Happy Holidays!!

While I was away, our dear friend & neighbor Lisa spent most afternoons at our house making sure our family had dinners taken out of the freezer, lunches made and generally keeping the house a "warm" place to come home to for the kids & Henry. It worked out well & the kids really enjoyed it! During that time Lisa used her photography skills on the kids - here's a few great shots of them. I was hoping to use them as Christmas cards but just didn't quite get that far. I am happy to say I am not feeling any pressure to conform to the expectations of a commercial & hurried Christmas season. We're looking forward to a relaxed 2 week vacation for the kids - definitely doing some sleeping in (so don't call us before 9:00 a.m.), maybe going up Mt. Baker, having family here for Christmas dinner, and visiting some friends.

If you are someone who didn't get that Christmas card from us this year - here's the photo. Our family wishes you a wonderful Christmas and God's blessing in the New Year.

Our last day in Bali...

The last day was spent at this nice hotel in Bali - the Jayakarta. It was a very beautiful hotel - with many pools, gardens and trees. When we landed at Bali airport we saw signs welcoming delegates to a Climate Change Summit being held in the city. Is it just my strange sense of humor - but if you lived in this country and bought into the idea of global warming you'd be on this committee too!! (100 degrees is warm enough, thank you)

Time to say Good-bye

Monday morning we packed our bags and cleaned up the house. Ed & Femmy came at 9:00 and we visited until Y & ML arrived. We all drove to Kupang airport - our plane was delayed by 3 hours. This was apparently very normal - some days the plane doesn't go out at all. It was for this reason that we booked this flight 2 days before our Bali flight to Taipei. We arrived in Bali on Monday afternoon and our flight out was for Wednesday. We were able to change this to Tuesday without a problem. Both of us were ready to go home to be with our family and familiar surroundings. It was a wonderful trip - we were very thankful we were able to make this trip and that we were blessed with safe travels.

Sunday - at Ed & Femmy's

On Sunday we went to Ed & Femmy's church and then to their house for the day. It was a very hot day so the kids decided to cool off.

To the beach we go...

On Saturday afternoon we went to Laciana Beach with everyone in Y & ML's household. That includes two helpers - Nika and Febbe, the driver Mun, four students from Sumba Rian, Sony, Daniel & Waseri. ML took marshmallows with - she had quite a few bags from people who visited from Canada and we roasted marshmallows on the beach. In the one picture, Becky is eating a "wood potato". It is a tuber like vegetable that looks like a piece of wood but tastes like a sweet potato. They just threw them into the fire till they were black and then picked them back out and peeled off the black "skin".

Saturday - fitting in the last few things before leaving.

We visited someone who makes the traditional Rotenese musical instrument - the sasando. Since Yonson is from Rote Island he explained a bit of the background. A young boy played the instrument (somewhat like the sound of a harp), then the dad came out to play the bongos, then the mother came out to show us the dance and finally a little boy came to show us his dance - a fast paced, foot moving dance that took a lot of energy.

Farewell Evening

On Friday evening, Yonson & ML organized a farewell evening for us. Most of the people there were family members, some neighbors, their pastor, and some student teachers from the school. The helpers cooked most of the food - they did a really nice job. At this point we were able to eat rice again without our stomach objecting.

Fresh pineapple - Yum!!

These, on the other hand, are super delicious when they're picked fresh. We were amazed at how the land provides so much for the people living here.

Fresh coconut...

We discovered that the coconuts we buy in America are actually very old. Indonesians would probably feed them to their babi's (pigs). They cut the tops off the coconut so we could drink the clear liquid inside and then the white is very soft. We were embarassed to say that we actually preferred the old ones - it's really what you're used to.

The December Tree

This tree is in full bloom - bright red (orange) and translated is called the December Tree.

Friday - going out with Ed & Femmy

Today we spent with Yonson's brother Ed and his wife Femmy. They had suggested an outing to Baum which is at a somewhat higher elevation and cooler than Kupang. They took us to a place that cooks BBQ pork - and we sat there and talked for quite a while. The pork was delicious - and our stomachs were feeling better. On the way back down the mountain Ed stopped at many different places to let us sample different fruits being sold at the side of the road, or pointing out different trees and plants. Ed loves plants and the back of the car was soon full of all the clippings and "starts" he picked for his yard. The large green fruit you see in this photo is called the "jack" fruit - it's definitely huge. We all could eat from it and still have leftovers.

Ed and Femmy's kids came with as well - Moses (5), Grace (3) and Micah (1) as well as Ed's older sister Nona and neice Angel. We needed to be home by 5:00 because ML had planned a Farewell Evening for us.

Starting to feel better....

This morning we were scheduled to help the students in the Junior High with their English. We were feeling a bit better but still very weak. We dragged ourselves out of bed and were picked up by the driver, Mun and dropped off at the school. Most of the kids did very well - but they need the practice in having conversations instead of learning the "theory" of the English language. Later that day we went with ML to her church where they teach an English class to the neighborhood kids. There were quite a number of them ranging from age 5 to age 13 (?). After a brief bible lesson, we taught them the song "In the Jungle" so they could practice animal words and then played Red Rover with them. Lots of fun.

How many ways can you cook rice?

For breakfast, lunch and dinner....but mostly plain white rice with some vegetables and fish on top. I think the change in diet caught up with us because today (Tuesday) we both woke up sick. We had stomach issues, felt feverish and achy - and we were very happy that the bathroom was close to our bedroom.

Here's a few pics or ML & kids.

Monday, Nov. 26

Today was spent with Mary-Lynn and kids. We taught Dawid & Victor while ML taught Becky. We went to the little store down the street just so we had a few familiar items to use in the house we're staying in. There are many "stores" here - just the front of someone's house where they sell food, some produce or resell some store items. Many people don't have transportation or a lot of money to make a big trip to a grocery store so they make a lot of little purchases. We did our own laundry - just a bucket of soapy water and lots of muscle. We are even happier with our washing machines than before... Here's a few photos of the place we stayed in.

Our first Sunday

Our first Sunday was spent with Yonson & ML - at their church in Oesapa - in the city of Kupang. We socialized afterwards and had a nice time trying to comunicate with the people there. This church is a mission post and does not have afternoon services yet. We had lunch with the Dethan's, read books to the kids and went with Yonson to the church at Tarus (top photo). We could walk to this church - a couple doors down from Yonson & ML.

Catch that plane!!

This morning Yonson and MaryLynn were supposed to pick us up at 8:00 in the morning to catch our 10 o'clock flight to Kupang. They arrived an hour late (true Indonesian style) and we had to literally run through the airport to catch the plane. Actually, Yonson ran ahead of us with our tickets to make sure the plane wouldn't leave without us. Because we didn't have tickets we were not allowed to enter the secure area. We stood there not knowing what was going on - till finally Yonson came back to get us. We made it on our plane and after 1 1/2 hour flight arrived safely in Kupang. Yonson had hired a "bemo" and his driver was there with their van to pick us all up. Oh yes, did we say it was hot?? When we ask people here what the temperature is they just smile - no idea... just hot... everyday... We are guessing it's around 100 degrees farenheit. We arrived at Yonson & ML's house and just rested, played memory with the kids. It rained very hard for maybe 20 minutes - but it's still hot when the rain is done.

This photo is of a sign in Kupang airport - just one of the many things that kept us laughing. Between the awkward moments in trying to communicate and translate, to being reminded to uncross our legs in church (big faux pas), to having to use the squatty potty during our travels, there was never a day that we didn't have a good laugh about something. Well, maybe the day we were sick we didn't have too much to laugh about...

A Day in Bali

We're exhausted after a long day touring the island of Bali. We started with an earlier than asked for "wake up call". It appears that the front desk person did not have complete understanding of the English language and we were awakened at 5:30. Rather than go back to sleep and miss our 9:00 arrangement with Yonson and kids we got out of bed. Yonson had a van rented and two friends who were our drivers. They took us through many villages with traditional houses, crafts, carvings, etc. We stopped by a rice field where we ate our packed lunch in the car. We went up Batur Mountain and had a buffet lunch (supper?) at 3:00. It really doesn't matter what time it is on this island - whatever works... We stopped at a monkey sanctuary and watched these funny creatures fight and steal Victor's toy out of his hand. I think he's still in shock. Just when Lorraine was falling asleep in the car we learnt that we were scheduled to stop by some friends of Yonson and MaryLynn (just a little out of the way...) Not only did we need to visit but out came the rice dishes, sauces, etc. and of course we were expected to be polite and eat lots. Well, we are back and figuring out a few technical things before going off to bed. Tomorrow we get up at 7:00 and prepare for our flight from DenPasser, Bali to Kupang, Timor. We'll keep you posted.

We've Arrived!!

It's Thursday evening as I write this - at least Thursday on this side of the world. We arrived without delay - the first leg of our trip was only 12 hours instead of the 20 we had miscalculated. We slept for a good part of it so we got to Taipei quite quickly. From there we boarded another Air China plane and left for Bali. This leg was 4 hrs. & 40 minutes. Yonson met us at the airport and took us back to the hotel - where Becky jumped out of the bushes at us. When we opened the door to our room MaryLynn and the others jumped out of closets and bathroom. A nice surprise!! We swam for a while in the pool and then walked to the ocean - Kuta Beach. It was a very beautiful but busy beach - a real party place for tourists and locals. After watching the sun set we took two horse & buggies back to our hotel where we enjoyed dinner. We're very tired and off to bed. More updates later....

Around the world....to Indonesia

Well, the day has arrived to say good-bye to everyone and begin our trip to visit my sister in Indonesia. I'm going with my older sister who flew in today from Ontario. After many emails and phonecalls over the past couple months it's actually happening. My feelings run from excitement to nervousness, to "almost" regret, and more... (oh the rights of a woman) The kids say I should be excited - they wish it was them going. I hope to email little updates along the way and if my family can figure out the blog thing you may just be kept somewhat up to date on our travels. Pray for safe travels and an enjoyable trip. See you Dec. 5.

What a treat!

Some time ago, PBS got the better of us and we donated money to receive 2 tickets to see Andre Rieu. Last night, Joc and I left with GPS in hand and ventured into the big city to attend his concert. What a treat! We had a wonderful time - thanks to PBS the seating was better than expected. We were somewhat disappointed that Andre did not impress us with a violin solo. All his playing is done to accompany the orchestra and the many soloists that sang. Still, nothing to complain about.... This was a suitable treat for someone who has spent a lot of practice time on the violin - and for a mom who's spent a good deal of time coaching, reminding, and otherwise just nagging...

Good-bye "J"!

After almost 9 months living with us, our sweet little girl is returning home. We were all sad last Monday knowing it was the last day we would have her living with us. We went to Sm'apples to pick apples for our apple pie fundraiser. We pulled her in the wagon through the orchards and she ate apples like a big person. We spent some time at the Million Smiles Playground - just enjoying the beautiful fall day.

Mariners Game

Since we've had to go to Seattle for surgery and several doctor visits we decided to make a bit of fun out of it. We stayed overnight and caught a Mariner's game. They played the Angels and won 1-0. It was a very exciting game.

Jodi's Visit

Last week Jocelyn flew to Ontario - her Grade 8 grad gift from us. This was perfect timing since her cousin Luanne was married that weekend. I was able to join them for the weekend and enjoy the wedding as well. We returned on July 3 with Jodi, who stayed with us for a week. The weather was beautiful and we were able to see a few sights and enjoy the boat.

Relay for Life

On June 22-23 Lorelle, Jessica and Leanne and their team participated in the local American Cancer Society's Relay for Life event. They formed this group because of Jessica's Mom's experience with cancer in the past year. It was a very wonderful experience - and the entire event raised over $225,000 towards cancer research.