where the good berries are!)

Hello sunflower :)

Wade working in the field on the other side of the driveway. 

Taking a walk down our driveway.

The Garden.

The Altmeyers let us work the patch to make some extra money.

(and there is Owen running around with his pants off)

This is all the pictures I have for now. I feel like Im finally settling in and getting back to my old self. Look forward to sharing soon about getting ready for baby #2! 

By the way, ITS A GIRL! ETA October 19, 2013