Hi all! Sorry for the delay in posting this week. It’s been a busy (good) one. I’m loving my Clinic job, getting a break from home and interacting with/helping adults. If I didn’t have ladies that come clean my house and help with the kids this would be pretty impossible, but I am blessed to have these lovely women of God move quietly and lovingly through my home. The kids consider them family - just not quite as close as Mom and Dad and Isaac. ;)
And we’ve had RAIN this week!! I think it’s been about 2.5 inches so far. Our rain tanks are almost completely full! It’s rained off and on, mostly drizzle or light rain, since Friday night. It’s great rain for the gardens because it soaks in well, it doesn’t overwhelm the soil and run-off or cause landslides (a constant problem here during rainy season). So we’re still not out of the drought, but we’re heading in the right direction. Lord willing, we’ll keep heading in that direction. The gardens need a lot more rain and several months before they really recover. The garden food is pretty much gone now, judging by several reports, but at least the soil is workable again. Before it was like concrete! Everyone is re-planting now and praying the rains continue.
Another blessing has been the cloudiness of the days, so the rain isn’t immediately counteracted by the drying, strong equatorial sun. There are actually mud puddles! Will and David begged me to stop the car so they could play in them, so we did. :) It was our way of thanking God for His provision and celebrating that answer to the prayers of millions of people! Thank you to those who prayed!
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| Gracie's contagious grin. I love her freckles!! She is such a HAPPY little girl who just loves everybody. |
In quint “news,” the girls play Mommy and Baby Puppy all day long, every day. They alternate who is the mommy and who is the baby. When Gracie’s the baby, Marcie keeps saying, “Isn’t she cute?!"
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| David on the climbing tree at playgroup. He's our adventure-boy who gets a little nervous sometimes mid-adventure. :) |
The boys are into tussling (wrestling, hand-fighting). Seth less so than Will or David. He doesn’t like being roughed up, but he loves to run up to the fray, get in a quick whack, and run away before the other boys can catch him. It’s hilarious to watch, truly. The funniest part is the instananeous resolution sometimes, when before you know it they are best friends again and working on a project together, building each other up each step of the way. “Good job, Bubby!"
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On the see-saw at playgroup. Seth loves group/cooperative play. Marcie looks on, waiting for her turn.
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| Marcie's turn (she looks a little nervous) with Will in the background blowing on his "whistle." Thankfully it's not really a whistle and is completely soundless - our favorite kind of toy. ;) |
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| Will climbing the stump, "whistle" in hand still |
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| At the bounce house the high schoolers put up as a fundraiser. We don't get group discounts - bummer. ;) |
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| Handsome David showing off his handsome tie and cheesy grin after church on Sunday |
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| David looking slightly less goofy (although the tie is far to short, really!) |
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| Beautiful Seth |
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If you jumped when you saw this, rest assured my reaction upon seeing Gavin's cleanly shaven face for the first time in four years was every bit as dramatic. I literally started, had to take a moment, then could face him again. I'm sorry, but I LOVE Gavin's beard. However, it's "No Shave November," and the pilots here are doing it together as a team-building exercise (why they need to build their team, I'm not sure). They all had to start clean-shaven. Thankfully Gavin's beard grows really quickly, whereas the wives who are used to clean-shaven men have another 3+ weeks to endure stubble and scruff! This is our great friend James, our Ukarumpa brother and uncle to the kids.
[Gavin painted that picture of Half Dome in the background, by the way. He's from the Yosemite area.] |
