Silas turns 2

Silas turned 2 last week, so we celebrated his birthday with some of Krista's family: Nana, Papa, Aunt Boo, Uncle Ben and Aunt Sarah and their kids. First up was an outing to enjoy some of the winter festivities in Carstairs, AB. We started off with a wagon ride.
Here's Uncle Ben with his boys and Brynn on the wagon ride.
Silas went sledding for the first time. He liked the free ride down the hill and back up again!
The sleds didn't always turn the right way. For Elayna, though, wiping out, rolling down the hill, or knocking Daddy over were just as much fun as sledding.
Then it was time for the Dog Party to begin. Each of the puppies at the party had to roast their own hot dogs to eat.
They ate on the floor like dogs. Each one had a dog collar with their puppy name and dog ears. They also ate puppy chow for a snack.
The puppies all came out of their dog house and dig "dog tricks" for rewards.
Then there was Silas' puppy birthday cake. We all enjoyed that and then the little tired puppies went to bed.

Take a ride

We've been in the Calgary area visiting Krista's family since the end of January. A few weekends ago, we headed south and west through the mountains to visit the new location of Moody Aviation in Spokane, WA. Along the way, we enjoyed driving through the beautiful mountains (a sight we don't get to enjoy in Niger). We also saw lots of mule deer, elk, and a few mountain sheep.
One of our main reasons for going to Spokane was to visit our friends Tyler and Jessica and their sweet little girl, Mia. Our kids roped Tyler into reading lots of books to them. Tyler and Jessica were in SIM's candidate orientation with us as well as our co-workers in Niger short term. He's now in school at Moody Aviation.

We laughed so hard it hurt visiting with three MKs from Niger one night. Our kids loved seeing Anna, one of their favorite babysitters from Niger.
We got the red carpet tour of Moody Aviation and were encouraged to hear the direction and vision of the school. I was so busy visiting with people and asking questions that I forgot to get any pictures of the new facilities. The only picture we left with was this one of me trying out one of the 2 all terrain Segways that were donated to Moody for getting around the airport. I was impressed and could definitely find a use for one in Niger.

What's in a Name?

A little while back, SIMAIR got the approval to change the registration numbers on the new diesel plane. As you can see in the picture, the new numbers are N182MR. These numbers are a tribute to my (Kevin's) mom. The "N" is what all USA registered planes begin with. The numbers "182" where chosen because the plane is a Cessna 182. The "MR" at the end stands for Mary Rideout. My mom was a missionary teacher in Nigeria for 18 years. After that, she started a private Christian school (preschool - grade 8) in MA. Throughout her adult life, my mom had two passions: 1. seeing children learn 2. introducing people to her Savior and also helping them grow in their knowledge of the Lord. Before my mom graduated to her heavenly home, she and my dad decided that gifts in memory of her should be given to the diesel plane project for SIMAIR. They also decided to complete the project using her life insurance money. Two and a half years later, this plane is doing the bulk of the flying for SIMAIR. Our other plane uses Avgas which either costs $17 per gallon or isn't even available. The diesel plane uses Jet Fuel which costs $6 per gallon and is widely available. Many people and ministries have already been blessed by having the diesel plane in Niger. We trust it will continue to be a great tool for helping missionaries carry out their ministries in West Africa and touching people with the love of our Savior.