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...)! :)

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!

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.

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!!).

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!

Enjoying A Durian Appetizer

Spencer is still not a fan but the rest of us sure are!

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!

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!

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!

Our decorated tree!

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.

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!

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.

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!

What do you do on a Menno nite?

Tonight as we were eating dinner (leftover night), Spencer had a bowl of local-type soup and Josh had a bowl of Beet Borscht. I asked Spencer which was his favorite - local or Mennonite (food). Julia replied first: "I like Menno nite and Movie nite!" We had a good laugh over that! For those of you who don't know, my roots are Mennonite, as are some of Josh's. :)One thing I love about that is that he appreciates the various Mennonite dishes I love to cook.

Kicking And Screaming

Have you ever dragged yourself somewhere kicking and screaming? I have – last night. Actually the kicking and screaming happened on the inside where “normal” adults do their protesting when it’s something you HAVE to do and CAN’T get out of. It’s quieter that way.

This being the holiday (and visiting) week of Idul Fitri (like the week between Christmas & New Years for us, only Muslim) we have the responsibility (and privilege?!) of visiting our Muslim neighbors’ homes for a short chat to maintain relationships. You basically go in, chat a bit, are handed a plate which you use to load up and nibble on an assortment of finger foods (mostly little cookies, cakes, nuts, that kind of stuff). They also serve you a beverage – a juice or something. You chat a bit, then excuse yourself and go to the next house. (A Muslim person doing the visit they would also ask for forgiveness for any wrongdoings “intentional or unintentional” from the past year.) Well, this year was the first time for us, as last year this time we couldn’t do it- we didn’t know enough language to visit anyone. Our neighborhood is not one where people sit around a lot and just chat (which is usual in villages). We wave when we pass by each others’ homes but everyone is pretty busy and the homes aren’t set too closely together so our lives aren’t as intertwined. I actually haven’t met our RT (neighborhood head) yet, though I will in the next day or two.

You might think: Why the stress? It’s just a chat! The reason for the kicking and screaming was really that I was uncomfortable with going into an neighbor’s home who’s a relative stranger– they are SO formal and I would SO hate to be disrespectful (the ones we know are friends and understand that we didn’t grow up with their traditions so if we mess up we’re ok). On top of that, if they don’t use the care that we do to clean dishes and cook food, we all could get pretty sick but to refuse the food isn’t too polite either! Talk about pins and needles! And then there’s the language thing – we are still learning so often there is conversation that we can’t follow – not too comfortable!

Last night we did the first of the visitations recommended by the people whose home we’re living in for the time that they’re in the US. It was a lot easier than I expected. We visited a man named Mr. Dodol (or something like that) and his family. We’d never formally met them but we walked up the path, took off our shoes and walked into the house. The kids paved the way – of course Julia got comments that she looked just like a doll (the blond hair always inspires comments like that), we were asked all kinds of questions about our kids (Julia at just under 3 years old is the same height as their 7-year old) and about the things they’re observing going on at the guest home. Then Mitchell took the cake – literally. There were probably 8 different “snacky” things sitting on the coffee table in the sitting room and he kept asking for more – I’d say, “No, you’ve had enough” and the hostess would say, “Silakan ambil” or “Go ahead, take more!”. This happened half a dozen times! (Talk about embarrassing if we’d been at home in the US but here kids –and especially foreign kids- can pretty much get away with whatever!) At one point in the conversation the man of the house asked Josh what his name was! Crazy! Well, it turns out their oldest daughter had lived in Singapore for 3 years and was looking for someone to maintain her English with so I was glad to extend the invitation for her to come and chat sometime. Though it was hard to “get glad” that I had to do this visitation thing, I AM glad I went and will do it more willingly next year. (Of course by this time next year it could be ANOTHER new neighborhood!) :)

Crazy life!

Wow, it’s Friday again. Has it really been over 2 weeks since I posted? Time flies. A few days after my last post, I left for a few days in a nearby Asian country. A co-worker was going for medical reasons and her husband was not joining her on the trip so I volunteered to join her. We hadn’t been there yet but the city we went to is where we would go with more serious medical concerns so we wanted at least one of us to have been there and checked out the “lay of the land”. It was a quick trip but I was able to accomplish a lot in a few days, including finding some sandals that fit (PTL on that one- I can only buy men’s shoes here and in our city the quality is not great so I was thrilled to find a Hush Puppies store. I still bought men’s sandals but the fit was great and they weren’t TOO masculine – and they were LEATHER!). We visited the clinic, a number of the hotels and the Christian bookstore, not to mention the mall. This was the first time I’ve been out of the country since August 3, 2006. I was in a bit of culture shock seeing a city that was still on the same island as ours, but clean, well organized and the people spoke ENGLISH!! Wow!

I got home on a Sunday around 11 and Josh left that same day at 3 in the afternoon for a trip to another region for leadership meetings.

Some starchy stuff that's standard food in the other region.

Checking out the view - Josh on the far right.

He was gone until Thursday, and then Friday we had 2 kids join us for 6 days (their parents had some language checks in the village where they live interior and their house was not big enough for the checkers AND the kids). They left this week Wednesday and we’re just getting back into a normal routine…so that’s why the blog silence. Crazy life!

Hanging out with Julia one morning...

A date, 2 missed photo ops and an adventure!

Josh took me on a date tonight. We went for dinner and then headed home for a movie. On the way home I saw two things I would have loved to have gotten photos of:

First: our rainy season seems to have taken a hiatus and we’re back to dry season again – dry enough to burn. We actually have ash bits floating in the air. As we were driving by the mosque on the way to the restaurant, Josh suddenly said, “It’s like Christmas!” Sure enough, the mosque, which was decorated for Ramadan with what we call Christmas lights, combined with the falling ash flakes illuminated in our headlights, looked like a light snow falling in winter! Go figure! It was probably 80 degrees out!

Second: Since we’ve been having all these problems with power outages, I guess there are problems for the small stores that are everywhere – as they can’t afford a generator to run power for them. Tonight as we were driving past the banana stand (cause we needed to buy some- but it was closed) I actually saw a small store with a girl behind the counter and a guy at the counter shopping with a flash light!!

Then there was another adventure on this date: The boys needed jump ropes for gym class later this week so we stopped at a sporting goods store (which also sells musical instruments including tambourines! Can you see the connection there??). Back at the car, Josh went to my door and was unlocking it for me when the keys slipped out of his hands. Unfortunately, he’d parked over a (ok, this is hard to explain but bear with me) ditch type trench with was part of the parking lot with a cover made of approx 2” wide bars of metal with at least an inch space between them. We were parked at least 6 feet from the edge. The keys easily slipped through the bars into water/mud/who-knows-what-sludge in the ditch below. Some guys who “help with the parking” (for money of course) were sitting around in the parking lot and saw what happened. They gathered around (which worried me a bit because frankly we can’t be mistaken for local people and since we have a vehicle, though old, it’s still better than what they’ve got - not that we had the keys or anything) and we talked about our dilemma. Josh had called our house helper to ask him to come bring the spare set of keys, but we still had to wait till he got there. Suddenly I had the idea that maybe these guys had fished keys out of there before and maybe they’d do it for us if we offered a reward. I whispered the idea to Josh, Josh offered the reward (Rp 50,000) and in a split second one of the 3 guys was taking off his shoes, socks, rolling up their pant legs and with a tiny flashlight, went down into the trench, UNDERNEATH the bridge-type thing, found and returned the keys. Unbelievable! (I think the other two guys were wishing they’d acted more quickly because the offer was quite generous!) We quickly paid the reward money and got out of there!

Life is never boring here!

Picture this!

OK, wish I'd had Josh take a pic of this one: this afternoon I suddenly had the urge to bake - there I was mixing dough and juicing oranges wearing EAR PLUGS. Here's the story...

As those who know me well fully expect, I chose 4 recipes ('cause why dirty the measuring cups for just one recipe?): My usual artisan bread recipe (someone gave me some walnuts so I wanted to add those), a new cracked wheat raisin bread recipe (got the cracked wheat at an import shop a while ago) and 2 quick breads, a glazed rhubarb-orange loaf (no rhubarb here but I wanted to substitute unripe mango for the rhubarb) and a zucchini orange loaf.

Today was a no-electricity day, so it was HOT. My kitchen was almost 90 degrees BEFORE I started baking. On days there is no power, we run a generator for the 2 houses (our home and the guest house are next door to each other) so that we have running water and can run fans and lights. The generator is located practically underneath the kitchen window and though we recently had the muffler fixed, it's still LOUD!

My first 3 hours in the kitchen I worked with green earplugs sticking into my ears. Every time I wanted to communicate with my kids, I had to yell at them for them to be able to hear me! Thankfully the power came on just before 5 PM. Only here... :) (Here's a shot of the raisin bread and the zucchini loaf - Josh likes to take pictures of food that tastes good!)

And, for the grandmas, great-grandmas and Grandpa Dyck, here's a shot of Spencer at his first piano lesson!