More fun with family in Oregon

Forgive me if I've already posted some of these . . . 

The beginning/middle of July

Gavin's whole family

A goofy version!

Marcie modeling her pretty dress from Aunt Mickey

Uncle Jared, Seth and David at the river

Gracie with a little worm she found

Seth and Gracie helping each other over slippery rocks

The house we stayed at had the sweetest guinea pigs!

Celebrating cousin Ethan's birthday by attempting to knock his silly birthday hat off with a koosh ball.
Marmi's a good aim, but David won!

We've discovered hover boards - our Christmas gift wish! Marcie hitching a ride with cousin Levi. 

Will swinging at the park

Uncle Jared wrestling the quints. They're all tangled up!

Update from N.C. and flashback to Camp Sierra, CA

Hi all,

Be assured we're all fine here in Waxhaw, NC. The rain we've had from Florence is much less than we have on a near-daily basis in PNG, we've had no flooding, and no trees have come down. Our power is also intact, and we hope and pray that continues! School was cancelled Friday; yesterday (Saturday) we were advised by the Governor of NC to stay off the road; today church was cancelled; and we just heard from the schools that they are cancelled again tomorrow for the entire county. You can pray for us not to go crazy with cabin-fever! :) The kids are doing really well, thank God, even though they've been inside for 2.5 days straight. Gavin did a family Sunday school with them this morning. It was cute to see them all lined up on the couch listening to him.

These photos are from Camp Sierra in CA this past July. Enjoy! We sure did.

Left to right: Seth, David, Gracie, Will, Marcie

At "The Potholes," a fun swimming and sliding area

Above The Potholes

Seth was unbelievably pumped about being in the kayak with Papa! Marcie and Gracie were thrilled by the job of pushing the kayak out into deeper water.

Gracie's turn to push the kayak out! Seth is again in front with Papa

Isaac and David

Isaac and Marcie

At "Slippery Slides"

Two balancing beauties with Marmi

Marcie

David and Papa

The girls and Papa

Will and Seth with Papa. Seth is a wild man! He wants to go faster and more bumpy than anyone else, including his own parents, grandparents and big bro. :)

Marcie and David with Papa; Gavin and Seth coming in behind them in the kayak

A Camp Sierra tradition continues! Marmi and the aunts, uncles and cousins are on this wall as babies through to a full-grown adults. There's hundreds of names and heights!

In front of the 1930's cabin the day we left

Michigan fun with family and friends

My mom's birthday (we stayed with Aunt Fay and Uncle Jim)

Lunch at The Bavarian Inn in Frankenmuth

Mom and me in Frankenmuth

Giving Grandma a heart attack by leaning over the edge of the covered bridge in Frankenmuth. :)

At Bronner's, the World's Largest Christmas Store!

Watching fudge being made at the Frankenmuth Fudge Kitchen. (Grandpa looks like we've completely exhausted him!) Meanwhile, the quints had this conversation:
David: "Mom, when I grow up I want to be a caramel fudge maker, because I love caramel fudge!"
Seth: "When I grow up, I want to be a regular chocolate fudge maker, because I love regular chocolate fudge!"
Will: "When I grow up, I want to be a police officer, because I like taking people to jail!"

Bobbing for apples!

Uncle Chuck and Aunt Janet with all the kids in the third generation. My mom and dad are in the far back left.
(Can you see the resemblance between Uncle Chuck and my dad?)

First day of school! Settling into North Carolina

Well, I might have been a bit nervous about sending these quints to all-day kindergarten, but they sailed through with flying colors! They all love it and act like it's no big deal. The biggest treat is riding the bus. They flew across the Pacific, traveled nearly 9000 miles across the USA, but the BUS is the most exciting mode of transportation they've had! 

Marcie said, "Mommy, school was too much fun! Only I got a little bit tired of coloring." David said, "Mom, I really love school!" to which Gracie chimed in, "Me too!" Seth said school was "happy." Will said "I wasn't good at school today," which turned out to mean he hadn't felt good (he had a cough). He did very well and got lots of points for good behavior, to my relief! 

Only David and Gracie are together in class. The others each have their own teacher. Gracie tried to sit next to Marcie during lunch, but David and their teacher promptly told her that she needed to sit with her own class. Neither girl seemed concerned about it. I wonder if they're enjoying the space from each other? 

Will is so goofy in this photo, and David is doing his fake posed smile. He was happy, really!

On the way to school!

Settling in: two-and-a-half Costco cartloads of food and household supplies!

David and his bike

We take the kids swimming everyday. The pool is just across from our house. Marcie is swimming like a fish in the deep end and the other kids are learning as they go, doing very well.

Grandma and Grandpa helped us move in. I don't know how I would have done it without them! Dad was on kid duty and shopping duty (and IKEA furniture assembly one day); Mom did laundry, ironing, kitchen set-up, and almost all the kids' clothes unpacking. HUGE blessing! (This photo was taken on my friend Katrina's porch; alas, it's not ours!)

Preview of next blog: Flashback to Michigan. Isaac and me goofing off in Aunt Fay's kitchen. Isaac is doing really well at school, although he definitely feels like he doesn't "belong" yet. He really misses his friends in PNG!

Flashback to Disney and Dallas

There are so many photos I'm so behind on posting, so prepare yourselves for lots of flashbacks.

I just stumbled on these from our four-years'-worth-of-birthday-money day at Disney:

Isaac and Gavin on Splash Mountain

Isaac and Gavin on Space Mountain

On the road to Dallas:

Will LOVES cheese pizza! He always requests it for supper, then, if he's lucky enough to get his wish, he eats it again for breakfast the next morning. Thankful for Costco cheese pizza in the oven as I write this. :)

Giving Grandpadad hugs when we arrived Dallas

Dr. Cook, Chancellor of Dallas Baptist University, my alma mater, showing the kids around campus and letting each one ring the replica Liberty Bell. The DBU magazine did a lovely photo spread of the quints when they were only a few months old, so this their chance to see them all "grown up!"

George Washington being sworn into office as the first President of the United States.
The kids were fascinated by the lifelike figures! (That's Grandma on the far right.)

David’s new skill

David rides a bike!

In just one afternoon he learned! Thanks to Aunt Pam for the bike she found and restored!

In other news, we’re at our home in North Carolina, after 8700 miles and two months on the road, passing through 18 states, with NO illness or accidents, praise God! Thanks for praying!

Flashback to California

"Hanging out" with Daddy in Marmi and Papa's backyard

We got together with LOTS of cousins, all of them great friends and fun playmates for the kids - and us! Our two families added 13 new cousins and first-cousins-once-removed in the four years we've been in PNG. The biggest sacrifice of being a missionary is not getting to live near/with these dear people.

With Marmi at Camp Sierra, near Shaver Lake, on the way to the swimming hole

Enjoying the stream

Not many grandparents are this cool!
Isaac and Seth were the biggest fans of this activity. Seth is FEARLESS, a little wild man! 

Measuring Will on the cabin wall. Five generations of family members have their names and heights marked on this wall.

Gracie and Marcie get measured

On the front porch of the cabin - built during the Great Depression, 1930's, by Marmi's great-grandfather