Sierra's First Date

Friday night, March 13th Sierra went on her first date...with her dad. Terah dressed her in a beautiful dress and did her hair. We went to dinner at TGI Fridays where I enjoyed a salad because I'm on a diet and Sierra ordered the mac & cheese. She probably won't be ordering that when she goes on her first real date. The restaruant is by the mall so we went shopping after dinner. I took her into Claire's and I got her a butterfly necklace and bracelet. Terah was jealous when she found out. I never take her to the mall. Needless to say the mall is not my favorite place. It has been over a years since I was last there. But I would go just about anywhere just to see the look on her face as she got to hang out with dad by herself. We later went to Target and picked out a present for Evan's birthday. Nerf Basketball.

Two weeks of Visitors.

The last couple weeks we have had several visitors which is always a treat. First, Norm & Kitty Jones, friends from California visited for a couple days. Taking people to the beach is always a highlight. The top photo is of Norm & Kitty. A few days later we had two friends, Chuck & David from MMS Aviation in Ohio, stay as they were helping with a major inspection at the hangar. Another couple days went by & the Hengst family, also friends from MMS stayed with us a night. Most recently, Josiah Feeney whose family are missionaries in Argentina, visited for 5 days. Josiah has recently received his private pilots license in Argentina and is interested in mission aviation someday. When I saw him in December in California I invited him to come and Check out MFI. Today Josiah traveled to Haiti as a flight attendant on one of our flights. His flight is about to arrive so we'll see how is day went. The lower photo is of Josiah yesterday when we went fishing.

Back to it.

It has been way to long since our last post. It seems with the Holidays some things get put on the back burner. So it is with our blog. We made it to Ohio for Thanksgiving to visit many friends for a week. Shortly after returning, Dave Gould, a friend from California came to visit. Just before we headed to California for a couple weeks at Christmas, Terah's sisters family came for a visit. We all flew out to California on the same flight. Life is settling down again which we are all thankful for.

Photos (Top: Every moment captured on camera at the Lites Christmas, Evan and Sierra with Grandma, Cousins at the beach in Florida and at our house for an early Christmas, Bottom: Having dinner with friends from MMS Aviation in Ohio.)

My first 5k

In the last year or so I have developed a new interest...running. This might seem normal to some but not to me, I have always referred to myself as "NOT a runner". I'm still not quite sure that I fit in the runner category but ya gotta start somewhere. After putting it off for quite sometime, I finally gave in and committed to my first 5k race. A friend from church asked me if I would want to run one with her so I took the plunge. It was this morning and I have to say it is one of the hardest things I have done but I think it went quite well considering it was on the beach at high tide. I think I would like to do another one on solid ground...I'm sure that would be better. The picture of me is one that Evan took after I returned home today. The other picture of the kids and I is a 5k we were all in last week that was mostly a walk. I must say it is nice to be able to still start new things in my mid 30's. There is something about completing little goals along the way that makes it so rewarding. I am so thankful for my "Ohio running friend" whose encouragement pushed me to places I did not think I could go. Everyone needs someone like that in their life.

KABOOM!!!!

Fort Pierce is home of the Navy Seals museum and each year for Veterans day they put on a big event including a Seals demonstration. We went with some friends. It was very hot out and I think we are all sun burnt. It doesn't seem natural to be saying that in November. Anyway, here are some photos and a video. Sierra wasn't to impressed as is quite obvious. The explosions were very loud as were the helicopters The rest of us enjoyed it.

MFI Banquet

This evening Missionary Flights hosted a banquet in the hangar for about 300 people. It was the first such banquet in this new hangar. We have spent the last week preparing the hangar and airplanes for the event, a task not easily accomplished when five flights were made to Haiti, Dominican Republic and the Cayman Islands. With MFI being located in Fort Pierce for only 2 1/2 years, our focus was to inform people of the work that we do and why we do it. Many people have no idea. We had a Haitian Pastor share about the impact MFI has on his and other ministries in his country. An appeal went out regarding the funding of the engine overhauls on the turbine DC-3 which will need to be done in about a year. For being the first annual MFI banquet in Fort Pierce it was a good night.

Kids being kids

We decided to do some rearranging in the living room this evening. It included re-routing wires through the attic and walls. After moving the entertainment center, the kids, who always like little cubby holes, found a new one. The plant on the left, which is already in bad shape took a couple direct hits from the door. Don't know if it will resuscitate. Anyway, mission accomplished. Not much damage done and the kids had fun. Oh yes, the parents had fun also.