West Coast fun!

 

Isaac is really into drawing. This is an old photo of his beautiful Aunt Marlene.

The intrepid Marmi with Gracie, Marcie and David at the cabin in the Sierra Nevada.

Isaac is a fun chauffeur . . . scary, but fun. 

Building a tower of granite

Such a fun swing in front of the cabin!

BB gun delights

Swinging at the swimming hole

Ice cream shakes at the Hungry Hut in Shaver Lake

Happy at the Hungry Hut 

Castle Air Museum

Baby cousin fan club!

Stomp rocket "basketball" with the trash can as the hoop. Thanks, Aunt Laurie!!

Lincoln Logs with Papa, David and Will

Suffering in the sun with a root beer freeze. Thanks, Bob Quall!

Gracie's turn to suffer.

The whole crew

The kids found the train in San Francisco Airport INCREDIBLE. They're pretending to drive, of course.

Such sweet moments sometimes!

And now they are 8!

We had a wonderful pandemic birthday, unexpectedly Stateside with beloved family and friends! These kids were blessed/spoiled with THREE birthday parties: a small scavenger hunt one planned and hosted by Aunt Pam and Aunt Cynthia, a family only party hosted by my sister (at the house we brought the quints home to from the hospital and lived in for the first two years of their lives!), and a street party for our little neighborhood. The kids have had great little and big friends, and we have the sweetest neighbors.

Cinderella Gracie (even eating on the hearth like the princess she's dressed up as!)

Princess cousins! The theme was clearly blue and purple.

With the neighborhood friends. Such a fun place to live!

Piñata time! Gracie's turn.

Thankful for a great carport!

Each quint got to choose a small cake to serve.

With their wonderful big brother!

Family vacation - just in time! And a prayer request

We planned a few days in Galveston, hoping the 'Rona (as my brother-in-law calls this virus) would simmer down in time. It did, kind of, but it picked back up again the day after we got there. Thankfully our beach was a great place to socially isolate and no one got sick. 😁

Surf and sand but not much sun! It was pretty perfect!

We're still having fun, and he's still the one! Tomorrow he gets shoulder surgery, which is the prayer request. He has a full-thickness tear in at least one of his rotator-cuff tendons that's been steadily getting worse, following a slow-speed layover of his motorbike in Ukarumpa right as the pandemic started. His healing will take 10-12 weeks with physical therapy.

And now back to our vacation:

Aunt Courtney bought the girls these beautiful matching outfits. 💕💕

Thumbs up for the biggest and littlest cousins!
(Is Isaac such a teenager or what?? He's the best!)

David got so good at boogie-boarding!

Getting sno cones with Grandpadad

Back to real life: The dentist!

Pajama pals! Even our hair matches! 😂

Sometimes cousins' trikes are still really fun. 😊

June fun

My parents' 49th anniversary!

My favorite couple in the world! (Besides Gavin and me, ha-ha!)

The world's cutest sister with the world's best parents!

Silly times at a nice restaurant before COVID got worse here again . . .
No one got infected, but I'm glad their anniversary was early in June and not late!

Visiting Aunt Mickey after church - and Marcie crying because she couldn't hug her! Social distancing is the worst!

A few more random photos from May

Hi again, friends,

Just hanging out in Dallas, waiting for permission to return to PNG! On Monday Gavin is getting an MRI on his shoulder, which he injured in a motorbike accident coming home from work in PNG the very week everything shut down during COVID. He thought it was just a strain that would improve, but instead it got steadily worse and is really crippling a lot of what he normally does. We're suspecting a torn rotator cuff, which may necessitate surgery (something that we'd not be able to get in PNG). 

The kids are gradually finishing up with school. We're a couple weeks behind, thanks to our trip to Michigan (WELL worth it!). I've never admired teachers so much.

People have asked how everyone is doing with being "stuck" here. I love being here with my family, but I DO miss my work in the clinic lab and my friends and community there in PNG. The kids are hugely enjoying the cousins and grandparents, but they've also started talking about wanting to return to PNG. Isaac is having a great time with Peter and other friends, online and in person, but of course very, very, very keen to return ASAP! So in short, we're all blessed, enjoying life in these crazy United States. I was in downtown Dallas with Isaac and Peter yesterday, and it was a bit of a shock to see the busted-out, boarded-over windows following the looting of a couple of weeks ago. So much tragedy in our history and currently. Come soon, Lord Jesus! And help us to be faithful as YOUR people during this time!

Love,

Carrie

Our friend Lelia who lives just down the street! She's got a cool bike she "pedals" with her hands since she was paralyzed in an accident a couple years ago. I've known Lelia since she was a teenager, and she's always been a favorite. :) Now my kids love her too!!

This baby goat escaped from its owners so I scooped it right up and handed it to MY kids. (Get it??)
(The little boy in the middle is the goat's actual owner, not one of the quints.)

I wish we had a baby goat. I'm sure our neighbors are glad we don't.

Rock climbing at the river

Isaac and dear friend Megan who helped SO much with the quints!!

Megan and her friend both spent time with Isaac, mostly playing Minecraft and playing on the trampoline, when the quints were babies. So fun to get to be at their mini-graduation!