We're Moving!

No, we are not leaving Papua New Guinea, the Kudjip mission station, or even our house. We are proud to announce that we are moving our blog address. You will still be able to visit this site and re-read all your favorite stories about Aden and Wiley. But to see new stories about the Riggins Boys, you'll have to visit the New Blog. A few weeks ago, we ran a poll to get your ideas for a new name for the blog.

And the winner is . . .

Uncle Andy and Aunt Judy Bennett,
with their write-in vote of
"Band of Brothers".

Perhaps they had some "inside information" and knew we were suspecting a third boy. Not surprisingly, when we tried to use "Band of Brothers" in the blog address, we discovered that it was taken, along with any variation on it. So, the address you'll now need to save is a rough Pidgin translation of the phrase: mipelabrata.blogspot.com. You can begin to visit the new site immediately, and if you forget the address, just come back to this post and click the link above to find new stories about our growing Band of Brothers.

"Hollo-cotchter" (Helicopter)

As we've posted before, patients are sometimes transported to Nazarene Hospital, where we live, by helicopter. Usually when we hear a helicopter circling, we grab shoes, hats, and camera and run out the door to see it land. Today, however, we already knew the helicopter was coming, so when we heard it in the distance, we left the house and leisurely walked the 100 yards or so down to the field where they usually land, just outside Daddy's office. There was great excitement around the field as a handful of the hundred or so gathered to gawk knew there would be a special treat today. After the patient (another missionary) was helped out of the chopper and moved to guest housing, the pilots agreed to give a short ride to Uncle Mike and Josiah. Uncle Mike was prepared to take some aerial photos of the new hospital, and Jo just loves airplanes and helicopters. (What 13 year old boy wouldn't jump at the chance to ride in a chopper?)

There was a short delay in the plans when the pilots requested help with charging the battery - apparently the alternator belt was broken and they could not get the helicopter started again. While we were waiting, I asked if Aden wanted to get a little closer and see the helicopter or meet the pilots. "No," he quickly replied. At his request, to get away from the wind and noise, we had already moved several yards away from the scene. Not wanting any regrets later, I asked again if Aden just wanted to stand near it so that I could take his picture. It wasn't moving and wouldn't be moving until a battery was found. Again, he answered, "No." But this time I realized that Wiley had also been answering my questions all along, as I heard a little, "Yeah." Without hesitating, I picked up Wiley and Aden followed as we walked back to the field. Aden got excited about getting close, but still refused to sit in the helicopter. I was able to set Wiley inside next to Jo long enough to get a picture, and then got a picture of Lydia with Aden and Wiley standing close to the helicopter.


When they were ready to take off again, Uncle Bill spotted us from a distance and we remembered there was more to this spectacle than the boys' getting to see a helicopter. Five of us (Uncle Bill, Lydia, Aden, Wiley, and Mommy) quickly made our way to the new hospital. As we stepped into a small open area between a couple of the wards, we held up our hands and waved at the chopper - and at Uncle Mike's camera hanging out the open door - a moment that will be etched in the history of Nazarene Hospital for years to come.

Bunkin' Up

Aden and Wiley have officially moved in together! Wiley essentially spends most of his waking hours in Aden's room since that is where most of the toys are, and so it was only natural that they become roommates. Although, having a baby on the way, in a three bedroom house, also has a way of making this seem like a great idea.
To save on 'play space' we decided to go with bunk beds. We found some old ones in the Mission warehouse (where furniture from the last 54 years of the Mission's existence here in PNG is kept) that we converted to a loft bed and then used Aden's existing bed to form 'L' shaped bunk beds. With Uncle Bill's help, we used his vast knowledge, experience, craftsmanship, strength, and patience as both a father and grandfather, and accomplished this in just one afternoon.
Aden slept on the top bunk right away as though he has been sleeping five feet off the ground all his life. The best part to him, of course, is going up and down the ladder. He fell from the second or third step once, and that has been enough for him to be very sure-footed as he backs down the ladder each time. Wiley didn't move in until the fourth night. We still had a little work to do for it to be completely ready for him to move to a 'big boy' bed. He seems to like the idea of sleeping in the same room with Aden though, and after two nights he has slept through the night and loves to be able to get out of his own bed in the morning. He usually walks out of their room in the morning, saying "Big Boy bed." Right now, Wiley is not able to climb the steps and will search to find anyone who is willing to help him up. When he does learn to climb the ladder on his own, watch out!!
With an 'L' shape, you get a little space under the top bunk and beside the bottom bunk that can become a natural 'clubhouse' of sorts. However, this quickly became the boys' cafe. Orders are taken on a magna-doodle. The space between the first and second step of the ladder is the window where orders can be placed as well as picked up. The menu is pretty wide open, but the specialties seem to be chocolate pizza, chocolate pudding, chocolate milk, and Pepsi. You can order whatever you want though. Chances are, they will have it. If they don't, Aden will be quick to let you know. This space has also been an airport and a hospital (probably reflective of where we live and spend a lot of time.) I am sure this space will become many other things over the next few days, weeks, months and years.

Cairns

After 3 days and 4 nights on the Gold Coast, we used Mommy's frequent flyer points to fly to warmer weather in Cairns. For Aden and Wiley, the best part of Treetops, where we stayed, was "upstairs," a room above the office with toys and books. One of Mommy's favorite finds at Treetops was in a swap box of sorts, where she found a sleeper gown for the baby. We spent part of our time just as we'd planned - relaxing and not doing much of anything, just enjoying the time together away from our normal routine. We also found some new things to explore. On our last day in Cairns, we managed to squeeze in all of the boys' favorite activities - a train ride, visiting animals, a ride on a skyrail, and swimming at the Esplanade (which we had already enjoyed earlier in the week).

We started the morning on the Kuranda Scenic Railway, riding up to a village a few kilometers away. Although we arrived at the train station 45 minutes early, the boys loved every minute of waiting on the platform. While we waited, we had a special treat of watching a steam engine pass through the station en route from Brisbane, in celebration of 150 years of the railway. We finally boarded our train and began the 1 1/2 hour journey up to the village, through tunnels and over bridges. The boys loved all the sights and sounds of the railway, from the train's whistle to the spectacular views of waterfalls and coastline. Although the train made one 15 minute stop at a scenic lookout, Aden was too excited to get off with the rest of the passengers, and he and Mommy stayed on board.

Because of the spectacle of the steam engine, we were late arriving into the village, where our time was already short. We had also discovered on our trip up that Wiley was running a fever (probably lingering symptoms suspiciously akin to swine flu - see "Honesty is the Best Policy"). So our first stop was to the local pharmacist for some medicine for Wiley. After lunch, Daddy took Wiley to the local doctor, just to make sure the ear infection was not raring its ugly head in time for more airplane travel, while Mommy and Aden set off to see some Australian animals. Aden seemed to enjoy the experience, but a playground had caught his eye on our way, so the animals only held his attention for about 15 minutes altogether - the same amount of time that Wiley was in the doctor's office, finding out that Mommy's worries were for naught. We met back at the skyrail station in time to catch our ride back down to the city. While the train was especially exciting for the boys, everyone enjoyed the relaxing ride on the skyrail, skimming the tops of the trees and making the return trip a bit faster.

After a full day already, however, our day had only begun. We finished some shopping, and took the boys to the Esplanade for one last picnic. This time we went at night, and had Pizza Hut dinner by the free public pool. Since it was later and getting dark, we had the entire pool almost to ourselves. Splashing through the fountains, walking through the sand, and swimming under the stars was a great way to cap off our family vacation.