Home again!

Thank you to everyone who has been praying! Our travel went incredibly well, easiest trip to date, and we made it to Ukarumpa! What an amazing feeling it is to be back in our home of nearly 20 years, as of July 29th (which is also Gavin's birthday)! 

It's been so indescribably sweet to renew relationships and just be back in the house in which we raised our kids and from which Isaac graduated in 2023. I just found his bath towel with his name on it. (Thanks, Aunt Fay!) Gracie has taken over his room, and his dog Goose has joined her there. There have been three community events, including a wonderful worship service and sermon that spoke exactly into our lives, from Ephesians 3:14-20, ending on the verse that was honestly the very first thing that popped into my mind the moment the ultrasonographer said, "And there's baby number five." (Up until then we thought we had twins, triplets, or maybe quads.) It's been our theme verse since then, and is again our prayer for this potentially very difficult time: "Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us"

Please don't stop praying; this is really difficult even in the persistent joy, especially as we look towards flying away from this beloved place and these people who have become family. Thank you!

Dilu is married now and has a new baby, Jeffrey! Her husband, who works at Aviation, is holding our big, funny April! She lived with us her first year of life and is now three years old. To our surprise, she still took to us immediately and started playing all kinds of silly games with the quints!

Dilu and baby Jeffrey (one year old)

Jeffrey again

The girls and their friends when we arrived

David and his friend Elliott. We've known them for almost 10 years! They've been together for hours every day since we arrived. It's so sweet to have such wonderful friends here!

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Seeing Eketa, our cleaning lady and friend, again. Tears of joy!

Eketa is a big part of our PNG family. The kids were so thrilled to see her!
(I don't know where David and Will were at the time.) She has been a priceless gift during this time of sorting and packing. I don't have to give a second thought to all the cleaning and laundry!

Friends from a partner organization, FinisTerre, for which Gavin flew often! 

Goose remembered us WELL and was very excited to see us, but he checked Isaac's room immediately to see if he was in there. Isaac said that almost made him cry! He'll always be Isaac's dog. Gracie took over her beloved big brother's room, and Goose sleeps in there with her. 

Laughing it up with Kori, Isaac's best friend and "brother from another mother." Kori was unable to make it to the wedding as best man, so we showed him the wedding slideshow Gavin put together. There were LOTS of pictures of Kori in it! If you zoom in, you can see why I'm laughing and Kori is cringing. In the photo on the screen he looks just like Where's Waldo?/Where's Wally?

Kori, David, and Gracie - Isaac said this photo almost made him cry too!

Gavin and some more Ukarumpa "family"

Loving each day and each kiddo I've watched grow into lovely young people!

"Now unto Him who is able to do exceeding abundantly more than we could ask or imagine, according to His power that works within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen."

On our way home

 Dear loved ones,

I'm (Gavin) writing this from the San Francisco airport after a wonderful week with my family in California. We are about to fly to the other side of the world to say goodbye to Papua New Guinea -- our home for 18 years! We first arrived in PNG in July of 2005 when Isaac was 18 months old. Now he's a joyfully married adult! We first took the quintuplets to PNG when they were 21 months old.  It is our home and where our kids spent most of their childhood. 

PNG is where we had an incredibly meaningful ministry and wonderful friendships. All the time there was intermingled with challenges, hardships and fully saturated with the presence of the Holy Spirit and the faithfulness of our great God.

We are braced for the range of emotions that will surely be experienced during this trip. We expect each one of us will be experiencing a unique amplitude and wavelength of feelings. We will be experiencing different "lasts" for each of us and deciding what important things of ours should come back and what of our stuff  should stay to be a blessing to others. Please pray that through all the good and hard times as we laugh and cry we would feel how deep and wide and tall the love of Christ is for us. 

Thank you all for your generous and selfless support in prayer and finances over the years! This so clearly could not have been done without you!

After our trip we expect to continue living in Dallas where I work in the maintenance department of the International Linguistics Center in addition to occasional trips to JAARS in North Carolina where I help with training new missionary pilots. I will also start working as a recruiter for JAARS soon after our return. 

With love and in Christ,

Gavin, Carrie, Will, David, Marcie, Seth, and Grace

Update on my mom

Written on Sunday, 6/29:

Hi again! Thanks so much for praying! We really, truly felt your prayers and appreciate your caring! My mom was discharged after two days and is continuing to recover at home. We don’t know how long that will take or how much her speech/eating/ will improve, but of course we’re hoping and asking for quick and total healing, trusting the Heavenly Father holds each of our days since before one of them came to be. (Psalm 139, which went through my mind on the way to the ER last week.) It was considered a small stroke, and many people wouldn’t even notice a difference until after some time with her. Of course, we can tell she’s not functioning at 100%, and she is the most aware of any of us. She has an amazing attitude and sense of humor, though! We have laughed at out loud at her jokes and funny observations. (For example, they were trying to turn the TV on and only realized after some time and lots of punching of buttons that they were using the bed-attached telephone.)

We’re in CA now, by God’s grace (after a day’s delay). The Lord wonderfully provided the stamina and encouragement and help we needed, including throughout a missed flight, a five-hour wait in the terminal, and driving back home again to try again this morning. 

Written today, Tuesday, 7/1:

My mom is still searching for words and speaking a bit slurred at times. She is also just very tired. However, she's been blessed to have met already with two specialists: the cardiologist and the vascular surgeon. The cardiologist has fitted her with a continuous heart monitor. He suspects the stroke was caused by her heart, given that she has a dilated ascending aorta and decreased ejection fraction(?). Her heart is supposed to pump 60-65% efficiency, but it's only pumping at 50-55%. The vascular surgeon thinks it's too early for any sort of surgical intervention, but he referred her to a cardiothoracic surgeon to be sure. She's on two or three new medications and not enjoying the side effects, but she's grateful and amazingly positive! Her hope is in the Lord, and her family (besides we who are in CA on our way to PNG) is around her and caring well for her. Thanks for your continued prayers, especially for encouragement for her and my dad. 

Love in Christ,

Carrie

Urgent request for Carrie’s mom

Hi friends, my mom had a stroke yesterday afternoon. We are less than 48 hours from departing on the first leg of our trip back to PNG (We are stopping through CA to visit two church families, Gavin’s family, and our friends and supporters there.) Please pray for my mom and dad and for us as we make decisions. This is all very sudden and overwhelming, but we know that’s par for the course with strokes. Please pray for wisdom for all of us, PEACE in the midst of this, and protection from our own fleshly responses as well as from the evil one. We know the Lord is on His Throne and intimately, lovingly involved in every last tiny detail! Thank you!

In His Grip,

Carrie

Isaac and Meagan's wedding!

Hello friends! This is such an exciting blog to prepare, but as I only finished unpacking the suitcases from our Louisville trip last night, it's also two weeks overdue! The newlyweds are on their way back from their honeymoon, will move into married housing (in Isaac's original dorm as a freshman/sophomore!) in early July, continue working this summer at Memoria Press, and resume classes in August. 

Our photographer, a close friend and cousin of Isaac's, was simply the best. https://www.sienamariephotography.com/ 

While it will take her a while to edit them all, here are some of the photos we have thus far:

The first look, prior to the ceremony: 

The "golden hour" photos at 6 p.m.:

Family and wedding party photos earlier in the day:

Marcie and her new sister - another M name in the family!

Gracie also adores her new sister. The quints refuse to say "sister-in-law," and they're all convinced her sister (who was her maid of honor) is also their sister now. 😆 Honestly, Gavin and I want to be that closely related to her parents! We couldn't have asked for better, more natural, fun, Christ-committed in-laws! Sure wish we lived closer!

Our handsome (somewhat goofy) sons!

Isaac's groomsmen have been his best friends, roommates, and accountability partners - his best man and his wife were also his ride to church for a year! They've become family.

They are married, and all of us are awed by the depth and breadth of God's goodness and love to us as we went through the months of planning (Meagan's mom especially!) and the whole wedding weekend. I cannot tell you how many times I prayed, "Lord, please help me," as I juggled so many more things than usual. And He did! It was the MOST BEAUTIFUL, FUN WEDDING WEEKEND, even better than our own. 😁 Meagan's family and home church family are the most hard-working, organized, creative, kind people you could ask for in celebrating your son's wedding! And I ended up with the most lovely, joyful, jolly, kind, funny, loving daughter-in-love. Again, we are just in awe of the goodness of God, His many big and little faithfulnesses and provisions, sending just the right people to help with the tiniest details at the perfect time. 💗

Marmi took care of one of the biggest, most important jobs: The wedding music on both the piano and the incredible pipe organ at the church! What a delight and blessing to have her giftedness displayed at the first wedding among her grandchildren! It was so very special. Papa helped her tremendously, too, keeping things level in all the chaos of lots of people and not a few changes. You can tell she and Isaac are quite fond of each other! She very much helped raise him as a baby when I had severe postpartum depression. We moved in with them for a few months to help get me over the hump, and I am eternally grateful. The first two photos are also by Siena, just screen grabs (hence the black lines since I "grabbed" them imperfectly).

Marmi and Papa with the kids, all dressed in their wedding finery! The girls were flower girls or junior bridesmaids, and the boys were the ones who unrolled the bridal aisle carpet ahead of Meagan's entrance and then rang the celebration bells at the end (the ropes lifted Will, who is the lightest, right off the floor!).

Aunt Peggy, Marmi/Marcia's dear friend from decades ago and a second grandmother to Isaac and Meagan in Louisville, helped with so many small and big items, including all the reception floral centerpieces and my girls' bouquets. She dealt with the insanity of helping me get the groomsmen suits in the right sizes, and then she hemmed them to the right length and pressed them. They were perfect! Her house serves as both storage and garage during these early weeks of their marriage. She will also be hosting the newlyweds for a couple of weeks this summer when they are between housing. 

Pre-ceremony photo time!

My poor mom ruptured a disc in her back a few weeks ago. She was a great sport and just sat down as needed!

My parents with the quints, being photographed by Aunt Cynthia and Siena.

The delightful in-laws! She is fixing the corsage I had put on the wrong lapel. 

The wedding party

Our new Jones "party!" Meagan makes everything better and more fun and meaningful.

A moment with Marcie

Two darling 12-year-olds

Cousins! That was one of the most fun parts of the weekend!
The girl in the middle did the hair for most of the wedding party, including Meagan and me!

Now a few photos of the actual wedding, by various photographers and of varying quality. We're grateful for them all, though!

Preparing to enter the church. Isaac seated me. 💕

Awaiting his beautiful bride.

Mr. and Mrs. Isaac Jones! They were so joyous! We all were. 💞

We are thankful to this young lady for effectively "setting up" Isaac and Meagan by hiring them on the same day to work in the school's café! She said she thought to herself, reading their applications, "They seem like nice, friendly people!" So now they are nice and friendly together. 😁

One of the most surprisingly emotional parts of the whole weekend, for me, was seeing Isaac's classmates. The girl hugging Meagan has been like a daughter to me (I was even there for her birth!), her mom one of my best friends since college, and our next door neighbor in Papua New Guinea! She and Isaac have been friends since they were babies. Oh, the pictures I could show you! One is of them sword fighting on the trampoline with Isaac's [clean] underwear on their heads at age 4 or so. 

The girl in the green dress to the left once announced, as a three-year-old, that she would "marry Isaac because he is a Christian." Three of those girls were Isaac's dates to the annual banquet in Ukarumpa! And the young men in the photo were frequently at our house; one even went on vacation with us. Sadly, Isaac's best friend, Kori, couldn't get here from PNG. His absence was severely felt by the whole class and by us! He featured prominently in the Isaac half of the slideshow, though! I have LOVED these young people.

Dancing to "You'll Be in My Heart," which I heard for the first time while grocery shopping when I was pregnant with Isaac. I was tearful back then, and I've only gotten more tearful and grateful with age!
Photograph by https://www.sienamariephotography.com/

The getaway car was very seriously guarded by heavy Security who doubled as door-openers.

Making a run for it! https://www.sienamariephotography.com/

And here we are, thrilled beyond words with our 7th child. She's been the easiest to raise, ha ha!
We couldn't be more grateful. God is good.

More later - I've run out of time and space! This is already far too long and too large. Love to all!

Carrie

A couple of urgent prayer requests

 Hi friends,

Well, I spoke/wrote too soon in my last post. Gavin's tendon started to bother him more and more, so after a preaching a beautiful sermon at beautiful Mt. Hermon in Santa Cruz County, he received the much-needed surgery a week ago. The tendon was very angry and nasty-looking, and the surgeon anticipated its removal would bring much relief. Praise God, he was right about that, and thank God, the healing has been amazing! Gavin stumps around on a peg-leg of sorts or scoots along with a leg wheelchair and has even been going to work. He took only two days off. He was also weed-whacking the yard last night. This guy . . . ! He's dubbed himself "Peggy Stumpkin."

In harder medical news, a disc in my mom's spinal column ruptured so completely that she needs to have it removed. The extruded material is moving up her spinal column. We don't know what all this means, but we're just over 3 weeks from Isaac and Meagan's wedding, and I am asking for prayer that my mom will be able to make it! I also need the Lord to sustain me emotionally and mentally as I balance helping her during this time (meeting with surgeon tomorrow) while still running quints to therapies and schools and helping with homework and doing all the other daily household and life tasks that just keep needing to be done! Most of all, please pray for her pain relief and that she can get this surgery ASAP but still be there for the wedding, if it's the Lord's will. Anyone with knowledge on this sort of thing is welcome to email or message me! I am so out of my depth here.

EDIT: This posted an older version of the blog, not the one I wrote today. This was written a few days ago! The doctor appointment for my mom went really well, and we've decided to hold off on surgery until immediately after Isaac's wedding. Prayers now are for effective pain relief from a steroid shot and steroid pack that she'll take during the wedding weekend, and of course that she won't overdo and injure herself further.

I had also labeled and moved photos around, putting the surgery ones at the very bottom and the lovely ones of Isaac and Meagan and our time in the mountains earlier in the lineup! But all that work was lost due to connectivity issues, and Gavin posted this instead. I'm too tired and it's too late to fix it tonight. Sorry about that.

Some pictures before I go:

Marcie got bowled over by a big wave in the 46 degree Pacific!

The best part of being at Mt Hermon was having Marmi and Papa with us!! 💕

Gavin's very much appreciated peg-leg allows him to be quite mobile!

Enjoying the horses where the girls have their "horse camp"

The girls' Bible verse creations at horse camp

Warning! The three pictures following this one of Gavin below are from the surgery and are "medically graphic". Skip them if you are prone to queasiness.

Gavin's completely ruptured tendon

The tendon has been sown to one parallel to it - now one tendon is pulling two muscles in his calf!

All cut to size and ready to close up.

Post-op drowsiness

Isaac and Meagan working at the homeschool material distribution warehouse.

Fun in the California redwoods with banana slugs!

Less than three weeks until these two are wed!