In response to questions from the comments:
The little (and it is very little) red door in the backyard goes into the neighbor's backyard. It's padlocked for security reasons.
I could line the walls with potted plants - that would be very like the locals do - but would be more likely done in the FRONT yard where visitors and passers-by could see them. We're hoping the vines that are growing on the wall grow down lower - Josh is trying to train them that way. I also have access to some morning-glory like plants with purple flowers and a vine that grows with nice coverage - so I may put some in pots and train them to go up those walls as well.
A down-side to this house is that there is no "good view". All of the views are less than desirable (unless you don't look out the windows)! :) That's part of why I put the curtains up. The windows are tinted and you can only see IN from outside when the light is just right, but everything looks better through a gauzy curtain! :)
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Do you remember your first time?
The occasion for this picture was that the boys had saved enough allowance money and for the FIRST TIME EVER bought something ALL BY THEMSELVES with their OWN MONEY!! Spencer chose an army set complete with a hard hat and AK-47 and Mitchell chose a bow & arrow/sword set. It was fun and interesting to watch them choose - there was not a lot of indecision, nor did they just grab the first thing they saw. They also kind of decided together. As I expected, the bow has already broken but that's what you get when you spend what they did!! Good experience!
One of the joys of moving - playing with the boxes! The kids planted the flag - claiming part of our back yard (specifically the fridge box) for their "homeland" of Wisconsin!!
Saying goodbye - Julia and Afa have become close friends this past year. Afa's mom is a widow from one of the tribes that we work in. When we needed a helper for our time filling in at the mission guest facility, we hired her. She had not often been out from interior and it was quite the experience for her. She was very homesick though and is glad to be going home this weekend. It has been a joy to watch Julia and Afa playing together, communicating in both English and the local language as they taught each other. Afa learned to count to 20 in English and learned other various phrases. Julia learned songs and phrases in the local language from Afa as well. Afa is actually twice Julia's age but they're the same height. :)
Our New Home
Good morning! Many of you have been asking and now I finally have pictures to share of our new home. It's amazing what some kitchen cupboards, a paint job and curtains can accomplish! It was a long haul sewing all the curtains as the windows are all tall and the fabric slippery but it was worth it! It's probably good that it took almost 8 weeks to complete things - it kind of grossed me out at first to think about moving in here - but now it's "ours" and feels just fine!! (I think I felt that way before moving into the home we owned in West Allis too...) Best of all - all of the doorframes are now higher and Josh can walk through them all without hitting his head!!
Here's the tour: let's start at the heart of our home - the kitchen (and dining room)! The pretty lattices on the windows are actually security bars. All the windows have them. (They were previously pink, blue and copper with touches of gold - we had them painted plain white.) You saw photos in a previous blog of the kitchen before, here's the after! This room was previously 2 very small, very dark rooms. We had them knock down the walls to open it up. I chose the yellow paint and light colors of wood and tile to brighten it up cause it only has one partially covered window. During the day the door (which is to the right of the stove) is mostly open as well, letting in light. The door goes to the back yard.
Here are Josh and Julia enjoying our back yard - against the wall to the left are the clothes lines. To the right the windows are Josh's office (which is 2 meters wide and 6 meters long but perfect for what he needs!). We have NO lawn - just a cement courtyard and backyard.
This is the other view of the backyard - the washer is in the back (I got an automatic this time - it's backbreaking to use the 2-tub washers, lifting wet laundry in and out of the tub and spinner). The movable drying rack is nice for rainy days. The orange thing is a rainwater reservoir - we use rainwater to supplement city water as sometimes water can be salty or unavailable. We don't drink city/rain water but use it for everything else.
Here's Mitchell in the boy's room. They love their new bunk beds!
This is the bathroom (shower and toilet to the left) that we moved the door from the kitchen to the dining room. It previously only had a "squattie" toilet and a "bok mandi". The floors in the bathroom were replaced with light-colored rough surface tile to minimize slipping (to my huge relief as they were previously really dark and made the tiny rooms even darker and harder to see if they were clean!).
And this is the "ruang tamu" or sitting room that is traditional in local homes. We ended up putting toys in that room as well as it is the biggest room in the whole house. The front door was my "thing" with this house - previously it was the same color as the pink mat you see in the bottom left corner of the picture - now a beautiful shade of red. I always wanted a red door! (The bonus was that the neighbors offered unsolicited approval - they said it was the perfect shade of red - a brighter color would have been, in their opinion, "too Chinese". Whatever...but glad they approve!) We bought the furniture in this room (and a number of the other rooms) from a couple that had to leave the field for health reasons. The other furniture we had locally built from photos I got off the internet. Most of it is nice and sturdy but unfortunately our dining room chairs ended up uncomfortable! So if you come for dinner - sorry! We don't mean to rush you off with bad seating!
Anyway, that's our new place. We're thankful to have a place to call home for the next year or two - and it's finally "ours" as the homes we've lived in the past 2 years have been someone else's. Location-wise it's great, too. You may notice I didn't post photos of the front of our home - that's for security purposes - but if you want to see it, just let me know and I'll send you a shot.
Here's the tour: let's start at the heart of our home - the kitchen (and dining room)! The pretty lattices on the windows are actually security bars. All the windows have them. (They were previously pink, blue and copper with touches of gold - we had them painted plain white.) You saw photos in a previous blog of the kitchen before, here's the after! This room was previously 2 very small, very dark rooms. We had them knock down the walls to open it up. I chose the yellow paint and light colors of wood and tile to brighten it up cause it only has one partially covered window. During the day the door (which is to the right of the stove) is mostly open as well, letting in light. The door goes to the back yard.
Here are Josh and Julia enjoying our back yard - against the wall to the left are the clothes lines. To the right the windows are Josh's office (which is 2 meters wide and 6 meters long but perfect for what he needs!). We have NO lawn - just a cement courtyard and backyard.
This is the other view of the backyard - the washer is in the back (I got an automatic this time - it's backbreaking to use the 2-tub washers, lifting wet laundry in and out of the tub and spinner). The movable drying rack is nice for rainy days. The orange thing is a rainwater reservoir - we use rainwater to supplement city water as sometimes water can be salty or unavailable. We don't drink city/rain water but use it for everything else.
Here's Mitchell in the boy's room. They love their new bunk beds!
This is the bathroom (shower and toilet to the left) that we moved the door from the kitchen to the dining room. It previously only had a "squattie" toilet and a "bok mandi". The floors in the bathroom were replaced with light-colored rough surface tile to minimize slipping (to my huge relief as they were previously really dark and made the tiny rooms even darker and harder to see if they were clean!).
The 2 previous shots are from one of the other (VERY TINY) bathrooms - the sink is 12"x 17" - but it FITS!! We had to search long and hard to find sinks small enough! The shower drains into the drain under the sink. The toilet is up on the "pedestal" where the squattie was previously. Bathrooms here are generally "wet bathrooms" as they flush the squatties with buckets of water and it goes everywhere - same with bathing with a bok mandi - you pour dippers of water over your head and it all drains into a central drain. So no bath mats! They'd be soaked all the time. The bath mats go OUTSIDE the bathroom door so you can dry your feet and not slip on the tile floors OUTSIDE the bathroom.
And this is the "ruang tamu" or sitting room that is traditional in local homes. We ended up putting toys in that room as well as it is the biggest room in the whole house. The front door was my "thing" with this house - previously it was the same color as the pink mat you see in the bottom left corner of the picture - now a beautiful shade of red. I always wanted a red door! (The bonus was that the neighbors offered unsolicited approval - they said it was the perfect shade of red - a brighter color would have been, in their opinion, "too Chinese". Whatever...but glad they approve!) We bought the furniture in this room (and a number of the other rooms) from a couple that had to leave the field for health reasons. The other furniture we had locally built from photos I got off the internet. Most of it is nice and sturdy but unfortunately our dining room chairs ended up uncomfortable! So if you come for dinner - sorry! We don't mean to rush you off with bad seating!Anyway, that's our new place. We're thankful to have a place to call home for the next year or two - and it's finally "ours" as the homes we've lived in the past 2 years have been someone else's. Location-wise it's great, too. You may notice I didn't post photos of the front of our home - that's for security purposes - but if you want to see it, just let me know and I'll send you a shot.
Thanks for your prayers for us in getting this all figured out, and for continuing to pray as we now begin to prepare for the arrival of our daughter. Last night I was able to get some more information about the hospital I am to give birth at - helps me know how to pack the "go bag". Also we have the additional challenge of figuring out paperwork needed to get a US birth certificate, passport and visa for the little one. The down side (which is a little humorous) is that last night we also watched an episode of Mythbusters with the kids so last night when I was SUPPOSED to be sleeping, I ended up dreaming about having the baby in a hospital with the Mythbusters there testing stuff or doing experiments or something... a little disturbing!!
Today is 4 weeks left until my due date. The ladies in my life here say that it looks like the baby has dropped, which explains the additional discomfort. I'm depending greatly on the Lord for stamina for each day. Thanks again for praying!
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
"Cutie" Mark?
The other day Spencer was looking at the beauty mark on the side of Julia's neck, trying to get a rise out of her by telling her she had a "zit". I overheard him and reprimanded him for it - so he changed his tune - and told her it wasn't a zit, it was a "cutie mark". I couldn't help but laugh! She sure IS a cutie!
Julia and Mitchell enjoying storytime with "Miss Judy" - a guest who was with us this month.
New Brothers and Sisters!
We recently enjoyed this humorous (but true) list written by coworkers who recently taught through the Bible chronologically. What was really exciting to us was the fact that a number of people from this tribe BELIEVED as a result of hearing the teaching! THIS is the reason we're here, doing what we do day in and day out - supporting our coworkers living interior, serving with great personal sacrifice so that those people who have not heard about Christ's sacrifice on the cross have the opportunity to do so - and believe! We have new brothers and sisters - and are rejoicing with the angels in heaven!
…you need a bow and arrow rack in the meeting place instead of a hat rack.
…you have to make an announcement that there will be no sorcery taking place during the meeting.
…in spite of your announcement, one of the men sit with a frying pan in front of his face the whole meeting to ward off sorcery.
…they ask if those are bamboo smoking pipes that the Israelites have in their mouths when marching around Jericho (ram's horns)
…they ask if they can have a sleep over in the meeting house and listen to recordings of the teaching all night.
…in a society where no one is the leader, even toddlers yell out before the meeting, 'Everyone sit down and be quiet!"
…one of your most prominent men, interrupts the meeting by asking all three of his wives if they have any mao bark for his beetle nut. It's just not gummy enough with out!
…our believers from the previous evangelistic outreach don't understand it's ok to laugh at funny illustrations from the teacher, and yell at the eager listening 'heathen', "Stop laughing! This is important talk! Satan is blinding your eyes!"
…you have to explain which one is Mary and which one is the angel in the picture.
…asked if even missionaries have sin, they respond confidently, "yep, your sin is disgusting as pig poop." Brutally honest.
“You Know You Are Preaching to the ____ People When…”
…you need a bow and arrow rack in the meeting place instead of a hat rack.
…you have to make an announcement that there will be no sorcery taking place during the meeting.
…in spite of your announcement, one of the men sit with a frying pan in front of his face the whole meeting to ward off sorcery.
…they ask if those are bamboo smoking pipes that the Israelites have in their mouths when marching around Jericho (ram's horns)
…they ask if they can have a sleep over in the meeting house and listen to recordings of the teaching all night.
…in a society where no one is the leader, even toddlers yell out before the meeting, 'Everyone sit down and be quiet!"
…one of your most prominent men, interrupts the meeting by asking all three of his wives if they have any mao bark for his beetle nut. It's just not gummy enough with out!
…our believers from the previous evangelistic outreach don't understand it's ok to laugh at funny illustrations from the teacher, and yell at the eager listening 'heathen', "Stop laughing! This is important talk! Satan is blinding your eyes!"
…you have to explain which one is Mary and which one is the angel in the picture.
…asked if even missionaries have sin, they respond confidently, "yep, your sin is disgusting as pig poop." Brutally honest.
Monday, May 26, 2008
Moving! And baby thoughts....
After 7+ weeks of renovations, we have FINALLY moved to the new house, though we're not ALL THE WAY over yet. Fortunately we don't have to be out of the house until the end of June so we have time. Actually, we hope to be MOSTLY COMPLETELY out by Wednesday sometime. I'm taking things a bit easy after 2 crazy moving days, as well as catching up on paperwork and preparations for the "next big thing".
Actually what prompted me to blog today was something Spencer said: After lunch today I was going to put on a movie for the boys while Josh and I work and Julia naps. Spencer suggested "That Toy Story Movie on the big tape thing" (VHS tape). I couldn't help laughing! We don't own a VHS player anymore since moving here since it wasn't worth bringing and we didn't know how the tapes would hold up with the humidity, etc, but the Mission Facility has a VHS player and people have donated tapes for general use. Anyway, as I write this, my kids are enjoying a movie from "the big tape thing". :)
I'm down to 7 weeks until this baby arrives - can't wait! Sometimes I don't know how I'll last that much longer - she's already SO heavy, but that could just be my age and the heat!! She's moving less, getting cramped in there, I guess. We still don't have a name choice from Spencer (he said, why bother getting my input since you already have a name chosen?) but Julia's sticking with naming the baby "Strawberry girl" and Mitchell likes "Jane".
Last night I did some (more) reading up on labor & delivery and I'm realizing how much the L&D nurses at Froedtert did for me - I won't have that here - at least not in a language I understand well enough! Please pray with me for a nurse/midwife (guess they all are both at my chosen hospital) that I connect with well. I do plan to have a friend who grew up here and is better at the local language around, but she won't be able to be in the room. (You can pray that they let her in too!!) Josh doesn't have a lot of time for reading these days with his big projects in process, but he needs to refresh a lot too, so pray that I'll be able to give him in a nutshell the things I need him to remember during that time frame. It's possible that I'll go really quickly as I did with Julia (1 push total after a really quick labor) but there are no guarantees. Hopefully there are no complications. I realize this is not a disease but a natural process but I've always had Froedtert/Childrens 6 minutes away - and my OBGYN a phone call away - and it was a comfort to know that they could take care of almost any situation! (Not that I wasn't trusting the LORD too - but now He's almost all I've got!) Giving birth in this culture is a lot different than at home, even some basics, so there's a lot to think about!
Please pray with us about our power situation - we arranged for increased power coming into our home as it was extremely minimal and we use more appliances than the average national (including A/C's, fridge, freezer, computers). It was done (so we thought) over a month ago, but now that we're in, it seems like maybe it wasn't done at all (we already paid the guy). We've had breakers go about 10 times in 2 days, and that was with 1 high efficiency A/C, the fridge and lights. Not much, but still too much! Please pray that we can get this taken care of soon - even that it's POSSIBLE - we're not sure if it is. My feeling of well-being health-wise depends on being able to stay cool (90 degrees from 8 AM to 7 PM is not uncommon), and the kids rooms are so hot at night - NO airflow. Wind is uncommon here so moving air is a big necessity.
Once we're more settled in the new house I'll post some "house finished" pictures. We don't have internet there yet but hopefully this week...
THANK YOU SO MUCH for your prayers for us during this difficult and busy time. We appreciate each one of you (and miss you - but we won't go there...)! :)
Actually what prompted me to blog today was something Spencer said: After lunch today I was going to put on a movie for the boys while Josh and I work and Julia naps. Spencer suggested "That Toy Story Movie on the big tape thing" (VHS tape). I couldn't help laughing! We don't own a VHS player anymore since moving here since it wasn't worth bringing and we didn't know how the tapes would hold up with the humidity, etc, but the Mission Facility has a VHS player and people have donated tapes for general use. Anyway, as I write this, my kids are enjoying a movie from "the big tape thing". :)
I'm down to 7 weeks until this baby arrives - can't wait! Sometimes I don't know how I'll last that much longer - she's already SO heavy, but that could just be my age and the heat!! She's moving less, getting cramped in there, I guess. We still don't have a name choice from Spencer (he said, why bother getting my input since you already have a name chosen?) but Julia's sticking with naming the baby "Strawberry girl" and Mitchell likes "Jane".
Last night I did some (more) reading up on labor & delivery and I'm realizing how much the L&D nurses at Froedtert did for me - I won't have that here - at least not in a language I understand well enough! Please pray with me for a nurse/midwife (guess they all are both at my chosen hospital) that I connect with well. I do plan to have a friend who grew up here and is better at the local language around, but she won't be able to be in the room. (You can pray that they let her in too!!) Josh doesn't have a lot of time for reading these days with his big projects in process, but he needs to refresh a lot too, so pray that I'll be able to give him in a nutshell the things I need him to remember during that time frame. It's possible that I'll go really quickly as I did with Julia (1 push total after a really quick labor) but there are no guarantees. Hopefully there are no complications. I realize this is not a disease but a natural process but I've always had Froedtert/Childrens 6 minutes away - and my OBGYN a phone call away - and it was a comfort to know that they could take care of almost any situation! (Not that I wasn't trusting the LORD too - but now He's almost all I've got!) Giving birth in this culture is a lot different than at home, even some basics, so there's a lot to think about!
Please pray with us about our power situation - we arranged for increased power coming into our home as it was extremely minimal and we use more appliances than the average national (including A/C's, fridge, freezer, computers). It was done (so we thought) over a month ago, but now that we're in, it seems like maybe it wasn't done at all (we already paid the guy). We've had breakers go about 10 times in 2 days, and that was with 1 high efficiency A/C, the fridge and lights. Not much, but still too much! Please pray that we can get this taken care of soon - even that it's POSSIBLE - we're not sure if it is. My feeling of well-being health-wise depends on being able to stay cool (90 degrees from 8 AM to 7 PM is not uncommon), and the kids rooms are so hot at night - NO airflow. Wind is uncommon here so moving air is a big necessity.
Once we're more settled in the new house I'll post some "house finished" pictures. We don't have internet there yet but hopefully this week...
THANK YOU SO MUCH for your prayers for us during this difficult and busy time. We appreciate each one of you (and miss you - but we won't go there...)! :)
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Incredible Near-Death Experience
It's a rainy day here. I love the rain. Josh and the boys went outside to watch the clouds roll in before the rain started falling. The breeze was cool and felt wonderful!! My kids are coloring and doing homework, Josh is working in the office and I'm answering all sorts of random questions. ("Is it Easter at America, mommy?" "Which picture do you think I should color?")
We had a couple who just came out of the tribe in for lunch today - we served a big salad as well as "Ayam Cabe Hijau", Chicken seasoned with green chili peppers served with rice. It was just mildly spicy so that the kids could eat it too.
Our friends did some story-telling while we ate together. They work interior and were travelling down a river between villages when (they're not sure why - could have been several factors) the boat tipped and they and 2 tribal guys were thrown out. They're just a bit older then my folks (so middle-aged), and have been here for 20+ years, traversing the river between the villages many times. This time was pretty scary as the wife almost drowned. There are many rapids and the river was pretty high, so it was a miracle that her husband was able to pull her out (she kept coming up under the boat and there wasn't much air under there.) Finally she came up away from the boat and was able to hold onto a log, very weak. Her husband was able to lift her up so her head was above water, and then the force of the water washed him down the river further. She wasn't able to hold on much longer so a tribal guy (who had trapped the boat against some logs to keep it from going down to the next set of rapids) let the boat go, crossed the river to her and helped her up onto the log. The amazing thing (besides the fact that they survived) was that they had packed the boat so well that they didn't lose anything besides their hats! The boat did go down the chute towards the next set of rapids, but somehow ended up getting redirected just before the big rapids and was tangled in some vines, floating upside down. When the boat was righted again, everything was in it. They lost their hats from their heads. They did end up having to wait for a couple of hours on some logs in the middle of the water while they were waiting to be rescued (one of the tribal guys made a raft out of vines and logs and floated down the river looking for the boat). She ended up with heatstroke, and was sick for 2 days throwing up and very weak (probably a combination of both the near-drowning and subsequent heat stroke) in the village they were visiting. Thankfully she did recover her strength to take the return trip (yes, on the same river in the same boat) the 3rd day. No one heard about the accident until they were safely back home. (A good reason to pray for missionaries even if you don't hear from them - you never know what's going on, sometimes don't hear until it's over.)
We are incredibly thankful that the Lord chose to spare our friends last week. They both have been an incredible encouragement to us in the time that we've been here. They head home to the US for their son's graduation from medical school and their daughter's wedding in the coming weeks so pray that in the next few days before they leave that she would regain her strength. She's still experiencing weakness in her arms.
Thanks for praying with us!
We had a couple who just came out of the tribe in for lunch today - we served a big salad as well as "Ayam Cabe Hijau", Chicken seasoned with green chili peppers served with rice. It was just mildly spicy so that the kids could eat it too.
Our friends did some story-telling while we ate together. They work interior and were travelling down a river between villages when (they're not sure why - could have been several factors) the boat tipped and they and 2 tribal guys were thrown out. They're just a bit older then my folks (so middle-aged), and have been here for 20+ years, traversing the river between the villages many times. This time was pretty scary as the wife almost drowned. There are many rapids and the river was pretty high, so it was a miracle that her husband was able to pull her out (she kept coming up under the boat and there wasn't much air under there.) Finally she came up away from the boat and was able to hold onto a log, very weak. Her husband was able to lift her up so her head was above water, and then the force of the water washed him down the river further. She wasn't able to hold on much longer so a tribal guy (who had trapped the boat against some logs to keep it from going down to the next set of rapids) let the boat go, crossed the river to her and helped her up onto the log. The amazing thing (besides the fact that they survived) was that they had packed the boat so well that they didn't lose anything besides their hats! The boat did go down the chute towards the next set of rapids, but somehow ended up getting redirected just before the big rapids and was tangled in some vines, floating upside down. When the boat was righted again, everything was in it. They lost their hats from their heads. They did end up having to wait for a couple of hours on some logs in the middle of the water while they were waiting to be rescued (one of the tribal guys made a raft out of vines and logs and floated down the river looking for the boat). She ended up with heatstroke, and was sick for 2 days throwing up and very weak (probably a combination of both the near-drowning and subsequent heat stroke) in the village they were visiting. Thankfully she did recover her strength to take the return trip (yes, on the same river in the same boat) the 3rd day. No one heard about the accident until they were safely back home. (A good reason to pray for missionaries even if you don't hear from them - you never know what's going on, sometimes don't hear until it's over.)
We are incredibly thankful that the Lord chose to spare our friends last week. They both have been an incredible encouragement to us in the time that we've been here. They head home to the US for their son's graduation from medical school and their daughter's wedding in the coming weeks so pray that in the next few days before they leave that she would regain her strength. She's still experiencing weakness in her arms.
Thanks for praying with us!
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Everyday Lfe
Wow - again it's been over a month since I've posted - need to get back in the habit...
Life goes on here.
In early March we had all of our colleagues in this region in (literally into our home) for some meetings. This required rearranging much furniture for about a week. I co-lead the kids meetings using a terrific Biblical Peacemaking program. We all ate together, fellowshipped together, prayed together and were refreshed together. It was a very busy time and as it was at our house (and the Mission Home facility), I overdid it a bit, and by the last 2 days had to take it easy for health reasons. I'm doing better now, still taking it easier than I'd like to, but would rather be safe than sorry. We turned our dining/living room into the meeting place, and moved our living room furniture into a grouping in the kids toy area for fellowship between and after meetings.
Here's a shot of the whole group - including a number of our national counterparts. Almost 50% of our number were kids!
Easter was not that traditional in our home this year - at least not traditional to ME! We did the Resurrection Eggs with the kids as normal, but since the heat prohibits me from attending services at church these days, we did a service at home with the kids. Spencer remembered that last year we taught him the "He Arose" Easter Hymn (...UP from the grave He arose...), so at his request we sang it again, also teaching it to Mitchell and Julia. I made scalloped potatoes using the last of our "Farmer Sausage" and we had another couple over once they were done with services at church. We did take time that weekend to color eggs and decorate sugar cookies. 
A few weeks ago we got a package in the mail from Women2Day at Elmbrook. It was an exciting event and we had such fun introducing our kids to Chef Boyardee! They'd never heard of it before! Mitchell is holding a cool Crayola product I'VE never heard of that he was particularly excited about. They enjoyed cereal for breakfast the next day (all we can get here - if we're lucky - is Corn Flakes and Rice Krispies). Thanks, ladies! What a bright spot!
Another exciting event at our house lately was Julia getting a new bike - her FIRST! We had borrowed a bike owned by the people whose house we're living in when we first got here and it fit her perfectly, but in the last year Julia has shot up incredibly and 2 weeks ago, when we took the kids to a development that's coming up (nice paved roads, no traffic) to ride bikes, it became very apparent that she was WAY too big for the borrowed bike. We took a trip as a family to the bike shop downtown and chose a pink strawberry bike for our dear daughter. It's an 18 inch, but won't be that big for her too much longer! Mitchell's 18 inch is getting too small for him, so we'll have to upsize his soon too!
Some of you may have heard that we've found a house to rent. We will have to move out of the house we're currently living by mid-June at the latest. We're glad to have found a house in the same neighborhood - 2 doors down, in fact. Here you come to an agreement on your "contract" up front - in our case we agreed to rent the place for 3 years (partially to get a better price, partially because though some of that time we're hoping to spend at home in the US, hopefully there will be another family who needs housing during that time and will house sit for us). Then usually you pay all of your rent up front (the entire 3 years), and then you are responsible for any and all remodelling, painting and whatever else needs to be done to the house to make it livable - you get it "as is". We have a big job going on in our "new house" - we have to raise the kitchen counters to make them usable - the old ones were just a bit higher than knee-level on me. 
Here's a shot of the kitchen - we weren't quick enough to get a good "before" shot.
Here's a shot of the kitchen - we weren't quick enough to get a good "before" shot.
We also have to switch out the facilities in the bathrooms to make the "squatty potties" and "bak mandis" into toilets and showers. The one shown here is basically the entire room - so even with the renovations, it's going to be TIGHT!!! No huge vanity in here! (In case you didn't know - the bak mandi holds water and the dipper you see floating in it is used both to pour water over your head to "shower" as well as to flush the "toilet". This one obviously hasn't been cleaned in a while as you see sediment on the bottom.)
THIS bathroom will be our "family bathroom" and is bigger - we will be able to fit a vanity in here, thankfully. The shower will be a bit long and narrow but will be fine. A little bit of trivia - a toilet costs 10X what a squatty potty does. I was shocked when I realized that but not shocked enough to change my preferences!!
So our time is taken up with not only our "normal" work plus home schooling and so on - we're also running back and forth between home and the new place facilitating the renovation of the new place. No Home Depot here! (I miss it!! - Shopping for stuff here is just incredibly HOT and dirty and you have to go to many places just to find something as "simple" as a basic hot/cold kitchen faucet!)
And last but not least - some of you have been asking for a prego tummy shot - this was taken just a few days ago. I don't feel that big for 6 months along, but it sure is exhausting to carry this baby-belly around all day long! :) 
I'm sure finding out why prenatal care in the US costs so much - it's because they DO so much of the thinking for you!! Here I'm ordering all of my own blood tests, urine tests, ultrasounds, taking my blood pressure, monitoring my weight and so on. I'm glad I'm not doing this for the first time!! Thankfully, my results are all coming back normal and within reasonable ranges. I'm right on track and hoping that the baby comes "early" or close to my July 11th due date. (I also have July 7 and July 4 due date predictions from earlier in my pregnancy.) Ultrasound measurements of both head and femur say that the baby is EXACTLY the size it should be for the projected July 11th delivery. Not that that means anything (except that this time I won't be delivering an 11 pound baby like with Mitchell!!).
I'm sure finding out why prenatal care in the US costs so much - it's because they DO so much of the thinking for you!! Here I'm ordering all of my own blood tests, urine tests, ultrasounds, taking my blood pressure, monitoring my weight and so on. I'm glad I'm not doing this for the first time!! Thankfully, my results are all coming back normal and within reasonable ranges. I'm right on track and hoping that the baby comes "early" or close to my July 11th due date. (I also have July 7 and July 4 due date predictions from earlier in my pregnancy.) Ultrasound measurements of both head and femur say that the baby is EXACTLY the size it should be for the projected July 11th delivery. Not that that means anything (except that this time I won't be delivering an 11 pound baby like with Mitchell!!). Please be praying with us for:
- health for the rest of my pregnancy
- a safe and healthy (uneventful) delivery
- good progress on our "new" home and quick completion so that we can move in before it's too much of a struggle to pack and move (because of my pregnancy)
- that we will be a light to our contractor and his workers as we seek to serve them in little ways while they work on our home (refreshments, etc.)
- we will be losing one of our helpers as she is going back to her village in the coming months - please pray as we look for a suitable replacement for her!
- Thank the Lord with us for His provision of so much that we have to be thankful for!
Thanks so much for praying with and for us!
Monday, February 25, 2008
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Completion!
So the other day, Julia (3) is digging around in the fridge, looking for an orange (she's my fruit and veggie fanatic). She's humming, looking, then finally closes the fridge door, raises her orange above her head, and says victoriously, "COMPLETION!!" I looked at her, "Where did you get THAT word?" She nonchalantly said, "Little Einsteins". Apparently that's what the rocket ship says when they successfully complete their mission at the end of the show... Shocking!
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Doing Fine!
Hi! It's been way too long since I updated you all once again! I'm doing much better than the last time I wrote - seems like I turned the corner towards the middle of January. As soon as I started feeling better, I took on some projects that had fallen by the wayside (no, I didn't end up baking all the stuff on my Christmas baking list - saving that for next year!). I sewed Julia an outfit from Strawberry Shortcake fabric my mom sent for Julia's birthday, myself a pair of maternity shorts, and a bedspread and pillows to go with some paintings I did back in September for my bedroom. It was fun to sew again - it had been a long time!
Feb 1 Josh left for meetings. They concluded the 5th so I hopped on a flight and joined him there until Feb 11. We left the kids with friends here in town (and I don't think they missed us until the last day). We hadn't taken specific time away without the kids since 2004 so it was overdue. It was great to have a couple of uninterrupted days with my best friend!
Since we got home a week ago, I've been trying to get to all of the things that have been left somewhat behind during the time I was sick; an email update, some projects for field leadership, some overdue thank you notes, and planning for a conference we will be hosting in about 3 weeks. Lots going on! (And now I can cross "update the blog" off my list!)
Yesterday I tried to go to church for the first time since November when I started feeling sick. I didn't make it. I sat through about an hour, under a fan, by a window and an open door, fanning myself with a hand-held fan, but I ended up having to go to the car and start it up so I could sit in A/C until the service concluded a half hour later. By about 10 AM every day it's too hot for me to be outside or out of A/C, so I'm still holed up in my room from around 10-4. That's where my computer is, though, so I have plenty of work to do there! (I do come out for lunch...) :)
Anyway, just wanted to update you on what's up with us these days. I'm thankful for the return of energy, for what seems to be a healthy baby (feeling more kicking these days) and the ability to hang out with my family much more than before!
Making a cookie birthday cake for a guest with Mitchell and Julia as my helpers!
Have a great day and thanks for praying!
Saturday, January 05, 2008
Feeling Better
Opening stockings on Christmas morning!I'm thankful to let you know I'm doing better than I was the last time I posted. The nausea has receded somewhat, though I'm still pretty tired. I feel like I have a lot more energy than I did. The heat still affects me, so I'm laying low mid-day. I had an ultrasound on the 27th and though it wasn't in-depth, it was still good to see the little one kicking inside me. I've thought I've felt the baby move a time or two but I know it's rather early to feel it, so I'm not completely sure.
Julia's birthday celebration (see the personal size cakes?)We had a low-key Christmas and New Years, with Julia's 3rd birthday in between. I napped a lot in between family activities. I was glad to be able to attend our tribal church's Christmas/New Years' celebration on January 1 with my family. I did end up sitting outside in the relatively cooler breeze rather than inside where it was much hotter but it had been many weeks since I'd been at church so it was nice to be there.
One of our tribal pastors gave a really clear gospel presentation at the Christmas program.The guest facility here has been and currently is busy all the time. We're not completely full all the time, but we haven't NOT had guests since mid-September and it doesn't look like there will be a lull in the action in the foreseeable future.
I've posted some pics of our Christmas celebrations. If you've been to my Facebook account, these will be familiar. I "undecorated" this morning, so we're slowly getting back to normal. The boys go back to school on Monday. I think they're ready to go.
Thanks so much for your continued prayers and support of us.
We couldn't be here without you!
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Sunday, December 09, 2007
Buying a Christmas Tree in Borneo
Last Saturday we decided to go Christmas tree shopping, so we piled the kids in the Kijang (kind of like a Jeep Cherokee style vehicle) and went to the mall. The bookstore was our first stop once at the mall because I'd asked around and someone said that they'd seen trees there. It being Saturday afternoon (and we generally avoid the mall on the weekend cause it's so LOUD and crazy with people) there was some kind of event going on including live music and all sorts of kiosks right in front of the bookstore. (PARENT WARNING FOR THE NEXT SENTENCE:) As I followed Josh and the kids through the crowds of people, one of the kiosk people shoved a small box into my hand - I looked down - it was a box of condoms - OK, not sure what that was about since I'm obviously married and have 3 children - not a promiscuous teenager - but I made sure to drop the box off at the next kiosk I stopped at. We trailed into the bookstore and sure enough - there were a number of trees there. Some were too short, but two had promise. One had pine cones so that didn't really float my boat, but the other one looked really thick, pretty tall and though kind of expensive, my thought was that we're buying it once and will use it for years, so it's worth it in the long run. Josh and I talk about it and agree to pursue getting this tree but we should look at the other stores too. I checked with the clerk to see if they had many in stock, and he said, something about stock but I wasn't sure what so I took it as a positive thing. I said we'd be back in a bit to get the tree.
Julia and Mitchell rockin' around the Christmas tree!
I had looked at the inside part of the tree and THOUGHT I'd seen hinged branches - I was wrong - each branch had to be installed one-by-one. It was a pretty big job, though I thought it was easier than having to fluff the branches one by one after they were already on the tree (less scratched arms that way). I'm pretty pleased that we even found a tree this great here and I must admit, it's helping with the Christmas spirit. We also think it's important to continue some of the traditions that we have at home, at least the ones we CAN - since there are so many we can't continue. We're still evolving as a family in this aspect as the kids are getting older and understanding more.
Speaking of which - Spencer said at supper tonight - "Did you know that Mary didn't have to be married to a boy to have Jesus? She wasn't really married to Joseph." I kinda went, "What? Where'd you hear that?" So not sure when we'll finish that conversation but it will have to be had. Some of this stuff I was hoping he'd click with after I have this last baby! :)
Anyway, I should go hang with my family for a bit before bed. I'm still doing pretty much the same - tired and nauseous, often triggered by heat, so am mostly laying low, though I do hope to bake some cookies sometime this week to participate in a cookie exchange my co-workers are having! (Baking is really not a great activity for me these days since it involves a hot oven and a hot kitchen IN the hot tropics ON the HOT equator!) :) This too shall pass - if nothing else I'll do Christmas cookies next year!
Anyway, hope you're all having a great time doing your Christmas shopping. We're saving most of ours for the next time we're out in another Asian country (no plans yet, though) as a lot of the toys we can purchase here are easily broken, not really great quality. Not to worry, we also have some coming in the mail, if the packages get here before the 25th!
Take care!
We went down the hall to one other store, but the trees weren't anything to write home about so we went back, through the crowds, to the bookstore to claim our tree. We talked some more with the clerk and found out that they DID have stock of the tree we wanted - it WAS the stock - they only had THAT ONE. I'm glad we acted right away. So we arranged to come back in 30 minutes while they disassembled the tree for us. We brought the tree home and made plans to put it up the next day!
Julia and Mitchell rockin' around the Christmas tree!I had looked at the inside part of the tree and THOUGHT I'd seen hinged branches - I was wrong - each branch had to be installed one-by-one. It was a pretty big job, though I thought it was easier than having to fluff the branches one by one after they were already on the tree (less scratched arms that way). I'm pretty pleased that we even found a tree this great here and I must admit, it's helping with the Christmas spirit. We also think it's important to continue some of the traditions that we have at home, at least the ones we CAN - since there are so many we can't continue. We're still evolving as a family in this aspect as the kids are getting older and understanding more.
Speaking of which - Spencer said at supper tonight - "Did you know that Mary didn't have to be married to a boy to have Jesus? She wasn't really married to Joseph." I kinda went, "What? Where'd you hear that?" So not sure when we'll finish that conversation but it will have to be had. Some of this stuff I was hoping he'd click with after I have this last baby! :)
Anyway, I should go hang with my family for a bit before bed. I'm still doing pretty much the same - tired and nauseous, often triggered by heat, so am mostly laying low, though I do hope to bake some cookies sometime this week to participate in a cookie exchange my co-workers are having! (Baking is really not a great activity for me these days since it involves a hot oven and a hot kitchen IN the hot tropics ON the HOT equator!) :) This too shall pass - if nothing else I'll do Christmas cookies next year!
Anyway, hope you're all having a great time doing your Christmas shopping. We're saving most of ours for the next time we're out in another Asian country (no plans yet, though) as a lot of the toys we can purchase here are easily broken, not really great quality. Not to worry, we also have some coming in the mail, if the packages get here before the 25th!
Take care!
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Long time coming...
Yes, a new post has been a long time coming but worth the wait - I hope! It's actually a little shocking to me to see it's been OVER a month since I posted but I know why so it makes sense to me. It's really hard to blog consistently when you're fighting nausea and fatigue and can't really tell people why yet. "Today I was nauseous. I was also tired." Next day..."Today I slept all day. I was also nauseous." Gets boring after a while.
This morning we were able to chat with Josh's folks for the first time in a few weeks and were able to share with them the news that another grandchild was on the way, and so NOW we can tell all of our friends! I AM PREGNANT with our 4th child. Thus the nausea and exhaustion, thus the lack of posts. Hopefully I will do better in the coming weeks but no guarantees! I'm excited as I've always wanted to have 4 children (nice even number, no middle child)- but I might withhold any demonstrations of that excitement until I can function normally again!
This is by far the worst I've felt in the early weeks of ANY of my pregnancies - possibly because I'm over 30, maybe because I've got 3 little ones, probably because my sickness seems to be triggered by heat and I now live in the tropics! Maybe all 3! It's not just MORNING sickness, it's ALL DAY/ALL NIGHT sickness. I'm clinging to the promise, "This too shall pass!"
If you know me this photo is a dead giveaway - look at my eyes! And look at Julia's t-shirt - backwards and inside out - that would never happen if I felt normal! :)
I haven't been to the Dr. yet but plan to get there after Christmas. I expect to deliver around mid-July, not sure yet exactly where but likely here barring unforeseen problems.
The kids are excited - the boys want a brother, Julia did at first too but now is voting for a sister. We'll see what we get - hopefully a healthy baby and an easy labor.
Anyway, I just wanted to let you in on our good news. Will let you know what else is going on as I think of it! Thanks for your prayers- they're especially vital now as Josh is doing both mommy and daddy duties on top of his regular stuff - and he was running a fever the other night so we're not sure what's up with him!
This morning we were able to chat with Josh's folks for the first time in a few weeks and were able to share with them the news that another grandchild was on the way, and so NOW we can tell all of our friends! I AM PREGNANT with our 4th child. Thus the nausea and exhaustion, thus the lack of posts. Hopefully I will do better in the coming weeks but no guarantees! I'm excited as I've always wanted to have 4 children (nice even number, no middle child)- but I might withhold any demonstrations of that excitement until I can function normally again!
This is by far the worst I've felt in the early weeks of ANY of my pregnancies - possibly because I'm over 30, maybe because I've got 3 little ones, probably because my sickness seems to be triggered by heat and I now live in the tropics! Maybe all 3! It's not just MORNING sickness, it's ALL DAY/ALL NIGHT sickness. I'm clinging to the promise, "This too shall pass!"
If you know me this photo is a dead giveaway - look at my eyes! And look at Julia's t-shirt - backwards and inside out - that would never happen if I felt normal! :)I haven't been to the Dr. yet but plan to get there after Christmas. I expect to deliver around mid-July, not sure yet exactly where but likely here barring unforeseen problems.
Having fun with the kids and the camera!
The kids are excited - the boys want a brother, Julia did at first too but now is voting for a sister. We'll see what we get - hopefully a healthy baby and an easy labor.
Anyway, I just wanted to let you in on our good news. Will let you know what else is going on as I think of it! Thanks for your prayers- they're especially vital now as Josh is doing both mommy and daddy duties on top of his regular stuff - and he was running a fever the other night so we're not sure what's up with him!
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