The Big Picture

I've always enjoyed The Boston Globe's The Big Picture, so I thought I'd try something similar here. Not that our life or pictures are anywhere near as cool or interesting, but it's the idea that counts, right? Plus I've never been much of a writer anyway! So here's a review of the past couple weeks or so in pictures.

Ella loves putting on Heather's makeup. She's almost ready for her Toddler's and Tiaras audition (over my dead body!):



Putting the "mechanic" side of my "pilot/mechanic" responsibilities to good use on a flight day... Normally we like to do the maintenance in the shade of our own hangar, but sometimes we like to change things up a bit:



Ready for blastoff from Long Metun:



Pretty soon we're going to be losing our Program Manager, neighbors, and good friends, David and Natalie Holsten. They'll be moving to Papua to continue on with MAF there, after serving in East Kalimantan for 10 years. Here they are with all their loot, given to them as they visited some of the interior villages to say good-bye. They will be missed:



We found a nice place to take the kids on a walk last weekend. Lately we've kind of been getting "island fever," so we decided to get out and explore some of our little island:









The other day I "bumped into" fellow MAF pilot Paul College a couple of times while out flying. Both on the ground:



...and in the air:



Holy Tailwind Batman, check out that groundspeed! (the one marked "GS") Yeah, yeah, I'm in a descent, but still, that's 201 knots in a Cessna 206:



Just today I flew a 28 year old girl to her home village. She has a tumor (according to what I was told), and had gone to get medical help in the big city of Surabaya. They told her they couldn't do anything else to help her, so she returned home to live her last days surrounded by her family and friends. She has a husband and two little kids. Very sad flight:



Since it was Saturday and a "pop-up" flight, Drew got to go along. I had fun with him, despite the sad circumstances of the flight. Here we are on the way back:



Happy Father's Day to my Dad, and also to the newest Dad I know, my brother George. Congrats!