The Kodiak in Rugby, ND!

after landing at the Rugby Municipal Airport

Who would have thought that the fabulous Kodiak airplane would fly to my hometown of Rugby, ND?  Yesterday, on the 18th, we flew directly from Spokane to Rugby in less than 4 hours.  This was the first leg of the long Kodiak tour that Tyler, his supervisor Ken, administrator Alycia, and Ken's daughter Anna are on.  The four of them will take the Kodiak to Smoketown, PA where they will participate in a mission aviation airshow and give rides on the Kodiak.  After several days here, they will continue on to Michigan and Colorado before returning to ND to pick up me and the boys to return to Spokane.  During the course of the tour they will continue giving Kodiak rides to students, friends, church groups, families, and others interested in learning more about Spokane Turbine Center and the Kodiak.  If you are interested in finding out more about their schedule, contact me or Tyler and we will let you know where they will be at and when. 

During this tour please pray:

-protection for the pilots and guests
-good sleep and energy so the pilots will be safe
-that the Lord will lead hearts to support STC's ministry and/or get excited about mission aviation
-good weather for flying
-me (Renae) and the boys as we stay with family but are without husband and father for 11 days!

We are so thankful that Rugby ended up being "on the way" for this trip.  I know God would give me the grace to have taken care of the boys alone during this time, but I am so happy that He worked it out that my family can help take care of us too! 

 Aaron loves his bumbo seat!  Caleb loves getting dirty...dust and dirt from rocks plus bubbles...

 Anna (Ken's daughter) helping with happy Aaron

 Caleb fell asleep for maybe 10 minutes of the trip...this after waking up before 6a.m.

trying to get a family photo in the Kodiak. Tyler did not fly this leg so he could help with the kiddos during the flight.

More to come soon!  

the Schmidt's

Missions and mosquitos

For those of you who do not know where Tyler and I come from, I guess you could say we both are old-fashioned conservatives fashioned in the Midwest, North Dakota more specifically.  Although Tyler did not live there, his mom and that entire extended family lives there.  I, Renae, am actually from ND after moving there when I was nine.  Now, to make our connection even closer, my sister is married to Tyler's cousin (don't worry, there's no blood relation there and we're not Mennonite).  Because of these many connections, North Dakota has become somewhat of a "home base" for us since we got married and now as we seek to raise a support team for our time doing missions.

The extended Deckert Clan

We were able to spend the last month on vacation with family while also using our Sundays to share our presentation at several churches.  One thing we both love about North Dakota is how the small communities and bodies of believers feel just like family whether or not you really know the people.  You can hardly meet someone new without having some kind of connection through a common friend or relative.  We were so blessed by the few churches we visited and their love for the Lord and their enthusiasm for our ministry.  The Lord also provided a new church support, as well as some individual commitments.  And in answer to a previous prayer request on the blog, all of our Sunday's were filled!

Foggy morning drive to church in Grace City ND

Caleb helped navigate for us and pointed which way to go

We enjoyed the time with both of our immediate families.  Caleb and Aaron loved having their aunts, uncles, and grandparents around to dote on them.  We celebrated Caleb's 2nd birthday (coming on the 25th), and enjoyed a family reunion over the 4th of July weekend.  I bravely fought off the mosquito's (they just LOVE me) by staying inside as much as possible when they were out looking for victims. We could continue sharing more about our trip, but we'll just post a few pictures before this becomes a novel.

The three Schmidt brothers

Mom Wissink with her two newest grand kids

 The Fred Schmidt clan together at last

Aaron giving Tyler's Mom a big smile

Fred Schmidt with his two grand kids

Grandpa and Grandma Wissink holding 

 Caleb's second birthday cake made by Renae's sister Andrea 

 Real men grill out in the rain

 Caleb is getting use to the idea of getting in the water

We got to have some summer fun on the lake

Until next time,

The Schmidts

Road Trip Mementos

You know you're on a road trip in the northern Midwest when...

• your windshield is constantly covered in bugs
• you are avoiding roadkill every couple of miles
• you pass a sign for a road named "Bad Route Road"
• you no longer have to watch out for curvy roads...it's completely flat
• wonderful and amazing thunderstorms
• we have not even been here for 2 days before Renae has several mosquito bites...

We are so thankful to have arrived at our destination safe and sound, with sanity of mind intact!  Caleb and Aaron handled the traveling fairly well for being so little.  Here are a few pictures of our adventures.

One of Caleb's activities was to take out all the tissues in a box.  He had a lot of fun and was distracted for a few minutes.

 

   Caleb and Aaron on the bed at the motel.

We weren't kidding when we said there were a lot of bugs on the windshield.

Stopped for a picnic and no Aaron is not the main course.

Everyone else got to take a nap and Tyler was jealous..

 

...so Tyler decided he needed to sing an opera song to help keep himself awake.

Also,as many of you know, there is devastating flooding going on in Minot, ND, just west of Rugby (where we are right now).  Because of this, many roads are closed and we had to change our route a few times to be able to get here.  Renae has two cousins that have had to evacuate, and there are so many lives around here that are being affected by this.  Please pray for Minot and the surrounding areas where so many people are without homes or any personal items.  We remember that our treasures are not here on earth, but in heaven.  Yet it is devastating to lose everything you have.

Till next time,

Schmidt's

Sweet Spring Blessings

Besides the birth of our precious Aaron Benjamin, we have had many more sweet blessings this spring.  Here are a few of them in pictures and words.

Renae's mom here to help for a week

Tyler's mom back from Ecuador to help us

2 healthy, growing boys!

As Tyler's parents transition from Ecuador to the US, we were blessed with their company for several weeks.

The Lord provided a "new" minivan for our expanding family

Tyler and I were able to go on a nice date and enjoy a flight together;  I love being married to a pilot!

The Clark family stayed in the guesthouse while helping at STC.  What a blessing their friendship and mentoring was to us! Caleb loved having big brothers and a sister to play with.

Spring means time for planting and new growth

Caleb and his new sandbox

Clark kids and Caleb

sweet smiles

The STC team: Christopher, Tyler, Alycia, Ken, Jeremy

We are so thankful for the many ways the Lord has been with us and blessed us these last couple of months!

We leave June 23 for vacation time with family and to spend time building our support team. Please pray for:

      -Safety traveling

      -the Lord to guide those that He wants to join our support team

      -one more church (for July 10) to share our presentation with

      -unifying and encouraging time with family

      -spiritual encouragement and growth for our marriage and family

      -increase in our monthly support, as we are at about 40-45%

He has arrived

Aaron Benjamin Schmidt has arrived.  He came at 6pm on Monday night weighing in at a hefty 8 lbs. 10 oz. and 20 inches long.  Renae is doing just fine and has returned home when Aaron was only a day old.  There were no complications and we are very thankful that so many of you prayed for us and Aaron.

What chubby cheeks he has

Getting warm under the heat lamp

Sleeping after a hard day of labor

The proud parents

Caleb meeting his brother for the first time

Till next time,

The Schmidts

Stearman Flight

Today I got to do my first stearman flight and aerobatic flight. I had a BLAST, doing a couple of aileron rolls, loops and a hammer head. The weather was so beautiful after being rainy/snowy that there was no excuse not to go flying when I was asked.

With an open cockpit and a rumbling 450hp radial engine in front it didn't take long to leap into the air and start clawing up into the sky. I don't think I could wipe the grin off my face if I wanted to.  This was definitely an experience that I don't want to forget.

Thanks Jay for the ride!

Teaching in Sub Zero

Just like the mail man motto, "in rain or shine, snow or blizzard..." snow and wind didn't stop class time.  I dragged out those poor students, from the warmer hemispheres, for PT6 engine runs.  

They were good sports about it even though it was around -7 degrees with wind chill. They even said they learned something about the engine while they were losing feeling to their toes. Now before you label me a "mad professor" or something worse I want to point out that I was out there freezing with them.  Due to having only a limited amount of time with our students that fly in from all over the world. Weather can hinder some of the  learning opportunities, but I think we just made some memories for Dave and Jon to take back with them.

 Here is a short clip of a startup of the PT6 engine

 Not all of my teaching had to be done outside in the snow.  I picked up a section in Kodiak Systems and taught about autopilot operations.  It was my first time and it seemed to go pretty well, although I was a little nervous teaching guys that have already 1000's of flight hours of experience. Later there is a possibility to take more sections of the systems course later to help relieve some of Ken Smoll's work load.  It is amazing how much more you learn about a subject when you have to teach it rather than just sitting in a class and learning. At the moment my responsibilities have returned to developing some more curriculum while the students finish up different courses and return home.



Till next time,

The Schmidt's