Heading to Goroka via NTM Aviation!

 Don't worry, Jacob is not the one flying. :)

 Nate, our only fixed wing pilot, flying us to Goroka in the C-90! Pray for more pilots to head to PNG to help support the work here!

 Jonathan enjoyed his first flight on such a small plane!

 We headed to Goroka, to the NTM Center to sort through all our belongings that were moved from the Interface Campus when it was closed. These four large crates are ours, plus two more just like it!

We enjoyed finding all our things again! But it was a lot of work to sort through it all, as well as Interface's things and other random things that ended up in our crates. We also had some furniture in storage in another area of the center and Jacob's four-wheeler and a few more things in another area of storage.

Jonathan turned 6 months old!

 Jonathan turned 6 months old here at the NTM Center in the Highlands.

 And he started eating pumpkin and rice cereal!

 Whenever he is hungry, he loves it!

 Jonathan's new stroller, great for all the bumpy roads and trails!

 Our former Interface co-workers had a baby boy as well, so they left a big bag of clothes for Jonathan and some fun toys and shoes. :) Jonathan is modeling his new clothes in this photo.

 We were able to borrow an exersaucer while we were here. Jonathan loved it! And it enabled us to get more sorting and packing done!

 Jonathan wasn't quite sure what to make of the very cold mornings here in the mountains. :) So cold compared to the Sepik!

Sorting!

 Our house at the NTM Center was a disaster most of the time! So much sorting and so many decisions... do we keep it and ship it to Wewak, or sell it or give it away. (If you check out the background, you can see Jonathan and I in the kitchen :))

 We were so happy to be able to sell some stuff and give some away so that we could consolidate our belongings into just 4 crates!

It was a slow process, but we had three weeks here to get it all done!

 There was so much to do, yet we still enjoyed time with Jonathan in the mess!

 When my desk was packed away in the crate... I found this old table that used to be in the kitchen... made a good desk as well.

 Some days we were happy to have a break from sorting and packing... our Bena friends would stop by to see us and meet Jonathan. Jonathan wasn't quite sure what to think about our Bena friends!

And Sundays we enjoyed a day of rest...even though there was still a huge mess... church in the morning and football in the afternoon. Jonathan is starting to love football too!

Repacking...

 After emptying all our crates and finding the rest of our things around the center, we started the task of repacking our crates.

 It was quite challenging to fill every space as we packed, especially around furniture! But we are going to be paying by the cubic foot, so we have to fill it all up!

Jacob was quite happy that his four wheeler fit in a crate after removing the tires and taking off the handles. In the end we ended up with four crates including this one with the four-wheeler in it. We will be trucking our crates to Madang and then from there they will go on a ship to Wewak. The only problem is that the shipping company is not taking a break for a month. All of their ships are at dock and none are running! So we wait!

First Time Visiting the Bena People

 We headed to Katagu to visit our village friends near Interface last week. It was strange to drive down the Interface road, knowing that Interface is no longer there. A year ago we left Interface for our home assignment completely unaware of the fact that we would never go back there. It was an emotional time for us as we headed down this road again to see our friends.

 We enjoyed the view all around us, one that we won't see too often anymore.

 I could barely get out of the car before the Bena ladies reached out to hold Jonathan. :)

 There were many tears and hugs, tears of Interface closing and tears of happiness because we got to see each other again.

 It was so good to see the ladies that worked in the kitchen with me. And they were so excited to meet Jonathan. Everyone wanted to hold or touch Jonathan. And he didn't know what to think of it all.

 After a few minutes of listening to many ladies excited loud voices and so many of them wanting to hold and touch him, he realized that he didn't like it too much.

 But the ladies still wanted to hold him!

 Eventually he calmed down if one lady held him for a while without a group around him.

 But another strange person would come by talking very excited and loudly and he didn't like that!

 Eventually I ended up holding him for a while!

 Peter was so excited to meet Jonathan, his "grandchild", and had to have many pictures with him.

At the end of our time in the Bena we found Sone, the lady who helped me in our home and a good friend. She started crying because she was so excited to see us, she thought she would never meet Jonathan. And so then I started crying and then Jonathan started crying. :)