First Grill Session of 2011

Our weather's been rather unpredictable lately. Today the temps dropped 25 degrees in four hours. We had robust, nearly tropical thunder showers at 6AM this morning and by 10AM it was cold enough to snow...We had a frigid Saturday and a summer Sunday and our six inches of snow has mostly melted off.

Speaking of Saturday, Karen nominated me to be Head Cook that evening. After consulting the recipes and nutritional info I always keep nearby, I decided to prepare my bride a meal of The Perfect Food, and braved the elements to conduct the First Grill Session of 2011.

Karen caught me in action and documented the event.

Keith and his Grilling Associates.

Just another perfect evening at 368 McClain...

On a more missionary note, we've been blessed to host a volunteer in our home for the past week. Trevor is up from Texas to work with Bruce Wolff of Brigade Air. MMS is performing a complete inspection and restoration of a Cessna 172 donated to Brigade. Bruce and Trevor arrived last Tuesday and are preparing the airframe for paint. They may even try to get the airplane painted before they leave later this week.

I'm working on another video project at the shop. This time I'm trying to incorporate narration instead of having to enter type overlays on the various scenes. I'm also trying to incorporate a video overlay. Lord willing, I'll have that clip up in the next day or two. Beyond the video, I administered two apprentice performance reviews today and am organizing the details for a work team of students from LeTourneau University who are to volunteer in the hangar March 14-18.

Karen's back working 3 days at the mission this week.

Thanks for keeping us in your prayers.

Video: A Glimpse Into MMS

Weekend Report
We had a great visit with Duane, Cindy, Josiah, and Joanna over the weekend. We laughed, we ate, we snacked, we were tourists up in Amish country, we broke out the HO train set...and did I say we ate? Oh man...did we eat. We also saw our first pair of Z-Coil shoes up at Charm Boot and Harness. Very interesting. We didn't buy any, we just looked and wondered what in the world they were thinking when they designed them. They do explain their thoughts and technology on their web site.

Weather Report
We also got hit with six inches of snow Monday evening through Tuesday morning. Now we're supposed to get hit with heavy rain tonight that's supposed to turn to snow tomorrow. We'll see. The heavy stuff appears to be staying just south of us for the time being. But after looking at the radar, it appears as we may get wet, yet. Temps are up in the 40's right now.

Video Report
But wait...there's MORE! Here's my latest video project about MMS. Enjoy. Thanks for making all this possible (the video and what you see in it) through your prayers and your support!

Into the Weather-Wonderful Weekend

Weather Report
The past few days we've enjoyed TREMENDOUS weather! It's been over 60 degrees, blue sky, sunny, a bit windy, but we'll take that over subzero temps and ice and snow (more typical for this winter and the month of February). After such a hard winter this short pause is most refreshing and encouraging. There's more winter weather to come, you can be sure of it...but right now we're rejoicing in what we have. Actually, we're heading back into the cooler weather today with highs in the low 40's and snow/rain predicted for tomorrow.

But that's tomorrow! Today the sun is out and there's not a cloud in the sky!

MMS Aviation
I was pretty much tied to my computer up at MMS this past week. I was either staring at the monitor punctuated with intense moments keyboard activity or roaming around the facility and grounds shooting video. I have some shop footage I'll put together for you next week. It's amazing how much time it takes to put a two minute clip together. I hope you enjoyed the RTS flight video in the previous post.

Friends in Town
We have some friends in town from PA! Duane, Cindy, Josiah, and Joanna are in for the weekend. They arrived yesterday afternoon and we're headed out to Amish Country for the day today. Last night (after a meal of Karen's World Famous Taco Bake) we spent the evening in a rousing session of SCUM. It's a card game that is well known in this region of the world. During the course of the game I worked my way down from Vice President to Scum in rather short fashion but came back and finished as Vice President to Karen's President. We laughed, we cried, we ate a pound bag of peanut M&M's...

This morning we'll be off to Charm, OH for stops at: Miller's Quilt Shop, Keim Lumber, Charm Boot & Harness Shop, the Polish Pottery Niche, and Miller's Bakery. Then to Walnut Creek for a few minutes at Walnut Creek Cheese; and then up the road to Berlin, for stops at: Zinc's Fabrics, the Amish Flea Market, and Cindy's Diner. It's always a fun day and the weather just makes it better.

Tucker and Tanner Get Ready For Guests
When Tucker and Tanner heard we had guests coming they begged for a bath so they would look, smell, and feel Cocker Clean. We, of course, obliged their wish.

Tucker-wash cycle

Tucker between cycles

Tanner-wash cycle

Tanner-rinse cycle

Tanner-dry cycle

The Piper Navajo Takes To The Sky!

The Arctic Barnabas Piper Navajo made its Return-To-Service flight yesterday afternoon. Here's the video I put together:



After three months of heavy repair and modification, there are still some adjustments to make and some fine tuning to take care of before the airplane's ready for release, but it won't be long until the Navajo departs Coshocton for a paint shop and then heads back to Alaska for ministry.

Thanks for being part of the project through your gifts and prayers!