Seth is great now! Plus some fun run photos

Thanks for praying! He didn't end up having the scan, which was a blessing monetarily as he's stopped having symptoms and apparently doesn't need one! I guess it was just some type of infection with a strange lack of symptoms (other than pain) that raised his white cell count (to 16,000!) and took a long time to clear up fully. Thank God no one else got it! I'm so grateful for all the prayers and wish I'd asked earlier. The power of prayer always awes me! God is so good and gracious - even when His answer is no. I'm glad it was a yes this time. MUCH better sleep makes for a much happier Mommy and Daddy and kids!

Here are some photos from the kids' Fun Run fundraiser* at school the week of Thanksgiving:

Just after this photo Seth stopped running and said his tummy was hurting. This was the beginning of the drama and ended with a trip to Urgent Care Tuesday night. :(

At this point the "fun run" had become a walk in which they wanted Mom to join. But they still loved it!

Gail Boemker took this photo. She spend the first Christmas the quints were home (minus Seth) with us, helping out BIG TIME. She held Marcie all Christmas dinner, if I recall correctly. She was getting teary-eyed watching these miracle babies run their Fun Run laps! 

*Sponsored by Miss Anita and Mr. Jon, Aunt Lynnette, and Aunt Fay and Uncle Jim! THANKS!!

Please pray for Seth's tummy

Thanksgiving was dramatic for our family this year, it good ways and not-so-fun ways. First, we went to Tennessee to the beautiful Eden Ridge missionary retreat center in Crab Orchard. WOW, what a place! It's definitely the nicest cabin/chalet I've ever stayed in. While focusing on missionaries, it is available to the public at reduced rates and worth every penny and more! The views are incredible, and the cabins are gorgeous. It's only about 5 hours from us, although with Thanksgiving traffic it took quite a bit longer. The drive through the Smokies was stunning, though, and there was even some color left on the trees!

So the not-so-fun stuff: We had to take Seth to Urgent Care last Tuesday night, ER on Thanksgiving Day in TN and a clinic appointment this past Tuesday. He's had two blood draws and dozens of labs, another blood draw today, and a scan of his abdomen at some point today. It's been 12 days and nights of him complaining about his belly button hurting. He definitely had an infection, with significantly raised white blood cells and platelets, which was gradually getting better, but he's still crying and literally writhing at night (very little sleep around here right now). Please pray the scan and lab work today will help diagnose what's wrong with the poor guy, and that he'll feel better either way!

Our family's first foray into Waffle House - raging success!

Our 3-bedroom cabin, gorgeously decorated and with brand-new furniture. It was so luxurious and inexpensive!

Cold car riders, ready to go to the mountains!

A video that makes us homesick for Papua New Guinea!

Believe it or not, we're already looking at tickets and flights for July. Don't get me wrong, I love the USA and so very many people in it! This year is a huge blessing and source of refreshment for me. (Grocery shopping - LOVE. Meal prep - EASY. Internet speed - INCREDIBLE. Fall in the USA - BEAUTIFUL. Christmastime - MAGICAL. Roads - SMOOTH. Freedom to travel around by myself - PRICELESS.) But I can't imagine giving up beautiful, remote Papua New Guinea. <------ and="" by="" friends="" great="" hanks="" job="" made="" micah="" p="" there.="" this="" todd="" two="" video="" was="">

Horseback Riding!

These are a couple months old but super cute!

Fire department visit from this summer

Thanks to Aunt Deb and her firefighter son-in-law, the quints got an awesome tour of the Grand Prairie Fire Department! My brother is a Grand Prairie Police Officer, so they also got to tour the GPPD a different day. The USA is full of new and fun experiences for these kids!

The actual LAST photos from California (I think)

Celebrating the 12th anniversary of Gavin's 29th birthday (cousins Annelies, Liliana, Grant and Annika in the background)

At the Fresno Zoo, thanks to Uncle Gary and Aunt Marlene who planned a wonderful (albeit HOT) day!

Disney's Thunder Mountain

Princess Marcie on the carousel

Our kids were ecstatic to find characters in costume, willing to wait in line for their hugs and high-fives

With Tigger

Giving high-fives

Marcie looked for Tiana for hours, and when we saw her Tiana grabbed Marcie's hand for the first photo since Marcie was also wearing the Tiana costume she's had since last Christmas. Gracie wore her favorite Belle dress.

Goofing off in line for Thunder Mountain Railway

On Thunder Mountain Railway. Seth is behind us with Kim, one of our two volunteers for the day!

Gavin and David on Thunder Mountain - you can barely see Will behind them

The Astro-Orbiter with David and Marcie

This was at 12:15 a.m. and our intrepid volunteer helpers, Carla and Kim, are still standing AND smiling!
THANK YOU, ladies - I don't know how we would have done it without you! 

a last few CA pictures

Isaac REALLY enjoyed driving cousin Caleb's golf cart up and down the orchard lanes. He's got such an advantage over me at his age - I had no idea how to steer, brake, accelerate or anything when I was 14! He drove each of us around; here it's Papa's turn. 

Papa took the kids to the see the train in Merced.

The newest of the 13 cousins who were born in the last 4 years! We got to meet him in the hospital.

The kids snuck up on Marmi at the end of the church service to watch her play the organ. It and she are amazing!

Papa giving the kids an introduction to Camp Sierra

Showing the kids how steep the drop-off is on the side porch!