Beckwith's Big Adventure

Off on Rapid Response

2012-01-23T16:33:00.000-05:00

Part of Mark's training here at MMS involves going on a rapid response trip to help out another mission with their aircraft for several weeks, either overseas or in the States ... or both! It is free labour and assistance for those they help and invaluable experience for the guys.

First thing Friday morning, Mark left Coshocton with Jim (left) and Andy (centre) and travelled over the weekend, spanning four flights, several continents and the dateline ... arriving safely in Ukarumpa, Papua New Guinea, Monday lunchtime. (Andy is another MAF UK apprentice who started his training here just over a year after Mark.)

The three of them will be there for just over three weeks, returning to Coshocton on February 12th. They will be helping JAARS repair the undercarriage of their King Air which got damaged in a bad landing (see below). This will enable the JAARS engineers to continue maintaining the rest of the aircraft and not have to stretch themselves too much to get this bigger job done on top of their usual workload.

Back at home we're missing Mark lots but enjoying ourselves too. 'Popeye' (Jenny's sister) is flying in today to join the Beckwith girlies left behind and help out while he is gone. The day before Mark left we made a paper-chain with one link for every day he will be away. Every morning we go to the chain and remove another link making it shorter and shorter until there are none left and he's safely back here with us!

Mark will write more himself, probably when he returns ... but we thought you'd like to know what he was up to and that he had arrived there safely!

A Bowling First!

2012-01-10T21:04:00.000-05:00

During the week between Christmas and New Year we had some fun family time. As well as getting things done around the house, we spent a day shopping in Columbus and took a trip up into Amish Country as it's been quite a while since we've been up there.

Another fun outing we had was to the local bowling alley. We realised recently that the only time Abigail had ever bowled was on the Wii!! We invited some friends, the Fishers, to join us and it seems that Jonas who is just 2 months younger than Abigail had only ever bowled on a Wii too!! Here they are posing in their bowling shoes ... the smallest size at the alley!

Abigail, Jonas and his little sister Lucy (who is 1) had a lot of fun ... and Caroline, Ben and both of us us enjoyed having the bumpers up the sides to give us a greater chance of scoring well too! Naomi just thought it was fun to slide around the floor and watch everything that was going on!

We passed the littlest munchkins around between us ... and the older two were just too eager to help and play regardless of who's turn it was to bowl! They also decided that sometimes it would be fun to just roll the ball rather than use the ramp to push off from ... the slowest moving bowling balls in history but they still scored some points!

Once the kiddos got the hang of the bowling thing ... they switched their attention to the blower at the end of the ball return ... as you can see it was lots of fun too!

We had lots of fun together and will definitely be returning sometime soon. Abigail will be able to teach Naomi in a year or two. In the meantime she will just give her lots of cuddles!!

A Look Back at 2011

2011-12-30T21:36:00.002-05:00

2011 has been another big year for us as a family.

At the beginning of the year we prepared for and welcomed the littlest member of the family, Naomi Grace. She made it a good, Good Friday (April 22nd) for us and has been lots of fun ever since. Naomi was dedicated here in Coshocton in June and has two very crazy American 'fairy' godmothers to keep her a little bit American, seeing as she was born here!

At the end of October we said goodbye to another special member of the family. Jenny's Nan got 'promoted' ... to Heaven. We were really luck to be able to see her one last time before she died when we arrived in the UK for our home leave and she got to meet Naomi too.

Here in Coshocton we've experienced all kinds of extreme weather this year that we're not used to back in England. From the long snowy winter (which as you can see below Abigail loved!), including ice storms, to flooding, severe thunderstorms, tornado warnings ... to the hot and humid summer with a heat index of 110+ degrees a lot of the time. It certainly kept us on our toes!

At home we had lots of family visiting us this year which was really helpful while we adjusted to our newest member. We were also able welcome three baby birds into the hanging basket on our front porch. It was a big excitement for most of June to check it every day and see new eggs, watch them hatch and see the little robins grow. We wonder whether they will revisit in 2012!

Another event that happened this year that we won't forget in a hurry was our first pumpkin patch adventure when Mark lost his wedding ring ... and the successful return trip several days later when amazingly we found it again, just lying on the ground!

In the hangar at MMS Aviation, we welcomed several new families and said good bye to a couple of others. Paul Jones and Andy Porter both qualified and got their A&P licences making Mark the senior apprentice and the next in line to take his exams next year.

Mark was also able to see one of the planes he worked on a lot during his first year here, a Cessna 206 now on floats, return to service with Asas de Socorro in Brazil just last month. This year here, amongst other things, he has spent a lot of time working on a Cessna 402 which has been in the hangar for a couple of years and is now very close to completion. It belongs to the pastor of a baptist church in Maine.

These are just a few of the many things we've got up to. As we look forward to 2012 ... we can already foresee quite a few more adventures just around the corner. Including a rapid response trip for Mark to Papua New Guinea in the New Year, Mark's final exams in the early summer and then us preparing to leave Ohio and move again to another continent to an MAF project (probably somewhere in Africa) later on in the year.

As this year comes to a close we just wanted to say thank you to all those of you have been supporting and encouraging us on this adventure ... making it possible for us to be here and for Mark to be able to work on these aircraft enabling missions around the world to serve the people where they are based more effectively.

A Snapshot of our Christmas!

2011-12-26T20:19:00.001-05:00

We haven't posted much this month as there hasn't been too much for us to share. We've spent a lot of our time just catching up with ourselves and getting healthy ... which is exactly what we were, finally after a month and a half, in the few days before Christmas. The perfect Christmas present in itself!

On Christmas Eve we chilled out a bit, had some lunch out, did some last minute preparations and Mark and Abigail decorated our alternative 'Chocolate Christmas Tree' Christmas Cake ... which as we've had one for the last 3 years has become one of our family traditions now!

Another tradition we have started the last two years is opening one present on Christmas Eve which is one special ornament each for the Christmas tree. Ornaments are BIG in America, so I guess we picked that idea up while we've been here!

On Christmas morning, we started off with stockings in bed. Abigail came running in to our room and completely missed the stocking by her bed. When we sent her back in to see if Father Christmas has been, she was so excited she came back with without the stockings the first time!! After that we enjoyed a first breakfast and then read The Very First Christmas together ... a sticker storybook that we had been working on throughout December (see The Christmas Fairy).

Then the BIG present opening session began!! As you can see Abigail took the lead and showed Naomi how it was done ... after all it was her first Christmas. It didn't take long for her to pick it up though.

The first Christmas we were in America, Abigail was spotted crawling under the tree hunting for pressies ... as you can see, this year was no different!

Naomi really enjoyed the paper and the colourful presents ... we're pretty sure she had no idea what was going on ... but enjoying every minute of it!!

Abigail loved every minute of it and for the first year really has understood every aspect of the build up and the Christmas weekend. She really enjoyed her Chef's outfit ... and Naomi's ball popper ... and everything else that anyone received!

After the present madness we enjoyed a second bigger breakfast of bacon, eggs, sausage and hash browns. There were then a few hours of getting showered and dressed, playing with toys and getting ready for our good friends the Gettles, another MMS family, who joined us for a delicious Christmas feast and some fun and games.

Today, Boxing Day, something the Americans don't recognise when you mention it to them, we have been really chilled. Playing with pressies we got yesterday, building pink foam castles and pink lego houses, playing hungry hippos and snakes and ladders, painting, colouring ... and other silliness. Naomi has been on her feet more and more and today has been no exception.

This afternoon, the sky was blue and beautiful and although a little fresh we decided to bundle up go out for a walk around the neighbourhood. It was nice and peaceful and we ended up at a nearby playground which Abigail loved!

We have really enjoyed our long weekend and are looking forward to having the rest of the weekend together as Mark won't be in the hangar until January 2nd!! We hope you all had a good Christmas too.

Senior Apprentice

2011-12-14T19:21:00.001-05:00

You may remember a lot earlier in 2011, we wrote that Andy Porter, another MAF UK apprentice here at MMS Aviation, became the Senior Apprentice. A handover happens when the current longest serving apprentice finishes their required number of hours in the hangar before sitting their final written and then oral and practical exams to be FAA qualified. He 'hands over' to the apprentice who will complete next.

In the hangar they have a handover 'ceremony' ... there is a 'Senior Apprentice Wrench' which gets handed from one apprentice to the next as they finish the programme. When it got passed to Andy it was renamed the 'Senior Apprentice Spanner' ... if a Brit has it, calling it a wrench isn't quite right!!

Recently Andy completed his own required hours and so the 'Spanner' needed to find a new home in the toolbox of the next apprentice. Mark, Paul Gettle and Ben Fisher are all due to complete their training at MMS around the same time next year, however as Mark started first (not by much!) he got the title and the Spanner!

Last week while he was home looking after his girls who were still recovering from illness, Mark disappeared up to the hangar with Abigail for the latest handover ... when he received this honour! He is a bit skeptical about the 'joys' of being the senior apprentice as the implications are that he is next in line to sit for his exams, not such an exciting prospect!

The 'ceremony' also consists of cake and ice-cream which Abigail enjoyed as much as all the guys in the hangar. While everyone was tucking in to the goodies, Monkey ceased a photo opportunity to claim the Senior Apprentice Spanner for himself.

Christmas Already?!

2011-11-30T14:55:00.001-05:00

Believe it or not when we were in the UK we missed Coshocton's Christmas parade ... yes really!! It was on Saturday November 19th ... for some reason always the Saturday before Thanksgiving, nowhere near Christmas.

Over the last two years we have learnt that the majority of people seem to put their Christmas decorations up over the Thanksgiving weekend or shortly afterwards. As we were all feeling groggy and still getting back into the groove after our trip to the UK, we embraced this 'tradition' and last Saturday got out all of our Christmas decorations and got busy in the house.

We had great fun and for the first year Abigail was really involved in it all ... in fact every day since, she has spent time rearranging the ornaments. Naomi, for whom all things Christmassy is a completely new experience, looked on with a smile on her face!

Here are the finished decorations, at least for the next 5 minutes until Abigail moves something else around! There's a real cosy feel in our house now ... even if it's not even December 1st until tomorrow!

Having done inside the house on Saturday, we put some decorations up on the front porch on Sunday .. another very American thing which we thought we'd do while we're here! As it was a cold and miserable day, Jenny and Abigail embraced yet another cultural tradition that afternoon, one which Abigail had enjoyed with Amy last year, decorating a gingerbread house.

So while it may seem a little early ... Christmas has well and truly arrived in our home and we're loving every minute of it!

An Eventful Time in the UK

2011-11-28T20:18:00.001-05:00

As organised as you can try and be, nothing ever works out quite as planned. We spent almost a month back in the UK with a very full schedule in the diary ... but 24 hours after we arrived in the country we knew it wasn't going to work out as we had expected.

Jenny's nan passed away the morning after we landed in England. She had been really ill the previous couple of weeks and we were able to visit her the morning we arrived. It was great we were able to see her and felt the timing was perfect in many ways as we were able to help Jenny's mum with all the details of funerals and other things.

We made the decision early on that although we would keep our main speaking engagements our priority would be to help out and we're really grateful to those of you we were supposed to be seeing for being so understanding when we had to change or cancel plans.

We did manage to see some (but not all) of our family and close friends ... met Popeye's gorgeous little puppies and Abigail had fun colouring with Auntie Betty (who turned 95 last week ... Happy Birthday Betty!).

We also made it to see friends in Oxford and a little All Nations reunion in Birmingham ... with a few extra little people in our midst since we were all last together! Thanks to the Lynch's for hosting us all!

Abigail made herself some new friends ... all of whom she continues to tell us are 'her favourite' ... everything is 'her favourite' at the moment. She also continued to love and be extremely goofy with her little sister while we we away!

We did take Nana to the seaside one day ... and had fun even though it was cold and wet and also took her to help at the paint your own pottery morning we did.

In our final week we planned to catch up with some of our missed appointments as well as fulfilling the plans we'd made before heading back home to the States. Those plans were also thwarted when one-by-one we all managed to pick up a variety of virsuses, chest infections, gastric flu, ear infections ... etc etc etc ... almost to the point that we wondered if we would be fit to fly home last week.

As a result of all this we didn't take too many photos or have lots of exciting stories to tell. We do know each other a bit better than we did before and what we can cope with ... so that is definitely something positive that has come out of a trip that was completely different from what we had envisaged.

We made it home to small town Ohio last Tuesday and although we're still not recovered from the sickness almost 3 weeks later, we're really happy to be back with our own home comforts. We're all thriving a bit more being back into a 'normal' routine ... just need to get 100% healthy now.

To those of you we did see ... we really enjoyed it ... for those we didn't, we hope that next year goes slightly more to plan!!

REAL Bacon!

2011-11-25T20:08:00.001-05:00

Usually our blog entries are aimed mainly at our UK and overseas friends and family about our time in the States. This one however is for the benefit of our US friends in an attempt to educate them a little on the delicacy of REAL bacon!!

We've just had a trip back to England and each time we return we have a 'wish list' of food to eat while we're back, things that we've missed and can't get hold of while living overseas. Both times we've arrived in the UK from living in the States, our first 'meal' has been a morning bacon sandwich ... each to their own, but for us this is a priority!

Here in the States bacon is a whole different thing to what we think of in the UK. We think 80% (or more!) meat with a bit of fat too, in the US it's more like 80% fat, with a little bit of meat if you're lucky!

The photo above is bacon of the typical US variety ... really fatty and unhealthy and the reason we want real bacon when get to England. Below is the stuff only in our dreams while living here in small town America. YUM!

Just to get the taste buds completely watering ... and knowing that we now can't eat this for another year ... here is the bacon cooking ...

And below, the bacon ready for the tomato ketchup and the top slice of bread ... delicious and something not to be missed!

It's really difficult to convey to our American friends the true experience of REAL bacon without having the ability to 'scratch and sniff' the computer screen or have a sample to taste. All we will say is WOW .... we had several while we were home and they were all delicious. Now back in the States we have one more year and counting until we can have them again!

Mission Aviation

2011-10-23T21:27:00.000-04:00

How many aviation missions do you think are out there at the moment? How many could you actually name? (I hope at least two ... the two that we are involved with ... you know ... it's there somewhere!!)

Well, there are over 120 aviation missions around the world that include training schools, maintenance facilities, flying missions that transport people/equipment for other missions and missions that fly themselves. Mark will fill you in on some of the finer details ...

I hope that you remembered MMS Aviation and MAF UK (Mission Aviation Fellowship). MMS Aviation is a training school and a repair station here in Coshocton, Ohio where I have been training for the past two years. Then in a years time, when the training is over and hopefully I will have an A&P License in my name, I will be serving with MAF UK for a minimum of eight more years somewhere in the developing world.

Whilst at MMS Aviation, I have been exposed to numerous different missions, some that I had heard of before but many that I had not. At the moment I am working on a Cessna 402 belonging to Wings with The Word. Also in the hangar right now we have Air Calvery's Cessna 207 from Gabon and Asas de Socorro's Cessna 206 which are both about to be returned to service. Then there is a Cessna 172 from GCI (Gospel Carrier International). They have two others aircraft that come in periodically for servicing. They are a Beechcraft King Air and a Cessna 310. The final aircraft here at the moment that represents another mission is a Cessna 206 from MAG (Missionary Air Group).

So, there are seven missions represented at the moment in the hangar but I have worked on many more from other missions. These include a Douglas DC-3 from MFI (Missionary Flights International), a Piper Aztec from Pfeifer Evangelical Association, Brigade Air's Cessna 172 and a MAF Cessna 206. There are also many other missions that we at MMS have contact with: JAARS, CMML (Christian Missions in Many Lands), AIM Air (Africa Inland Mission), SAM Air (South American Mission), Moody Aviation, Arctic Barnabas and Agape Flights.

Lastly, there are two other Missions that are very important to what we do. There is IAMA (International Association of Missionary Aviation) and MSI (Mission Safety International). Although they do not fly, repair or train, they are very important in keeping Mission Aviation groups alive and able to operate.

Since 1975, when MMS Aviation first came about, they have been able to serve 96 mission aviation organisations by either repairing/servicing their aircraft, sending a Rapid Response team to help them in the field, or a newly licensed A&P mechanic has joined them to serve. Just in 2010, MMS engineers and apprentices worked on 31 missionary aircraft from 15 ministries and invested over 11,000 maintenance hours saving mission aviation approximately $450,000 (approx £300,000) in labour expenses alone. It's great to play a part in this.

Our Pumpkin Patch Adventure

2011-10-17T09:03:00.000-04:00

On Friday night we joined the MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) annual hayride and pumpkin patch evening at Schumaker Farms. It seems that most people we know do one or the other (or both!!) at this time of the year ... very cultural!!

The tractor pulled three trailers full of MOPS families up to the pumpkin patch ... all sitting on hay bales. It was so much fun and all the kids, including Abigail really loved the whole experience!

Once we arrived at the pumpkin patch we all jumped off and went hunting for the orange 'globes' to take home with us. It was the first time any of the Beckwith family had been in a pumpkin patch before! We picked up two, one for each of the girls and even though the ones we'd chosen weren't huge, Abigail had trouble carrying them!

We finished the evening off roasting hot dogs and marshmallows round a campfire ... that's when all the MOPS dads finally came into their own! It was a great evening ... but ...

... when we got home, Mark realised that he was no longer wearing his wedding ring ... and the last time he remembered wearing it was at the beginning of the evening :o( He returned to the farm the following morning but had no luck. As you can imagine we were gutted.

Jenny flicked through the photos we had taken while we were there in the slim possibility that we would find some clues ... amazingly we did!! Check out the photos below ... at the beginning of the hay ride Mark was wearing his ring and after picking pumpkins he wasn't ... basically he lost it during the most difficult part of the evening to track!

Using the wonders of Facebook we were able to borrow a metal detector from some friends at church. On Sunday lunchtime almost 48 hours after Mark lost his ring, we headed back to the pumpkin patch ... with little hope of actually finding it but the determination to at least try!

We remembered that when we had stopped on the hayride we had noticed a squashed pumpkin with the name Emily on it ... we thought it was a bit sad at the time that her pumpkin was splatted ... but on Sunday used it to locate the spot where our search would begin.

With lots of prayers from us and loads of friends and family, here and back home, we started to look. Amazingly less than 2 feet from the Emily pumpkin, without even needing to use the metal detector we found Mark's ring ... in the end it really was that 'easy'!!

Lots of smiles and celebrations occurred in that pumpkin patch on Sunday lunchtime! ;o)

As you can see, while it was a family occasion, some of us were more captivated by the whole experience than others!

We want to say a BIG thank you to 'Emily', whoever you are. While you may never get to enjoy your pumpkin, you certainly helped make our first pumpkin patch adventure one we will always remember ... for the right reasons!

Cessna 402B Update: The Latest Sagas

2011-10-11T20:46:00.002-04:00

Again ... it's been a while since I wrote about what has been happening with what I've been doing in the hangar. Well, most of my time has been involved in the Cessna 402 (surprise surprise). When I last wrote, we had managed to hang the landing gear, but had to stop due to lack of finances. We got the money in to continue the work and have been very busy.

Unfortunately, when servicing the right hand landing gear, the hydraulic fluid did not look too good, so it had to be removed and replace all the o-rings and seals. Once that was done, we managed to get it all back together again. But just before we got ready to rig the gear, we ended up removing the landing gear actuator and reduction gears due to worn gears, unidentified grease and damaged bolt holes. It was a very messy job with grease everywhere, you can see in one of the photos a tub full of grease that had to be removed, but was a great experience to see the inner workings of an actuator. Once this was all repaired, re-greased and re-assembled, we installed it ready to rig the gear.

The insides of the reduction gear box.

The grease that we pulled out ... there was still a bit more to come as well.

Some of the insides of the Main Gear Actuator

Rigging the gear turned out to be less difficult than we first thought, but then as we were rigging from scratch and not just trying to adjust it, all we had to do was follow the Cessna Maintenance Manual step by step. After a few days we had both main and nose gear rigged and working perfectly. This meant that after 18 months of wheels up, we could finally put the aircraft back onto it's wheels. It was a great feeling to finally see it back on the ground.

In the cockpit, the avionics have been updated, which meant that a lot of old systems had to be removed, along with all the redundant wires, switched, circuit breakers and antennas. As you can see from the photos, there are a lot of wires to work through to remove just the redundant ones. I found myself stuck in a cramped cockpit for about a week, feeding these in and out of the small holes. For those who understand these things, there is a new GPS/NAV/COM unit, audio panel and transponder. The other units going in is a GPS unit, NAV/COM and an ADF (for when he's flying in Canada). The last photo is of a new wire loom that will go to the new circuit breakers for all the avionics.

I have also repaired the four side cowls (the structure that covers the engines). Two of the cowls had severe corrosion on the bulb angle, so had to be replaced. There was also corrosion and cracks on the pans and three of the cowl flap hinges needed replacing due to wear. Lastly, there were numerous cracks that needed stopping and strengthening. I finally got them all repaired and installed back onto the aircraft.

This is just some of the work that I have been involved in whilst working on the 402. The last few weeks I have been repairing the lower cabin door/steps by fabricating almost a whole new step due to cracking and have repaired damage to a door that has see many people climb up and down them. Yesterday and today I have been working with Mike Dunkley, one of our supervisors who has 20+ years maintaining aircraft all over the world, to rivet together the horizontal stabiliser (tailplane for those in the UK). The left hand leading edge had to be changed due to corrosion and incorrect hardware, whilst the lower skin had so much damage it too had to be replaced. These had been fabricated by two other engineers, but as it was just Mike and myself working on the 402 due to holidays, illness and family emergencies, we got on and riveted it all together.

We still have quite a bit more work to do ... but when we got the wheels back onto the ground, it felt like we had turned a corner.

Naomi's 1st Family Holiday

2011-09-29T14:38:00.001-04:00

After 5 months of visitors and getting used to a new member in the family, we took a well-deserved family holiday up at Lake Erie, our first proper break together since coming to America 2 years ago. Thanks to the sister of a good friend we were able to 'borrow' their cottage up at Lakeside a gated-community right on the lake. As you can see 'cottage' isn't quite the word a Brit would use to describe it ... it was huge but lovely and only two and half hours drive from home!

Our holiday 'cottage'!

The lake side at Lakeside!

We had lots of time to relax and also explore the local area, it was somewhere we'd never been before. There were little shops and cafes within Lakeside itself and cute little unique cottages to look at, as well as other places a short drive away. Although it was just out of season most things were still open and we got to visit the places we wanted to. Below are a couple photos from our little drive out to Marblehead lighthouse.

Abigail loved that everyday brought a new adventure ... and enjoyed every new experience ... as you can see Naomi often slept through a lot of the fun but seemed happy to tag along wherever we went!

Abigail celebrated her birthday while we were away. That day one of the things we got up to was a visit to East Harbor State Park for a walk and a paddle!

Another adventure was hopping on the car ferry and taking a trip to Put-in-Bay Island just 20 minutes away. We drove around the island when we got there, which took all of about 12 minutes ... and then had some fun visiting Perry Caves, playing crazy golf and visiting the Butterfly House there too! The most popular form of transport on the island was golf cart/buggy ... it was hilarious to see hundreds of them all over the place!!

Out to lunch on the Island

Friendly butterflies

The Car Ferry

Our car looked out of place with all the golf carts!

We also spent a day in Sandusky, doing a little shopping, visiting the Merry-go-round museum there and hugging many of the brightly decorated lighthouses dotted around (it's the new alternative to tree-hugging!).

Whether we relaxed at the house and played games (Scrabble being one of Abigail's new favourites just as long as she can lay the tiles out in alphabetical order) ... or went for walks with the buggy it was all lots of fun ... and like a lot people at the end of the holiday we didn't want to come home!

The girlies enjoying the swing on the front porch in the cottage

A big thank you to Moore family for letting us use their cottage for the week!

More Cuddles with Nana!

2011-09-20T20:49:00.001-04:00

When Naomi was born, Jenny's mum had less than 48 hours left of her Easter visit with us left before she had to fly back to the UK! So, to finish off her summer break from school, she came back to catch up on her cuddles with both of the girlies and spent two weeks with us at the end of August/beginning of September!

The temperatures had dropped a little by the time Nana had arrived (only in the 80's, hitting the 90's just for a couple of days!) but we did make two last trips to the pool which Abigail loved and one Sunday all but Jenny and Naomi took a bike ride! We also did a lot of pottering around with visits to the library, Roscoe village and Walmart (an experience in itself!!) to name but a few!!

Mark took one day off and we visited 'The Wilds', 10,000 acres of wildlife, the largest safari park in North America! We took the bus up to the welcome centre and then boarded an open-air safari vehicle to see all the animals in the park! As you can see Nana was catching up with some of her cuddles even on safari!

The Wilds is a beautiful place and we only got to experience some of it as we did the child-friendly tour which was a bit shorter. Before the end of the ride we stopped at the educational centre and got to touch some of the animals ... including a madagascan hissing cockroach, a corn snake and a grey fox. Sadly we forgot to take photos at that point ... especially as Abigail stroked the snake having been scared of little bunny rabbits just a month or two earlier!

First Friday is a Coshocton phenomenon on the first Friday of each month in the summer ... the shops on Main Street stay open ... there are stalls, games, charities, exhibits ... and more ... each month it's slightly different! We went down for the final one of the year and Abigail and Nana got to ride the wiggly magic train. Abigail bumped into her best buddy too ... so she was even more excited about the evening, doing the chicken dance and having fun in the bounce house (Bouncy castle to the Brit readers!).

As you saw in our last blog we celebrated Abigail and Mark's birthday a little early ... Jenny's mum took us out for a birthday dinner one night too ... and then we celebrated both their birthday's on the actual days as well last week ... multiple fun spread over about 3 or 4 weeks!

Another good visit from another family member ... since Jenny's mum arrived in April we've had a different visitor each month with her returning to finishing of the run! There is nothing more booked for the time being!

Early Birthday Celebrations!

2011-09-08T22:09:00.000-04:00

Although both Abigail and Mark don't celebrate their birthdays for another few days ... we started the celebrations a little early! We'll be away for their actual birthday's but thought while Jenny's mum was still here from the UK, we would have some pre-birthday fun the week before and stretch out the celebrations!!

We had been talking about birthday cakes with Abigail several months ago and although she is a big 'princess' fan ... also LOVES anything to do with Toy Story ... and so was adamant that she wanted a Buzz Lightyear cake ... and has been talking about it regularly ever since. We didn't want to disappoint ... so Buzz it was. However Jenny got a little heavy handed with the red food colouring and so Buzz looked a bit sun-burnt (it was 95+ degrees the day we made it!) ... and in the photos he looks even more pink!!!

Abigail was so pleased when she saw it ... and didn't even notice the 'pinkness' ... it's her favourite colour anyway so it was unlikely she'd complain!! Her Buzz was also very impressed and took the opportunity to pose with the cake too!

She positioned the candles herself and successfully blew them all out after we sang to her ... twice!! She has been asking ever since ... 'Am I three yet?!' ... almost!

We had a few pressies to open which she was very excited about and there will be some more while we're away and we'll save some for when we get back ... making her birthday last 3 weeks, one week for every year of her life!! (Does that mean we have to make Mark's last for 38 weeks?!!!)

We did let Mark open one of his pressies that day too! We're big fans of the TV show Cake Boss ... part of the reason we love to get creative with our birthday cakes ... so Abigail and Naomi bought their Daddy a Cake Boss chef coat. Now when he does baking with them he doesn't have to wear one of Jenny's aprons anymore!!

Made in America

2011-08-25T20:26:00.000-04:00

Our littlest munchkin, Naomi, may have British parents ... but being born in the USA, she is also American!!

As you can see below, she looks proud of it too. Now we'll have to brush up on American culture during our final year here, so that we can celebrate that side of Naomi's heritage as well!!

A couple of weeks ago, the first of her passports arrived (as she can have both British and American ones) ... it seemed to make it more official that she wasn't born in the same country as the rest of us!

Abigail has been looking forward to our next trip to London (which isn't until the end of October) for months. We told her we couldn't go until Naomi had her passport! Without a moments hesitation, when we opened the envelope and took the passport out, Abigail piped up 'Can we go to London now?!'

Abigail also felt it was important for her prized possession, Monkey, to have a passport too if he was to travel with us to London. So whilst Auntie Amy was here, we set her & Abigail to work ... and as you can see Monkey is also ready for international travel!!

Now we just have the daily inquiry from Abigail ... 'Are we going to London today?'!! We fly two months from tomorrow ... we have a feeling they're going to be a long two months! ;o)

Swapping Snow for Sunshine!

2011-08-19T19:41:00.014-04:00

Mark's sister, Amy made her third visit out to see us in Ohio this month ... but whereas the last two visit's have been at Christmas time in the snow ... this trip she found us in the heat and humidity of an Ohio summer! It literally hit her as she walked out of the airport building to get to the car! While she was here Amy got to have more fun with Abigail (and us!!) ... but she got to have her first cuddles with Naomi too!

With Abigail, there were of course the required Tea Parties on the front porch ...

Silliness in the back garden and paddling pool (& the pool at Dresden!) ...

Crazy styling when playing dress-up together ... we think Mark should consider modelling the hat that these two decided was the perfect accessory to one of his work shirts!!

And the craziness continued when we let them out in public too!!

We took a few trips out together in the sunshine while Amy stayed with us ... a day in Columbus at COSI (www.cosi.org) an interactive kid friendly science museum! Followed by the yummiest sausages at Schmidts Sausage Haus (www.schmidthaus.com) ... there are few places to get 'real' sausages out here!!

Above three familiar faces by the echoing well at COSI which they were talking into ... and below, using a pulley system to lift Abigail up, up, up! There are so many different areas of the museum ... and so many buttons to press and levers to pull!!

We loved the sign below in the Gadget Zone part of COSI ... oh so true!! ;o)

We also took a few trips up to Amish country too, naturally Miller's Bakery (!), Hershbergers, The Polish Pottery Niche ... and Rolling Ridge Ranch ... riding the wagon and feeding the animals ... not sure who the animals were though judging by the photos below!!

Earlier in the summer, Abigail had been a bit reluctant to touch even the smallest, fluffiest animals and avoided everything apart from pony rides (no logic there at all!). As you can see she's slowly gaining confidence ...

Naomi also got her fix of Auntie Amy ... but more of the sensible cuddle type than the silliness ... although from the look on her face below, it won't be long!

The rest of the time she was happy to ride along with us and just take everything in either from her buggy or the sling ... that's the way to travel!

On one of Amy's last days here we took a photo of her and Mark together ... they share the same birthday in September but were born 3 years apart! Each year they have a 'birthday photo' as close to the day as possible ... so here is the 2011 offering!!

There was also of course the entertaining chocolate tasting evening (see previous blog post) ... where ironically the winning 'candy' bar didn't even contain any chocolate at all!!!

Passing the Taste Test!

2011-08-07T13:19:00.010-04:00

Having been in the States now for almost 2 years we've often been asked by UK and US friends alike how the chocolate/candy bar selection compares. In the interest of celebrating cultural differences and for a fun way to spend yesterday evening while Mark's sister, Amy is visiting, we thought we would investigate further!!

Being true Brits and knowing that we couldn't be convinced otherwise we steered clear of any kind of chocolate bar that was just Hershey's (sorry to our American friends ... it was just never going to make it an enjoyable evening for us if they'd been included!!). However while standing at the cash register in Walmart yesterday morning we still managed to pick up quite a selection!

As you can see above, once Abigail was asleep, Mark was all ready to go!! We decided to score each bar according to 4 criteria; quality of the chocolate, texture, presentation and overall. All three of us rated each of these from 1-3; 1=yuck, 2=ok, 3=yum ... and then we worked out final calculations which gave each bar an overall score out of a maximum of 9 points!! (You can see we took this process very seriously!)

A small piece of each one was given to each 'judge' and where necessary Mark did the honours chopping them into bite-sized pieces! We also had an independent adjudicator, Naomi, to check the quality of what we were eating and that it was a fair test ;o) (She was independent given that she was unable to try any herself just yet!!)

Some of the bars had different variations ... for example we tried Snickers, Snickers Almond and Snickers Peanut Butter and others we tried as we hadn't hear of that flavour before, like the Coconut M and M's! There were lots that were completely new to us like the two Jenny is holding below ... a 'Thingamajig' and a 'Whatchamacallit'!

We definitely had some favourites and some we REALLY didn't like ... I think the faces below say it all!! ... along with the a few bits of leftover chocolate, that after one bite were just too much!!

There were chocolate bars that are supposedly the same ... Twix, Snickers and Kitkat which taste very different from one side of the pond to the other (It's all about the chocolate unfortunately!) ... and the US Milky Way tastes like a UK Mars and the UK Milky Way tastes like a US 3 Musketeers! It certainly was an interesting taste experience and after about an hour the final one had been tasted and the scores were in ...

We tried 17 in all and for those of you who know what we're talking about here they are, in reverse order (of course!!) ... the maximum score was 9 ...

Coconut M and M's - 3.75
Butterfinger - 4
Snickers Almond - 4.25
3 Musketeer Truffle Crisp - 4.5
Kitkat - 4.75
Thingymajig - 4.75
Twix - 5
Almond Joy - 5.5
Snickers - 5.5
3 Musketeers - 5.5
Reeses Mini PB Cups - 5.75
Turtles - 6
Snickers Peanut Butter - 6.25
Milky Way - 6.5
Whatchamacallit - 6.75
York - 8.25
Payday - 8.33

The top two were clear winners over the rest of the selection ... in fact Jenny and Amy were later found fighting over the remaining bites of Payday, the winning bar!!

The remaining pile of wrappers and uneaten goodies tell the tale of a very amusing evening!! If you're living in a different country from 'home' and things like these are all new and a little strange ... we can recommend putting them through the taste test as a good evenings entertainment!!

Settling into life as four!

2011-07-25T20:49:00.017-04:00

Having had loads of family visiting around the time Naomi arrived in the world, this last month with just the four of us, has given us a chance to work out what 'normal' is again!! For those of you who knew ... Abigail's sleep went haywire in March having gone to bed every night and sleeping 12 hours since she was 3 months old ... one extra bonus this month has been that she's all back to normal again!! (and Naomi now only wakes up once, if at all, in the night too!!). The girls are still very cute together as you can see below, with Abigail always wanting to give Nomi a cuddle, a kiss, a bath ... even sometimes helping change her nappy ... out of choice, she must be mad!!

The weather has been scorching here ... reaching record highs! The heat index has often reached triple figures over the last couple of weeks and our little AC units have been fighting the battle on our behalf (not always successfully!). In the hangar Mark and the guys have been working hard in spite of the heat, one of them said the weather at the moment reminds him of life when he used to work in the Congo with MAF ... that's how hot and humid it is!! ;o) It's good practice for us for the next step ... wherever that may be!! As you can see below, Mark and Naomi have found a way to endure the heat ...

Jenny's method of adapting to the heat ... is to get a whole load of hair cut off!! It was about time for a change anyway!!

While Abigail is just being as goofy as ever and making the most of every opportunity to have fun whatever the weather!

When it was still a bit cooler Abigail and Mark did some baking together, amongst other things ... but at the moment we're avoiding using the oven at all costs ...

... so instead, when they're not outside bouncing on the trampoline or playing in the paddling pool, Jenny and Abigail can be found doing something crafty inside ... like making a pink and shiny life-sized Abigail!!

Naomi is good at enjoying herself too ... she chatters away non-stop to anyone and everyone who'll listen and is often giggling away at herself, us or her cuddly giraffe (who's been named 'Bubble') and then getting the hiccups! She loves playing on her mat!!

We've been having fun out and about this month as a family too ... splashing around at the open air pool ... although failing to take photos of that ... just Naomi wearing her Daddy's sun glasses and snoozing in the shade, oblivious to all the noise and fun going on around her!! (She's sleeping on a blanket that we have photographic evidence of Mark chilling on when he was her age!!)

We celebrated Independence Day, 4th July (yes we know ... we lost ... but the Americans won ... so we get to celebrate with them while we're here!!) with the lovely Keaton family. Lots of fun, games and food in the back yard ... and for those of you who were at All Nations with us, we taught them how to pay Kubb! We also celebrate with them as they have just found a new church to lead in Indiana ... selfishly though we're going to miss them loads.

We had another fun evening at a Family Luau Pool Party at Abi's best buddy's house. The girl's really enjoyed wearing the leis and their toilet paper grass skirts!! Mark made Abigail's ... obviously more crafty than he thinks!! ;o)

Even though there's been all the boring every day stuff to adjust to with the newest member of the family around ... you can see we're enjoying ourselves too and although life can probably never be classed as 'normal' for anybody ... we think we're getting into our new groove! ;o)

More Babies!

2011-07-12T16:15:00.010-04:00

There have been other babies in our house over the last month in addition to Naomi! In June we noticed a robin was making frequent visits to one of the hanging baskets on our front porch with twigs and bits of grass ...

... and when we snuck a look inside, we found a perfectly formed nest just waiting to be filled!

A couple of days later a little blue egg appeared much to Abigail's delight ... and then another ... and then another!!

When we checked about a week after the last egg appeared, there were three little pink wrinkly blobs in there ...

... who slowly got covered in fuzz ...

... and then feathers ...

... as their mummy came and fed them up, preparing them for life out of the comfort of our hanging basket!

Last week we got a final look at our not so little robins before they flew the nest!

We didn't get to see them learning how to fly ... but managed to catch the last one as he left the nest for the last time and headed out into the big wide world!!

Celebration & Dedication!

2011-07-03T16:12:00.006-04:00

Last weekend Naomi had two special events to attend! Quite the socialite already!! ;o)

On the Friday evening the MMS Apprentice wives threw Jenny and Naomi a Baby Shower for all the MMS ladies to celebrate the newest member of our family's arrival! As we didn't know whether 'Bubble' was going to be a boy or a girl they decided to wait until it had 'popped' to make it more of a fitting celebration!

As you can see Naomi got lots of cuddles ... in fact Jenny had most of the evening off 'Mummy-duty' which she enjoyed ... although having had a whole selection of shots/jabs that afternoon Naomi wasn't the happiest of party girls all the time!!

There was a gorgeous spread of pink food as well as an amazing fruit bowl!! The apprentice wives really outdid themselves on the food, decorations and fun games ... everything was pink and black and had a literary theme as they know us Beckwith's love books and reading!

The little girl below enjoyed her celebrations and both Jenny & Naomi went home feeling very loved that evening ... with lots of pressies, thank you ladies!

On Sunday morning (June 26th) we had a dedication service at our church here in Coshocton where Naomi and 3 other babies were dedicated. Abigail was dedicated in Yeovil, the town in which she was born and so we felt it was right that we had Naomi dedicated here. We realise that the nature of our work with MAF UK means that milestones like these in our lives and in the lives of our children can no longer be celebrated with all our friends and family as we would like but we were really honoured that we were able to have Pastor Dan dedicate Naomi's life to God during his final service at the Tabernacle. We were joined by some of our MMS family to celebrate the day ... and Naomi's two 'fairy' godmothers, Kristin Gettle and Laurie McClary (see below), really good friends of ours (whose husbands will forever be her honorary godfathers too!).

Sisters!

2011-06-29T21:01:00.011-04:00

Abigail is still loving being a big sister ... so much so that if Naomi gets a little fussy Abigail will give her all-time favourite possession (her Monkey!!) and tells us it's "To make Nomi feel better"!! How cute is that?! If you know Abigail and her Monkey ... this is HUGE!!!! As you can see Naomi's name is slowly evolving in our household, she was first called Omi by her big sis but only a few days after she came home from the hospital Abigail renamed her Nomi and that has stuck ever since ... and seems to be a name we're all using!

This month we had another sister in the house as Jenny's little sister, Pippa came to stay/play/help/relax ;o)!! As you can see she soon became a favourite of both of our girls ... and Abigail spent a lot of time playing with Pippa's camera mostly looking at photos and video clips of herself but sometime's attempting to take the odd photo too!!

Abigail had loads of fun playing with 'Popeye' ... if you've been reading our blogs for a while you'll remember this is what Abigail renamed Pippa on her first visit here to the States last spring and I think will be forever known as ... in our house at least!! They were often out on the trampoline or playing in Abi's room ... where Abigail perfected what she calls her 'Superstar Pose'! We have no idea where that came from but here it is ...

Over the weekend that Popeye was here was the annual Hot Air Balloon festival ... so we spent some time at the fairground on the Saturday having fun! Although Naomi was with us in body ... she slept through the whole experience from beginning to end!!!

Abigail really enjoyed having a go on some of the fairground rides ... but of course her favourite thing continues to be the ponies so when she spied those there was no way we were going to be allowed past without stopping off there!

Just like last year, the weather threatened to stop all the scheduled hot air balloon launches but also just like last year the Saturday evening launch was able to go ahead and as we live close to the fairgrounds we got to enjoy it from right outside our front door!!

Abigail and Popeye found a much easier way to watch all the balloons fly overhead without craning their necks ... much to our amusement!!

Just to prove we were watching them from home ... a more 'arty' shot!!

The same weekend as the Hot Air Balloon festival is the Corvette Car Rally in Roscoe Village ... this year there seemed to be even more cars than last year!! Complete with the same amusing license plates ... below is a picture of one we didn't see last year!!

Abigail really wanted her picture taken next to a pink car ... but having walked the entire length of Roscoe Village (which isn't all that long!!) and not finding any, she chose this blue one instead!

Popeye loves thunderstorms and they can be pretty spectacular out here! We were able to oblige with two impressive ones while she was staying with us, although couldn't muster up a Tornado warning like we have for our last two sets of visitors! We also took a trip to the pool at Lake Park ... always a fun time ... not sure who was being more goofy in the water though, Popeye or Abigail!

It's turned into a tradition that every time Popeye comes to visit us she goes home having done something different with her hair ... usually a different colour ... red, purple etc etc. This time though we went a little more dramatic ... as you can see below (the before and after) ... my hairdresser did a great job!!

We had lots of fun and were sad to see Popeye leave ... especially Abigail, as for the first time at the airport she 'got it' ... after all the visitors we've had since living here, she finally understood that when someone says goodbye and goes through security they won't be coming home with us and was wailing loudly for all to hear!

From one sister to another ... our next visitor at the end of July will be Mark's sister, Amy!

Latest 402 Action

2011-06-23T19:17:00.005-04:00

It has been quite a while since I wrote about what I've been doing in the hangar. Well, I'm still working on the Cessna 402 for 'Wings with Word' with another MAF UK apprentice. The good news is that we have finally finished the spar strap modification and got the engines installed and rigged. Below are some photos of the finished job. The first shows the engine in place. The second has the nose bowl in place (making sure the engine was set correctly on its mounts). The third shows the engine with the propeller, spinner and top cowling on (although we removed it again so we didn't keep on hitting our head on it whilst installing the landing gear). The side cowlings were going to be going on as well, but that was before we found inter-granular corrosion and chaffing which will require more work.

Now that the engines are done, it's time to get the aircraft back onto it's wheels. That sounds SO much easier than it actually is. Every push-pull rod had to be removed and inspected, all the bolts, nuts and washers had to be checked for wear and corrosion, and specific inspections had to be performed. One specific inspection involves NDT (Non-Destructive Testing) using florescent penetrant. The part has to have all paint and primer removed and be totally clean. Then the penetrant is sprayed on, left to dwell for about half an hour and then removed. A developer is then put on which draws out any penetrant that has seeped into cracks. You use a black light to highlight the cracks. Follow the link ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1cl2ULh0_ss&feature=email ) to see a short example of florescent penetrant.

All along we have found problem after problem, but we have finally managed to hang the main landing gear. The photo below shows the left hand main landing gear strut on the table being inspected. The two parts on the lower left are the torque knees. One of the bushings had to be replaced, filed down and reamed to the correct size.

The landing gear on the 402 is a retractable system. This means that the once the aircraft is up in the air, all three wheels are retracted into the fuselage/wing and doors close over them. There are two types of systems: the first is a hydraulic system that uses hydraulic fluid and pistons, whilst the second system is all rods, bell-cranks and pivots. This 402 uses the second method, and you can see some of the mechanisms in the photos below. The first photos shows the main wheel door mechanism. You can see the main push-pull rod coming through from the fuselage on the left and the door push-pull rod hanging down. The second photo shows some of the nose wheel mechanism.

We have finally got the main landing gear hung and have installed the wheels. Unfortunately the money has run out again, so we cannot purchase the things we need to finish the job until the mission raises more funds. We will need to buy new brake cylinders (damage found due to special inspections and corrosion), nose wheel halves (corrosion), wheel bearings (water marks and overheating), high pressure strut valves (incorrect ones installed) and numerous hardware.

There will be more updates as we proceed with getting this aircraft complete and back into the mission field.

Stateside Silliness!!

2011-06-15T20:11:00.002-04:00

We realised the other day it's been a while since we commented on any of the differences we've found living here in the States ... some more obvious than others ... and some of which we don't even notice any more as having been here for 21 months they've just become the 'norm' now!!

So here are just a few little gems ...

On the road ... you 'Yield' instead of 'Give Way', a 'No through road' or 'Cul-de-sac' will have a sign reading 'No Outlet' and you can get a $250 fine for parking in a disabled parking spot, apparently even in your own church carpark (!!) ... the most obvious difference is being able to turn right on a red light (which is difficult to explain to a 2 year old when you've already told her that red means stop and green means go!!!)
At the bank ... you pay in money with a 'deposit ticket' instead of a 'paying in slip' and check's are still widely used to pay for things (and no we didn't spell it wrong ... American's use 'check's' not 'cheque's'!) When you first open a bank account you are given a box of checks and deposit tickets and once you've used them they don't automatically get re-ordered ... you have to pay for more ... but you can get some really weird and wonderful designs on them!!!
When we talk about getting 'Post' most of our friends out here picture a wooden stake in the ground rather than a letter in the 'mail'. Here you always write the senders details on the top left corner of the envelope and the 'mailman' will collect outgoing 'mail' from your 'mailbox' so you don't have to actually go anywhere to send something as long as you have a supply of stamps at home!

Here are a few other random language differences ... the American comes first ...

Candy - Sweets

Diaper - Nappy

Grocery sack - Shopping bag

Broil - Grill or Sizzle

Wrench - Spanner

One Fourth - A Quarter

Noodles - uncooked pasta of any shape

Ladybug - Ladybird

Embroidery Floss - Embroidery Thread

Bandage (or Band Aid) - Plaster

Shovel & Pail - Bucket & Spade

Pocket Book - Handbag

Bank - Money Box

As you can see sometimes they're more obvious than others ... and often we've found we can 'translate' to American but they have more trouble working it out the other way ... probably because of all the movies we watch!!!

Of course not all the silliness is because of cultural differences ... we can also be quite silly too ... just check out the newest addition to Mark's tool box in the hangar (shown below) ... you can only hope he has learnt more than that during his apprenticeship so far!! ;o)

Gramagramps!

2011-05-28T20:33:00.007-04:00

This time last year when Mark's parent's came to visit, Abigail renamed them Baba and Gargar ... this year they morphed into one and were forever referred to as Gramagramps!!! ;o) That was only one of the differences of their trip. This year with Naomi's arrival we warned them that if they were to book flights at this time ... they should consider it a 'working holiday'. They obviously took this to heart as soon after they arrived they asked for a list of things to do ... which we were very happy to give ... just as well their love language is 'Acts of Service'!!! Amongst other things ... Mark's dad completely revamped a bench we were given for our front porch which now looks as good as new, he fixed our hoover and our mower ... the list goes on! Mark's mum got up to a lot of mischief in the garden and made Abigail three gorgeous dresses (see below for one of them!) as well as cooking dinner every night and many other things!

Between them they kept Abigail amused every afternoon too so Jenny could get a sleep in while she got used to having two little munchkins as well ... very much appreciated! Baking cookies, going on adventures round the house, having tea parties, going to the play in the park, helping in the garden etc etc etc ... Lots of silliness and fun!

We also had some fun as a family both playing in the back yard when the weather was hot ...

Going out for dinner a few times ...

A couple of day trips to Amish country and the Zemba Brothers Family Field Day where Abigail enjoyed pony rides and going on a digger and Naomi very nicely slept for the most part!!

Just before they left we even had a day out at Columbus zoo ... successfully avoiding the forecast thunderstorms ... while we were out at least!! Abigail was having a progressive photoshoot around the zoo ... sitting on every bronze animal statue!! Here she is with Mark on the Manatee!

Naturally 'Gramagramps' also got their fix of some Naomi time too ... even though she's too little to rename them yet herself!! In the few weeks they were here we were able to see change and growth in the littlest member of the family too!

Party Animals!

2011-05-19T21:58:00.006-04:00

A couple of weeks ago Abigail's buddy Bri celebrated her 3rd birthday with an afternoon at Hershberger's Farm and Bakery up in Amish Country (http://www.travelhost.com/ohamish/hershbergers-farm_bakery).

As well as looking cheeky and giggling a lot, the kids had a chance to feed the animals, milk a goat and pick up some rabbits and puppies.

Abigail was really hesitant to touch all these small, fluffy, cute animals ...

... but when we suggested a pony ride ... she couldn't have got there quick enough ... and ended up having 3 rides over the course of the afternoon!! The logic behind loving the ponies and not the little animals is beyond us!!

As the pony rides were such a hit ... we suggested that she try one of the BIG horses with daddy ... and again she surprised us with an immediate yes, rushing over to the horses and loving that experience too (although the look on her face in the photo below didn't catch all the smiles)!!

There was also the chance to ride in an Amish buggy around Hershberger's so Amanda, Bri's mum, went with Abigail, Bri and her big brother Zach for a ride!

After all the fun with the animals we enjoyed cake and ice-cream and present time ... see the birthday girl below with her cake!

It was a really fun afternoon for all of us who were awake ... and Naomi was an angel sleeping the whole way through the festivities in her buggy!!

Back in the newly refurbished hangar

2011-05-08T21:19:00.007-04:00

Having added this blog post about a week ago ... we were disappointed to find it had disappeared ... so here is something very similar to what we originally wrote ...

When Naomi was 10 days old, Mark took all his girlies into the hangar plus several boxes of doughnuts for the guys ... to celebrate the newest member of the family and to have her first aeroplane photo ... of which there are destined to be many more!!

Having spent some time at home to look after all three of the women in his life, Mark returned to a newly refurbished hangar. After a successful 'raise the roof' campaign for MMS, Hangar A now has a brand new roof and door. This was for the original MMS hangar, built years ago and desperately in need of these updates!

See below some photo's of the roof mid-process ...

Here's the main door ... or should we say ... here is where the main door should be!! While the work was being done there was both snow and very cold weather and also a tornado warning ...

... but now the work is complete and as you can see below looks great. The new door is a hydraulic one piece swing door ... replacing a very heavy folding concertina door to each side ... this will allow for bigger planes to be worked on in the hanger enabling MMS to serve flying missions worldwide more effectively.

Look what the Easter Bunny left us! ;o)

2011-04-29T20:36:00.004-04:00

It was a very good 'Good Friday' for us!! The Bubble finally popped and at 4.19pm on Friday 22nd April 2011, we welcomed Naomi Grace into the world and into our family. She weighed 7lb 12oz and measured 21 1/2 inches long.

It was all relatively quick and easy and as we were the only patients on the ward, had the undivided attention of the wonderful staff in the birthing centre at Coshocton Memorial Hospital ... just a 2 minute walk from our house!!

Naomi got some cuddles from her mummy and daddy before her big sister arrived less than an hour after she was born ...

After Abigail met her little sister ... she got a new t-shirt ... talk about proud! ;o)

Although we could have stayed another night ... we headed home after 24 hours as Jenny's mum was due to leave for the UK ... Naomi was all snuggled up and ready to go!

Naomi means 'delightful' and since she's been home she has been an absolute delight ... and after only a couple of nights got the hang of only waking up twice instead of every other hour ... what a star!

Abigail has also slept through every night since we brought her little sister home ... having had a disruptive month or so beforehand ... it must have been because she knew something was about to change ... and now it has things are getting back to normal!! She loves her little sister ... always wanting cuddles and helping out with everything ... including giving her a wash ... see below!

Thank you so much to all of you who have phoned, emailed, sent cards and presents congratulating us already on our little Easter bundle ... we're feeling really loved! We have had meals brought round to us every evening this week, flowers from one of our supporting churches in the UK (thank you Emmanuel Church, Weymouth!) and even some international stamps from our Postie here so we can be in touch with home about our good news!! Here are a couple of cute shots of the girl of the moment!

Congratulations also from us to the Bagwells, Richards, Hogebooms, Achas and Smiths all who have had their own little bundle's of joy within a few days either side of us ... all in the UK!

When Nana came to stay ...

2011-04-21T19:43:00.003-04:00

As you may have noticed in the last blog, Jenny's mum has come to visit us again over her Easter break ... and to meet her newest grandchild (whenever he/she decides to make an appearance in the world!!). It's been a great help for Jenny as it has meant she has been able to have her afternoon sleeps again while Abigail and Nana have been playing and getting up to mischief together ... very nice this late in the pregnancy!!

We managed a couple of trips up to Amish country as well as pottering about around town ... we didn't want to travel too far, just in case!! Jenny's mum was also able to see how our church here in Coshocton (www.coshoctonchristian.org) were so lovely to us in the lead up to Bubble's arrival ... showering us with 'diapers' ... 'nappies' to you Brit readers!

Nana also celebrated her birthday while she was here ... Jenny & Abigail made her a chocolate cake one morning and then Jenny decorated it as a paint palette as her mum enjoys painting!! As Bubble hadn't yet appeared ... we were able to give her some pressies in the morning, enjoy the cake at lunchtime and take her out for dinner in the evening!!

As you can see a certain little person was very eager to help blow out the candles!! ;o)

Having Nana here proved far too much excitement for some (see below) ... very cute ... curled up with Nana under Jenny's new quilt one afternoon!! Looks like we'll have no problem leaving them together when we disappear off to the hospital when Bubble 'pops' ... as Abigail tells us that is what is going to happen!

Jumping Around!

2011-04-11T20:35:00.004-04:00

With some money we were recently given we decided to treat ourselves ... and especially Abigail to a trampoline ... as you can see someone is super happy with the whole idea!!! We figured it would be something that we could also use in building friendships wherever we live in the years to come too!!

It was a joint effort (as always!) in the construction stage ... including Jenny's mum who arrived last week for another visit and to help us with the imminent arrival of Bubble!!

Mark was in charge of the assembly ...

Abigail was in her 'helpful' element too ... although towards the end just wanted to get up and jump!!

We all pulled our weight when putting the springs in ...

Abigail found it amusing to hide underneath as well ... until she could get on the top!!

Once it was all ready ... Mark put his feet up ...

Jenny and Abigail goofed around ... and chilled out on the trampoline (didn't make Bubble appear any quicker though!)

Even Nana Kukhu had a go ... lots of giggles coming from both of the cheeky girls!!

All in a fun Saturday afternoon in Ohio!! ;o)

Comparing Belly's! ;o)

2011-03-27T18:12:00.006-04:00

With just a few more weeks until Bubble joins the family, we thought it would be beneficial to attend the local Childbirth Classes at the Hospital ... which fortunately is just a block away from our house! While Abigail was having lots of fun with Kyla ... our Pastors eldest daughter ... we spent 3 consecutive Wednesday evenings from 5.30-8.30pm (ish) learning the 'American way' to have a baby!! ;o)

There were 9 'teams' in our classes ... the mums-to-be and coach(es) ... some 'teams' where husband and wife like us, others were mums-to-be and grandmothers-to-be ... 'teams' were between 2 and 4 people in size!! We were the oldest couple there by about a decade, the only ones who already had a child (it's usually for first timers!) the only ones who didn't know the sex of their new arrival ... and the only ones who spoke with a funny accent but that's nothing new to us!!

It was a good chance to get to know a few more people, learn the differences and visit the maternity ward ahead of time ... so we will know what to expect when 'Bubble goes Pop' ... because that's what Abigail keeps telling us is going to happen!! One of the highlights ... which wasn't part of our UK classes last time round, was the chance for the 'fathers-to-be' to wear an empathy belly ... too good a photo opportunity to miss ... but to be fair, we had some fun recreating the poses so you can judge for yourselves who carries a 'baby belly' the best!! ;o)

Amazingly, while giving birth is the same the world over, there are a lot of practical differences to having a child out here. Having the same doctor that you've been visiting over the whole pregnancy deliver the baby, so you have a good chance to get to know them and for them to get to know you ... and both Jenny's doctors are really lovely! All the forms and names of pain relief are different ... and there IS NO GAS AND AIR option ... no wonder 80% go down the epidural route! The maternity ward is really nice with all single ensuite rooms ... which explains why it's so expensive to have a baby out here, between $10,000-$20,000 and that's without complications (thank goodness for our medical insurance!!). The labour and delivery beds look amazing and are referred to as 'transformer beds' and come apart in more ways than you thought possible ... much more hightech than anything on the NHS back in the UK! There is computer system where all the staff can monitor your progress when you're in labour from any room/station on the maternity ward. You appoint your new baby a pediatrician beforehand who will come to the hospital to check the baby over but there is no midwife/health visitor coming to check up on you once you've been discharged. These are just a few of the differences that come to mind!! ... and giving birth seems to be much more of a spectator sport out here ... with a lot of people having half a dozen close family and friends in the room for the majority of the labour!! (No thank you!)

While Jenny has been having random contractions for the last couple of weeks, Jenny's mum is not due to arrive from the UK until next Thursday (April 7th) so we're hoping that Jenny can keep her legs crossed til then. We're also hoping that Bubble will make his/her grand entrance before Easter Sunday (April 24th) when her mum flies back to the UK! Abigail is telling anyone and everyone that 'Nana is coming to play with Abigail and Daddy ... and Mummy's going to hospital' ... here's hoping she doesn't kick Jenny out of the house as soon as Nana arrives! ;o)

Abigail's Antics!

2011-03-21T20:34:00.003-04:00

Our little munchkin turned two and a half last weekend ... and is as cheeky as ever!! Every six months we take a height measurement, this time round she was 3ft 2inches ... although given half a chance she would be measured every day ... she's always asking us to come and see how tall she is!!!

As well as her height developing ... so is her imagination, the downside of which means that dreams and nightmares are coming into play and for the last week and a half sleep has been eluding her and subsequently us ever since. It's not just lack of sleep but the fear of going to sleep alone that's been the issue and then waking through the night ... we're going to crack this phase ... and hopefully sooner rather than later with only a few weeks to go til she becomes a big sister ... so please remember us! ;o)

In her happier moments though she's still loving colouring/painting/sticking ... anything creative ... the colouring book above has the added bonus of being a Toy Story one ... all three movies are her new favourite thing ... and referred to as 'Buzz on the Bed' (Toy Story 1), 'The Yee-Ha One' (Toy Story 2) and 'The New Story' (Toy Story 3) ... all very amusing for us!

We enjoyed Shrove Tuesday/Pancake Day, UK style, on March 8th ... for our American friends it's the day before Lent ... and we eat large thin pancakes (like Crepes) not small thick ones, traditionally with lemon juice and sugar! It was Abigail's first real pancake day when she helped cook them and ate them knowing what she was doing ... and she LOVED them!!! We had a pancake feast that night ... making a whole batch, starting with savoury and finishing with sweet ones!! These two photos (above and below) show Abigail with her grated cheese and crispy bacon one ... which she followed with a banana and Nutella combination!

She still loves to play with her buddies and Bri continues to be her favourite friend, who she talks about all the time!! They get to see each other at church and MOPS and often have 'playdates' at each others houses so that both Jenny and Bri's mum can get an hour or two off!! They spend a lot of time just giggling together ... it's very cute to watch!!

Abigail has some funny little phrases at the moment ... she told Jenny to 'Stop Songing' the other day in the car and when Mark goes out the door every morning to work she always says 'Be careful Daddy'. You'll often hear her saying 'Don't worry mummy, I'm just ...', a sure sign you need to start worrying!

We'll leave you with an image of her latest mischievous moment ... when mummy is trying to relax for 5 minutes on the sofa before bath-time ... yeah right!!! ;o)

MOPS in a Nutshell!

2011-03-08T19:50:00.005-05:00

Not that it's really possible to sum up MOPS so easily ... but many of our non-US friends have been asking about MOPS as it's something Jenny is involved in ... so here is an attempt to give you a little glimpse of what it's all about!

MOPS stands for Mothers Of PreSchoolers (www.mops.org) and in Coshocton there is a group that meets on the second Friday morning of each month during the school year. This year (end of last summer) we kicked off with a fun day for the whole family to enjoy with a BBQ and homemade water slides down the hill.

It was lots of fun and as you can see Abigail enjoyed chilling out, fully clothed, in one of the little paddling pools!!

There are other fun events planned throughout the year, last month we had an overnight lock-in ... a chance to hang out, play silly, games, enjoy a spa room, watch movies, get crafty and have some kiddie free time ... except for a couple of newborns who joined us for the event and got cuddles from all the mums there! There are also a couple of resale mornings where you have the chance to either sell off all your old baby stuff or get things you need for a fraction of the price ... the next one is just days after Bubble is born ... so if it's boy ... we'll be first in line to purchase a whole new wardrobe when the doors open!!! ;o)

When we meet each month we have the chance to drop our kids off in different groups and a great team of volunteers come and play/teach them (depending on the kids ages) giving us a couple of hours of 'mom-time'. It's all very flexible though and different children will decide that they would rather stay in with their mum's from month to month ... we all understand how it is!! Our monthly meetings have a different theme each time we meet. The overall theme for this year is 'Mom-ology - The Science of Being a Mum'. Sometimes we watch one of the official MOPS DVD's and discuss set questions, another time we may have a seasonal theme (Christmas Party!), this week it will be a cookery/nutritional theme. Below is a photo from a Spa morning ... a couple of the ladies had make-overs and we all got a 5 minute neck and shoulder massage ... and then practiced some of the techniques we learnt on each other!!

Each month the meetings start with food ... so if it's too rushed getting the kid(s) up and out by 9.30am there is always breakfast ready and waiting!! The main group is split into 5 smaller groups of which Jenny is one of the leaders ... and each month a different group is responsible for providing the food and drink so it's always a little different!! There is a real mix of woman who come, some married, some single, some church going, some not, some with one child, most with more (some have up to 7 kids!), some with their own kids, some with adopted or step-children ... so we really get a chance to learn from each other and be there for each other through it all!! In addition to the main monthly meeting the smaller groups try to get together at least once a month as well, either for a 'playdate' or something else ... this last weekend Jenny's group joined forces with another one and had a lunch/jewellery making party for a few hours which was good fun (see the photo's below!).

Within the Coshocton MOPS group there seems to have been an explosion in pregnancies this year ... with over half the mum's with newborns or expecting over the next few months. Since December, I think I'm right in saying that, there have been twin girls, another baby girl and four boys so far ... but from week to week this is changing and there are a lot more of us almost ready to pop too! It's great that we're all there for each other through this time of adjustment in so many of our families too!! We get to learn from each other and the Mentor Mom's ... a couple of ladies who have grown up kids who come and put a different and encouraging perspective on so many things!

There is a steering committee of 5 led by Amy, with Amanda, another Amy, Angie and Brenda ... all mum's of between 1 and 4 kids who do a great job of organising it all ... it's such a valuable time for all who come ... each one of the steering committee are complete stars for the time and commitment they put into the Coshocton branch of MOPS! ;o)

Opposites Attract!

2011-02-27T19:24:00.004-05:00

For those of you who know us (Jenny & Mark) well, you'll know that while we are similar in many things and have a relatively harmonious relationship the majority of the time ... the things that 'float our boats' are in completely different areas!

Jenny loves anything crafty ... and small town America is a GREAT place if that's what you enjoy! You may remember this time last year she took a quilting class where she learnt the basics ... well almost exactly a year later she finally finished her first quilt (see above), one she completely designed from scratch (probably why it took so long!!). Mark on the other hand is a real boy when it comes to tools ... just as well considering his current profession ... so when Croham Road Baptist Church gave us some money from their Ambassador Gift Day at the end of last year ... Mark was super excited to be able accrue some more, much needed but expensive tools to his collection (see below). He will use these daily, both here training in the States and later when we're working in an MAF operation somewhere else in the world! Thank you CRBC!!

One similarity we do share is that we love to hang out together ... something that we haven't had a chance to do as much as we'd like, in fact we haven't had 24 hours off together since Abigail was born ... one of the downfalls of moving away from family and having to build up a new circle of friends and surrogate family! As we'd had a bit of a yucky January and with Bubble due to arrive in just a couple of months time, Jenny got really sneaky and planned a surprise overnight getaway! All Mark knew was to take last Friday afternoon off work ... and the rest had been plotted and planned to perfection ... a night in Columbus with yummy restaurants, 'proper' shopping (you have to understand when you compare London to Coshocton, there is a HUGE difference!), a lie in and some quality time together ... while Abigail was having a whale of time back at home with a couple of Jenny's lovely friends and their families!! Thank you Laurie, Kristin and the rest of the Gettles for having fun with our little munchkin ... we owe you big time!! Below is the only cheesy shot we took in front of the hotel, so that we can look back and prove that it actually happened!!

After some mummy and daddy time on Friday and Saturday ... we enjoyed the brighter spring weather today (Sunday) as a family, at Lake Park! We went for a walk, fed the ducks and had fun in the playground ... strange when you consider that Friday morning was heavy snow and today it was all melting ... even though the lake was still mostly covered in ice, except for around the fountain!! See below a few wintery yet spring-like shots we took while we were out!

The weather was warm and the sun was shining ... two posers needed their sunglasses to play in the park ... one thing we love about an Ohio winter ... the sky is often clear and blue and sunglasses are definitely an all year round accessory!!

More of the Mundane!

2011-02-17T20:53:00.003-05:00

Hooray ... after the ups and downs of January, we're really happy to report that February has just been normal and boring ... and we're so pleased about that too! We're not so happy that the snow has almost completely disappeared ... although the majority of the population would disagree with us! This time last year we were still in a foot of snow having fun ... winter has been completely different in our second year here with ice storm warnings and wind advisory's in place of the heavy snow we had hoped for once again!! Here are a couple of photos taken at the beginning of the icy few days ... the second shows a tree not covered in snow but with each branch completely caked in ice, it was quite something to see in person!

Mark's back is almost 100% again and he has been in the hangar as usual come snow, ice, rain or shine ... keeping up with his regular tests and working on the aircraft. As you can see he was pleased (?) to get his hands back on his tools and get on the job again after the prolonged break in the New Year!

More news from the hangar ... the 'Senior Apprentice' is the one who is the furthest through their training ... and the holder of the 'Senior Apprentice Wrench' (for the non-Americans, read 'Spanner'!!). Last week Paul Jones (below, right) completed the required hours towards his A&P Licence and will take his final tests in the next few weeks ... and so passed over the coveted wrench to Andy Porter (below, left), another MAF UK apprentice. Andy has now taken on the 'Senior Apprentice' role and become the holder of what is renamed the 'Senior Apprentice Spanner' while in the hands of a Brit! All being well the next handover will be from Andy to Mark towards the end of this year!!

On the home front ... apart from a 24 hour sickness bug for Abigail we've all been well!! Jenny has now reached 30 weeks in her pregnancy and for those who've been asking ... you can see below she has quite a big belly right now (although very pleased that so far she has only put on a third of the total weight she did with Abigail!!). All seems to be ticking along well and we've sailed through all the checks and tests we've had ... now every two weeks ... Abigail comes along to 'look after mummy' when she gets checked and enjoys listening to Bubble's heartbeat!! She keeps randomly telling us 'I love Bubble' ... hopefully she'll be as quick to say that when they take over the house and rock her world in a couple of months time!!!

My New Bed!

2011-02-05T19:55:00.005-05:00

Abigail here for a change ... I thought I would tell you my exciting news!!! I'm growing fast and lots has changed in the last couple of months ... the most recent thing for me at the moment is that last weekend Mummy and Daddy bought me a new 'big girls bed'!!

Naturally I wanted in on the action ... and had Daddy's tools out of the box before he realised what was going on!! Then we set to unpacking the bed in the middle of the living room floor ...

Once all the bits and pieces were out ... I was quick to lend Daddy a hand putting it together, especially with his 'noisy' drill ... and tell him exactly what he was meant to be doing!!

As soon as it was all assembled I was very quick to test it out ... it was a little hard but I couldn't wait ... Monkey liked it too!

It got a bit more comfy when we got the mattress ... but it was still in the middle of the living room ... I was too excited to wait til it was moved into my bedroom!

Finally Mummy and Daddy took advantage of a few minutes when I'd jumped off to put my new bed into my room ... check out the little shelf for my books at the end so I can read them without having to get out of bed!! I also love the fact that there's more wall space to display my masterpieces now too!

As soon as my bed was in place I made myself at home with my books and didn't move for quite a while. Earlier on this week I wasn't very well and it was great to be able to just flop in my lovely new bed!

Now a week on, I'm still quick to head to bed when it's nap-time and bedtime because I love my 'big girls bed' ... just thought I'd tell you all about it too! ;o)

A Stuttering Start to the New Year!

2011-01-29T15:34:00.008-05:00

2011 didn't start quite as we imagined it would!!

Mark's sister Amy had a detour on her journey back to the UK on January 1st ... her first flight was delayed so much ... that the second one had already left Atlanta before the first one had landed!! Thankfully there was an alternative flight the same day with some space ... going to Heathrow rather than Gatwick ... so she got back only a few hours later than planned even if it was to the other side of London!!

Abigail's bottom molars made their entrance into the world in the week after Christmas ... and she was miserable and a bit cranky for about 3 weeks in total ... including not sleeping well during the day or going to bed easily at night ... something we've NEVER had a problem with before (I know we've been very lucky as lots of you don't have such good sleepers ... thankfully we're back on track again!!) She had her moments of happiness though in amongst the crankiness ... below the cheeky girl was 'reading' Jane Austen's 'Persuasion' ... it's never too early to start on the classics!!

Mark went into the hangar on Monday 3rd January having enjoyed a week off between Christmas and New Year ... and only made it into work for one day! He came home that night concerned that his back which had had him out of action in August was not feeling right ... and when he got up on the Tuesday morning was even more worried!! Being Mark, he was determined to go into work ... so got up and left home as usual, only to return half an hour later admitting that once he got to the hangar he couldn't actually get out of the car ... oops! He then spent the next week and a half shuffling around, lying down or at the chiropractors and not much more, with a herniated disc. Thankfully it only had him out of action for half the time it did five months ago ... but unfortunately for Jenny it coincided with Abigail's 'bleurgh' patch too!

Jenny and Abigail took time to enjoy some of the continuing snow this month ... Abigail was really pleased with her new snow trousers (a christmas pressie from Auntie Jojo and Uncle Matt in Canada!!) ... and is always quick to get all her layers on when there's a chance of going out in the fluffy white stuff ... whether feeling miserable or not!

Since the last blog entry some of you have commented to us that 'snow angels' were something new to you ... so we thought we'd add some more silly photos of those ... in the first you can see Abigail is slowly working her way across the garden, one snow angel at a time (or as we heard last week ... creating a 'choir' of snow angels!!!) ... and in the second ... the beached whale, who's coat won't do up, joining her in the fun!!

Although Mark was stiff and sore ... we did convince him to join us for some fun in the snow the day before he went back into the hangar ... although a lot of the time he was just laid out in the snow!! ... Spot the cheeky face of Abigail ...

That photo was taken just after she'd attacked her Daddy and covered him in snow (below!) ... and she was obviously feeling very pleased with herself and taking full advantage of the fact that he wasn't fully mobile at the time!!

While most people round here are counting the days til spring ... you can see we're loving every minute of the snow and trying to make the most of enjoying it all! If we can't go out and play in it ... we stay inside and make tents, build assault courses around the living room ... and of course get painting (still a favourite pastime)!!!

Once Mark and Abigail were back to normal ... Jenny had a few days of feeling really rough ... just some lovely pregnancy yuckiness and probably exhaustion from the craziness of looking after the other two ... thankfully it only lasted a couple of days and we're pleased to say this last week all three of us have had a much more routine time!!!

On the home front things haven't all been rosy either ... Jenny's Nan, who Abigail has renamed 'Grammy' unfortunately had a bad fall at the beginning of the year too and has been recovering in hospital ... it's at times like this that we would like to be at home to visit her in person ... although she looks happy in the photo below she was in a lot of pain at the time and has been given at least a 12 week recovery time!

As things haven't been wonderful we've been looking at the smaller things in life to perk us up over the last couple of weeks! Mark's tried to use some of his time out of the hangar to catch up with his studies having been a bit behind a couple of months ago. He has now caught up and with 14 weeks to go until Bubble is due, he has 14 tests left ... so instead of taking one every ten days from now on, is aiming to take one each week and be done with them in time for the sleepless nights!!!

Other New Year amusements in our household have been the fact that the American's have finally woken up and started selling 'new' Crunchy Nut Cornflakes ... Jenny's favourite cereal for years back at home ... each packet comes with a money off coupon if you buy more ... which we're definitely taking advantage of!! As you can see there is one very happy Mummy and one little girl who think's her mum might be slowly loosing it!!

Something that really tickled us just this morning at the supermarket was a brand of bread we'd never noticed before ... so much so that even though we didn't need any bread we bought a loaf just so we could take a photo of it!!!!!!!! Whoever thought this would be a good name to call their brand of bread certainly hasn't lived in the UK ... even if they're trying to convince the world to 'Say Beembo' (see top right of the photo below!!!!)

As you can see we're taking the rough with the smooth ... and are glad for the time being that everything has evened out again!

The rest of December!

2011-01-12T19:48:00.005-05:00

December 1st brought the start of the proper snow to Coshocton ... we wasted no time in getting out there and Abigail was in her element again from the get-go!! We had snow for most of the month and temperatures were always below zero (often double figures!!) ... until the last few days of the month when suddenly it turned almost springlike, no coat weather!! (That was only for a few days though!)

Last year we'd tried to teach Abigail how to do snow angels ... but she just wasn't old enough to get it ... this year she just drops backwards without a care in the world and covers the yard with snow angels ... and tries to get us to join her doing them too! The photo below shows her first ever snow angel ... little did we know at that point there would be a million more to follow!

Abigail has been having fun getting to know the new Abigail and her little brother Matthew Swanson from the UK (who we mentioned moved to Coshocton in November). While their parents were having some of their MMS orientation in the hangar, Jenny and her good friend Laurie had fun baking and decorating cookies with the little ones!!

Mark's sister, Amy arrived safely on December 19th ... having been very lucky to catch a plane out of the UK in a small window of opportunity that the heavy snow allowed. After allowing her just a day to acclimatise ... she was on the floor, playing and being silly with Abigail for the rest of her stay ... obviously we had to capture it on camera too!!

You've already seen the Christmassy fun we had together in a recent blog entry ... but we got up to our usual outings that we do with visitors too ... Amish Country, a day shopping somewhere (this time Canton), Roscoe village ... and of course a visit to the hangar!

It was the first time Jenny & Abigail had seen the Cessna 206 which had recently been modified and put onto floats ... Abigail is already turning into a bit of a plane geek and loves to go up and see them all ... especially that 'BIG' one!!

Abigail has enjoyed all the new things that arrived in the house over the Christmas holidays ... but one of her favourites was her easel and paints from Nana Kukhu ... these pictures were taken the first time she got arty ... and produced about a dozen masterpieces without stopping!! It's a regular pastime now ... we have so many pictures around the house that we don't know what to do with them all!!

2011 hasn't started quite as we planned ... but more of that another time!!

Cessna 402 Project

2011-01-09T14:52:00.012-05:00

WARNING

This blog may contain technical information

which may cause swelling of the brain-box.

After my last blog about some of the work the I had been performing in the hanger I had a few comments about how technical and brain numbing (but amazing) it all was. So I'd thought I'd get in there first to let you know that this was going to be a bit more on the "em yeah well okay ... if you say so" side of the work here.

Since May 2010 there has been various people working on a twin engined Cessna 402B from Wings With "The Word" mission up in Maine. Cessna produced an inspection that all 402's have to go through. The inspection is on the wings forward spars. All the bolts holes have to be inspected for cracks (using Electromagnetic tests). If we had found cracks, it could well have been the end of the aircraft because of the cost to open up the wings and replace the wing spar or get a replacement wing. Thankfully for the mission, the wings passed with flying colours, which meant that we had to perform the second part of the modification.

If your aircraft passed the test, an external spar cap (a very long thick piece of aluminium) had to attached to the outside underneath using some very special fasteners. But before any of the work could start, the drawings supplied by Cessna had to be interpreted, and this is where all my previous knowledge came to the forefront. After working in a design office for more than ten years, I was able to help decipher their drawings, parts lists and modification documents.

Helping to decipher the drawings.

Now we could start. We had to clean out the whole area, remove hundreds of fasteners, strip paint, and then drill about 300 holes (each side) into the new spar cap so that it could be installed. This also meant removing the firewall (large sheet of stainless steel that sits behind an engine that should stop a fire from getting through to the structure so that you can land and not crash), and numerous skins so that we could get to the holes.

Spar Cap being drilled in place!

Because of the special fasteners that have to be installed, every hole in the spar cap had to be drilled about 3 times and them reamed (this ensures that the hole is to a specific diameter so that there is an interference fit between the fastener and the structure). So drilling hundreds of very accurate holes took a very long time. But they were finally all installed.

Fasteners going in. Spar Cap Completed.

Now that we have completed the installation of the Spar Cap, we need to reinstall all the parts that we took off. But it also hasn't been that easy, as when we removed parts we kept on finding corrosion, cracks or just bad holes in many parts. This meant that we had to manufacture new parts from sheet aluminium, stainless steel etc which reduced costs for the mission. Some parts we just couldn't manufacture, so had to research the web for the parts at the cheapest cost.

New Skins and panels fabricated.

As well as new structure to be fabricated, we found a lot of damage on the wiring looms that entered the engine compartment. So they had to be pulled out of the wing, removed, new ones fabricated and routed back into the wing again.

Wires hanging from the wing. Major Damage due to arching.

The other part to be done was the replacement of the firewall. All of the brackets had to fabricated from stainless steel and all the fasteners had to be monel (a type of metal) as they are corrosion resistant and have a very high melting point.

Firewall removed. Looking at Fwd Wing Spar.

Firewall going in. Firewall installed.

At the moment the spar caps and firewalls are installed and complete. The left wing has had much more work done on it (a whole new canted bulkhead had to be installed, the green/yellow structure in the photo above) but most of the forward skins have been installed. We still have to work on the aft skins, as well as additional modifications from Cessna that are in that area; including a new auxiliary wing spar, stainless steel fuel lines behind the firewalls and new access doors in the forward skins to better inspect the exhaust system.

Then it's reinstalling the main undercarriage, installing the engines and putting everything back where is came from. I will finish this blog about the 402 once the work has finally been complete. Just to prove that I have been working hard, below are a few photos of me working on various parts of the job.

If you follow the link below, this will take you to MMS Aviation's blog that shows a short video of me removing the firewalls. It is the first of seven movie clips that have been taken of this project.

http://mmsaviation.blogspot.com/2010/05/cessna-402-spar-cap-project.html

Christmas 2010

2010-12-28T19:48:00.006-05:00

We have just celebrated our second Christmas in America and are enjoying all the differences and similarities that that brings culture-wise!!! Mark's sister, has been able to join us here in Coshocton again and has been having lots of fun with Abigail especially!

Gingerbread men and houses are a part of an American Christmas ... so a couple of days before Christmas ... Abigail and Amy had a fun couple of hours making and decorating their own!!

There were major structural difficulties during the process ... however we're pleased to report that after some dedicated repair work but her Auntie Amy ... Abigail was able to finish decorating her little house (which is still standing as I write this!!!) Below is the finished masterpiece!

On Christmas Day ... we were treated to a lie-in by Abigail ... who hasn't yet worked out that most little people wake up in the early hours of the morning on December 25th to open presents ... and then had a very lazy morning having fun opening presents together! As you can see there was lots of silliness going on ... and Abigail did very well with her pile of goodies!

Later on in the afternoon we were joined by the lovely Gettle family (another MMS apprentice family and good friends of ours) for a yummy Christmas dinner and some more silliness together!!! One of the things we haven't managed to get out here are Christmas crackers ... so we compensated with head-boppers instead of the usual paper hats!!

We were so stuffed that we never did get round to starting our alternative Christmas cake ... something that is becoming a bit of a family tradition for us ... instead of the usual Christmas fruit cake ... we made another giant chocolate cupcake decorated as a Christmas tree again this year (by Amy) ... we started eating it the day after instead ... delicious!!

On Boxing Day (December 26th for our US buddies!!) we went to church ... as they don't do church on Christmas Day here. Pastor Dan had asked Jenny to share a little of the differences between Christmas in the UK and in the States ... so we had to do a little research before hand to find out why we do certain things in the UK ... and also identified lots of differences between how two supposedly similar cultures celebrate the same holiday.

Look out ... there's a Bubble about! ;o)

2010-12-16T15:03:00.005-05:00

As many of you know ... or may not know ... there is a second little Beckwith due to enter the world around Easter time in 2011!! Yet another 'Big Adventure' for us to embark on!! We found out late summer that Number 2 was on the way ... and having named Number 1 'Monkey' before she born and given a 'real' name ... we were quick to be creative in naming the next one!! So, we'd like to formally introduce 'Bubble' to the world! ;o).

Jenny had a rough month in September as her body got used to growing another little person ... something she hadn't experienced when pregnant with Abigail ... but from the day we set off for the UK has felt much more herself again!! We had our first scan before we left for our trip at the beginning of October (see above) and then the second (20 week) scan last week (see below). Abigail came with us for the second one and the minute the image came up on the screen pointed and said 'Bubble'!! After that her interest waned a little and she thought it was much more exciting that Mummy's tummy was blue from the gel they were using than what was going on on the screen!! We (aka Mummy and Daddy!) on the other hand got to enjoy a much longer look at Bubble and all the different body parts than we had during the 20 week scan in the UK the first time around ... one of the many subtle differences of having babies in different countries/cultures!!

As you can see there are definitely bubble-like aspects in both scans ... which made us laugh a lot ... although I'm sure all you medical-types will correctly identify them as something else! We had the chance to find out whether Bubble was a girl or a boy last week ... but to many people's surprise in Coshocton we have chosen to wait until he/she arrives in the world!! Our doctor told us only 5% of his patients now wait to find out on the birth-day here ... so we're the odd English family going against the grain (in more ways than one I'm sure!)!!!

Bubble seems to be fit and well ... and has been wriggling around a lot from about 15 weeks on ... according to the doctors, he/she weighs 12oz already ... we're only just over halfway there ... the real adventure will begin in about 19 weeks time ... give or take! ;o)

Back into the swing of things!

2010-12-09T20:28:00.006-05:00

We're now back into the swing of life in Coshocton again ... having returned to the land where when you step off the plane you automatically drop a dress size, there are adverts on the BBC channel and someone else bag's your groceries!!!

Jenny and Abigail have had lots of fun in the kitchen baking flapjack (the English type ... out here it's a kind of pancake!!) ... and this years batch of mince pies! Last year we experimented with a recipe for mince pies as they're not a Christmas staple out here ... and it was so yummy and popular that we multiplied the ingredients by four ... and are going for mass production! Last year Jenny made them all ... this year she has a very willing helper who enjoys making a spectacular mess as well!

Holiday festivities began early in small town America! The Christmas parade was in mid-November ... marching bands, giant gingerbread men, Santa riding a fire engine ... the whole shebang!! We walked down to Main Street and met up with several MMS families to enjoy the parade ... we also bumped into other friends as we walked along ... very different from last year when we had only recently arrived and didn't know anyone!

Thanksgiving weekend was at the end of November ... a four day holiday weekend ... a chance to be thankful ... something we don't get as much of an opportunity to reflect on in the UK! We spent the Thursday with 9 other families ... 40 of us in total ... and a huge feast of food, different dishes provided by all of us ... we were spread out across 3 large tables at the Hengst's house (see below)!

It was also nice to have a few days to have fun together and discover some new places too! We went to Canton (about 1hr 10mins drive away) an alternative place to shop in the Thanksgiving weekend sales ... with a better selection of stores than our usual 45 min drive to Zanesville ... which is the closest place to shop from Coschocton!

Abigail's been getting up to her usual mischief ... 'colour-ling' is her favourite thing ... she would be drawing for several hours a day if we didn't have anything else to do. In mid-November she decided that she wanted to start writing too ... her first attempt to follow the lines is below ... believe us, it's a lot more accurate now!

Abigail's also taken to 'swimming like a fish', as she calls it, in the bath ... she loves to lay flat on her back and just float around for ages ... and then pops up with a big grin on her face shouting 'I did it'!! As you can see she's having a 'whale' of a time surrounded by bubbles!! She's always wanting to read and re-read her books too ... she usually has about 10 different books out of the library at any given time and loves going to get more ... the problem is getting her out of the library and into the car at the end of the visit!!

The Swanson family arrived safely a few weeks ago too ... you may remember we mentioned them earlier on in the year. They are another MAF UK family ... this time from near Glasgow and have arrived for Andy to begin his apprenticeship in the New Year. They seem to be settling in well, having already found a house and car and have been out and about exploring the local area as you can see from the photo below!! Our Abigail is enjoying having two new playmates in their two children another Abigail and Matthew ... and we're trying to answer any questions Andy and Heather have as they settle in, as are the rest of the MMSers!

These are just a few highlights of what we've been up to ... more to come soon!

Cessna 172 Engine Removal & Tear Down

2010-11-28T19:49:00.007-05:00

The latest job that I'm working on in the hangar is the removal of an engine to inspect it. The aircraft is a 1961 Cessna 172B that has only 900 hours on it ... which in general aviation is an amazingly low number for an aircraft so old. Below is a video showing us removing the engine so it can be stripped down and inspected.

The engine from the aircraft is a Teledyne Continental o-300D (for those who wish to know). Once the engine is on the stand Andy, Ian and myself could start to strip down all the accessories, electrical cables, ducts, exhausts and baffles.

We then had to remove the cylinders. To do this you have to remove the rocker covers, rockers and push rods. After that the cylinder can be removed, which reveals the cylinder head that can then be removed.

Once all the cylinders have been removed, we had to split the crankcase open. First the accessory case is removed (with a bit of persuasion as you can see below), and the oil sump. Once these have been removed the crankcase can finally be split, the camshaft and crankshaft can be removed along with the tappets.

Now that everything has been disassembled, the parts can be cleaned up and inspected for cracks, abrasions, corrosion and measure all the shafts and bearings to see if they are within operational tolerances.

Once all this has been done, and all the parts that need replacing have been purchased, the reassembly will begin. I'll keep you up to date when this happens.

A Hop, Skip & Jump across the Pond!!

2010-11-20T19:35:00.008-05:00

In October we spent roughly three weeks back in the UK, having been in the States for our first year! Our main focus was to renew our US visas and update as many people as we could in a short space of time! It certainly was a crazy whirlwind ... but we had loads of fun in the process!

We travelled via Toronto both ways ... driving the first leg (approx 7 hours!) and then flying direct to London Heathrow! One of Jenny's best friends lives in Toronto with her husband, so it was a great chance to catch up with them at each end of our trip!

As everything was fast and furious while we were home, we weren't as on the ball with our camera as much as we usually are ... so there are many people and places we saw which we don't have any photos of ... huge apologies ... here are a selection of some of the friends and family we managed to catch up with!

We were also able to see Lucy & Andrew Amukowa, who are like family to us, from the RUSH project in Kenya. They were in the UK for Andrew to have some life saving surgery which was more that 100% successful ... for more information about RUSH and Andrews amazing recovery check out www.rushuk.org.uk.

Our visa renewal was really straight forward and we spent the rest of that day in London enjoying the sounds, sights and shops that we'd been missing! While we were home we able to update three of our supporting churches on what we've been doing this last year, Purley Baptist Church (www.purleybaptist.org), Emmanuel Church Weymouth (www.radipoleparish.f2s.com/emmanuel.htm) and Croham Road Baptist Church (www.crohamroadbaptist.co.uk). We also caught up with a couple of groups who regularly get together to pray for us, one near Yeovil where we used to live and another in Orpington. We are aware of other churches and groups that we didn't get to see ... and will make you our priorities next year when we're home.

A personal priority for us as a family while we were in the UK ... was to eat some yummy food that can not be savoured over there in the small town America! Real bacon, sausages, crumpets, Chinese & Indian takeaways ... to name just a few!! We took a couple of photos of some deliciousness we were able to enjoy ... a Cornish Pasty, Cream Tea and Fish & Chips ... YUM!!

We knew that it would be a really busy time for us ... and so carved out a few days in the middle just for us as a family down in Cornwall. Mark's parents have a little cottage down there and it was the perfect getaway for us to recharge ... we did a lot of relaxing but tried to do something fun each day as well. We built and decorated sandcastles on a couple of beaches (a new experience for Abigail which she took very seriously but loved doing), went swimming, shopping and to a huge playzone which Abigail loved to lead her mummy and daddy through, even though we struggled to keep up for the most part and as it was designed for little people!!

We also took a day out down on the beach in Brighton ... a favourite spot for us ... in fact where we went on our first date together ... as you can see from some of the photos below, it was another day of fun and silliness with Mark's sister, Amy, in amongst all the comings and goings of everything else!

It was so lovely to see so many people, get to eat so many things and visit so many places that we love, in such a short space of time. There were elements of UK life that we hadn't realised we missed and didn't know if we would want to leave at the end of our stay ... however arriving back in Ohio on October 31st, we were really glad to be 'home' again!!

The rest of Popeye's visit (back in Sept!!)

2010-11-12T19:32:00.005-05:00

OK ... so Auntie Popeye left in the middle of September ... and we've been a little slack at updating this for various reasons ... so here's a snapshot of the rest of her visit!

The photo below shows Abigail's method of getting to bath-time for most of Popeye's visit!! Very amusing for us to watch and great fun for Abigail ... and I think Popeye too!!

We took a day trip to Rolling Ridge Range up in Amish Country ... it's like a drive through open safari type park with loads of great animals ... you can either drive yourself or take a wagon ride (we chose to do the latter) ... and along the way you get to feed the animals too!

We all really enjoyed the ride ... which takes about an hour and half to go round the whole park, stopping every so often to look at the different animals ... Abigail loves animals and loved watching them all over the side!

Here's a couple of photos showing some of the animals there ... including deer, camels, pot-bellied piglets, there were a couple of zedonks (zebra/donkey cross), bison, zebra, llamas, emu ... the list goes on!!!

After the wagon ride there was another area with a chance to see more animals ... monkeys, turtles, crocodiles, ducklings, baby camels, goats, guinea pigs ... etc etc

We also had lots of fun hanging out at home, going to the park and lots of other stuff ... as you can see the Abigail and Popeye were just as cheeky as each other most of the time ... this final picture sums it all up!! ;o)

Oops ... we're missing something!!

2010-10-28T16:31:00.002-04:00

Hello There ... for those of you who follow this regularly ... you'll notice that October is (almost) completely blogless ... apart from this one!!!

We were already a little behind ... and have been home in the UK for the last 3 weeks ... renewing visas, catching up with some churches, friends and family ... although we've sadly not had enough time to see half as many people as we would have liked ... if we didn't see you this time round it was neither intentional or personal ... there just haven't been enough hours/days/weeks to fit everything in!

We'll be in touch again properly once we're safely settled back in Coshocton! ;o)

Birthday Time!

2010-09-29T20:16:00.003-04:00

Nana Kukhu left one day then Auntie Popeye arrived the next ... she was here for THE birthday weekend of the year in our family ... Friday 10th September, Mark and both Auntie Popeye and Auntie Amy (who hit the big 4-0) celebrated theirs and Monday 13th Abigail turned 2 (with several other very close friends celebrating over the same weekend too!!)

On the Friday evening we went out for dinner to the yummy 'Yard' to celebrate Mark and Popeye's birthday's ...

Above, Abigail and Mark were wasting some time before the food arrived ... below, two sisters digging in when it did!!

On Abigail's birthday we waited for Mark to get home before opening her pressies ... she had a good sized pile ... with different parcels arriving in the post in the few weeks before and Popeye bringing out extra goodies with her when she came!

Of course we got creative with a cake again ... one of Abigail's current favourite characters is Meno (and no, that's not a typing error ... she renamed Nemo from the first time she saw the movie!) ... so that's what we made. In fact, Mark did most of it up to the final decorating as Jenny had been feeling a bit yucky!!!

Abigail loved it and shouted out 'MENO CAKE' when we first showed it to her ... as you can see below, before we even lit the candle she was already sticking her finger in and having a taster!!

She couldn't wait to get it cut so she could eat some (... still now several weeks later she keeps asking for Meno cake even though its long gone!)

To mark another year in her life we measured Abigail once again ... and weren't surprised to find that she was just a little over 3ft tall ... if it's true what they say about your height at the age of 2 being half your full height ... Jenny will definitely be the shortest in the family again in a few years time!!

A fun weekend full of giggles to celebrate special days for special people!!

A very quick trip to Niagara Falls!!

2010-09-26T19:52:00.007-04:00

While Nana Kukhu was visiting we took the opportunity to take a 'quick' trip to Niagara Falls ... we travelled up on the Tuesday (it's about 5 1/2 hours drive, across two state lines, if you go non-stop!!), visited the Falls on Wednesday and drove back on the Thursday ... slightly crazy but definitely worth it!! The weather was perfect and the Falls were spectacular ...

We took a ride on the Maid of the Mist ... and got soaked!! ... but had LOADS of fun!

We could have just stood and watched the water gushing over the Falls for hours (except Mark who was still struggling to stand up straight with his dodgy back! ... he was in a lot of pain but did really well over the break so we could make the most of our time up there!)

Below is the Rainbow Bridge ... joining America to Canada just down river of the Falls.

Nana Kukhu treated us to a helicopter ride over Niagara Falls ... it was a belated Birthday pressie for Jenny and an early one for Mark ... while she stayed on terra firma and looked after Abigail! It was definitely a once in the lifetime experience for us ... and the first time Mark had ever been in a helicopter even though he's spent the last 20 years in the aircraft industry!!

We stayed in a B&B a short drive from the Falls with Maynard and Sandy who really made us feel at home in their little log house for our two nights there.

On the way home we chose to break our journey on a little peninsula on Lake Erie ... which had some gorgeous beaches ... Abigail and Nana Kukhu had lots of fun in the water for the whole hour we were stopped there!!

It was a crazy, fun and exhausting ... but definitely worth it few days away!!

Fun in the sun with Nana Kukhu!

2010-09-17T19:21:00.007-04:00

Jenny's mum aka 'Nana' came back for a couple of weeks this summer ... we were able to get out and about a lot more than during her last visit (it was February and thick snow last time!!).

Abigail helped Nana in the kitchen when she cooked us dinner ...

We went to swim in the pool at Lake Park one day ... but also had some fun in the paddling pool in the back yard ... (just a few hours before this photo was taken Nana had been laying in the pool sleeping and catching some rays!!)

Mark had made Abigail a little house using packing boxes from when we moved out to the States last year. One afternoon while Abigail was sleeping Nana painted and decorated it for her ... with a little help once Abigail had woken up!!

Although Abigail's 2nd birthday wasn't until after Nana left ... we opened one of her pressies from her Great Grannie ... so Nana could take some photos home with her ... as you can see Abigail was very excited with her tunnel and tents!! (She's still having hours of fun in it several weeks later!)

While Nana was here Mark was laid out flat with a bad back ... so it was great to have an extra pair of hands to help with everything. Every night Abigail enjoys stories just before bedtime after her bath ... here Nana, Abigail and Monkey are enjoying her favourite story of all time ... The Lost Sheep!

We also visited Amish country again ... and Nana was able to meet a load of our other friends going along to some of the MMS ladies things with Jenny and coming to our church fun day. We also had an added bonus ... with a couple of days away all together ... check out our next blog to find out where! ;o)

The Right and The Wrong

2010-08-23T13:02:00.010-04:00

Here is a snapshot of some things that Mark is learning and implementing here at MMS Aviation.

To safely secure bolts or screws in place, so they will not come loose due to vibration, they are secured with safety wire. (The Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) document, AC43.13-1B - Acceptable Methods, Techniques, and Practices - Aircraft Inspection and Repair, Chapter 7 Section 7 shows the acceptable method of safetying bolts and washers with safety wire as shown below.)

Whilst working on the Cessna 402B Wing Spar modification (will be blogging this later on in the year once we've moved on a little bit more), it came to our attention the way some of the engine mounts had been safety wired. On the left engine, only one set of bolts that had been safety wired was any good, the other 3 needed attention.

The first had been wired completely wrong. The safety wire should look like a backwards 'S' as shown above in the diagram, so that nether bolt can undo itself. If it tries, to undo, it will tighten the other bolt. The bolts safety wired below would be able to vibrate loose.

This second photo shows the correct 'S' shape, but the twists between the two bolts are far too tight. By twisting the wire too much it makes it susceptible to snapping due to vibration. (The AC43.13-1B document states that there should be between 6-8 twists per inch. This is more like 12-14 twists.)

The third one is okay, it would stop the bolts from undoing but is not ideal as it has wire coming straight out of the bolt on the right. It would have been best if the bolts had been swapped over so that the holes in them worked better for wire locking.

This is the fourth bolt set, and is the only one that was safely safety wired together.

The photo below is after the engine mount had been removed, cleaned up, etched, dipped in alodine and sprayed with primer. The bolts have been torqued and the safety wire has been installed correctly. See how much better it looks now.

This is just a little look at some of the things that we have to keep an eye out for whilst working on the aircraft that come in.

The Joy's of Parenting!!!

2010-08-21T14:30:00.003-04:00

Early one morning recently when Abigail was calling out that she was ready to get up ... we had a real surprise!! It was definitely one of 'those' moments that we will store away and use as ammunition in the years to come!!!

At first glance, in the darkness, it looked like the light through the curtains was playing tricks with our eyes ... but there were no tricks ... it was all very real!! It seems that as Mark put Abigail to bed the night before one of his pens fell out of his work shirt pocket ... not just any pen ... but his black permanent marker!! ... and Abigail spent the night being very creative with it!!!

See below the scene of the crime!!!

Here's a photo of our artistic little girlie just a few minutes after we found her ... thankfully she decided that her arms and legs were a better canvas than her face, as it took several days for it all to fade and disappear!!

Lots of the toys are becoming successfully less marked as time goes on ... but sadly THE favourite ... her little monkey that goes everywhere, was the biggest casualty ... he is still just as loved ... it goes to show that outward appearances aren't so important!!

All we can say is, roll on her 18th or 21st birthday so we can dig out these photos again!! ;o)

The 'Venture continues!!

2010-08-14T19:55:00.005-04:00

The rest of last week, back in Coshocton, was just as fun as our time in Columbus! We began each day talking about the 'venture we were going to have for that day!! Water fights in the garden continued as well as a trip to Forest Hill Lake ... a fresh water lake complete with little fishes that you can go paddling and swimming in! Abigail loved it ... still not sure about the fish nibbling at our ankles though!

We spent some time in the garden too ... clearing up here and there ... but also harvesting some of our veggies ... needless to say Abigail was straight in there to help out!!

As we said at the beginning of our gardening adventure ... it was a first time experiment for us ... and we're pleased to say that we had another success ...

Abigail thought it was really fun to get the carrots out of the ground and helped pull the tops off ... with a lot of huffing and puffing and "help please mummy's".

We've still got a load more carrots in the ground and have already been able to give some to some friends! They taste yummy and fresh!

Our butternut squashes are beginning to look positive now too ... watch this space!

Another new 'venture in those few days was our first family bike ride! We recently got Abigail a bike seat so we can go for rides together (an early birthday present from Nana Kukhu), it's on the front so she can see where we're going and she LOVED it so much!

She was full of giggles the whole time ... this was the beginning of the ride ... followed by an ice-cream break ...

... and this last photo was taken just before Abigail threw a major hissy fit when we tried to get to her off the bike and into the car ... obviously too much fun!!!

As you can see we had a great week of fun together and made the most of every opportunity! Holiday time is so much fun!