How our year began

This past January 2011, we traveled to McNeal Arizona to the New Tribes Mission Aviation training and maintenance facility for a week. We drove 24 hours to get there with 3 little ones. Talk about an adventure of a lifetime! :) We were so grateful for our DVD player and the goodie box full of activities put together by Jon's Mom. We survived and the kids actually did a great job considering the long time spent in the car. Once we arrived, they were SO ready to run around and make a lot of noise. I (Adie) did too, at that point! ;)

So where in the world is McNeal, AZ? Check out the map: NTMA McNeal AZ Map That's right, in the middle of nowhere and close to the Mexican border.

While we were there Jon had to go through a technical evaluation. The NTMA team flew with Jon and observed his flying skills. He was also given a project in the shop to build a little metal box. This exercise was meant to see how well he could follow written instructions and see how well he could complete his task. Both he and I also went through a few personal interviews throughout the week we were there. Thankfully, we passed the evaluation and were accepted by New Tribes Mission Aviation!

What a great place NTMA has set up down there in McNeal! We stayed in a furnished trailer.The hospitality group made sure we had a nice assortment for breakfast each day. Then for lunch and supper we were hosted by different staff members,in their homes or trailers, for a meal. What a great way to meet everyone! If you ever desire to give towards NTMA, a great way to bless the NTMA staff is through their hospitality department. They made sure we felt very welcome and blessed us with food and toiletry items. I'm sure the cost for such things can start to add up after a while.

We went through our evaluation with a sweet family getting ready to go to the Mission Training Center in Missouri this winter as well. They are having baby #3 soon, so we have some things in common. :)

The picture below is of the sweet family Elizabeth and Jamin Peck, Esther and Jaren and baby#3, Jon and I, Jaeden, Levi and Jace, and Director of Maintenance (and long time friends) Tim and Kay Hughes.

We would like to answer any questions you might have for us about anything! Please feel free to send them in and we would like to have a post answering everyone's questions.

Please pray for us as this is a busy time of year for us. Time is flying and we'll be gearing up to go to school very soon!