You Better Shape Up

My first Marine Ball.

The Marines like to celebrate their birthday by getting all dressed up.  We got invited to the party, so we went.  Actually we just bought tickets, but that doesn't sound as cool.

The Marines prepared a ceremony, there were speeches, a video, and then they cut the birthday cake.  Everything is a huge tradition and everything symbolizes something.  It was really cool, I just can't remember all the details.  I didn't get to see it, but they cut the cake with a sword.  There was a lot of standing and sitting.  We all had the same thought at the exact same time!  It reminded us of somewhere else where there is a lot of standing and sitting.  

 We went crazy that night!  When we ordered drinks, we got our pineapple juice MIXED with our guava juice.  It was pretty wild.

Seriously though, love the CherDog XS and Lo Momma.  It was fun sharing a night of mixed juices and sober dancing with them.

Oh yeah!  Nate was there too.  He was the best looking accessory I had.

He isn't a big dancer, but I made "You're the One That I Want" memorable for him.

It is fun to remember that I had my dress made.  I found a dress online that I liked, showed a tailor a picture, and she made it.  She came 4 different times for alterations.  All for about $50.  It was impressive she could make something based on a picture.  It was fun.  The same seamstress made Nate's tux.  His cost a little (a lot!) more, but it looked awesome.  It fit him so perfectly, and he got exactly what he wanted.  I was amazed.  

All The Nations Like Bananas

On Thanksgiving day, we spent the morning at the kids' school for a UN concert.  It was a little irritating, but they said they "didn't realize it was scheduled on Thanksgiving."  Yeah right.  Anyway, it wasn't too big of deal, we just didn't have a relaxing morning.

UN Day at school is where the kids dress up in traditional clothing from their home country and sing songs.  The U.S. doesn't really have traditional clothing so my kids wore red, white, and blue.  Mostly white and blue because we have little red.  The girls wore little red ribbons in their hair.

Mads shaking the crap out of that thingy.

Dare banging the crap out of that thingy.

Rhon kicking that shuffle's butt.

BA waving those thingys around like nobody's business.

The spread.

Our Thanksgiving was pretty traditional.  We ate all the same things.  We had to improvise with the cranberries, and the sweet potatoes weren't quite the same.  They were especially weird because the marshmallows wouldn't melt.  Travel is hard on those marshmallows.  But all in all it was an awesome dinner, and we were super happy to share the evening with the Ns.  We had pie and Rock Band to finish off the evening.  We kicked those new songs' butts.

PS - That was one good turkey.  Beep beep.

  

Super Smash Bros upstairs.

The Inquirer

I am a procrastinator.  I embrace it.  It doesn't get me down anymore.  Okay, it does, but not as much.  Anyway, I didn't get Dare's presents in the mail until a few days after her birthday.  So we had another mini celebration after we got the gifts in the mail.  She didn't want cake, so we had raspberry soda floats.  When we saw frozen raspberries at the store for such a great price, we couldn't pass it up.  So we had the Abs over for dessert and presents.

We nailed it!

She was so excited about her presents, and so were all the other kids.  She got a doctor's kit, with a real stethoscope, neck brace, bandages, blood pressure monitor, etc.  It was fun.

In Dare's eighth yerar, she went to school in DC, and Jakarta.  She moved across the world, got to hold a baby orangutan, and started playing violin.  She swam in the Indian Ocean, and got about 6000 mosquito bites.  She had to say good bye to great friends, and has made new great ones.  She became an awesome basketball player, and played badminton for the first time.  Dare is awesome.  She's our entertainment.  She is super active.  Loves to fight with BA.  She has a smile that can light up a room.  Her favorite thing to do is swim, go to the zoo, go to the beach, play outside, and play with friends.  She loves to eat ribs.  There is never a doubt what her favorite meal is.  Ribs are pretty hard to come by here, so we'll have to make up for it when we are in the States.  She also loves to eat fresh fruit.  She is the only kid who loves every fruit we have.  Really loves them.  It's awesome.  She is still very difficult to wake up.  In fact, if I don't go in her room 5 minutes after I wake her up to wake her up again, she'll sleep all morning.  I usually make her sit up before I leave.  But she's happy.  She's not a grumpy kid.  She always has to be talking!  She either makes you want to laugh or scream.  I love her.  

3rd

 Just about every family in the ward has at least one member in a presidency somewhere.  So this is what it looks like after church when it's one of those Sundays when there is a ward council meeting...

Dare's Eight

On Dare's birthday...

We had T-ball first, some outdoor games with friends, and then we decided to stop by this diner (the term 'diner' is used loosely - Indo version) on the way home for lunch.  You can get American breakfast-type food all day.  So along with burgers and fries, we had omelets, and pancakes, etc.  It was a great birthday meal.  Since we spent a certain amount, we were able to spin their 'Wheel of Fortune'.  We all let Dare spin it because it was her birthday.  A lot of those spaces are for free fries, or free shakes, but if you look at the space right behind her left shoulder, it says 'Jackpot'.  Yep, that's the one she landed on! So we won 500,000 rupiah to spend there again!  It was crazy.  That's like a whole other meal for all of us.  It was pretty funny.  I felt kind of guilty taking a gift certificate for that much money, but the employees seemed even more excited than we were.

Then we went swimming, cleaned up, and this was next...

Dare's baptism was really wonderful.  The PGs were nice enough to let us have it at their home.  Mads gave an amazing opening prayer, and Nate gave the talk on baptism.  The spirit was very strong.  We worried a bit because it was in a pool, but everyone was reverent, and it was perfect.  While Dare was getting changed, everyone there wrote a little message to her.  Sister Abbe gave a awesome talk about the Holy Ghost, and then she was confirmed.  Rhon gave the closing prayer.

Afterwards, all the kids there lined up to give Dare a hug.  They were so happy for her!  None of our family was able to come, but she was surrounded by great friends and a super supportive ward.  It was a very special day.

I am so proud of Dare.  She doesn't show it a lot of the time, because she's all about fun, but she is very spiritual.  She wants to do what's right and there was no question about whether she would get baptized or not.  I know it was a big deal to her.  You could tell she thought about what it meant for months before it happened.  She is such an awesome person, and I'm glad we had a whole day that was all about her.       

Hoops

 Basketball season is over too.

I almost didn't sign them up because it was going to be pretty complicated.  Having 4 kids on 4 different teams is not easy.  Dare played with the first and second graders from 8am to 10 and then BA and Rhon played with the third and fourth graders at 10.  I asked if BA could play with them because it was easier on me logistically and it was less competitive than the 5th and 6th graders.  Plus, she's smaller than most 4th graders.  These 2 leagues didn't have a practice during the week.  They would have a practice first, and then a game or two at the end.  It was a perfect way to introduce the girls to hoops.

At the first couple practices/games I was a little worried.  My girls were very timid, and they weren't sure what they were doing.  But they improved so much!  I was so proud of how hard they worked.  They made shots.  Lots of them!  And there were a couple of tall girls that had a hard time making shots because of awesome defense.  Dare even played with the older girls because they always needed an extra person.  So she played in both leagues.  She did incredible!  They all dribble really well now, and they are confident out on the court.  I love it.  It is awesome.  BA even joined a tournament at school.

It turned out to be such a great experience and they had so much fun.

I didn't get any good pictures of them playing.  Time to get a new camera...

The last day, they got a gym bag and a brand new basketball.  Plus, a pizza party!

Team Spain

Well, the soccer season is over.  It was awesome.

Mads did great.  When we got him to pay attention, he ran hard and have it all he had.  Admittedly that was only about 50% of the time (okay, maybe 40), but he was happy.  He never complained, and he always looked forward to Saturdays.

Nate doing a little coaching.

This soccer was a lot more advanced than I expected.  I think all my girls played when they were 5, and it was nothing like this.  It was crazy!  It was super fun to watch.

Muddy boots.

This league was for kindergarten and first graders.  He was among the younger group.

Sweaty head.

Team Spain.  Awesome team.  So fun to watch.  There are some pretty talented kids out there.

The last Saturday they had tournament.  Each of the teams played two games.  I thought it was a bit of a stretch because the kids seem so wiped out after just one game.  Sure enough they were hot and tired, and they could barely keep up with the ball.  They still did great though.

His trophy was not golden, so he was a little disappointed, but he was happy about the ball, shirt, and 2 bags he got.

Of course when McDonlad's is catering, you would expect fried chicken, rice, and iced tea.  Just a reminder we are in Asia.

Next up:  T-ball!

So Nice

On Veteran's Day, Nate told me he would wake up and get the kids ready for school.  He got the day off, they didn't.  But, when he woke them up, the begged him to let them stay home.  He's a sucker.  He let them.  Well, it felt like a holiday should, so we were happy.

I slept in a bit, and when I woke up Nate was making chocolate gelato and mango sorbet with the girls. Nice.

Then we went swimming.  Nate throws the kids in the pool.  He stands outside the pool, and chucks them as hard as he can!  It's pretty entertaining, especially since there hasn't been any injuries yet.  This time I got pictures.

 The first toss with G is always super high.   Probably because he is the lightest.  From then on, he asks Dad to not throw him so high.  

 They start making faces and hand gestures.

 Sometimes they even shout out movie quotes.

 More fun.  This is my favorite.

Timing the jumps with the boys was a little tricky.

After swimming, we went out to lunch.  Sate Senayan.  The kids don't love it as much as I do.

It was a good holiday.  Maybe I'll let them stay home on all the American holidays.  We'll see...

I'm Laughing at Clouds

There was no lightning, so I let him go out with an umbrella.  He thought it was the coolest thing ever.  Or at least he said it was.  He might have been too embarrassed to admit it was lame after he asked to play with the umbrella like 738 times.  That day.

Rain is usually a pounding rain.  It sounds like hail.  And the thunder is like I've never heard before.

Not One Tootsie Roll

A little story about Halloween in Indonesia...

We put up our spider webs and hung our bats, so on the inside it felt like Halloween.  We didn't see the leaves change this year.  We didn't feel the chill in the air, but Halloween was a much bigger deal than I thought it would be.  There were decorations for sale at the grocery stores, and I even went to a mall with a whole costume section.

It wasn't a big deal at school.  Only Mads had a party.  But in addition to the 2 parties already mentioned, we had another one on Halloween after school.  It seemed like we weren't missing out on anything by being in a country that doesn't celebrate the holiday.  Plus we got to trick-or-treat!  We had a mini trick-or-treat session in our little American compound.  It was great.

I missed the cool weather, but we had bats flying around us.  That was a first!  It felt like we were on a real haunted street.  I've seen depictions of Halloween with bats in the moonlight, but never lived it.

I'm so used to cold weather on Halloween that all day as I was planning my evening in my head, I kept thinking I would need to change out of my flip-flops and put on some jeans.  I had to laugh at myself.  Really though, it was nice not to worry about snow, or the kids getting too cold.

Here the boys are opening the cards Grandma sent them.  They were so excited!


Nothing beats our Halloweens in good ole WJ, but this one was pretty good.

Monster Mash

We got dressed up on Saturday for a rockin' Halloween party...

BA the punk.  She's got the look.

Dare the ninja.

Rhon the viking.  She's got the look too.

G the other punk.

Mads the other ninja.  Mads made a great ninja.  Always posing and being stealthy.

The group.

I just liked these pictures.

The party.

It was a great party.  There was a haunted house that the girls got to help out with.  It was scary enough that it brought a few little kids to tears.  My boys included!  There was also games, and great food.

I didn't post our picture, but even Nate and I dressed up.  It was a small miracle that Nate wore the costume I got him.  Even though he took it off after about 30 minutes, I was happy.  So were the kids!  That's a side of Dad they have never seen before.  We were both 80s work-outers.  Nate had a track suit, and I was complete with leg warmers and hot pink tights.  It was totally awesome that we were able to buy stuff for our costumes right here at the regular clothing store.  I think that part was way more fun than wearing it...