Wednesday, January 14, 2009

We are in Michigan!!

Well, we made it to our first stop in our journey to Alaska. We arrived in Michigan about 7 p.m. and Scott's mom, Stephanie, had a great dinner waiting for us. Our drive to Michigan was good although we did drive through a snow blizzard. :-) Scott was able to make it to our "home/sending" church's missions meeting last night. He was excited about that. It was good to see everyone again.

We are having friends over today, kind of like an open house. They are free to stop in whenever they can and visit for as long as they wish. Stephanie has food for the day and it should be lots of fun.

When Scott and I woke up this morning, we heard someone playing pool...we thought it was Jeremiah since he had just left our room. We had told him to be quiet in case others were still asleep, so Scott got up to hush him up only to find it wasn't him...it was our Shaughn playing a game of pool with his friend Sean. Yes, our visitors started pretty early. LOL We just cracked up and had a good laugh. Sean is our 5th adopted son...or should be. He is Shaughn's best friend and always calling or visiting. We love having him around and enjoy his company very much. It was great waking up to see his smiling face. :-)

Scott is at our local Costco...only 10 minutes away from here.... :-) He was there when they opened this morning. He has already called me 2 times to run things by me before buying...he is having a blast there. A kid in the candy shop so to speak.

It is hard to believe that we are on our 3 month journey already. Time has come quickly. We are excited to see what God has in store for us during this time. We bought each of the boys a journal for them to keep a record of the memories and quiet times of their trip. They seem excited about that.

Well, that is it for this update...check back soon...there will be more soon. :-)

God bless you and thank you for reading about us.

Lela

Sunday, December 28, 2008

The after Christmas ride home.

Well we had a wonderful time at Lela's folks house for Christmas. We are on our way home, actually we took a lunch stop at Panera Bread in Gastonia, North Carolina. We worshipped with family and friends at The Family Worship Center in Kings Mountain this morning.

Yesterday we went to the Billy Graham Library in Charlotte, North Carolina. What a cool experience to see the life of a man who stayed the course and preached the simple message of the gospel throughout his life! He is 90 years old now.

We are on our way home and looking forward to chillin with our family. Scott got Flight Simulator X for Christmas and just has to try it out!!!!!!

Just over two weeks away from leaving the lower 48 and heading North to Alaska!!!!! Which reminds me, I got the movie "North to Alaska" with The Duke for Christmas!! We will have to watch that too!!

We trust that all of you had a wonderful time with family as you celebrated that most precious gift! We hope that you all will have a Jesus filled New Year. One of being servants to all. And loving the lowly!

Oh...My class in Manitoba was Awesome!!!! It was a heavy maintenance class on the PT-6. (Pratt and Whitney jet engine with a prop, also known as a Turboprop engine). These engines are used heavily in Missionary aviation around the world and with the shortage and expense of Avgas, we will be seeing more aircraft using these engines, like the Kodiak.

Lela had an appointment with a wonderful Doctor and friend in Coshocton for her ankle before we left. He said that she had damaged two tendons heavily and one slightly. He hooked her up with a new brace and shoe supports. He said that it is healing and will take a while, but she is on the mend. If only we could just take the bad parts out and put new parts in like an airplane......

Stomach flu's are going through the family!! Yippee!!!!! So as we take off for the rest of the journey home....well....you get the picture!!!! PLEASE PRAY FOR US!!!!!!


Love you all!!

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Happy Thanksgiving!!

We have so much to be thankful for. God is so good to us. We are so thankful for our friends and family who constantly encourage us and support us with their love and prayers. We thank God for each of you.

We are going to spend Thanksgiving with another MMS family and are very excited about it. It is a family who we have not had the opportunity to "hang out" with as of yet. We are so blessed to have been invited to their home for the holiday. There will be other MMS families there too and we are excited about that as well. MMS is like a big family who love getting together but is not able to as much as they would like. Just like our real families. Schedules and obligations keep us from being able to get together more, but God is so gracious to bless us with holidays like this that is set aside for special friends and families. What a blessing.

Scott has been working hard on the suburban. He has worked most of the past weekend and late everynight this week. He has taken the rest of the week off for vacation. We thought we were going to his sisters for Thanksgiving but plans changed with the suburban needing attention. He and the older boys plan on going in today and Friday to work some more on the suburban, (burb for short), and hopefully things will work out smoothly for him. So far, some parts that were ordered for it were not the correct parts. This has caused some delays. He is sleeping in this morning, actually the whole family is still asleep and it is already 9:30. They never sleep in this long. I feel like I have the whole house to myself.

I baked fresh banana bread and have Scott's pot of coffee all done...just waiting for him to rise and greet the day. :-)

Nathaniel lost his last baby tooth. He asked me if this makes him a grown up now. I had to laugh. Jeremiah walked up and told me that he is half of a grown up since he has also lost some of his baby teeth. Too funny!!

The kids are getting excited about the upcoming holidays. Nathaniel's birthday is a week from tomorrow...Thanksgiving. He will be 11 on Dec. 4th. So, he thinks December is all about him with presents all month long. Sure, ok...I told him. LOL I guess I ought to start thinking about what to get him. Wow, I am a little behind. :-)

Bless you all and Happy Thanksgiving!!!!
Lela and boyz~

Saturday, November 22, 2008

Tickets for Alaska

God is so good. He has provided even the smallest details. We have been blessed to purchase our round-trip tickets for all 6 of us to Alaska for only $289.00...total. God has blessed us through other people with them giving us their air mile points and it totaling enough for us to basically get free flights. We only had to pay for the transferring of the points on some accounts. We are leaving from Detroit, MI on January 16, 2009 to Anchorage, AK and returning on April 1, 2009 to Detroit. One of the MARC guys is driving to Anchorage to pick us up and drive us back to Soldotna. We are staying at a MARC families house that will be in the lower 48 during this time for their furlough. They have asked us to stay in their home and care for their family pets while they are gone. We have the use of their home and vehicles while we are there. God is so amazing to have worked out all of the details of the trip so far. What a huge blessing.

Upon our return to Detroit, we are going on vacation with Scott's sister and her family for a week to VA. This trip was planned before the Alaska trip. We are very excited about all of this. We will return to Ohio the middle of April. Please be praying for us during this time and check back as we will have high speed internet while we are in Alaska and on vacation and will be making more frequent updates.

I am at the hangar right now while Scott is working on the burb. We had it fixed while we were in MD which was the transfer case. That cost $2000.00. OUCH!! Now, he is working on the head gasket as it has some leaking issues. He is spending most of Thanksgiving week working on this as well as hunting. He went last night and purchased his hunting license and is all legal now.

Scott is scheduled to do his cross-country flight this Sunday...wow, that is tomorrow already. He and Paul are flying to some town south of Columbus. He is pretty excited about it. He has been spending a lot of time studying for his written test and can't wait until that part is over and this is all completed. Neither can I. LOL

We went this morning and helped a very dear family pack up their u-haul as they are moving to IN to finish raising their support. They have finished up their time here at MMS and are going to be joining JAARS in NC as soon as their support is in. They were the first family who had us over and really connected with us. They have children about the same age as Shaughn and Matthew and they all had a lot in common. Shaughn and Matthew are really going to be lost without them. They have had many nights where they have played games and hung out. They also looked out for us as we do not get a TV signal of any kind where we live and would tape our favorite shows for us as a treat, especially when Idol is on. :-) They were the ones who housed us every time we were going through town before moving here and even while we were moving here. They are like our 2nd family. This is the hard part of being in ministry...making dear friends and then saying good bye. Everyone knows this part of it coming to MMS, but it doesn't make it any easier. Thank goodness for email.

My foot...a dear supporter sent me a walking boot to wear and that has helped a lot. I fell again a week after it happened and sent me into pain heaven. I mean...OUCH!! My ankle is still somewhat swollen but not like it was. I am able to hobble around and feel much safer with the boot on. I have been told that I have to allow for the weakness in the ankle to heal and that will take about 8-10 weeks total. I am counting. Since it has starting the snowing thing and ice is out there, I am taking even more caution and holding on to others as I walk outside. Please pray for a quick recovery and for me to be patient enough for it to heal correctly. LOL

We are going to be spending Thanksgiving here with another MMS family. Actually, from what I hear there may be three families there. We are very excited about this. I love getting together with other MMS families, especially the ones that we don't get to see very often.

Friday, October 31, 2008

Stranded...in Maryland

What a trip this has turned out to be. We left last night to spend a weekend with Scott's sister and are suppose to speak at her church this Sunday. On our way, we pulled off the freeway for gas and some coffee. As we approached the end of the exit ramp, we started hearing some "not so good" sounds coming from the engine section of the burb...the is short for Suburban. As we pulled over to investigate it more, it grew louder. We ended up getting a hotel for the night and calling his sister to let her know that we would not be arriving at 2 a.m. as we thought. Scott started calling mechanics in the area first thing this moring to see if they could fit us in and inspect further. The results...they can fix it but the part will not be here until Tuesday morning at the earliest and the price...$1500-2000. Ouch!!

Cindy, Scott's sister, is about 2-2 1/2 hours away and is coming to pick us up. We will stay with her until the burb is fixed and then she will bring us back and homeward bound we will be. We called MMS and they are so great. They said not to worry about it and they will see us when they see us. What a blessing to work with such great people. Bless you guys!!!!

Last weekend I fell and hurt my ankle. It is still swollen and bruised. New bruises everyday, it seems. Pain is still pretty strong at times and I am keeping it wrapped and elevated to hopefully help it to heal. Please pray for me and for the healing of it. I have not went in to have it checked out as we do not have medical insurance. I was hoping it was just a little twist/sprang. I still hope that is all it is.

Please pray for us as we are trying to enjoy the journey but are feeing like we are at the center of the enemies attacks. He always thinks he knows just how to hit us but we know we serve a BIG God and we are victorious through Christ.

Bless you all,
Lela and boyz~

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

A Fall Day...

Good morning. What a “cool” morning it is. As I look outside, I see he frost on the ground and vehicles. I even heard the furnace kick on this morning for the first time. We have it set for pretty low still so it had to be pretty cold to turn on.

Scott left for Alabama on Sunday and is there for the week in an engine overhaul class. He is pretty excited about it. He said the instructor is compacting a lot into their time. He said he hopes to be able to retain most of it.

The boyz and I have a pretty full week this week while daddy is gone. I was hoping it was going to be a relaxing week but instead it is going to be fun and full. My mother-in-law and father-in-law are coming down to help with it and I am so happy. They are a lot of fun and we are excited to see them. They are always such a huge help…what a God send. Please remember them in your prayers as they are having many health issues that come with a lot of pain. They are such troopers that they want to come anyways. I just hope they can enjoy their grandsons.

Last week Scott was able to SOLO again in his flying. He was so nervous and excited. Now he has to be planning for his cross country solo’s that is next on the “to-do” list. He also has to study, study, study and study some more for his written test. With the weather changing and all, he is trying to get as much done before the yucky stuff as he can. He really wants to get to the point where he can have his license and take his family up. We really want that too. 

We are in the planning stages of our up coming trip to Alaska. We are leaving in the middle of January (around the 15th) and returning the first of April. There is a family there that is going on furlough to the lower 48 and would like for us to come and watch their home and animals while they are gone. This will give us a chance as a family to see what winter is like there and the “all day night time” thing. We are very excited about it. God seems to be working out the details and that is the best part. We are praying about the tickets and the “gear” that we will need while we are there such as the parka’s and boots, mittens and snow pants for all of us. Everything that we have is not rated for such cold weather as they have there. We are excited because we know that God will provide.

Shaughn and Matthew will be traveling this Friday morning to Virginia to a Christian Camp who has invited the youth from our church here to be their worship leaders and drama team for the campers. Shaughn is playing bass for the worship team and Matthew is on the traveling drama team. Scott and I took Matthew to his last practice and stayed to watch it. It was very powerful and they did a great job. We are very proud of him. Scott looked at me during Matthew’s performance and said, “we have some great kids don’t we?” I agreed. God has truly blessed us with great kids. It is all His doing. I pray that they find connection while we are in Alaska with some kids there as they did when we were getting ready to move here to Ohio. It really helped them to feel more connected having had the opportunity to meet and start friendships with some of the MMS kids here. Having the opportunity to be in Alaska for 2-3 months will give them some time to meet and get to know some folks there.

It looks as if it may work out to see all of our immediate family just before going to Alaska for the winter. We are very excited about that. We are thinking of spending Thanksgiving with Scott's sister and dad, Christmas with my family and New Years with Scott's mom and step dad. Then, we would leave mid January. It is so neat to see how God works out the details of even those things that mean so much to us. Thank you Jesus!!

We were able to go on a county wide Fall Color Tour here in Coshocton just before Scott left for Alabama and it was beautiful. They take you all over the county and you have different stops at different kinds of places. One was a dairy farm and they gave out free ice cream, then a boys scout camp who had free stew and homemade ice cream with hot coffee and hot chocolate. The fire hall with lunch available for super cheap and the boys could sit and look inside of all the fire trucks. A sheep farm that had people spinning the wool and making sweaters with it. A shooting range that Matthew fell in love with. It is one of the only long range shooting ranges in the U.S. There were 10 stops in all and it took us all day to do. It was a great way to spend the day together before daddy left. I was excited to get my camera back just in time for it. It had an error code that kept coming up on it and I had to send it off to NJ to the Canon dealer to be fixed. It arrived back all fixed on Thursday. What great timing. Praise God for His timing again.

Well, I will sign off for now. We would love to hear from you and will be updating you again real soon. God bless you and thank you for reading about our life.

Lela and boyz~

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

October 1, 2008...1 Year in Ohio!!

Hard to believe but today is our 1 year anniversary in Ohio. 1 Year ago we loaded up and started out on a journey, a new adventure. During this past year, God has been so faithful! He has shown us his beauty not only in the beautiful landscape and star lit nights but also in His people. We have met so many wonderful people on this journey and have seen so many beautiful sights.
As I was driving home this week from working at the county fair, I took a moment and looked at the trees. The colors have all begun to change into their beautiful fall colors. It was such a pretty ride. The winding roads here and the many trees make driving from place to place a real treat. The nights are getting cooler and it is time to start to bring out the long sleeves on occasions. I love hot tea and am finding it more exciting during these cooler nights verses the warmer ones for such a drink.
Scott and Shaughn have had a small bought with some flu thing this week. From what I hear, others at the MMS hangar have shared it as well. So far, the rest of us are ok. Thank the Lord. :-)
We are officially mailing in our application for service with an organization in Alaska. We are very excited to see where this goes and what the Lord is up to. We desire to be in His will and work according to His plans.