Spring is here!

At last, in only a few days the buds have opened and we are seeing green on the trees and marvelling at the beautiful colours around us. We are also enjoying temperatures in the upper 70's so the shorts are on and we are beginning to come out of hibernation! Mum and dad have made it back to Glasgow after spending four weeks with us. We enjoyed celebrating Dad's birthday on the 17th of April with one of mum's delicious home made chocolate cakes. Abi now has curtains in her bedroom and shorts and leggings adjusted at the waist thanks to Mum!

There are very few trails or paths for walking near us, in fact most people have large "no trespassing" signs on their land so mum and dad have had to stay on the tarmac whilst out on their daily walks! A lady spied them out walking and pulled over in her car to enquire if they needed any help. LOL! Walking for pleasure is almost an unknown concept here and I am sure they will have been the talk of the neighbourhood. Abi and Matthew have had a great time with their grandparents and enjoyed many "chocolate button walks", stories and magic shows just for the two of them! I have really enjoyed having some time to play the piano again. Andy and I especially enjoyed a day away just ourselves last Saturday. We went to a nearby city of Canton to explore and managed to find some Heinz baked beans and tomato soup and some Branston pickle! There were hob-nobs and little packs of digestives also but you would need to have robbed a bank to pay for them! We had a great day and finished off with a trip to the "movies".

Abigail has been to visit the local elementary school. She has been three times! Two mornings for individual assessments with the Educational Psychologist Liz, and another to be part of the kindergarten class under observation for a few hours. I met with the head teacher and Liz and received great feedback. Abi scored way above average for her age and displayed a learning ability relating to a child nearing age 6 years ( she is 4 and a half years) The school have agreed to let her start in August which we are thrilled about. We are going to continue with a visit to the Christian school as planned just to make sure we have looked at all the options available and can make the right decision for what is best for Abi. She has a screening test to do for them on the 5th of May. The process for early entry at a private school is not nearly as intense as the public school system, which is good for Abi!

Matthew is loving the nice weather and loves to run laps around the whole house outside! He has found a little branch on a tree on the garden to swing on and play at being a monkey! I am thankful for the lovely weather and that he is able to burn off all his energy and as a result fight less with his sister.

Abi and Matthew have really enjoyed exploring a set of "resurrection eggs"which we were given for Easter. These are a dozen colourful eggs in a box each with tiny visual aids which tell the Easter Story. We have also had a great Easter story book Auntie Hazel gave Abi a year or so ago. We have been reading a chapter or so each evening and it has been such a privilege to share the importance of the death and Resurrection of Jesus with our children who are now beginning to take it all in. Seeing the wonder in their faces as we have shared the story has been priceless!
Abi was also part of the Easter church service and performed on the hand bells with some of the other children.

Matthew is gearing himself up for the next hand bell opportunity.

We are also delighted to hear of a new addition to the MMS family here in Coshocton. The Beckwith's who are also here with MAF UK welcomed Naomi Grace into their family on Good Friday. Mother and baby are doing well and we are looking forward to meeting little Naomi soon. Abi has anounced she would like to have sixty babies - all girls! Matthew would just like one - a boy! LOL! Andy and I are too overwhelmed at the thought to comment! : 0)

Wishing you all a fabulous week as we move into May.

love from the Swanson's.

Rolling their decorated eggs.

Birthdays and visitors.

April has seen a mix of many things. We have seen snow, severe thunderstorm alerts, torrential rain, heat waves all within only two weeks! We are enjoying some lovely warm weather at the moment but I can hear thunder as I am writing this blog and believe there is 100% chance of rain tomorrow!

My parents arrived from Scotland on the 29th March and stay till the 26th of April. We are having lots of fun and Andy and I have been able to get out a few evenings ourselves for the first time since we arrived in America. The neighbours are probably wondering who are these two people walking all over the neighbourhood, even with umbrellas at times. Spot the tourists!: 0)

Matthew had his second birthday last year when we were in Ohio on evaluation and Jenny Beckwith from MMS very kindly made a post man pat cake.

Well I this year I had a go at a Formula 1 car with surprising success! We enjoyed celebrating his 3rd birthday here at our house with my folks and some of our American friends. My dad did a little magic show which was really special for everyone and we did the usual pass the parcel ( a new game for Americans), musical bumps etc. Debbie and her daughter Elizabeth and Baby Robert were able to come and stay for a few days from North Carolina.

On the Monday 11th we headed off for Canada for three nights to see Niagara Falls. It takes around six hours drive (add on stops) from Coshocton. MMS were gracious enough to let Andy have a few days of his holiday's a little early so we could take my parents for a short trip. The views of the falls were certainly memorable. After much cooler temperatures in Canada we arrived back in Ohio Thursday evening to a pleasant 22 degrees. Andy went back to work today and we straightened out the house and unpacked. Tomorrow -Saturday - we welcome visitors from Tennessee who are going to stay with us till Monday. Bob Jackson was a US Navy Chaplain in Dunoon when my dad was a pastor there. Him and his wife Nancy were dear friends of my parents and it will be great that they can meet up again after a long time. More baking has gone on today and we now have mum's empire biscuits, flapjack, apricot Madeira cake, and a chocolate cake for Dad's birthday this Sunday. I missed his 65th birthday and retirement party last year due to the volcano leaving us (happily) stranded in Ohio so it is great we can celebrate with him this year - and it's an excuse for more cake! : 0) Abi is performing on the hand bells at church tomorrow evening and Sunday morning at a special Easter service and is very excited about getting to go on the stage! She is a born performer! Abi recently had an assessment at the local school and the Educational Psychologist wishes to see her back again on the 18th of April to continue assessment and view Abi in a classroom situation. We are praying this will go well and Abi will be allowed to attend school this August as she would be in the UK.

We hope you are enjoying Spring! We are just beginning to see daffodils at last though the trees are still pretty bare. It is wonderful seeing how the seasons differ and we feel extremely privileged to be able to be here with MMS in Coshocton.

Thanks for the prayers and support you give us. We hope you enjoy reading our blog.

Love from the Swanson's x

Snowing at the hangar...

It's been a while since I blogged, and work in the hangar is as varied as ever, so here's a bit of an update from me!!

Since my last post, I have spent quite a bit of time working on the Pfieffer Evangelistic Assosc's Piper Aztec. It came in for an annual inspection and there were a fair few jobs that needed to be attended to once the inspection had been done. The jobs I ended up doing were a good example of the variety of work that goes on at MMS.

Applying conductive paint to de-ice boots

Nose wheel halves cleaned and freshly painted.

Over the time I was on this project I made repairs to the de-ice boots on wings and horizontal stabilizer (flexible rubber boots that inflate and deflate on a timer when the weather is icy - the flexing stops ice forming on the leading edge which could make flying hazardous.) I also reapplied the special paint used to bond the boot to the wing, overhauled wheel bearings, repainted the nose wheel, greased the main landing gear, repaired some damaged engine baffling and refitted the many panels that had been removed for the inspection. Once we recieve and instal two new wheel halves this plane will be ready to return to service with Pfieffer Evangelistic Assossciation.

A break from the work on the Aztec came early last week, when an aircraft arrived at the hanger. This plane didn't fly in; it had been involved in an incident on landing and arrived at the hangar on a trailer!

Wingless arrival...

With any prop strike incident the engine has to be completely stripped and checked before it can be returned to service, and although the plane's new owner was keen to do the airframe restoration himself, he has asked that MMS do the engine work. It will give me a valuable training opportunity, and I am sure you will see plenty of pictures of the insides of this engine in the months ahead. Tim, Terry and I set to the engine while the plane's trailer was parked outside the hangar, and after a few hours work the engine and prop were inside, and the road-plane was a few hundred pounds lighter!

Prepping the engine for removal

This week has seen me move to the Cessna 207 from Gabon, West Africa. It is getting some serious work done to it after an engine failure then forced landing. Josh and Paul have been rebuilding the nose gear / engine cowling area for the last few weeks, and this week saw me practicing my limited rivetting skills on the lower engine cowling which was ready to be reinstalled. It is an exciting project to be involved in, having seen how badly damaged this plane was when it arrived and having seen the quality of work MMS have roled out in the past.

The 207 with most of the front gone.

Lower cowl temporarily held in place with "Cleco's"

Rivetted in place.

This week has also seen a few changes in Hangar A. Hangar A is the oldest of the 3 hangars at MMS, and the doors are showing their age... they let cold draughts in all winter, and starlings in for the rest of the year. The end of last year saw a fundraising campaign to have the door and roof of hangar A replaced, and now the work has begun! The first job was removing the old door. Just as well spring arrived earlier this month.

Unfortunately winter decided to come back for a bit this afternoon, so we are praying the new door arrives tomorrow as planned and we don't have to go too long with just the big blue tarp!!!

Winter comes...

March News!

There has been no homeschooling recently while Abi has been recovering. In fact I have kept my calender pretty empty for a few weeks. So much so that I felt it was time for a little trip to our NC home! I thought the sunshine would be good for Abi ( as well as Mimi and Poppy spoiling them!) and at least we could get outside lots. Andy had a whole day of seminars a week last Thursday in Columbus and would be home late and he had a bit of work to do on the new jeep (leaking fuel tank and brakes!) So myself and the kids packed up for a few days and headed to North Carolina last Thursday. We had a super time as always, though I wished I had packed more shorts for us all! It was almost 30 degrees C one day! and in the high 20's! Abi and Matthew spent loads of time running around outside and I was able to take Abi's bike and a little trike for Matthew in the back of the car so they could get out on these also. Elizabeth and Mitch and baby Robert also live with Debbie and Jeff at the moment so there was much mothering and helping Elizabeth look after Robert. Matthew had his first scary experience with one of the goats which butted him off his feet! He quickly recovered and was delighted to help Jeff rolling up empty sacks of horse feed and sweeping the barn. He is learning lots of new words like "Garbage"! Abi enjoyed cuddling baby Robert lots, twirling on the swing and watching the goats getting milked. I managed to do a little shopping and get Matthew some new shoes. Abi stayed with Elizabeth and Robert one morning and I was able to go to town with just Matthew. Matthew doesn't often get some alone time with Mummy so it was a special trip!

We left on Tuesday and made it home in 9 hours. Andy had survived well and the house was still in tact. : 0) He is starting to get involved in the sound team at our church, so was able to spend time on Sunday sitting at the sound desk and getting to know other people.

Abi is now pretty much fully recovered and I am really enjoying good health at last! My eye is no longer red and sore! PTL!

There is a new family arrived from Missouri to train with MMS. Ben and Caroline Fisher and they have a nine month old girl - Lucy and a two year old boy - Jonas. We were round there the other morning meeting them properly. They just moved to Coshocton three weeks ago and are still settling in. We are really excited that they only stay five minutes drive away from us! Jenny and Mark Beckwith (who are from England and have a two year old also called Abigail) only have four weeks to go till they are proud parents yet again. Although it is exciting when new people/babies arrive, there is still some sadness when it is time for people to move on.

Yesterday we went to a farewell party for an MMS family who have been in Coshocton for nine years and are moving on to another aircraft mission organisation in Florida in mid April. Everyone brought a dish and MMS provided cake and ice-cream. The farewell cake was a two edible suitcases! Delicious!

This week we are getting the house ready for grandma and grandad arriving on Tuesday evening! I believe they have to be at Glasgow Airport around 5am and will get here at 11.30pm their body time! (6.30pm for us) They will be staying for four weeks. We are looking forward to showing them the sights and sounds of coshocton. Originally I thought we may be able to get to our local park quite often but after visiting it on Sunday I am not so sure! perhaps they should get some little boats to take people to and from the swings! : 0)

Akron Adventure!

I booked Abi's operation for 11th of March as I was sure there would be no snow around then. All was fine untill I had a facebook comment that said " are you travelling before the snow storm comes?" (thanks for the heads up Rena!: 0) I had no idea we were due for more snow. I was glad I had booked the hotel the night before and wasn't traveling through the night. Abi and I arrived at the comfort Inn in Akron around 5.30pm and she was very excited to see the room. She then asked when we were going to look in all the other doors, and where was the living room? LOL! I think her expectations of a budget hotel were a little high! So we unpacked and then went out for some food. I was keen for Abi to have a good last meal before the operation but she was much more interested in the desert buffet! Ice cream, jelly beans, candy corn and all sorts of unhealthy things! Full of sugar ( just Abi of course - I had a salad!) we headed off for a dummy run to the hospital. It was dark and raining and a little crazy in the busy traffic. Akron is like being in the centre of Glasgow and the roads were like being on the M8 only with huge pot holes everywhere, It was tempting to try and doge them but obviously you couldn't risk getting out of your lane. We got back to the hotel at around 6pm and so began Abi's nail spa pampering! The alarm was set for 4.30am and I looked out the window at 5am and could hardly believe my eyes. The car was covered in about 6 inches of snow and I had to leave Abi in sight at the doorway to go and try and find the door handle to get the snow brush out of the car. I was covered in snow as it was blowing a gale and still snowing and as I cleared the roof it was blowing all over me. With the roof, windscreen and lights semi - cleared we headed off in the dark. I was very glad to get to the hospital car park at 5.30am. Abi got dressed into her tiger outfit. Then we were taken to a little bay where we had to sit and wait for about two hours while various people came in and out. It was very difficult for both of us as you are not allowed any food or drink in this area as there were babies who of course had had no bottles all night or morning waiting for their operations. I was soooo thirsty and often thought about sneaking off to the toilets for a quick drink of my water bottle in my bag , but no there was no escape! I wished I had thought to have a drink before we left the hotel but the snow took my all attention. Abi did really well and went through the door herself to get put to sleep with her "raspberry" air! The operation went really quickly and the surgeon came out to see me about forty minutes later. Then I could comfort her as she was waking up. We were back home again by half past four that evening. Thankfully the roads were all clear of snow and to my own annoyance I missed a slip road and had to drive ten miles before I could turn round. That added another twenty minutes onto our journey! Abi was feeling a bit sick with the pain medication so I though I would just try two spoons of calpol instead last night but that was a big mistake! It was obviously not strong enough to cover the pain so we are back to the hospital pain relief. It works a treat though and ten mins after it she has spurts of energy where she wants to jump off the couch and run around a little and then collapse into her little home made bed on the couch!

Andy is back to work Monday after having Friday off to look after Matthew. He is attending an annual aircraft maintenance seminar on Thursday in Columbus so is looking forward to

that.

He is delighted to have passed his two electrics tests recently and move far, far away from that chapter!

Every Wednesday we have all been going to Kirsty and Ruth-Anne's house up the road to take dinner for them at 5.30pm. Their Parents are with MMS and are away to South Africa for three weeks. Different families in MMS are taking meals up to the girls every evening and on a Wednesday it is our turn. Kirsty is 16 and Ruth-Anne is 13. This will be our third Wednesday up there this week. We have had a lovely time with them and their giant friendly dog Lola who is the same height as Matthew! Lola has a little bell she rings with her nose when she needs to go outside! Andy usually takes the kids back to the house around 6.30pm and I stay with the girls till near 9pm till the carer returns. We have had some lovely sing-songs around the piano on these evenings. They also keep bees and in their house they have an observation hive with lights and magnifying glass. We have loved watching the bees do their thing and last Wednesday Ruth-Anne got some of the honey out so we could try it! I think we will be getting our honey from them now! This Wednesday I will just be going myself as it will probably be too much for Abi.

We are just be laying low this week and have no plans. I have borrowed a sewing machine so this may be my week to get some curtains sorted out! Thank you so much for all your prayers. We have really felt God's strength throughout this time. Abi is sleeping effortlessly at night and now Andy is the only one who snores in the family! : 0)

Off to Akron!

Abi and I are just about to leave to go to stay in Akron tonight as we have to be at the children's hospital at 5.30am! She will be getting a tonsillectomy at 7.30am (12.30pm British time). I believe there is a snow storm on the way tonight and tomorrow so we would really value your prayers at this time and especially for Abigail. Sorry this is so short but I am aware not everyone is on face book and want to keep our supporters up to date.
will post another soon.
love in Christ
Heather

From the hangar...

Well, between working at the hangar and studying for my regular theory tests I have been happily letting Heather do the lion’s share of our blogging for the last wee while, but I thought it was about time I updated you all on life in Coshocton and the sort of work that I am involved in!

The work at MMS is nothing if not varied and that play’s out in the sort of things I have been doing on a day to day basis. One of the duties that has to be done on a rota basis is “opening”, where one person is allocated the role of getting all the doors open, lights and heating on, and the facility ready for another day. I’m on opening just now, and although I am definitely not a “morning person” it is a privilege to be able to watch the day begin.

The sun arrives in Coshocton

For the last couple of weeks I have been working with Scott on a Cessna 172 operated by www.gcigospel.org . This plane spends most of it’s time based at MMS but in anticipation of it being flown out in the next week or so, we have been setting to work on a list of defects (or “squawks” in aero-speak!) that have been identified on the plane. Most of these have been electrical faults, so I am now a little bit more familiar with strobe and beacon lighting systems, and a lot more familiar with what lies behind the panel in front of the pilot!

GCI's Cessna 172 with the engine cowling's off.

Red wire or blue wire...

In between times I have also spent a bit of time working on a Piper Aztec which is used by Pfeifer Evangelistic Association, a music group who use the aircraft as they travel around North America. This aircraft is in for an annual inspection, and as the aircraft is opened up to have a comprehensive list of checks completed on it, small repairs are carried out. My own work on this aircraft has included general servicing on the engines, (changing oil & filters, overhauling spark plugs etc), and repairing various sections of baffling and sheet metal work.

Terry and me riveting a new section of baffling in place.

February saw me witness my first aircraft “return to service” after having work done at MMS Aviation. www.arcticbarnabas.org operate in Alaska providing practical help to remote communities and offering pastoral support to the churches that work in rural Alaska. They had a Piper Navajo which needed quite a list of work done on it, from an engine and prop overhaul, to the addition of a new crew door allowing the rear of the plane to be filled with materials and have a pilot get in too! I was able to help out on a couple of small jobs on this plane before it left, and in my own little way help in the work that Arctic Barnabas are involved in. When Matt came down to Ohio from Alaska to take delivery of the plane he was good enough to bring a little taste of the north with him in the form of some smoked salmon (caught and then smoked by himself) and some moose sausage – a great treat for everyone at our morning break!

The Navajo as it is returned to service.

Thank you once again for your support as we train here in Ohio.