Five Months Old

My lovely Ariella is 5 months old now! This morning I looked at the date and realized that yesterday was her 5 month birthday. We've been a little sick here, so I guess that's my excuse for losing track of the date.

Ariella loves to roll and roll. She gets up on her hands and knees and rocks/wiggles/jumps until she falls over. I think she will learn to crawl very soon! She loves to be outside, to watch and touch her big sister, and to grab everything: faces, hair, toys, bowls of Mommy's food, a stray cat, etc.

I especially enjoy her laugh, the way she coos, her lovely smile, and the way she snuggles with me when I hold her. What a precious girl!

Beach Day at Pulau Ahe

Today our family, along with 24 friends, went to a little island near Nabire called Ahe. It took us 20 minutes in the car and then 40 minutes on a boat to get there. It was so beautiful! Daniel tried out the fishing spear that I got him for Christmas and speared and cooked 3 (small) fish. I spent most of my time keeping Zoe from drowning and nursing Ariella...but I also got to go snorkeling and saw a lion fish and the wing of an airplane from World War II. Zoe loves swimming and said she would float home in her little floatie (why is she so completely unafraid of the water?). Ariella went "swimming" for her first time.

Here are some photos so that you can enjoy the beauty of the beach with us:

On My Birthday

Yesterday was my 33rd birthday.

I woke up and chose to be happy. We have been struggling with discouragement and feelings of burn out, so I decided that happiness on my birthday would be my choice. Daniel left for his first flight, and I cared for and enjoyed my little girls. I decided to take a day off from laundry, except for diapers. When I went out to hang the diapers I found a present on my porch--cookies and a balloon! Zoe and I enjoyed the cookies for breakfast and she danced and danced around the house with the balloon.

I skyped for an hour with my parents and one of my sisters. I even got to say goodnight to my little niece! It was nice to "see" family on my birthday. While we talked, Ariella took a nap and Zoe played happily all by herself.

At 10am we went to my friend/neighbor/coworker Anja's house. She and I have the same birthday! She made a really yummy cake with berries in it to celebrate! After we ate cake we learned that there had been an airplane accident earlier this morning and the pilot Bob Roberts, with the Adventist mission, died. This was surprising and shocking to me. I know Bob and Jan just a little bit...I buy whole wheat flour and brown rice from Jan and enjoy her beautiful piano playing at the concerts that she organizes. I have heard stories about Bob and the dental work that he did when he had extra time. They have served and blessed people here in Papua for a LONG time! And now, suddenly, Jan is a widow. Their airplane--a Quest Kodiak, the same kind that Daniel flies--is broken into pieces and partly burned.

I wondered...should I still choose to be happy today when there is such a good reason to be sad? I could not come up with an answer to that question. A birthday is when we celebrate the gift of life, the presence of a person. Life is a wonderful gift, even though it can be so suddenly snuffed out.

I felt very serious yesterday (still do). In the afternoon I baked cupcakes and made ice cream. We went for a family walk on the runway before eating a dinner of leftover pumpkin soup, cucumber slices (Zoe had ketchup on hers!) and cupcakes. And that was my birthday. I enjoyed the cuteness of my little people, hugged Daniel nice and tight, ate more sugar than I should have, and was grateful that God chose to create me and helped my mother give birth to me (via. emergency c-section) 33 years ago.

You can read more about Bob and Jan Roberts here. Please pray for Jan, their 3 adult children, and their many friends. Much love to you all!