Visiting the Koala-bees again

"Koala-bees" is what our kids call the rock wallabies that we have visited twice now in the tablelands above Cairns, Australia. I just saw these the other day and realized I'd never posted from July, our second visit to one of our favorite places!

The BLUE sky was incredible!

These are dinosaur tracks, so we're being dinosaurs for the camera.

Happy (belated) 7th birthday to the quints!

I'm sorry this is a few days late. We celebrated on time, but between the busyness and fun of that and my working nearly full-time until our other lab lady returns from Australia, I just haven't had the time or energy to post. (And check out the birthday cakes - pretty sad decorating! But when kids ask for a puppy and kitty cake and a superhero cake, what's a too-busy, non-crafty mom gonna do?? )

We had a fun hotdog and marshmallow roast - the kids' idea! - with all the kids in their class who could make it, plus a few more. It was "exciting," as Marcie said. :) It was also really special that a full brilliant rainbow stretched across the sky behind our yard, especially when Gavin prayed and thanked God for their lives. Seth had run to me immediately beforehand, and he had his head on my shoulder and his arms and legs wrapped around me. I'm SO GRATEFUL God saved all five little lives and has sustained both them and us in every way, and that we are all thriving here on the mission field! In fact, Gavin and I celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary yesterday. (Actually, we celebrated in June and just remembered it yesterday with gratitude!) :)

Thanks to Jo Anne at our Printshop here for the pictures on the birthday cakes!:

Gracie is at 12 o'clock; Will standing

Gavin, Gracie, Will and Seth with another little girl at Seth's feet

Marcie having fun with Gracie's new bubble wand

Trampoline balloon games

Two treasures at the end of the rainbow! They chose their shirts to match each other. They say "Sisters Make the Best Friends" - isn't that sweet!?

And because Aunt Karen is back in our lives (she's the one who brought her camera and took ALL of these photos!), here are some bonus pics of the kids doing reading and playing outside at her house:

 

Karen's sweet daughter, carrying on the tradition of the older siblings who have loved on our kids and blessed us HUGELY! (We still miss you, Walter and Victoria!)

Their best PNG friends, Manuel and Sinai

David with his LEGO shooter present

Gracie with her new "Fingerling," a birthday present 

Rewind to California and Oregon

Our last few weeks in the USA were a huge blessing as we got to have sweet, fun times with Gavin's whole family, first in the Central Valley and Sierra Nevada of CA, then in Oregon. We all celebrated his parents 50th wedding anniversary at Mt. Hood. It was incredibly beautiful and relaxing, not least because older cousin Lisi entertained and watched and cared for our kids! :)

At June Lake, our first few days in CA.

In Marmi's playhouse in the back yard. Gracie and Marcie were such little homemakers, even WANTING to wash the dishes and plastic fruits and veggies!

Slippery Slides at Camp Sierra

Replacing the toilet at the cabin :)

Raft and water cannons at the swimming hole. It was way too cold to actually swim.

Doing the annual growth measurements on the wall. All the family has their names on the wall from the time they were tiny infants and had to be propped up against it!

Dancing around the 4th of July "mini volcano" fireworks. 

Cousins!!

More cousins! And aunts and uncles! And of course the grandparents.

A fun day on the slopes of Mt. Hood

Grown-ups ready to race on the "real" go-carts.

Marcie REALLY got into the bungee trampoline and back-flipping

Coloring with Lisi

Morning at the river

Happy (early) 42nd birthday, Gavin! The day before we left for PNG.

Journey across the Pacific

We're HOME! Thanks to everyone who prayed us across the world. It couldn't have gone better, truly. God is so gracious. The kids are thrilled to be here and playing like crazy with all the toys they missed and outside on the trampoline. Gavin and I are working at unpacking, of course, and Isaac is super busy catching up with old friends and meeting new ones. School starts tomorrow, as does my work in the Clinic lab (which is severely understaffed and losing its lab person for a few weeks, effective tomorrow). Gavin starts back to work on Monday. Please continue to pray for our transition, including culturally. People have started coming to our door, and we need wisdom for each situation!

A few photos from our travel:

Last minute folding party of the last load of clean clothes. Thanks to Gavin's siblings and their spouses in Oregon! 

Gavin's parents and nephew Ethan dropped us off at PDX. It was sad to say goodbye.

Walking to our gate in Portland. The flight to LAX was super easy.

Waiting in LAX. Our transfer was absolutely seamless! We only had to walk a short bit, and our bags had already been checked through. We flew out just before midnight, and the 15-hour flight was perfect! We slept and watched movies and ate food. What could be better? Thanks for praying!

Arriving in Cairns, Australia to our beloved "Aunt" Natalie (the one who trained me in the Clinic lab here in PNG)

It was such a surprise to see her at the airport!

 (I'll post pics of our two days in Cairns later . . . )

Goodbye hugs for Aunt Nat as we prepare to fly to PNG

Enjoying the Cairns airport terminal with a couple of Aussie friends. The flight to Port Moresby was also seamless and quick, as was our clearance of Customs when we got there, praise God!

On our way up to Ukarumpa in our organization's Kodiak!

Welcomed by wonderful friends - what a blessing!