A Little Catch Up

It's been forever, but just this week I started to think about blogging and realized I've been missing it!  So here's a little update:

We just went on a fantastic retreat down to Goias.  Our whole mission gets together for a retreat only once every 3 years, so it was really special to see friends we haven't seen in a long time who serve at other bases.  

 When we were on our last retreat, Elijah was younger than Audrey is now!  So it was such a different experience trying to socialize and get something out of the meetings while keeping track of a preschooler and a new baby.  But it was a blast and even the 12 layover in Manaus wasn't a big deal and actually kind of fun since we were traveling with our friends Lauro, Rose, and their daughter Debora.  (We spent the wait at their friends' house).

The trip got us thinking about how many countless flights we've been on as a couple and now with our two kids. From all that traveling we've developed a pretty good travel rhythm as couple….if I do say so myself!  Anticipating each other's needs and moves as we go through security, round up our bags, check in, juggle passports, etc.  And our kids have definitely fallen right into the rhythm of travel flexibility, they did amazing the whole way!  Let's hope its a good sign for furlough.

 While nearby for the retreat, we got to visit Jeyson's family.  Doesn't Jeyson's sister have the coolest, most Pinterest -worthy house???  And all designed and created by them!

 I can't tell you how much we miss living near family!  You truly don't know what you have until it's gone!

 Elijah with his cousin Danny

 Back home we have really been back in the grind.  There has been nonstop flights and nonstop maintenance.  Our two planes are troopers but are badly needing to be replaced!  They are over 40 years old!!  So at routine inspections more and more there are problems that need to prevented before the next flight, which is usually the next day.  This has meant evening maintenance after a plane comes in from a flight to get it ready for the next morning.  If it can't be done in time and there is just one flight the next day, the planes take turns being grounded and worked on.  

It's been an intense few weeks and we're all feeling a bit tired at our base here since it is the same five guys who are the pilots that are the mechanics!  Our mission is working towards replacing these planes, and one is headed down soon to Anapolis for a major overhaul, but in the meantime it will probably be  a few more years of careful prevention.  It's not always so crazy, but our base seems to go through cycles of a few really intense weeks and then a few smoother weeks (depending on what the inspections turn up) so right now we're on a hectic cycle.  Even the other day two of our pilots wound up spending two days in a village to work on a problem before taking off again (and the other plane had to fly in some parts).  We always have to be 100% sure before taking off.  Jeyson has also been on a lot of flights these days, including today just went to the village of Palimi-U.  

Missionary aviation life is not quite as glamorous as you'd think!  It's a lot of sweat while doing maintenance in the oven of a hangar.  It's a lot of loading and unloading cargo from the belly pod.  It's a lot of uncertainty in trying to invite people over for dinner because you don't know what time the plane is going to get in that day.    But it truly is a lot of joy too, seeing the direct fruit of our grunt-work!

Meanwhile I'm finding myself feeling more and more called to invest every bit of energy I can into raising these two boogers with intentionality.  They say the days are slow but the years are fast and I couldn't agree more.  I want to do my very best at this job which involves everything from clipping toenails to pureeing pumpkin to scraping play dough out of the carpet to trying to model (yikes!) how to love God with all of our hearts and how much we need Jesus.  

 Especially when Jeyson has crazy hours at the hangar or is on a flight, I want to give my all every day to the daily task of motherhood.  And that's no easy job in any place, but even more so with the challenges of lack of conveniences in our lifestyle that we have here.  But like our aviation ministry, I see fruit and that makes it all worth it!

Catch Up - Jeyson

Continuing in catch-up mode, here's a little update on this guy.

Audrey was only about 5 days old in this pic…already learning the art of drinking Brazilian tea from Jeyson

- Jeyson's has been flying as a co-pilot to villages a lot these days.  He's wrapping up the hours required by our mission before he can fly on his own in this region.  He's also getting advanced training on runways so he can be authorized to land on them one by one starting from easiest to most difficult.  (I could write a whole post on the landing strips and what makes each one difficult - mountains, rivers, animals, mud, etc)  

- Right now Jeyson is awaiting news about whether he will be helping to ferry two different planes down to central Brazil.  One could happen any day and other other probably in March-ish.  These will be trips of about 12 hours of flying and very tiring, but great experiences and helpful for the mission.

- Jeyson is really enjoyed spending time in the villages and with the missionaries there whenever he goes for a flight.  He brings home encouraging stories of what's going on and fruit from the jungle too.

- Back on the ground, Jeyson continues as the head mechanic/shop manager.  And he's really good at the job too.  Not that I know personally since I'm so UNmechanical, but all of the other mechanics always speak very highly of his abilities, and especially his ability to diagnose problems.  This is especially important when flying in such difficult areas, where there is no room for mechanical problems.

- Jeyson's a great husband and dad.  Even though he works long hours at work, he is great at balancing time with us at home too.  He also is wonderful at being calm and patient with the kids when I'm at my whits end at moments :)  And he's definitely into dates and not above diaper changes…couldn't ask for more.

Pregnancy Plans

We've officially decided to move forward with plans to travel back to central Brazil at the end of pregnancy for our baby to be born there.  The healthcare situation in Boa Vista is far from the best on many levels...especially when it comes to birth.  In fact, there's a well known joke around Boa Vista that the best doctors in town are "Dr. Tam" and "Dr. Gol"....Tam and Gol are the names of the airlines have flights leaving of Boa Vista to get to you a main city.   Although its very inconvenient to travel at 36 weeks, we feel like it's the best plan for our family.  I was just reading a Brazilian article about how people making trips like this for birth is getting to be more and more common in Brazil.  We have a wonderful doctor who will take care of us once we get to Goias.  (He is the same from Elijah's birth).  It was so kind of him to take me as a patient even though we will only have 1-2 prenatal appointments with him.  And we have a great support system for the logistics with the mission headquarters and Jeyson's family in the area.  And flying there will certainly be a lot easier than Mary who had to travel and give birth at the end of her pregnancy :) 

So, the main things to figure out next are buying tickets and figuring out who will keep an eye on our home in Boa Vista while we are gone.  We also are praying for continued good health...no complications that will make the late pregnancy plane ride impossible.

Once we are in Goias, we will spend some time with Jeyson's family, touch base with the doctor, and then have time to spend at the mission's headquarter base.  Jeyson has things we wants to meet about at the hangar and we're willing to help out in whatever ways are needed.  Once our girlie arrives, we will probably be back at Jeyson's family's house until we are able to travel (about a week after the birth).  We can also take a trip to the American embassy in Brasilia to get her American papers sorted out, something we'd have to travel away from Boa Vista to do anyway.  So, it looks like the trip will be just perfect for so many reasons.  The 6 weeks or so there will be pretty full.  Not to mention there are lots of friends and coworkers we look forward to spending time with. We're excited about the decision and very blessed that this door has opened so far! Just 16 weeks until my due date, 12 weeks until we fly to Goias!

Joseph's Week

Almost 3 weeks ago, my brother, Joseph, entered Jesus' presence.  He is whole and able to run, and most likely loves to play sports (like my dad said).  Everything about Joe's passing was so obviously orchestrated by God.  From the timing that allowed the whole family to come together, to the wonderful  healthy months Joe had leading up to his home going, to the peacefulness of it all. 

There is so much to say about how I feel, about how our whole family feels, but words don't seem to do justice.  

Here are a few pictures of my trip up to AZ with Elijah in October.  I'm so glad I went and was able to spend a little more time with Joe.  These pictures are of the last day we spent together which was just perfect in every way.  I will always remember it and I'm so glad to have a few pictures.

Impossible to get a good group selfie :)  But the imperfection of this picture is what I love, it shows who we we really are.

Here's another day from 2012.  I love this shot too. 

The week together celebrating Joseph's life was a messy mix of giggles, tears, kids dress up, happy and sad memories, playing and fighting over toys, pizza, flowers, late nights talking, sorting through belongings, laughing and crying.  It really makes sense why the whole family comes together at moments like this.  To celebrate a life and heal together.  Well that messy mixed is reflected in my jumbled pictures that don't want to get in the right order.  I also haven't been able to even post all of the pictures I wanted to (group shot, son in laws, etc ....blogger is rebelling and not allowing me for some reason), but you get the idea.  

( Wish CJ could have been in this shot, but had already gone home)

 This was a special week that will always stay with me.  But more importantly, Joseph's impact on our lives (his legacy) will always be part of who we are.

Family News

Lately I just haven't been able to keep up on blogging.  Quite possibly at least partly due to this bun in the oven that is taking all of my extra energy.  Yep, that's right, we're expecting Baby Braun #2 in late September.  At the 13 week ultrasound, everything looked absolutely perfect, what a blessing!

No "official", full blown morning sickness this time, just a lot of nausea, more related to the heat here than food or the time of day.  I have been SO SO hot!  I feel like the heat is getting me from the outside in and the inside out!  And I've been really really really...REALLY tired.  I'm sure it's a function of the heat and chasing around a toddler that has really knocked me out this time.  But I've had to lay low the last few weeks and just make surviving my goal.  We are very excited about the news, especially after the loss we experienced last year.  The biggest prayer request, other than heath for me and the baby, is direction about what to do about the birth.  Whether to remain here or try to travel back to Anapolis at the end of the pregnancy where there are more medical resources.  We'd appreciate prayer for wisdom and open doors where God wants us.

Life will be changing for Elijah, though he totally doesn't understand yet.  

This is the pregnancy announcement we used

 He doesn't understand when we say he will be a big brother, but we know he will love it.  He's getting so big and I know he will love a sibling to play with soon enough.  The other Saturday we went down to the river and as I was getting him ready I put him in this romper, which is the biggest and last size romper we have and that exists.  Only to realize I could barely snap it!  

 

I've always loved rompers and Elijah has worn them since he was born...

 But it's time to retire them.  Romper age has come to a close.  On to big and exciting adventures that you have to be big to do!  On to being a big brother too.

 I'm so excited for all this year has in store for us!

Lately...

In no particular order, here are a few things going on lately with us.

With one of our base's couples on furlough, I've taken over a few administrative jobs.  They deal with accounting, an area I have really come to enjoy over the years.  So, sometimes the whole family is in the hangar office....

...some being more productive than others.  Thank you Curious George for keeping E entertained!

The big SIDs project is underway in the hanger and today Jeyson banged up both hands pretty good in maintenance.  I'll spare you a pic :) Nothing too serious,  but it's good thing it's the weekend and he has time to heal.

I've been getting more and more involved getting to know women in the community.  Here is a mom that I reached out to helping her prepare for her birth.  Her daughter is getting big now (and has amazing hair for a 5 month old, as a side note hahaha!)  It's great to continue the relationship with the couple.  I also have been getting to know another sweet lady who recently became a Christian and moved here.  She is engaged and her and her fiance asked us to be their witnesses in their court wedding (a semi big deal here) since they don't know many other Christian couples here.  What a privilege!

We have also been enjoying to get to know a lot of the young couples who live in villages.  They are only flown out every 4-5 months for a few weeks and we've been slowly inviting them over for dinner when they're in the city.  It really puts a face on the people that we're serving behind the scenes. 

Elijah started 2 mornings a week in preschool again this week after a several week break.  I'm so excited about what that will mean for him Portuguese-wise this year.  I see him really opening up and wanting to repeat things in Portuguese for the first time.  I'm hoping he'll be at least partway speaking in Portuguese a year from now.  We'll see!  We're still working on English too, but Portuguese is pretty far behind and we want him to feel at home here.  I think preschool will be a big help.  

We had a great but intense hike to a waterfall a few weeks ago.  We went with several friends who lived in the village for years and they thought it was no big deal, even when one of the guys lost his flip flop in the waterfall (yes he intentionally hiked the hour long hike in flip flops!) and so he hiked the whole way back barefoot...fire ants on the trail and all. And he said it wasn't a big deal.  WOW I am a WIMP! I guess I need to get more in touch with my jungle side!

A while back a missionary wanted to start outreach to an unreached village.  He opened up a very preliminary airstrip himself by hand....which took a long time.  Then a few months ago our Asas plane flew in with a team of guys and they spent the week removing 30 TONS of dirt in order to flatten out the airstrip so it would be safe to land on long term.  This was also done by hand, but with a bigger team and the help of some native people as well.  The missionary who originally opened the strip, Kirt, is not able to live in the village full time for various reasons so his ministry is come and go and therefore somewhat limited.  Great news!  Now, there is a lot of talk about missionaries preparing to move there to live and serve there full time.  Awesome to see how God is working.

This weekend we're planning to do some resting.  A missionary couple who lives in a village is coming over for dinner tonight.  But other than that, we'll be relaxing and getting ready for another week!

Christmas 2013

This was such a different Christmas for us, the first one away from both sides of our family.  When we were in Anapolis we were only an hour drive from Jeyson's family, and a few Christmases since getting married we have been near my family while in the US.  At first I was all concerned about how to make new traditions now that it will just be us most years, but then I realized all we had to do was make THIS year special.  And it was!  Lots of time together as the three of us remembering Christ's birth...that's what it's all about!

Holiday plans, like everything else in Brazil, happens last minute.  5 days before Christmas and we still had no plans.  So we decided to invite 2 families who are also new in the community over for a brunch Christmas morning.  Then, we got invited over for a Christmas Eve dinner at someone's house (Christmas eve dinner is the big, main celebration here), and then on Christmas eve we got invited over for a Christmas day lunch with some American families.  So, we went from NO Christmas plans, to a packed, delicious, and wonderful 2 days.  Unfortunately I forgot to take pictures at the Christmas eve dinner and Christmas day lunch, but here are a few pics I took at our house.

Opening presents together as a family before our brunch guests arrived Christmas morning:

It must be so weird to be 2 and have no clue what's going on.  Out of nowhere your parents put a tree in the house and then you wake up one morning and get a tractor and a play tent...what?  why?  Though confused, the joy in a two years old's face in incredible!

Here are our brunch guests.  One couple (left) moved here to serve in the tribal villages, and the other couple (right) was transferred to Boa Vista from Goiania as part of government work.   They have become good friends.  Brunch was cinnamon rolls, french toast, fruit, bacon, and eggs.  Despite explanations, Brazilians always come up with original ways to eat American food, such as french toast sandwiches using eggs and bacon.  I LOVE seeing the way people from different cultures approach the same things.

Elijah thought he was one of the big boys playing with our friends' kids

 Coming back home Christmas evening, Elijah crashed at 6pm and fell asleep on the couch for a good long time.  Too much fun, food, and friends I guess.

To wrap things up, I thought I'd share our Christmas ornaments.  I haven't posted in a few years about this, but the Ciotta tradition is to find an ornament each year that represents that year.  We have them since our wedding.  Here is this year's and last year's.  

2012: An Amish buggy remembering our time out in Coshocton, OH for training...was was serious Amish country up there!

2013: And this little canoe to represent moving to Boa Vista to serve the natives in the villages.  The boat is a seed and so are the little items in the canoe and the man is made out of rubber from the trees in the Amazon.  Very col!

Looking at these two ornaments, our two years could not be more diverse!!!  Makes you wonder what's coming next around the bend in life!?!?!

Happy Birthday, Elijah

This year for Elijah's birthday, we decided to have a very low key birthday with just the three of us.  We brainstormed what a 2 year old would consider the perfect day, and that's just what we did.  It was Saturday so we had the whole day together.  For breakfast we had chocolate chip pancakes, Elijah's favorite. He had 4!!!  Then, we borrowed the projector from Asas and in the morning we watched a cartoon big screen style.  After naps we had this little birthday party.  

 The "party" was so low key we even forgot candles!  I put 2 tea lights on top...

And Elijah wound up leading the way on just digging in with a spoon (and fingers) and just skipping the plates :)  Rather than fight it, we just went with the flow, after all we were planning the perfect 2 year old day!

 He got this birthday present from us, every last part except the wheels was hand made by Jeyson.

 And then we look him to a totally dinky amusement park they have in town, which he thought was awesome!

 We have started the tradition that my side of the family did growing up of taking a birthday picture next to dad to see how much the kid has grown.  Here's this year

And here's last year in Ohio

 Speaking of last year, I never did post anything from his birthday party, so while I"m at it, here's a picture of him digging into his "cake" while he was supposed to be just standing by it for a picture :)  

Happy second birthday, Elijah.  You have brought so much joy to our lives!