Launch

Something special happen on Christmas Eve!  Our first Jakarta visitors came.  The Patchs arrived late Saturday night.  And even though though they didn't have their luggage they were in good spirits.  They even wanted to go to church at 8am the next morning.  And we saved our Christmas Eve fondue tradition for Christmas night so that the Patchs could join us.  It was the perfect start to a wonderful visit.  I didn't get any pictures of chocolate, be we had that too.

I've Been A Clean Livin' Boy

Christmas!  The only thing I noticed different about Christmas morning was that it was already super bright outside.  It seemed like mid-day.  Oh, and that we opened presents on Christmas Eve.  We did it early because we had visitors coming.

I love making them line up from youngest to oldest to go to the tree.  Just like my parents did when I was a kid.

I bet no one else got 'jelly love' for Christmas.

Yes, I made them silly Christmas pajama pants.  Mostly because I thought it was funny to find that fabric here.  And it has gold in it.  The fabric screamed Indonesian Christmas to me.

Stockings from Grandma.

That thing's worth about 10,000 here.

The girls got pocket knives.  They were thrilled.

Skyping with Uncle Ry and Aunt Kristy.  They gave them puppets which have been loads of fun.

Jingle

The first Christmas program I got to watch was with G's preschool.  One of the moms does a music class and she prepared the kids for a performance.  They sang a couple of Christmas songs.  It was great.

G taking a very deep, very long bow.

Here I can't decide if he is doing the wrong arm actions, or both kids next to him are.  Of course, they are wrong!  G is always right. ; )

Then I got to watch the girls and Mads in the school program.  Mads sang and the girls played violin.  I think this was the first time the girls did any kind of performance.  They did great.

My pictures were not great.

Dare is the one closest to me.  You can see Rhon's face, and BA is right in front of Rhon.

Stitch #8, 9, 10, 11, and 12

Stitches again!  This time I freaked out a little bit.

Everything was fine.  We were having a normal, relaxing Sunday afternoon.  Then I hear a cry.  It wasn't a horrifying cry, but I could tell something was wrong.  Mads came to me with his hand on his chin.  As soon as I saw the gaping wound on his chin, I knew he needed stitches.  His insides were coming out!  That's when I freaked out.  Not so much because of the blood, or hole in his chin, but we are in a developing country!  Medical care is the last thing I want to worry about.  Why couldn't he have split his chin open on a weekday?  I don't know, about 10am so we could go to the embassy?  

Well, it turned out much better than I thought right when I saw the cut.  We have never had to get emergency care in Jakarta, so we asked our neighbors (the embassy doctor) what we were supposed to do.  Luckily we did, because they called the emergency unit and they said they wouldn't do the stitches.  I guess they don't feel comfortable if they have to "hold down" a child.  It seems like a cultural thing.  They wanted to put him under general anesthesia.  No way!  The embassy doctors were able to find us another doctor who would do it.  We just had to travel to a nearby city.

So we started our trek.  It was about an hour drive.  And I have to say how amazing Mads is.  He didn't complain, or cry, or whine.  The DS certainly helped.  When we arrived at the emergency room, we were greeted by name, and within 5 minutes of walking through the door, they were starting the procedure.

He is not sleeping.  He is not drugged.  Just trying to sit very very still.  What a stud.

Still, just the guy holding his head still.  Nothing else.  He's 100% awake.  Not an easy accomplishment for a 5 year old.  But he didn't even flinch.  He is so awesome.

Finished product.  The Indonesian doctor did a great job.

I love this picture of Nate at the desk.  Thank goodness he was there.  Being able to speak Indonesian was crucial.  We paid out of pocket, and it cost about $120.  Crazy, right?  Makes me wonder how much all the doctors and nurses and other workers are getting paid.

Other than the mosquito in the room flying around Mads' fresh blood, it was a good experience.  The hospital wasn't scary, and the room was clean.  The doctor was professional and cheerful, and all the workers were helpful and kind.  I realize it could have been much worse.  Our taxi driver even stopped by McDonald's on the way home.

After I posted this, and got a comment, I realized I didn't say how he hurt his chin in the first place.  I'm pretty sure I did that last time too.  Well, he and G thought it would be fun to stand on each other's backs while they were on hands and knees on the floor.  Mads was on the bottom, and he was wiggling so G would fall off.  Definitely a bad choice on hard tile floors.  Anyway, G inevitably falls, but he falls straight down onto Mads' head, slamming his chin on the floor with enough pressure to split it open.  We realize it could have been much worse.  Mads could be missing a part of his tongue or G could have had a concussion, so we're not complaining.

Tum On Jenga

One day I came home from tennis to my family all spread out on the floor playing Jenga.  They rocked that game!  It was tall.  We thought for sure G or Mads would knock it over, but they were awesome.  They are really quick and careless, but it seems to work for them.  Neither of them knocked it over.

I hate missing family time, but I was happy to see them having a good time without me.

G4

G turned 4.  I wish you all knew him well.  He is truly one in a hundred billion.

One day I took him swimming.  On the way home he tripped and fell on the rocks on the trail from the pool.  He laid there a second or two not moving.  I went back to him and asked him if he needed help.  He looks up at me slowly, stares at me for a second, and replies, "I need nothing."

That pretty much sums him up.

Cookies and milk to celebrate.

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...