Photo Friday [151]

It's Photo Friday again!

Hmmm... we're feeling pretty patriotic here in September I guess....

Why do little kids always put their sunglasses on upside-down?

Say a little prayer for Brian today.  He's out on the island of New Ireland attending the dedication of the Hinsaal New Testament.  (We live about where the red dot is, for reference).  He texted me this morning to tell me that he apparently didn't bring the right attire.  Since he is going to be giving a speech, apparently he needs to wear a lap-lap (think sarong, or "man skirt"), and a borrowed white shirt! 

You may have heard about a big earthquake off the coast of New Ireland on Wednesday.  I haven't heard any reports of damage, and it may be hard to believe, but a 6.7 earthquake doesn't really feel all that big in PNG.  Take a look at this older post by my friend Jessie (who happens to be a translator in New Ireland), which does a good job of explaining how earthquakes here are a different than those experienced in the States.

Steel Magnolias was a big success!  We did two shows last Friday and Saturday, and folks are still talking about my amazing co-actressses (is that a word?)  and the great job they did.  That's me in the pink and short wig on the left.  No photos from the play itself, as the show's regulations wouldn't allow for it, so a cast photo will have to do.

I started working again this week!  I ended up taking on a part-time job as the receptionist at the clinic, because they really needed one.  A series of events has unfortunately left them with no one to do the job at the moment, and the rest of the staff have been taking turns sitting in that chair.  I'm only able to help two mornings per week, so they could still use another person!  Kate is proud that she can put on her backpack too on the days that the boys go to school, though she is just going to the daycare.  I think she's doing OK at daycare, though she wishes that her beloved Caleb were going with her.

Missionary kid moment.  Back in July, Greg was given an Amazon gift card for his birthday.  It really didn't mean anything to him, though I tried to explain it.  It was just a black card with an "a" on it.  I mentioned it from time to time, but he wasn't interested.  Finally this morning I suggested that he look to see what he might like to buy, since we have family visiting next month, and they could bring whatever he chose with them.  "But mom, it's only 25 cents."  I told him no, it's actually 25 dollars... and that's like 75 Kina.  His eyes grew wide!  75 Kina??!!  That's a fortune for the boy who has 12 Kina in his savings jar.

Our kids usually don't have a concept of specific things they want for gifts.  No TV advertising, no walking down the aisles of Target with mom, no Sunday ads.  They just don't know what's out there, unless they see a friend that has a toy.  

So imagine how Greg's mind was blown when I helped him navigate to Amazon's kid section.  I even narrowed it down for him to Lego sets in his price and age range, and there were still 400 pages!  Man, that little boy was excited!  Let me tell you, Grandma Dee and Grandpa Keith, you really made his day.  He went to school just bursting to tell his friends that he had chosen an Iron Man Lego set, and he still had another $15 to spend!