ELLA IS WORN OUT!  We haven't posted too many photos of Ella.  She has been a trooper this last month.  We are doing so many things all the time and she is going with the flow.  She helps out where she can, but being little isn't so easy.  On Sunday, she hiked about 6 miles, yesterday was a busy day, and she was exhausted.  Most days that the clinic is open, we are putting in 10-11 hour days and she has been a good helper and very patient while we are trying to help people out.  Heidi took this picture this morning.  Her bed is at the foot of our bed.  We had to fold up a small mattress and put it on the floor next to ours.  She is making the best of every moment.  We love our little Ella!

Braden helped out today in the clinic.  He helped sterilize the instruments.  Today seemed like another busy day.  All the kids are getting faster at Assisting and figuring out the instruments and the flow of the procedures.  Most of what we do are large fillings, extractions, some Endo (root canals), and some partial dentures.  Mostly fillings and extractions.  I said this before, but we are very limited on what materials and supplies we have.  And our equipment isn't the best, but it works, and the Tongan people are grateful.  Today was a day of fillings, extractions, some root canals.  Busy day!

We see a lot of these type of cases.  Ideally, we would do crowns or veneers to achieve the optimal esthetics and function.  All we have here is composite, so we build up composite crowns as ideally as we can.  The people are so grateful and amazed at the result, it's great.  I don't really think it looks ideal or amazing, but it's what I can do with what I have.  As long as they are grateful and it meets their expectations, I'm happy with that.  Sometimes, these people will wait 2 to 3 hours just to be seen.  They are very patient and grateful people.  

Story of the Day - Today, I had a patient that we took care of that told me that he got a job over in Alaska.  He said that he will be doing construction and he's really excited to go and work and be able to support his family.  We were talking about this new and exciting change in his life.  He's never been outside of Tonga and this is a huge life change for him and his family.  He told me that they had to sell everything just to get plane tickets to take their family to Alaska.  Talk about amazing!  They are giving up everything that they have here in Tonga to try to make a better life for themselves and their kids.  They are going on faith, love, and the clothes on their backs.  What amazing people!  He said that once he is in Alaska, he will work hard and try to send support for the rest of his extended family.  That's what a lot of the Tongan people will do.  In fact, I think the majority of the income for the families here in Tonga come from family that live in America, New Zealand, or Australia.  This was an amazing guy who is trying his best to support and do his part for his family.

We mentioned lots of bugs everywhere.  Today, Heidi found a millipede in our washing machine.  We have lots of friends that love to live with us.  Braden is becoming quite the cockroach killer.  We see tons of those each night.  I think it's great for the kids!  It's not any big deal to see tons of bugs everywhere now.   I think in America, we sometimes are too spoiled.  We don't realize that a lot of the world live among the rest of God's creation.  Not that we want to do that long term, I'm just saying.  It's good for them to experience it to appreciate what we do have.  I do think that we are totally spoiled in America though.  These people have nothing, but you hear them laughing all the time.  Good lesson for the rest of us.  Family is where it is at.  Don't sweat the small stuff.  Be happy!