Merry Christmas 2017!

The little kids on Daddy's helicopter skid during the Aviation Christmas party

These twin sisters were really excited to get a photo with the quints.
The quints didn't want to pose for a photo, but they were happy to give a group hug and smile at the camera!

Gavin and Fran, his buddy and fellow pilot, grilling at the Aviation Christmas party

Our sweet big boy (almost 14!) and our sweet dog, Goose.

Wrapping presents! I was excited to have Starbucks coffee from a care package from my family to speed the task.

A car-full of friends we tried to help get up the mountain near us . . . 

We only made it this far. The bush road was just too torn up from continuous rains and other vehicles.
Merry Christmas anyway! Our poor friends walked. At least we'd made it halfway. :)

Descending the staircase to the playground at a nearby mission center belonging to Ethnos360

Reading the story of Simeon and Anna welcoming Jesus to the children during our Sunday morning service. Gracie was standing behind me in a sudden fit of shyness. Marcie, David and Seth are visible on the far left (Marcie from behind only). Will was sitting with Gavin, the photographer.

A downpour on Christmas eve made the culvert a fun place to play

This photo reminds me of a book we have, the first line of which is, "Five little ducks went swimming one day"

Christmas morning (SO much easier than in years past! Maturity and five-year-olds are great!):

The boys had their light-show wands going, hence the lights on the faces of the kids.

David shooting his water gun and another sibling's at the same time.

One of my gifts from my wonderful husband! This is almost 4 feet across.

Merry Christmas from the Jones kids in PNG!

From the Quints! And from all of them!

Jones' Clips - A Cicada Song - December 2017

Belated five-year-old portraits and pets

 (The formatting on these is messed up and I'm not sure how to fix it.) Top to bottom: Marcie, Will, David, Seth, Gracie. Gavin rightly refers to the boys as "chocolate, caramel and vanilla" in hair color! I promise they're actual 100% brothers! The wonder of genetics . . . 

People who live here still have trouble differentiating the girls, on the other hand. They don't look terribly much alike, but their coloring is so similar!

 Boys with pets: We all love our cuscus, Gus. Isaac takes him lots of places with him. David really loves butterflies/moths. He carried one mostly-to-all-dead one around for two days and told us all to keep quiet so we wouldn't "wake him up." He even made him a house out of blocks right next to his own bed so they could sleep together.

The ways my little kids approach me

Marcie just climbs in my lap and takes over, moving my typing arm if need be.

Marcie at the river on a very shallow day

Seth comes up to me and either grabs my clothes if I'm standing, or, if at all possible and I'm sitting or bending over, takes my face between his two hands and says, our noses just centimeters apart, "Mommy, I need to tell you something."

David with our new baby cuscus.

David very soberly walks up to me, head tilted slightly down so he can look up with his eyes only, and says, "Mommy, actually . . . " (Truly, almost every statement, question and request begins with"actually.")

Grace and Seth with the new baby

Gracie comes near me and dances in place on her little tippy-toes, so eager to tell or ask me whatever it is she has to say, curls bouncing all the while.

 Will comes up to me with his so-expressive face, worried eyebrows marking his earnestness, and says, "Mommy? Um, Mommy??" with ever-increasing intensity until I respond.

Will holding one of the twin baby girls of a friend of mine.

Isaac says, "Hey Mom!" and often includes a brief back scratch of acknowledgment. 

They're all so different and so dear! I know our Heavenly Father feels the same about us, and I know we can approach Him confidently because He loves us so much He sent His Son to die for us, and gave us His Spirit to confirm we are His!

Just dropped off Garrett Harrison in Kokosan, where he is starting a new bible translation for the Gusan people of PNG. They expressed their excitement about the prospect of receiving God’s Word in the language that truly speaks to their heart: Gusan! Please pray for the people and for Garrett. It is the beginning of a long journey and Satan is going to do what he can to stop it.

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More wallabies and kangaroos

The kids were SO sweet with the animals at the Port Douglas Wildlife Refuge! It was another "favorite thing" they keep asking to do again.

Even our big boy loved feeding and petting them!

This pelican gave Gracie a bit of a fright!

Marcie very proud of the flower in her hair

Skyrail pictures from Australia

These are from two-and-a-half months ago, but are still worth posting. (There are so many I'm leaving them low-resolution.) The Skyrail cable cars go from Smithfield up to Kuranda, over the most amazing, high rainforest and really cool fern trees. We kept switching cars at the two stops up and back, hence the many different groupings. It was one of the most memorable things we did, one the kids have requested repeatedly to do again. 

Holding Seth at one of the lookouts on a stop-off on the way up the mountain.

feeding the "koalabies" in Granite Gorge

Up on the Tablelands above Cairns, Queensland, Australia, these little guys - rock wallabies - run around "wild" but are obviously very accustomed to being fed by visitors. Feed is provided; I highly recommend this! Even Isaac loved it. The kids mixed up the words koala and wallaby to get their name for these adorable creatures: koalabees. :)

The girls had requested pink hair, so I sprayed some hairspray-like pink into their hair for the day. It made their hair feel and look disgusting, but they were happy and it washed out easily.