And for something completely different . . .

Gavin here.  I've been meaning to write for quite a while about some of what I've been doing when at work.  Hopefully I'll be a bit more regular in sharing some of my experiences.  Warning: this blog post will have no pictures of the quints.  Sorry.

I find it hard to believe that we've been back in PNG for only six months.  It seems like it's been a year what with all that has happened and just the daily grind of raising six children.  After a few weeks of settling into the house, I headed back to work at Aviation.  It took quite some time to jump through the different hoops needed to get re-certified in PNG, especially after having been gone so long.  The task was more difficult due to the fact that we had no other helicopter flight instructors in our organization, thus requiring me to use an experienced pilot from another commercial company in a nearby city.

I've been back in the air for several months now and have had quite a few good and interesting experiences already.  It's been SO good to be flying again over such an incredibly beautiful and rugged country.  It amazes me over and over how completely isolated so many people are in this part of the world.  The immense jungles, mountains, and swamps throughout PNG along with the regular heavy rains make it such a ground transportation nightmare.  Aviation is really the backbone of transport to any remote areas and even some that are not so remote.

Just last week I had the pleasure of dropping off several men in a remote area of the West Sepik Province, quite close the Indonesian border.  Two expatriate men and four Papua New Guinean men were splitting into two groups in order to hike to 40 different villages over the course of two weeks.  Their plan is to invite them to come to our Regional Center in Wewak to join in a Bible Storytelling Course as well as to gauge the strength of the individual languages and their desire for Bible translation.  As stories and storytelling are very vital parts of the cultures here in PNG, they hope to raise an interest in the Scriptures and possibly ignite the desire for Bible translation programs in their own tok ples (language of their village).

Before taking the guys to drop them off in the bush

The guys and some local villager before heading off on their two week trek

The men have a lot of ground to cover in the two weeks through the mountains and jungles, so we pray that they stay safe and that the Holy Spirit will fill them with the right words and lead them to the right contacts.

After dropping them off, I continued on and picked up a couple from their village where they've been allocated for almost 25 years and returned them and another single woman involved in another translation back home to Ukarumpa.

Often times I have been told after picking people up that after so many weeks in the bush (heat, mosquitoes, cross-cultural challenges, limited or no electricity, etc.) the sound of the helicopter arriving is music to their ears.

Before leaving Baiberi, Carol asked to show pictures of our 5 kids to the people in the village.  They had a hard time believing the story previously, so the pictures sure were a hit.

At a fuel stop on our way back from the West Sepik.  The mighty Sepik River in the background.

Often times I have been told after picking people up that after so many weeks in the bush (heat, mosquitoes, cross-cultural challenges, limited or no electricity, etc.) the sound of the helicopter arriving is music to their ears.

Starkly contrasting green with the black water of the lakes near the Sepik River.

Massive amounts of water fall all over PNG and the rivers and lakes of the swampland overflow often.  This area is full of crocodiles.

Video: "Oh my goodness!"

Marcie and Isaac - SO CUTE!

More Monday and Friday playdate pics

David prefers cars to airplanes or helicopters, much to his daddy's chagrin. :)

Gracie wanted to wear this very pretty dress despite it being a play day.

Will claps and says "yay!" every time Karen finishes a song.

David was SO PROUD of himself for lining up the balls. (He lines up everything in his life!)

He seems to be saying, "Aren't I so cute?"

I might have posted this before, but it's worth seeing again. :)

Girls in shades

Tickling each other is a favorite game for the kids. "Zerbert-ing" is too.

David

Marcie

Tire-swinging in tandem

Gracie and Marcie

Gracie REALLY seems to love it!

David with Will behind

Will and Seth

Monday playdate pics from last week

Will loves motorcycles

Seth going up on the seesaw

. . . and down on the seesaw!

David on the trampoline

David in the middle of a peek-a-boo game

Marcie and Gracie making "nakes" (snakes)

Karen said, "Marcie had a definite affinity toward the pink play dough. She played with it before we went outside. When we came back in an hour later she ended up with a different color and she looked around and saw that Will had the pink. She wanted it and he kindly handed it to her, a handful at a time, and each time he held it across the table for her he said in the sweetest little voice, "Marcie." It was so nice that he saw what she wanted and called her by name to give it to her. What a good brother!" 

Will did that again tonight, sharing his crepe with David who had finished his and was crying for more before I had a chance to make another one.

Happy David!!

Happy little Gracie (also playing peek-a-boo)

Shigellosis silence

Hi all,

Our family has been sick since my last update. (Yes, over Thanksgiving, but we didn't plan a feast anyway this year - too hard with 5 toddlers!) The kids have had mostly a mild case, all but Will, but Gavin has been the sickest I've ever seen him. He's got shigellosis, sick since last week but conclusively diagnosed only Monday. Shigellosis is a bacterial infection characterized by gastrointestinal pain, vomiting, diarrhea and passing blood. The weirdest part was Gavin's high fever leading to delirium and hallucinations. Sunday was a HARD day with Gavin so violently ill and no one around to help with the babies. This week has been better, thank God for house and babysitting help! Also, Gavin is getting better after less than 24 hours in antibiotics. Thank you Lord Jesus!! It's wonderful not to be a "single parent" of quints anymore. He was sooooo incapacitated he almost fainted a couple of times when he tried to get up and help, poor guy.

Will was also miserable, crying and lying on the carpet. :( He spent one night vomiting multiple times. I'm so grateful it hasn't been bad in the other babies - some diarrhea only. We'd appreciate prayer it stays that way! A bad tummy bug is going around our whole mission center and valley, so I am praying for everyone infected and affected.

I have cute pictures I'll post later. :)

We've managed to decorate for Christmas, all but the tree. We'll see how that goes with five 2-year-olds. . . Will it survive their depredations?

The kids love the lights on our garlands especially, plus some of the more toy-like ornaments. One bell is already missing its ringer. Oh well; we can fix it after Christmas.

The kids are speaking in 4-5 word sentences now sometimes. It always surprises me when they say a full sentence like that! 

Marcie is in full mothering mode towards all the quints but most especially Gracie. I looked down the other day to see her spreading the changing pad from our diaper bag (which she was carrying, as she loves any and all bags), on which Gracie then laid down, but when Marcie started trying to untape her diaper Gracie yelled no and jumped up. Last night Marcie tried to put a fresh diaper on naked Gracie. She couldn't quite manage it. She also loves to police the babies' use of pacifiers. She'll take away any that have made it out of the cribs, yanking them right out of mouths and hands even, smilingly saying "Nigh-night binky!" and running them back to the cribs despite the wails of her siblings. The kids all love to be my "enforcers." Will told Seth "No, no Seth, no sit on table!" last night. 

I'd better run for now. 

Love and gratitude!

Carrie

The picture is one of the kids' games, called "nigh-night!" and invented by Will. They lie down on the couch (while still standing) in response to the orders and light push of whoever is the game leader. They've played this one a couple of times with varying leaders. Seth was helping Will push the kids down.

Gavin on a recent trip. He sees gorgeous places! He bathed in this waterfall.

Marcie loves any and every kind of hat. She's convinced that Gavin's knee pads are hats and gets so frustrated that the Velcro won't stretch to fasten under her neck. (She's also obsessed with play dough and says all of it is "Marcie's play dough.")