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!