So Long Ordinary

It's New Year's Eve at around 9pm and I'm the only one still up!  (This happens every night...though I'll admit I'm the last one to get out of bed each morning.)  Anyway, I'm taking this opportunity to post a few pics of our time with my parents so far.  Honestly, taking pictures has been the farthest thing from my mind, I've just been basking in the joy of having my parents near.   Have I mentioned what a great time we're having? Dad, don't get mad at me for posting this but it's too precious!  This was taken on their first day in Palangkaraya when the jet-lag was still fresh.  To be fair, I could have snapped many more pictures just like this one with different people in it...we take a lot of naps around here! Opening Christmas presents!  I have a million of these and nearly all of them are blurry.  The girls were moving fast and opening things left and right before I could even capture the moment.  It was mass chaos and such fun to watch t...

If you hadn't figured it out by now, we're just super-busy having fun with my parents!  Their trip over was a bit of a  major ordeal but once we finally got to Palangkaraya (and got the three bags that forgot to follow them here) all was well. I can't even begin to tell you how wonderful it is to have some family here.  We've spent a lot of time just sitting around the table and chatting or gathering in the living room and watching the girls' antics and laughing together. This has been a time of refreshment for me and I feel so incredibly blessed!  My girls are just beaming under all the extra attention and love.  To be honest, even after nearly a week with my parents here, we all still seem just a little bit giddy.  I want to giggle every time I glance over and see my Mom in my kitchen and then I spot Dad napping on my couch and I want to jump up and down and squeal!  They are really here! There are pictures - lots of 'em - but they are all on Sean's ...

We have a great team here in Palangka Raya.  Last week, we celebrated Christmas together at a local restaurant.  What a fun time we had together!  We love these people!

-As you read this, I should be on my way to Jakarta to pick up my parents!!!- Sean took these pictures a few weeks ago on my camera and I just found them!   She hadn't gotten her bike yet (that was a birthday present that came later) so Paige just improvised.

The other day, we went to the post office (we'd been called and told we'd need to bring a car to pick up some packages, not just a motorbike) and found TEN boxes waiting for us from Centropolis Christian Church, my grandma's church in Kansas!  We were so overwhelmed!  So was the guy in the post office.  I know this is the most packages we've ever received at one time. We brought the boxes home and dug in.  I was so overcome with the generosity of the precious people from Centropolis Christian as we opened up box after box of untold treasure and bounty.  When they'd asked what we could use here a few months ago, I'd told them about our neighborhood kids who had used up most of our craft supplies and obviously really enjoyed getting to craft for fun - something pretty rare for kids here.  So...they sent us a HUGE collection of craft supplies - enough to share with the whole neighborhood for the next year!  Buttons and beads, yarn and paints, crayons and ...

I have some independent daughters...they love when they get to sit at their own table!

She was being very naughty and not really grasping the fact that I was not joking but actually trying to discipline her. Finally in exasperation, I said, "Maddie, you don't have any respect for me!" To which she quipped, "Yes I do!  I'm just saving it for later."'

I'm finally catching up on my blogging!  Over the next few days there will be some blogs about our MAF Christmas party, a special surprise from Kansas, and more!  (Be sure to scroll down as I've also just posted about Paige's birthday!) We're getting ready for my parent's arrival this week!  I can't believe it's finally here! Once my parents are here, I don't know how much time I'll have for blogging.  I know lots of you are excited to hear about our time together, so I'll do my best to share some pictures when I can! Well, we're still fighting this sickness, whatever it is.  I think I'm getting a little better but I still have enough coughing fits that I wonder if the antibiotics are really helping much.  Yesterday was probably my worst day yet, though this morning I feel quite a bit better. Keep praying that we can be 100% by Thursday!   On Thursday, I get to make a trip to Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia all by myself!  I'm going...

Last week, we celebrated Paige's third birthday.  I cannot believe my baby girl is already three.  For her big day (the 14th) Sean and I spent most of the morning in the Indonesian DMV, trying to get our driver's licenses renewed.  Paige was still in bed when we had to leave and we were gone for four hours - I felt horrible about not being there to wake up my birthday girl on her big day...but she couldn't have cared less.  When we did get home, we gave her her birthday presents and whisked Paige and her sisters off for lunch at KFC.  Then, in the afternoon, Sean and I had a meeting with our Program Manager. There was no time for the little tea party I had planned or for any real celebrating, really. What a birthday, huh?!  Anyway, it was all put right later that night at our MAF staff Christmas party.  The whole MAF staff sang "Happy Birthday" to her in both English and Indonesian and then we had cake.  I'm pretty sure Paige thinks the whole part...

Oh, goodness, it's only 5 am here and I just can't sleep.  Our whole family is still battling illness.  I was feeling pretty proud of us for not getting sick in a very long time, but whatever we have now, it's just not going away.  Luckily, none of us have been so sick we had to spend the day in bed, but we've all had some bouts where we felt pretty rotten for a few hours at least - usually when we're trying to sleep. I'm up this morning early because I just couldn't breathe laying down any more.  Yesterday, it was Madison who was up early with a sore "neck," runny nose, and bad cough.  The day before that it was Brooklyn up all night with what she described as a stomachache but we finally figured out it was actually a badly pulled ab muscle from coughing so hard!  The poor girl spent the whole following day walking like an old lady. At different times throughout the day (and night) one or more of us is coughing, sneezing, wheezing, or having a bad...

Searching for the real meaning of Christmas and finding purple Christmas trees in the process...check out my latest post on the MAF blog here !

The call came in the middle of the morning, last June, from my sister.  She sounded worlds away and I instantly felt my stomach drop at her quavering voice on the other side of the line.    Dad’s had a heart attack .  My summer was spent worrying, wavering between fear and faith.  I slept with my cell phone for days, spending my nights up receiving texts on Dad’s status and then replying via Skype.  I cried and I worried from afar, putting my Daddy into my Father’s hands again and again.  I waited for the day to begin on the other side of the world, so that I could get the latest doctor’s report and ride the rollercoaster of emotions as the news turned from good to bad to downright scary. Finally, the word came that Dad was going to be okay.  God, in His infinite mercy, healed my Dad and has restored him to perfect health.  I was grateful beyond words, but never felt so far away from home and loved ones. Being far away from family is never ea...

I woke up feeling pretty good this morning but now I feel a cold coming on.  NO!  I simply don't have time to be sick. Did you know that Ligers are real?  And that they are the biggest cats in the world?  Me neither, until Brooklyn asked a question and we had to Google it.  I'm learning just as much as my girls are with this homeschooling thing. " Mama, what is a blizzard? "  Oh goodness.  The things these girls are missing out on by growing up in Indonesia!  Of course, they could tell you what the difference is between a Gibbon and an Orangutan, so I guess it evens out. Sean has a very full and busy week ahead of him with lots of flights and responsibilities at the office/dock/hangar while our other pilot takes a much-needed vacation.  Don't worry about Sean, though, he loves this stuff.   I see on Facebook that it's snowing in my hometown right now.   Sigh .  I miss winter weather - especially around Christmas time.  O...

Oh, the joys of living in a more settled home again - we can finally dig out our own Christmas decorations again! Ah, the memories these ornaments bring back! I don't think I've ever sweat (sweated? swote? sweattin?) quite so much while decorating for Christmas.  But it was well worth it!  After all the work was done, we watched "A Christmas Story."  The humor was lost on the girls most of the time, but Sean and I still laugh way too much at that movie.  Next weekend, maybe we'll watch "Elf" - another favorite in our family!