Coughing fits and other news

There's a cold going around right now and our kids have the coughing fits pretty badly, especially Gracie and Seth. If you read this and want to take the time to pray for them, we'd appreciate it! Seth's poor BPD (bronchopulmonary dysplasia, or chronic lung disease) lungs sound crackly and "wet," but he's keeping his blood oxygenation up, thank God! It's nice to see him start to outgrow some of the stuff that used to land him in the hospital or at least on oxygen supplementation and steroids. He is better today than he was yesterday, for which we praise God as Gavin is on an overnight far, far away in the village of some Bible translator friends of ours. He has a full two days of flying, starting at dawn today with a medevac of a heavily pregnant woman with expected delivery complications. I'm so glad he gets to do these "rescue" trips, especially when I think about how excruciating even uncomplicated labor usually is!

We're humming along here at home, winding down the school term (tomorrow is the last day for Isaac) and looking towards a two-week break. It's lovely to have Gavin's parents here still, although his poor dad has been sick for going-on-five-weeks now due to a parasite that resulted in extreme lethargy. We also appreciate prayers for him, especially as they are only here for three more weeks!

We've been having glorious rains which we do not take for granted! The food shortage is still really bad as the people wait for their sweet potatoes to grow, and it's a really fun honor to get to be involved in some small-scale relief efforts. I just wish larger-scale relief efforts would ramp up! Things have been promised but haven't come through yet, to the chagrin of those who are just hanging on.

Okay, some photos, then off to bed:

David loves to "build" things while Gavin is also working in the workshop. He laid down all these pieces of scrap lumber and had Gavin help him move a box to where he wanted it to be, talking to himself the whole time about the best way to set it all up. He has a lot of plans that his siblings often foil, so this is a nice creative outlet for him and a bonding experience with his daddy.

Aunt Katie (my sister) sent the girls these darling headbands. We had a fun little photo shoot before church last Sunday:

Gracie trying to kiss Marcie (who had already kissed Gracie) but Marcie is too busy arranging her hair to notice

They love each other so much!

Gracie's facial expression isn't great here, but Marcie's makes this photo worth posting

Silly, happy sisters

Enjoying watching the horses at our Ukarumpa paddocks on Saturday

Beautiful "ballerina" Gracie. The girls are either ballerinas, princesses, puppies, mommies, babies, or "just a girl," depending on the moment.

Isaac swinging the boys with his feet

At the annual Aviation Christmas party