Some recent photos.....including some mealtime antics!

Link to album (for ipad users)

Hangar Action!

So today as I was working in the hangar, I had a few special visitors pop by.....

A pleasant surprise indeed.  They caught us wrapping up the inspection on our float plane.....it's a huge Caravan on floats that normally resides in south Papua.  It was a fun afternoon for a few reasons (more on that in a minute)....but it was exciting not only to have the big float plane in the hangar, but also to have a Kodiak nosed in for a little maintenance.....

So there's the float plane (Cessna Caravan) on the left, and the Kodiak on the right.  The Kodiak is the plane I will be starting my flight training/check-out in here in about a month.

So a little more about that float plane, it is our only airplane here in Papua on floats (we have about a dozen total airplanes).  It fills a really neat role in South Papua, based out of the city of Meraukee.  The south side of Papua is very flat and wet, full of lots of large rivers, and this plane is very useful there.  From time to time they take the airplane to other parts of the island to access places that have large lakes or rivers.  It is neat because airstrips don't need to be constructed to land this airplane, you just have to find a big patch of water!

So while useful in lowland areas that have big rivers and lakes, it's not so useful in the mountainous areas where we do the majority of our flying.  Notice it has wheels that pop out so you can land on runways too...neat ha?!  I heard that just a few weeks ago this plane was used to carry some folks in to get to a community of people that is almost completely un-known to the outside world.  The pilot who flew in there, Tom, has been working with us on the inspection and it was really neat to talk to him about that.  Here is a picture of the float plane in action.....

The other reason it was an exciting day, is because Indonesia's import customs cleared these two Kodiaks (below) for us to use!  They have been parked here for two months (since before we got here) awaiting release by the government.  It can be a long process here!  They looked kind of pitiful over there with the grass starting to grow long around them.  So today was an exciting day....instead of sitting there, they can be put to good use.  If I have the story right, these two airplanes were provided by two generous donors in the US.....each of them purchased one for MAF.  Amazing!  One of them will stay here, becoming our fourth Kodiak, and the other will be flown to Kalimantan Indonesia for use there.

Elise shares the excitement about the customs release!  (below)  The hardest part is over, but now we must get the airplanes approved as airworthy by the Indonesian government, please pray for no delays in that process.

Here's the setting of our MAF hanger here....beautiful!

Back to the Caravan on floats....we are on the tail end of the inspection, which takes about 2 weeks!  Each time the plane comes in for a major inspection like this (every 2 to 3 months) there are different things that are emphasized and looked at more closely.  This time it was the cabin.  So all of the inside of the cabin was removed so every part of the structure can be looked over very closely.  So here's the guys (including my friend Daniel on the right) putting the cabin interior back in earlier today.

Ian's determined spirit.....

Just before heading off to church today I decided to try to take a picture of the kiddos, since they were looking cute.  It ended up being a well photographed and pretty humorous example of an aspect of our little boy Ian's personality.

So right when we got out the door and I tried to get Elise and Ian to stand there for a photo, Ian caught a glimpse of the playground and that was it.  He decided he was going there, and nobody was going to stop him!  Definitely not big sis.

There he is charging off to the playground.

Oh well, so I will just take a picture of Elise.  Good job, Elise!

His mood while he was marching and drawing near to the playground was remarkably opposite from his mood a few seconds ago when we were trying to get him to stand there for a picture.

Yep, happy to reach that playground.  And he always enjoys a ride on the swing!  Too bad we had to leave for church like three minutes later!

Earlier in the morning, Elise and I made french toast (Granny Robin french toast to be exact).  It is sort of a weekend tradition.  Elise loves to help make it, and we all enjoy eating it!  Sometimes its the little things that make life fun!

Here's a quick look at where we live in Sentani, Papua.  We live right across the street from the airport.  It's no little airport either, we hear big planes taking off all day!  That sound is like music to my ears after a whole year in Java, hardly ever seeing an airplane there.

Infront of one of MAF's Kodiaks.  This is the airplane I will be learning to fly soon!

A sort of afternoon ritual of ours, after I get off work at MAF, is for me to grab the kids and go across the street to see the airplanes....or as Ian likes to call them, the "Prrrwwww's".  Actually we all call them that now.  It pleases my heart that my kids echo my excitement to go see the airplanes.  Elise asks every day!    It also gives Heather a welcome few moments of peace and quiet, and space to work on dinner.

A few Saturdays ago we went on a little adventure with our friends Daniel and Joy (the same ones we went to the beach with).  This one was local, we drove around Sentani and saw some outlying neighborhoods and villages.  So in the background is the beautiful mountain that our home is close to....it's very beautiful here!

Here is the huge playground that is right outside our front door.  Elise runs over there every day and plays with her new friends.  We head out there with Ian sometimes and he always goes straight for the dirt!  What a blessing that playground is.  There's a good sized field and a basketball court on the other side that many of us end up hanging out on in the afternoons, throwing frisbee etc.

They had a welcome potluck for us the Sunday after we got here.

Below is the album i pulled those photos from, with lots more.  Near the end of the album (it goes backwards in time)....are pictures we took with some neighbors and friends from Java before we left.  We saw those the other night for the first time and it made us a little sad thinking about our friends back there!

Link to Photo Album for Ipad users

Last week I underwent training on MAF's inspection procedures and got to help with my first inspection.  About mid-way through the week, I learned the airplane we were inspecting was the same airplane that MAF sent to Haiti to help with earthquake relief when the big earthquake happened a couple years ago (in the picture above).  It spent hundreds of hours transporting people from Port-Au-Prince to places where they could get better medical care.  Before it was just an airplane to me, but after learning that I was sort of in awe to think of all the people in Haiti whose lives have already been changed for the better through the use of this airplane!