So Long Ordinary

Oh my goodness, what a wonderful couple of days we've had! Our trip over was pretty good. The girls did an amazing job traveling and I can honestly say that traveling is getting easier as they get older. I was totally exhausted by the time we got to Denver, but I've had some good sleeps and nearly feel normal again. Jet lag is by no means over yet, but at least I don't feel like I could pass out at any moment! It is SO cold here. Yesteray it was 3 degrees Fahrenheit...today it was only 5 degrees. Ack! I am super grateful for the long underwear my mom bought all of us, not to mention the socks, long pants, coats, and boots. I must say, though, that it's kind of a treat to feel cold and not sweaty and to be able to wear cozy sweatshirts and long pants! We've already had an amazing time with loved ones here. We were able to have lunch with Sean's parents and dinner with my sister and her family here at my parent's house already! We don't take th...

We're ready for our trip now!  Maddie woke me up this morning with a cheerful proclamation - "Mommy, I'm all better!"  Yesterday, she barely said "boo" and she certainly wasn't cheerful.  So, I guess she must really be better! So glad that's over.  What a rough week. two sleeps.  Two. Sleeps.  Two! Sleeps!   TWO SLEEPS!!!!!

Sean is better.  Paige is better.  I'm better.  Brooklyn is better.  Madison...is sick. Now she's the one wallowing about on the couch trying to figure out a comfortable way to ride out the low-grade fever, aches, sniffy nose, and stuffed sinuses.  She's coming out of it quicker than the rest of us did, though, so that's a good sign. Honestly, I'm glad we've all had this one.  It just gives me peace of mind that none of us will be coming down with this particular bug during our trip.  I know Maddie will be back to her normal self in time for our long journey ( 3 more sleeps!!!!! ) and hopefully this means we'll all be 100% healthy for the duration of the trip.  We've been struck with nasty bugs far too much in the past month or two, so here's hoping anything America has to throw at us will just bounce off our newly immunized bodies! So, we're recovering, taking it easy this week as we prepare for our much-anticipated vacation!  Sean will take...

Ugh.  We're still battling the sickies around here.  Paige, thankfully, is all better and I think I'm finally on the mend now that my fever has broken (though I still feel like I've been run over by a truck).  Brooklyn is in bed with a fever now.  Poor thing. So far, Maddie has managed to avoid this one but I have a feeling she's next.  I've heard her sniffing - which is how this thing started for me.  If she's going to get sick, now would be the time to do it, so she can be back to normal before our trip. Five more sleeps till we start our big, awesome trip!!!!  Excited doesn't even begin to describe how we feel...Sean and I keep looking at each other and grinning great big.  We're almost there!

Sorry for all the bloggy silence over here.  You should know me well enough by now to know that I rarely keep up any sort of regular blogging routine.  It's feast or famine around here folks.  Feast or famine. Life is moving right along and we're down to just 8 sleeps until our big trip over the ocean!  We're super-excited and even a little bit nervous! It's a big trip.  Just ask my parents.   Then factor in three little girls who will be asking if we're there yet...for two whole days.  Eeek! Oh, and then jet lag. There isn't much packing to do.   Hmmm...should we bring the shorts or the capri's?  Flip-flops or sandals? Ha!  Anyway, we'll look pretty pathetic at the airport in Denver, I am sure, but grandparents are promising to meet us with coats, gloves, hats, boots, and blankets. Sean seems to be well again but now Paige is the sickly one.  She's had a fever since last night and is definitely not herself.  I'm not feeling to...

We're pretty much back into the swing of things here.  Homeschool is going well...though the newness has worn off and I have to spend much more time trying to motivate little people who seem to have lost some interest.  Ah, yes, this  is the reality of homeschooling!  Somehow, though, I still really enjoy it. Maybe because I know this is our only option?!  Might as well enjoy it, right? We've been doing more history again and it's been fun.  Brooklyn really enjoys learning about this stuff, and so do I.  We stopped for a while, when it felt like we needed a break, but we honestly missed it. This week, we're going to study Vikings!   It rained most of the night and into the morning.  What a lovely way to wake up.  I love the rain.  I'm not one who gets depressed by it.  Instead, I get excited and grab some coffee and a good book and light a candle.  I love snowstorms too.  Sunny days are nice...but I love cozy days ins...

Dad went in to the hangar/dock/office with Sean several mornings while they were here.  Rather than take the car and leave us ladies without any transportation, they just took The Piglet! Ironically, Dad said he felt safer on the scooter than in the car.  Yeah, it's quite an adventure driving around town - either you feel like you're about to run over someone on a motorbike with your car or be run over on your motorbike by someone in a car. Mom rode the Piglet too but she was too quick getting off for me to get a picture.  Don't think she was as fond of the experience as Dad was.....

I finally got flour and it totally made my day. It was even the good kind and I didn't have to go downtown to find it.  I bought 6 kilos and I probably would have bought more if the lady next to me in the aisle hadn't been eyeing me funny. I'm way too excited about this. I FOUND FLOUR!  We can have our pizza night!  We can make pancakes for breakfast!  I can start baking our bread again!  We can make cookies! I don't know if you heard, but I GOT ME SOME FLOUR ! Yes, I'm actually blogging about this.  But do you realize that there hasn't been flour in the stores for over a month?  In the States, I bought flour maybe once every few months.  Here, I go through 2 or 3 kilos every week.  That's between 4 and 7 pounds! Now, if only the store would get some butter.

Friday morning in our school room. It's Friday!  We're really glad it's Friday. Usually, Fridays are pizza and movie nights but I still haven't been able to find flour.  It's been a month or more since there has been butter or flour in the store and my extra stashes of both are all gone now.  Making the pizza dough will be sorta hard without flour!   I've recently learned of a place downtown that sells bulk flour (oh, the irony that I was passing that very store multiple  times with my parents and somehow missed it - Mom and Dad it's on the souvenir street that we wandered for two days!) So...I'll be going out later today in search of flour, I guess. I'm still hoping my grocery store will have the good (i.e. non-buggy) kind and I won't have to drive all the way to the other side of town. We're on our last block of cheese too - I guess it's time for a trip to Jakarta!  I'll stock up on our way back through the capital city after our Am...

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 31. a big yellow sun in a bright blue sky - even if it means another HOT day.  God placed us in the right place in Borneo where the sky is still expansive, just like our Colorado home.  He knew we'd need that. 32. three little blonde girls - each with a shade of yellow/gold/honey/white that is all her own. 33. wild sunflowers in cobalt blue vases.  One of my favorites!

Saw this on Facebook tonight...wow. The first few non-English lines are in Indonesian and I'm sure you'll note the Spanish lines as well.  It blesses me to think of all nations praising His name together some great day!  Every time I'm in church (in the States, in Latin America, in Indonesia) I get a glimpse of what it will be like to add my voice to the millions of others who adore Him. Gives me goosebumps!

Sean already shared about our fun boat ride that we took with my folks and, trust me, there are more orangutan pictures than can ever be published on both of our blogs!  (Seeing orangutans in the wild is just kinda neat - it's hard not to take a bazillion pictures!) Anyway, since Sean shared a few of the pictures of the apes of the wild kind, I figured I'd share a few shots of the more domesticated jungle apes...the ones that were on the boat. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Still thankful for..... 28.  cherry limeade's from Sonic and cruises around the San Luis Valley with my hubby (and the very thought of re-visiting that tradition in just a few weeks!) 29. sticky fingers, chins, cheeks, and noses on an Ice Cream Sunday 30. a Sunday afternoon drive - in the high desert, in the mountains, in the snow, in the rain, through the jungle, on a hot day, on a cold day to a waterfall, a wildlife r...

Sigh. It's been a rough few days for me and I'm a little blue.  Saying good-bye to my parents, starting back into same ole normal routine, feeling super tired and not really knowing why, an ear infection that won't go away, cultural/language frustrations that leave me feeling totally out of my element, struggling to build and maintain relationships over cultural stumbling blocks, HOT days with little relief, kids who don't feel like doing anything this Monday, the fact that I STILL can't get flour or butter....these things are conspiring to steal my joy. But I won't let it.  Because you know what?  God placed me here - He gave me these kids and these responsibilities and these relationships in this place for a reason.   Probably more to grow me than to help the people living here.  And I want to embrace God's best for my life - even if it means a few rough days as I struggle to get a grip on my emotions and place my trust firmly back in My Father's Hands...

Well, Sean and my folks just left the house on the way to the airport.  Their flight leaves at 6:50 this morning and their long (and I do mean LONG) journey home begins.  I've barely taken the time to be on here to post about our time together because we've been so busy!  It's been such a wonderful two weeks.  Sean (again) has all the pictures on his computer at work so it may be a few days until I get some more of those posted but for now I'll just list a few highlights (for me) of our time together. I was in Jakarta in a taxi on the way back to the airport from the mall where I'd done some Christmas shopping when I got a call from Dad from Bangkok.  The connection was horrible but I quickly realized something wasn't right.  I called Sean.  Sean did some calling around.  We found out that the flight my parents were supposed to take from Bangkok to Jakarta had been cancelled for two months and I started to freak out!  Then Dad called again an...