rain rain...go away...come again again another day

this is what we had for Paul's birthday. rain. we are in rainy season now. this area of the world gets about 88 inches a year. but when it rains, it means it here so there is a lot accomplished in one day...you may have heard of the flooding in surrounding cities...we are fortunate to live on a mountain...away from all the "weather"...this picture is our front yard...under water for a bit while it rains and then it seeps down rather quickly

Yeah! Paul is 4!

We had a great day of celebrating Paul's birthday! he helped get ready for his party. he partied with his 8 little friends for 3 hours and then Jan and Edith and family went with us to eat at Papa Ron's Pizza for supper...a new American Resturant here in town...good times and playing hard! 4 is a great age for Paul. He sees a lot of passion in life...so much energy and so much going on in his little head. he seems to be pretty smart as he tries to keep up with a brother in Kindergarten! he can "read" and he can count to 30! he has empathy towards people and wants everyone to get along...he also has a strong opinion and it's hard to let go of that but he is doing great here in indo...he loves to learn the language and the neighbors are even teaching him Javanese...he can count to 10 already...beyond us! and he is good at communicating with people who don't know what he is saying...i think he will thrive in this culture...we love having paul in our family cuz he is quick to bring a smile to our faces...

Paul wanted balloons....

so he has learned to blow them up on his own...he is really good and so we all go to him now for help...even gavin and greg!

Paul's 4th birthday cake!

race car top view

this cake even tasted good! i found my betty crocker cake mix in yogya to make a real tasting cake! indonesian cake has much to be desired...paul and hazel helped me decorate and make the colors of frosting...thanks to chrissy who provided the frosting from good ol america!!!!!!!!!!

lighting the candles...again...and again...and one more time

yes...four times we had to light the candles cuz we had some eager beavers in the crowd who just couldn't wait for paul to blow them out...it was pretty funny...all the reactions that were going around the table...3 year olds are just too funny!

played a little foosball on our kitchen table

this game always gets them light headed from all the blowing. the trick of the game is to keep the ball on the table and just blow the ball around to other teammates, but you don't want the ball to fall off in your area...we even added two balls to keep the interest level high...

the 3 and 4 year old boys

super hero city! we had good fun dressing up and changing costumes. thankfully we keep a bin of dress up clothes for rainy days! the gun paul has is a birthday gift from a friend...it's already been broken and fixed 3 times! (one day later :D)

the 3 year old girls

dress up is their number one thing to do...doesn't matter who's clothes or what size...they love hazel's clothes...real ones and pretend ones...

the kids

it wasn't too hard to get them to stand here and look at the camera...they must be at the age that they love posing!

Pinata

since it was raining...we had to do the pinata INSIDE...good times though...instead of hitting it with a stick...they got to punch the car (that paul and gavin made and painted ) and then after it was opened...Greg just stood on the couch and shook the thing till all the candy was out...it was a mad dash to get all the candy...sooo in the end...same outcome!

bamboo extravaganza all done!

just in time for paul's birthday! this was finished on tuesday and paul's birthday was wednesday! everyone loves it! many great memories will be had here...i'm positive!

looking in...bamboo extravaganza

what fun is to be had in here...a hammock...a hiding place under the slide that sits like a little table for them to draw or eat at...access to the slide or the upstairs from the main entrance...

the other side of bamboo extravaganza

rockwall, swings, monkey bars that are too tall for them to cross at this point :D

Pimbantu kami

Ini Ibu Yanti dan Ibu Wasti. Kami suka sekali mereka bantu di sini. mereka tidak mau synum dengan gigi. Kedua Ibu berdiri kira-kira 5'.

2 Corinthians 12:9

My grace is enough for you. When you are weak, my power is made perfect in you.

Aunt Mary...Kindergarten Teacher

this is Gavin's favorite kindergarten teacher! she does a great job and has patience and compassion for her room of 7 boys! if anyone wants to come teach at this school next year...they are recruiting now! go to the mountainviewinternationalschool.com website and see what is available...i know early elementary is there...you could come and be gavin's teacher!!!! and then paul...and then hazel! what could be better??? :D

Hockey Tournament

this is the winning team! you see gavin here (second from the left)with his gloves on...he takes his goalie position very seriously...especially cuz aunt melody and uncle todd just gave him the gloves! after 3 days of games, they came in 1st. that means they played 3 games...each 15 min. long...and they only played against the other K-1 team. but still, they came in FIRST PLACE!!!! one day they had a score of 5-0!

Hockey Playing

they do pretty good being Kinder and 1st graders...they try to have "game plans" and everything. no coach...it's all done from them! they are not as aggressive as one might think...being all boys and only one girl... cuz there is only one little girl total from both grades! but i think they are pretty good boys and enjoy the fact of "playing a game"

neighbors toys

by the look on her face you wouldn't know it...but she loves this thing! (and paul too...) the neighbors let hazel have whatever she wants! she comes home driving different vehicles all the time! they love seeing her happy and enjoying their things. this double seated trike is held together with wire and is all falling apart...but it seems to be a favorite with the kids in the community...hence...the falling apart! i love how indonesians are sooo resourceful!

Soccer, soccer, soccer

Greg has been enjoying some good times on the field again. every tuesday he gets out their on this big grassy field, in his uniform, and plays it up with the indonesians. they really like greg coming and playing with them. i think he is in his element here! on fridays, our lang. school has started playing soccer on the basketball court there at the school and on saturday mornings, he is playing indoor with some other ex. pats...good times. he always comes away soaked...either by rain or by sweat! the kids like to go to cheer him on and play with the other kids that come. as you can see from the shot...our camera doesn't do well in the "full" action shots! he is just so fast that i can't capture him!

could i vent a minute???

I'm bummed at the moment...i have 2 pairs of shoes here (ok...i have 3 but i never wear the 3rd one)...one chaco and one flip flop...(that I bought at the surf shop in the bigger city here). And I haven't been able to find the flip flops...well I see our neighbor lady is wearing them...she takes care of our trash. I guess she talked to greg about them but greg says she wasn't wearing them when she was talking about them. She was wearing some old flipflops that he didn't know...so he thought she must have mistaken the flipflops for mine...but she must have been talking about my flipflops that were in her house!!!! so today I see her wearing them and she says to me "greg says that it's ok I found these in the trash...i thought they were still good and didn’t' know why you didn't want them." And I said in my best indo..."oh...i didn't know where those went...maybe the kids threw them in the trash...i didn't put them in the trash" and she is smiling at me the whole time and not getting me...ugh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and it's not so much that she can't have the shoes...she can! I CAN buy new shoes much easier than she can...but it's the reputation that I will have here in the neighborhood of throwing things away that are perfectly good and I don't care about money! But I guess I can't explain that! because we do have so much more than anyone in our neighborhood...it's a hard balance...because this is a community of people that are knit tightly together, they know our business (almost better than we do sometimes!) and reputation is a hard thing to give and take with people...yeah??? ugh...i want easy communication!

and then just before that gavin had a hockey tourney at school...but Kinder was only 15 min. long and greg had made us a little late to where we would have to walk fast to get there...well I had asked our neighbor girl earlier in the day if she wanted to go with us...and at the last min...her grandma decided she wanted to come (she had never been to the school before) and so we said "sure!"...but I told her we had to hurry and i was kind of blunt (you know...being american)...hurry is not a word in the indo language as far as action goes...so greg had to go on with the boys and I had to stay and walk like a turtle with her. We only got to see half the game...and it was so important for Gavin that i was there...but it is sooo important that i show respect to my community...it was a frustrating time...and then walking back was just the same...i mean...really...i can slow down but this is like "I have nothing to do today...so I am just going to count all the trees on the way!" I am so frustrated! ....and it's just cultural...i can't really do anything!!!!!!!!!!!! But I am a torn American today! I want it NOW and I want it FAST! speaking of tree watching...as i walked to school this morning...i noticed the amount of large spiders in their webs...i have been looking and haven't seen too many...but this must be the season...they are everywhere! and greg is always down playing my statements "they are larger than your hand" but after i showed him my finds in the trees today...he too wants to take pictures and show how they are even larger than his hands! gavin and paul say "go closer...go closer...i want to see!" and so we do...and then we get a little closer and they have both had enough...they are afraid the spiders will jump on them and then go into their mouths ( i just happened to tell them we eat about 8 or so spiders in our life time!) and yeah...i am not kidding...we saw more than 30 of them on our little mile jaunt to school

Ok...on to other things...we nearly blew up our house last night cooking supper...the cord that plugs in the stove had melted to the stove and had wires exposed...it shocked me when I went to turn it off and all the electricity went out in the house! We found the source and now we are thankful that it did not cause a fire!

We don't have a hot water heater that works...but then again...who does here? It's so frustrating to "Think" you are going to take a hot shower and it gets a little warm and you put the soap in your hair but then you have to rinse and it all goes cold on you and you aren't even half done! So it's just funny at times...nothing goes as planned here...why is that? and then you have someone come to fix it...and of course...it works! grrrr....

we got a call from the our bank in the states saying that our debit card will no longer work here...thank you!

Gavin has another ear infection...and a big cold sore on his lip...looks like 3 on top of another! Yidda! He lets me put that cold sore stuff on them though...no pain no gain...right? does anyone have good "natural" cures for ear infections???? he is allergic to mold...and where do we live? yeah...it doesn't help his state of "being"...poor guy...he needs something other than the norm though...it just isn't working

Paul is our healthiest kid and member of the family...he hasn't even been sick the whole time we have been here that i can recall!!! incredible! maybe all the thinking that he does about super heroes really wears off on him for the better!

Hazel...i put her on flagyl today...scary but I did it...she has had the big D for nearly one month so we needed to do something...she most likely has an amoeba (we didn't take a stool sample cuz it always comes back neg anyway...and she didn't even see a dr...it's all hearsay around here and do any of you know how to convert 7.5mg into ml??? yeah...now we know that it is 3cc...go figure! we had to figure that out on our own but good thing you know you are talking to some smart people here!) but she already seems better and it's the first day! She hasn't said "my tummy hurts" once...tonight will be the test...seems when she lays down for bed...she finally feels the most. And only one poopa today...still the big D but just one! We are making headway!

and i leave you with a bonus...on our way home from the hockey tourney...we discovered a new road that just was finished and it has a great hill for the kids on their skitters! we have to get video of this...they were soooooo happy! and i was sooooo happy watching them cuz their faces were just lit up! i loved it! so in all our culture shock today...we still had a few moments of grace where we can see that it's not ALL bad!

i have finished "the shack"

i stayed up until 1 am reading the book (did it in 30 hours)...it was amazing but i do have to say there are some theological viewpoints i would have to disagree with...but if you can get past them...you can learn so much about who God really wants to be in our lives! i won't say anything more but if you want to talk about it after you have read it...i would love to! greg is almost half done now...i waiting and waiting to discuss with him!!!!

happy valentine's day

hopefully you find something better than a fried chicken head to eat...and look at! it's the brain that is so delicious...

The Shack by William P. Young

This is a new book out...at least it is over here :D and it is amazing and life transforming. Eugene Peterson says "this book has the potential to do for our generation what John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress did for his. it's that good!"

so i am just saying "it's worth reading"

just for laughs

we have to sometimes resort to art for making our fun...these next photos give reason to just laugh out loud! gavin gets in some great shots!

i love it when

you take these photos and the person sitting next to you looks totally normal. makes it look like we have some stressed out kids!

self portrait

he loves this feature on the mac and mari would bring hers over when she watched the kids and we have some great belly laughs from this stuff! she would leave paul with it alone and he would take all these shots of himself...so that is why we call this one "self portrait"

do you see her?

yes...it's hazel...just another laugh!

gavin

maybe a future soccer goalie? he is getting better and better at sepak bola (soccer). we go and watch his dad play almost every week. he likes to learn by watching as well. it's funny to me that this all comes so naturally to him because sports really don't come so naturally to myself. i like to play...but it has to be a good time ;) probably because i'm not a "natural"...but it gives me great joy to see the kids being courageous and having fun all at the same time!

hazel

she rounds the corners nearly as fast as her brothers! she got this new pink helmet for her birthday cuz when we are out driving, she is always saying "pink helmet! pink car! pink motorcycle! pink truck!" so many vehicles are pink here! so her aunt melody and uncle todd (aka grandma and grandpa from indonesia) knew just what she needed :)... paul...he is waiting for his birthday to receive his...little do the boys know...they are all getting helmets for their birthdays...it's the "fair game". but here is a story of how much in love hazel is with todd. we sit in church which has stadium seating...she can see everyone. and todd now has learned he must sit close cuz she will start calling his name out...wanting to go see him and if she can't get to him...we end up having to take her out cuz she gets so upset she can't sit on his lap. it's fun to see that they too are making good relationships here!

paul

riding is getting more serious. faster. louder. at least we do not have more accidents. it's a good time. just watch your ankles! paul is getting really good at rounding the corners without slowing too much. and he feels even more dangerous when he wears a helmet.

she loves on him...

even when paul says "ewww gross...girl germs!" and he pretends not to like her hugs and kisses...you would know he secretly loves them if you could see the smirk on his face!

paul

when he is not being a super hero...he is pretty mischeivious (how do you spell that word) and he loves life...just thought i would update with his great little smile here...he is happy to have us around this week...as we have a 6 day break from school...so we are catching up on giggles and games and fun new places to walk to.

greg and paul

modeling the "slingdong" --a great way to tote most anything! paul loves this as you can tell

downpours

the slide and more

i believe this is an updated version of the whole thing....not yet done...of course...but we just want to keep you up with the fun process. we decided to keep the big poles you see in front...even though we aren't using them as a rope ladder anymore...the boys like to use them as fireman poles! the whole thing will be painted soon too...a nice jungle green...to blend in...right?

hammocks

people need rest...so we are offering rest in this bamboo extravaganza...they are pretty good actors huh? when do kids rest? ours only rest when they are PUT to bed!!! but maybe some indonesian neighbors will teach our kids the value of REST...

Rock wall

kids have a need to climb (at least ours do!)...we are offering that here...this whole structure is all about climbing!

grass

yeah for grass!!!! ...notice the size of grass pieces...interesting huh? but we have reports from many that it grows just fine...there is enough humidity to keep it growing! this makes such a difference in the look of the backyard...and will make such a difference for the amount of mud in the house and on our bodies!

Who's brother is this?

oh so great! i had to post this for all to see! this would be brother clinton p! he has a new job in des moines and this is one of the perks :D keep up the good work! love you!

because of the flu

i have had a little down time...and i have been at the computer cuz it's hard to lay in bed all day for me. so you will notice that i have updated with so many pictures! yeah for a good internet connection yesterday! tonight i was trying again but it's taking way too long to download pictures. rain is coming in... got a few in though...

hope you fellow readers enjoy...let us know if you are new to our site or have an email that we don't know about. soon our pr letters will all be electronic and we want to include as many as we can! just respond to this with your address and we can give you ours!

blessings...

phase....#34???

here is the latest on the bamboo extravaganza!!!!...actually it looks even better than this now cuz just today the rock wall was added...as this thing is being built...it just keeps growing and growing...but we are grateful we (actually the copeland family made this possible for the kids :) can build this cuz just today the little preschool across the street put up protection around their gate so no one can go in anymore unless you are a member of the preschool. this has come to the neighborhood just in time! everyone will be in our yard! i don't know if you remember pictures of when we first moved in...you can trace back maybe??? and see the difference in the backyard already...but on tues we will get grass and the whole thing "should" be done in one week...we do have to remember we are in indonesia and time is not of the essence! we will get better pics when it's done...to be continued

now that she is two

hazel....
-has had her first hair cut...a nice "bob"
-talks pretty well...more and more every day...and if we can't understand her...we chalk it up to her "indonesian"
-screams a lot at the top of her lungs...be it for happy thoughts, mad thoughts, sad thoughts, silliness, tantrums, what have you...the girl is just loud! and an all tile house doesn't help!
-she makes us all belly laugh every night at the supper table with something...her expressions are huge...will she be a drama queen...???? no doubt
-she loves seeing people and waving or connecting to people she doesn't know...and people love that here. if she does not care to say hello...they also know that as she doesn't hide her emotions!
-she loves to be outside, playing with the puppies or the kitty, or painting her nails, carrying a backpack (like gavin), or a purse, and wearing girly shoes while going for a walk, but she doesn't wear shoes to "wear" shoes...only for fun!
-picks on her brothers and then turns to us so innocently...clint...don't say a word!
-when the brothers pick back...she is pretty tough...as she screams!!!!!
-she loves to swing and swing--- higher and higher on her new swing set!
-she is a joy and brightens our lives...i can't wait to see what's in store for little hazel grace!

Princess Hazel's 2nd birthday party

she was in her glory! the day was hot and many people came including our OC family of auntie's and uncles and many friends who just like hanging out with her from the community...quite a mixed bunch! we played games (some of which included water to cool off!) and then had 100 donuts leave the yard! quite the turn out for a two year old!

Mari and Hazel

this is mari, the gal who has been taking care of our kids while we were in language school. what a blessing she has been! she will be leaving us though next week. i can't believe we have come to four months already! she has helped the kids adjust in a more steady, calm way! thanks God for giving us Mari when we didn't even know we needed her! now the kids will adjust to our house helper who they already really like. i do not foresee any problems there...language is a barrier but indonesians just give kids whatever they want to keep them happy. and paul and hazel seem to communicate just fine what they want...and...we are only in school for 2 hours a day now...rather than 4. but mari's tender heart will be missed in our family and the community of ex-pats.

Pin the tale on the donkey

or i mean... kitty... hazel is more familiar with "kitty" than with "donkey". good thing her dad can just draw anything she wants :D

Pinata's in Indonesia?

yes! everyone loves a chance at hitting a box of candy! it is not the custom here but the kids had a great time at this one...and gavin was the one to crack it! we made it a little too strong...it wouldn't break...even after everyone had a chance...so greg had to put a knife to it to make it go easier :D

hazel and her queen friends

yes...here in indo you really dress up when you go to a party and these girls know how to do it! so cute! and hazel was so proud to have everyone come over to see HER! (like it was different from any other time?)

mom and gavin

why the long face? he just likes to practice making faces for pictures these days. that's all. i thought we could have a nice picture together...happy moment in the day and he still wants to be "practicing!" oh...well...gotta love all the stages!

brothers

who is who? what are they doing? can they be helped? or will their faces stay like that?

Greg and Uncle Todd

the best thing for two men...racing around a track at high speed in a full suit and helmet. greg and todd had good times competing until todd's car went on the kapoot...it wouldn't go high speed anymore...so greg won...hands down..but don't you like the outfits! so hot!!!!!!!

700 stair waterfall

we traveled to this waterfall. it has 700 stairs down...and that means 700 back up! this is not the first thing you should do to start working out! but we made it! even paul made it all the way down and all the way up except for the last 100 stairs. i think it helped that we brought their friends along and they all spurred one another on...that is what good friends do! :D

dinasaurs!

it's fun to see excitement in our kids eyes! we were on a little jurastic park ride. this amusement park we went to cost a whole 2.50 to enter and we could ride on everything for free. good times!

race cars...

you don't even have to have a license to drive this...anyone can do it! even hazel