big smiles

for uncle mike and aunt carrie...thanks guys!
we love you too!

hazel being hazel

this is a good example of hazel's personality. the white tile represents her bedroom. the brown tile represents the dining room. she is not allowed to come out of her bedroom after she is put to bed. so she inches herself up to the line and sits there, cries there, lays there. last night she fell asleep there...but we are catching it on photo that she is "indeed" across the line! :D just kidding...but the poor thing slept here until about 11pm...then she went back in her bed. you can only protest soooo long! :D

Laris Aseri Hotel Pool

3 families, ours included, enjoyed the first day of spring break at our local pool. it's a great resort here in town and only costs $1.50 to go swim for the day :D and we purchased a swim cap here for gavin so hopefully now with the ear plugs and cap...we can all enjoy a swim without an ear infection afterwards :D yeah for that cuz our family has missed the water!

posers

it was misting...not truly raining yet...the 3 wanted to get "all soakin' wet" but the jungle rains never did come yesterday...it's kind of funny here...culturally it's much worse to be standing out in this "mist" than actually standing in the pouring rain...if greg is to play soccer and it's misting...they might just call off the game...but if it's raining so hard you can hardly see...they keep playing...and this hard rain usually happens every tuesday when he plays...

our last meal for 6 months

we had the Horlings over for our last times together for 6 months...they are headed back to grand rapids, MI to spend time on furlough (they have almost arrived back in the states???)

painted palms

we are starting to cover more of our walls with murals...this is our bathroom palm tree...it's a hallway really between the kitchen and the boys room...that has a sink and counter...and a silly gavin who couldn't resist making faces at me...this one is all greg...

batik

this is our areas traditional colors...browns, yellows, oranges, white and black and a little blue...every island (or people group) has their own colors for their batik...

green...

we were on the porch yesterday waiting for the rain to come and noticed how bright this plant was and the smell in the air was like that smell in Iowa just before it rains...nice and clean! we usually don't have that smell along with the rain here so it was really refreshing...

Sate

our pimbantu was cooking sate...chicken on a stick...and it became the attraction of the afternoon for about an hour or so...a tiny little grill with charcoal and bensin...then we eat with peanut sauce...oh so good!

gavin

paul

hazel

hotwheels

the kids have two new little tracks...one has a dinosaur that hides a car and after the fast car comes by...the one hiding in the mouth of the dinosaur comes along behind...kind of like those police car chases we so miss in LA...and then the other one does the famous loop and flying of the car. once again...good times!

iguana

we were taking a break at the school pavillion and we looked up and saw this big green guy. i wasn't able to get too close before he ran up the tree. then he was even harder to spot on the tree cuz he is the same color as the leaves. but just had to show you one more impressive little jungle guy.

Work day at the International School

last friday was a good outreach day at the school. h.s. kids went to Malang...an area of 99% cousin and were able to witness and be in with a school there. they also went to Jogya and had a good day of cleaning up a big yard...pulling weeds all day :D and some stayed in Salatiga and painted a retirement house. while others even stayed at the school and hosted "compassion international" and this is where we came in. i helped with the H.S. and greg helped with the Jr. Highers. we taught them english in the morning and then played games in the afternoon. the whole day and weekend was successful for all involved and i am so encouraged that the school is able to do things like this now. when we were here before this sort of thing was not allowed. compassion international has 170 kids here in Salatiga. we had a good time getting to know each other by playing a lot of english games and trying to talk in small groups and understanding their world a little bit more. all who came this day were believers.

the new fad

here is our neighbor boy sporting the new fad for the month. the boys make these stilts out of bamboo and then walk around on them...sometimes getting good at just one stilt too :D good times for everyone who is doing it and for those watching...and of course gavin and paul want them :D

a few random thoughts

paul was being extra naughty to his older brother while playing games on the computer and after many attempts to solve the issue, i resorted to a spanking. instead of spanking him on his bum-bum, i missed and got his lower back. he said to me while crying, "mom, you almost broke my heart!"

i was going to potty train hazel today...the one day deal...but again...she has the big D...so it would not be a pleasant experience for any of us. but i feel bad for her as she doesn't quite know what to do with herself when she feels so bad. if only the neighbors would stop feeding her...i think our problems might be solved...

i know i am getting used to things here when i am just brushing ants off my food, knocking them out of my toothbrush before i brush, and accepting them crawling on the floor (instead of trying to kill all of them). last night i noticed as we sat and talked there was a tile 30cm x 30cm...and on that tile were 3 different sizes of ants. what are they doing???

gavin is excited about a dodgeball tournament that HE INSISTS is happening at school. every day he goes to school KNOWING that today is the day it will begin. i keep waiting myself cuz he is into this...unfortunately, tomorrow is his last day of school. then they get a 10 day spring break. so it won't be happening any time soon. i wish that our lang. school break (going on this week) would happen at the same time as the international school (next week)...it keeps us from going anywhere...but maybe that is ok too...seems we are quite busy the way it is staying right here :D and catching our breath.

we have started to paint a mural in the boys room. it's a jungle and the boys are so excited and not afraid to give their "honest" opinions of our work. gavin said, "mom...the monkey's head is lopsided." or to his dad, "is that ALL you are going to do there?" he is quite the artist critic. but he wakes up every morning in hopes that we have done SOMETHING new on the walls. he loves it...but hazel will come in and exclaim "wow!" jump and turn "woah!" jump and turn "cool!"

today we purchased a parrot clock to go in the boys room. when we lived in america we had to do this same thing and have just now gotten around to installing the old idea again. paul loves to wake at the crack of dawn and here the crack starts about 4:30 am...with the mosque going off. he can't help but get up and want to play....with someone... but we can't help but be annoyed with this. so we are going to give the clock game another try. he can't come out until the bird says 6:30. or like i told him, "you can't come out until you can clearly see the bird." but that is much earlier than 6:30...but much later than 4:30!

we picked out fabric today for little "smoks" to be made for the kids to where at school in greg's art classes. (so they don't get paint on themselves) we picked army looking one for the boys and a pink pasley, glittery one for the girls. i think it will give attitude in the classroom! :D

when the kids from the neighborhood are here to play...they have a routine now to have a drink of water from our "good water tank" just before they leave. after they ask for the water...they go home. this is kind of the custom here when at a party...you wait and when the hostess gives you a little box of "goodies" everyone leaves...immediately... cuz they want to run home and see what is inside cuz it would be rude to open it in front of everyone. so they are used to getting something before they leave...i'm glad they have settled on water for now :D...once in awhile our pimbantu will make some donuts or cookies and they love that...30 donuts gone in less time than i can hand them out! it's fun to have the kids playing games and seeing our kids enjoying it more and more.

since it's rainy season...everything seems a little damp. i wonder if you were sitting by me...if you would think that i smell? i don't feel like i smell but i hope i am not just getting used to "the smells" here...

anything wrong with this picture?

i have to laugh at this one. greg rides this bike around without a seat. the funny part is that he rides like there is still a seat...i tried it and it's so hard and too big of a work out for my little legs! the problem here is that when he bought the bike here, brand new, the model is a little small for his tall body...which most things in the country are for mr. greg...so he just pushed the seat up high...but that made it bend back and eventually broke off...he went again to the bike shop and bought a new, longer post to hold up his seat...the same thing happened! so now he just rides it like this and i think it's pretty halarious! oh...and you might wonder about the towel but that is where we put kids to ride around. without the seat he can only ride with one child and i take the other two on my bike. we will be thankful when we get a car...only one more month to go!

in this photo is a huge,

no, gynormous spider!! and the reason i show you this is because you can't even see him really until you are right up to him and his web! these guys are everywhere and while i know they do good with eating the insects that bite and all...i just can't get over their jungle size! he is looking white in the photo, pretty much smack in the middle (and a little up)

here is a better shot

this guy is bigger than Greg's hand...this was as close as i dared to get and paul wasn't helping as he kept saying "mom! don't! he's going to get you! he is going to jump on you!"...we could see his big ol mouth chewing or gumming or something...a little unnerving for me...but the most disturbing thing for me is that we have seen many many spiders out lately and then one morning we are walking and NONE...they all disappeared! where did they all go? and do they still see me??? i don't like it. but...we just have to keep going...

my prayer group

these are the ladies who hold me up each week here...and thankfully many of you reading this blog. we have grown to be very open in a short amount of time and i am blessed to have them call me a friend! from left to right...Edith, Jewel, Julie, and myself...we just went out to eat last night because Jewel will be going back to the states for 6 months...that means we say good-bye for a time. and Julie will be leaving us for good in Sept. because she will go into the tribe. all of our kids are great friends but i am realizing that everything here is just temporary...we have temporary friends, temporary happiness, temporary sadness, temporary homes...and my good good friend Chrissy reminded me today of Psalm 66...we have temporary pain in life to refine us and make us more like the one we are living for...and so i am just writing this little bit to say that i am so thankful that He has preserved our lives and kept our feet from slipping...He has provided so much and continues to come near the instant i need him and for this i have much to give thanks.

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.