Training at Spokane Turbine Center

Our group including  Ken Smoll (our instructor) who was definitely not afraid to represent the Packers.

A couple of weeks ago I had the opportunity to get training on the PT6 turboprop engine at Spokane Turbine Center.  The PT6 is what is used on both the Kodiak and Cessna Caravan which is primarily what I will be working on when we get to Papua.  Being familiar with the operation of piston engines since the age of 15 it was great to learn about the PT6, which in non-tech terms is a jet engine with a propeller strapped to the front of it.

One of the pleasures of the training was building friendships other guys in MAF, three of which I will have the opportunity to serve with in Papua.
As a side note Nan and Gracie enjoyed me coming home smelling like jet exhaust too.

Inside peak at the PT6A engine 

 Spokane Turbine Center did a great job at explaining the ins and outs of the PT6.  One of my favorite tidbits of information about this engine is the fuel metering pin only moves .080" from idle to max power.

Art class at STC

Some people learn better when they are doing something with there hands.  Our instructor there at STC understood this and gave us some pipe cleaners to help us “listen.”  These are just a few of the creations from Jonathan Blomberg. 

We were given all kinds of little things for completing the course at STC one of which I was anticipating greatly.  What was it you ask?  A belt buckle.  Yes, you got it…a belt buckle.  No, I do not have a collection of belt buckles, but this thing is so sweet it almost makes me want to start one.  The picture here shows the excitement of the Kodiak belt buckle. 

PT6A AGB

When we were going through the Hot Section Inspection portion of the class we had the opportunity to take apart the Accessory Gear Box (AGB) which as you can see is comprised of several gears.  It kind of reminded me of a mechanical comprehension test.  If the center gear turns clockwise which way does gear “C” turn?  

Will's Kodiak Training, Motherhood & Indonesia...

Our Newest MAF Staff

A little snapshot of our days as of late...

Our journey has been amazingly crazy!  Our sweet Gracie seemed to have her days and nights flipped for the first month of her life... It was sometimes hard to remember if the day had ended or just begun.  However, our Gracie has given us a bit of, well... grace.  She has began to sleep 5-7 hours at a time!  In saying that, it isn't without us waking up to her constant stream of noises. Daddy says that Gracie is a bit like her mama, always chattering, even if no one is listening.  Even now in the midst of her nap she is making gasping, giggling and gurgling noises just to make sure I know she is present.

Daddy & His Baby Girl

Will is doing an amazing job as a super dad! He is learning to balance his new growing family and the added component of Turbine training.  After 9 months of raising support, Will is LOVING getting back in the hanger and learning more about the airplanes he will be working on in Papua, Indonesia!

Enjoy a little walk at MAF with our Gracie Jane

At the beginning of October we traveled to Nampa, Idaho at MAF headquarters for a few weeks of training and are now in Spokane, Washington at Spokane Turbine Center for Will's Kodiak training.  After STC we will head back to Nampa, Idaho until December 22 for the remainder of Will's standardization (maintenance) training at MAF. It is encouraging to see Will's growing excitement as he looks towards using the skills God has given him so that God's grace can be brought to the people of Papua, Indonesia!

Going to Indonesia is becoming more tangible as our support is developing. We still need about $2100/month in order to get to language school in Indonesia by January 2012. But, as we have learned so boldly these last 9 months, "with God, all things are possible..." and that His timing is perfect. We are hopeful to join our friends that we have started this journey with in language school on the island of Java in a few months. If you would like to support us in this journey please go to our MAF page.

Our Family at MAF Headquarters

Thank you to everyone who is prayerfully and/or financially behind us. We cherish having your partnership as God uses us and others to meet the physical and spiritual needs of the people of Papua, Indonesia!

In the arms of HIS grace,
Will, Nan and Gracie

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Endometritis, Mastitis and Blessings

Our love...

We could not be more blessed during this season to have our new little gift Gracie Jane. It has not been without a few road bumps and challenges, but the joys FAR outweigh the difficulties. Gracie has given us reasons to smile even as we are abruptly awakened at 1, 2, 3, and 4 am... It is incredible to watch how God has brought a new beautiful gift into our home!

Over the last few weeks we have had some rough moments! I developed a severe case of endometritis and mastitis which landed us in the ER for 4 days straight. But God was good and we received excellent care at OHSU. We left last Thursday and were able to pack up and hit the road for training at MAF on Saturday around 5:00 a.m.

Daddy did my hair

We are learning a lot about complete dependence upon God. And learning that we are weak without HIM, especially the days we are running on zero sleep. We tease that God makes babies so cute to keep us sane :)

So for now, we are finishing up Orientation at MAF this week (October 17-21). Then Will begins maintenance training in Nampa (at MAF) and Spokane (at Spokane Turbine Center) until December 22. Our hope is that the remaining 35% of our support is covered by new supporters so we can leave for Indonesia in January for language school. If you would like to join us on our journey to Indonesia please click here! We would consider it such a blessing to partner with you!

Thank you for your love and prayers throughout this journey!


Love,
Will, Nan and Gracie

Two Weeks Old

She's Here!!!!

Gracie on day two of her life.

If we were not so busy changing diapers and trying to sleep when we do have free time we might make this entry a little better, but for now we wanted to just get the basics out there about Gracie's arrival.

She came on September 24 at 7:27am after Nan made it through 21 hours of labor yet only 25 minutes of pushing.  20 inches long and 6lbs 14oz.  She has really tough jungle feet already.  When the nurse pricked her foot and squeezed the blood out she didn't even cry.

Best quote of the whole time while in the hospital when Nan was in extremely super active labor.
Nan: "I am going to have words with that woman!!"  Will: "What woman?"  Nan:  "Eve!"  What made it funny is that she was mad at her like she knew her personally.

Being parents is so awesome and we cannot believe that God is actually letting us borrow this wonderful baby girl for a time.

Nan and Gracie about to leave the hospital

Thank you so much to everyone who has prayed for Gracie to come to us safe and healthy.  We are grateful beyond belief.

Getting Closer...

We are now just about at 70% of our support goal which has been encouraging especially as we get closer to being parents.  I have said it before, but we truly have had such a great time in this season with all kinds of people.  For instance last weekend we had the opportunity to go up to Enumclaw, WA to share about the ministry of MAF.  One of the first people we met at dinner, before we headed to the Saturday night service, was a guy by the name of Rob.  I love Rob.  He flew C-82s back in the day, which is the plane that was in the original Flight of the Phoenix movie.  It did not take much talking with Rob before I found out that about twenty years ago he walked around the perimeter of the United States to raise awareness and funds for MAF.  But it gets better.  He went on to tell me that during the time he was walking around the U.S. he got a new knee and heart valve.  Wow!  I couldn't believe it.
The more we hung out the more I realized what a heart Rob has for the Lord as well as MAF.  It was such a treat to have met Rob and have him introduce us as we shared our hearts before the congregation there in Enumclaw.  We left on Sunday encouraged and with several more life long friends to share this journey with.

With Rob

So what are we doing now?  Well, we are a little ahead of the game, but we are preparing to pack our crates which will be kept in storage for about a year and then shipped to Papua via sea freight after we complete language school in Java.  It is so much fun putting our lives into 270 cubic feet.  It's a big puzzle using all of our worldly possessions.  We technically don't have to be packing yet, but because Gracie is due in four weeks, and we will start training at MAF the first week of October and then I (Will) will get more technical training on the planes I will be working on in Indonesia through the middle of January.   If we don't do it now it might be a little more difficult with a newborn...or so I've been told.
So what kind of picture could we give you to look at without actually having our crates yet?  The plan of how we will cram our stuff into four wood boxes.  The fourth crate is the only important one, but to give you an idea of what the first three look like I have included the schematic of crate #1.  Oh, I will include crate #3 as well because it has our oven, which will produce some awesome eats.

Crate #1

Crate #3

Crate #4

Last week we took a break from packing and visited the Nike Hangar "Nike Air" thanks to a good buddy of mine who provides superb maintenance support for the Nike fleet.  Our tour included the hangar bathrooms, the machine shops, and two G5s all of which were cleaner than an operating room.  This picture is going to double as a belly update pic.

Phil's G5

Everything's great except for Frank

Nan getting hydrated and coming back to life

While at the doctor on Tuesday, Nan was able to get a couple liters of IV fluid pumped into her after a bug wasn't allowing her to keep anything in her body.  Then she was whisked away in a wheel chair as I followed to the labor and delivery floor for a quick tour of where our baby girl will come into this world.  After being monitored for a little while at "Triage" we were released being advised of the importance of a liquid diet after having an empty body.  So what does my beautiful wife request when we are on our way home?  Pizza.  We didn't do it, but it did put a smile on my face and then I knew she was definitely feeling better.  Another clue of when I know my wife is feeling better after sickness is when she goes into white tornado mode.  What is white tornado mode?  It's when my wife cleans and organizes kind of like right now as I am typing.  Don't worry, I do all the heavy lifting.

Gracie at 32 Weeks

While at the doctor on Tuesday, we had an ultrasound and found that Gracie was a bit low on fluid so we went back today, now that Nan is hydrated, to make sure she's good to go.  Well, she was still a little low, but still in the normal operating range.  If you are still reading this entry its more than likely because you just want to know who Frank is and what he has to do with anything.  Well, it is the type of breech position which Gracie is in right now.  We really want a natural birth as much as possible so for her to come out bottom first would definitely not be helping mom out much.  She has several more weeks to grow and move around still, so we are not too worried. 

Two more tidbits of information we found during the ultrasound is that Gracie already has extremely chubby cheeks at 3.5 pounds.  I am willing to bet two of her pounds are in her cheeks.  Although we didn't get a good still picture we briefly saw her in 3D to verify the chubbiness.  Another characteristic she has thus far is hair on her head.  Considering both Nan and I needed a haircut upon delivery it didn't really surprise us much.

One last note.  Today to avoid all the construction traffic at OHSU we decided to take the $57 million dollar tram that goes up the hill to the hospital.  If anyone is on the fence about coming to visit after we deliver it would definitely be a good excuse to come ride the tram.  If you visit us you get free tickets too so there is no excuse.  Take a gander...

The 12 ton car

View looking over the Willamette River

View from the top

Another view from the top

Safely in Vancouver, WA

Note:  12,000 miles not driven on motorcycle

After 12,000 miles of driving in the car we realized yesterday that we actually could have made it to Indonesia...but they still have yet to put that bridge in. As we finally settle in back here in Vancouver, more than ever am I genuinely thankful for everything that people have done and are doing for us.  As we prepare to bring Gracie into the world and go to serve the people of Indonesia we cannot do it alone, so we thank you for your support no matter what role you have played.  Also, the fact that we arrived back here to Vancouver safely is a blessing considering all the miles of road we covered with baby in womb.  As you might imagine the bathroom stops were frequent, but being with the most beautiful girl (soon to be two) on the planet made for some memories I will never forget.

Yesterday after church we moved all of our possessions from a friends garage in Hillsboro to the home of our friend in Vancouver.  Here we will sort, pack, and inventory our belongings preparing them to be put in the crates that I will make.  After the crates are constructed and filled they will await shipment to Indonesia.

Please pray for Nan.  As I write this she has got some kind of a bug that has made her pretty sick.  Please continue to pray about what your role may be as we look for prayer and financial partners.  

Recently we have been meditating on Acts 20:24...


"But my life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus—the work of telling others the Good News about the wonderful grace of God."