The Surprise!!

Chris has a very hard time surprising me. He usually lets the surprise slip or just cant stand to keep it so he tells me anyway. 

Well he actually got one by me!  Well actually two... ;)

So I get back from my splurge in Bali and Chris and I were talking about the upcoming "doomsday", where I turn the BIG 4. 0.!  And I just happen to say to him that I really thought that my surprise for my birthday would have been that Chris would have flown my sister over to meet me and the ladies in Bali and then come to site with me. I also made the comment that if my parents just had sent come for Christmas that he maybe would have flown them over on my birthday, but who would want to make two trips like that in such a short time? Chris' answer to me was, "Yeah, that would have been a great idea... I wish I would have thought of it my self!"  Cheeky little stinker! 

So a week goes by and nothing happens... It's now the morning of the 28th... Saturday morning... I wake up to "Happy Birthday. Love you. I have to go do some work."  Working on a Saturday is not unusual but the way he said it was like leave me alone, I don't want to talk to you. Again, nothing unusual when he has to get some work done... But I thought "What a BUTT!!  It's my birthday!!!"  But I didn't want to start a fight ON MY 40tTH BIRTHDAY!! So I left him a lone to get his "work" done. 

The day went on then like any normal Saturday. Kids had soccer, went home, took an afternoon nap and then got ready for the party. Yes, that I did know about!

We are not at the party and everyone is taking pictures and I am kept busy with picture after picture...

after picture after picture... You get the point.  My friend Danella even knows this and I am starting to get a little annoyed. NO MORE PICTURES!!! 

And then a crowd walks toward me. (I am not paying attention at all. I just don't want ANYMORE PICTURES!!). And then it parts and my MOM is standing there!!

And I yelled something like "you did come!!"  Not quite sure what I said...  I know I was thinking what a pain in the a$$ to fly all that way again!! ;)

But my mommy came for my birthday!!  Couldn't believe Chris pulled that off!! He is still quite proud of himself, as he should be. He also surprised me with another "chunk of coal". Sorry, I don't have a picture of that...

So everything now is starting to come together on why he was being a "patutty"

aka pain in the butt that morning. Little did I know, he was communicating with a friend to go get my mom off the choppering the only way for him to do that was to be a "patutty" so I would ignore him!

Thanks honey!  That was a great birthday surprise!

The only thing that would have made that day better would have been to have these two with us!

Oh well, maybe we will shoot for my 50th to have everyone together!! :P

Thanks babe (that's you Chris) ;) for a wonderful 40th birthday party!!

My 40th Birthday Celebration!

And quite the month long celebration it was!!

After Mersades was pampered by her mom for a couple weeks after surgery, I flew to Bali to meet Chris for a previous planed weekend getaway. I got there a day before Chris did and met some good friends for a dinner to celebrate my birthday and a husband's birthday of one of the friends... (He is not in the picture. ). We ate at a restaurant that looked like the inside of a castle. I hope to take the kids there one day. 

Then Chris arrived on Thursday for a five night stay in our own private villa. Why I have no pictures of the villa, I do not know... Here is one of the two of us at Chris' new favorite restaurant. :)

Saturday night was Valentine's Day and we decided to go join a group of friends that were in Bali for a gold weekend. 

After Chris' five days were up (because someone in this family has to work ;)) the party continued with three friends who came to shop and shop and shop!

And we shopped and shopped and shopped!

Jenggala

Batik Stamps

More Jenggala

Stone Fountains

Glass Blob Vases on Wood

And MORE Jenggala!

And of course... Shoes!!! :)

Good thing "someone" has a job! ;D

The ladies surprised me with a BBQ dinner. I answered the door to the villa when the staff came to start cooking and told them they have the wrong villa!!  The ladies were all laughing at me!

My good friend Stormy could not join us in Bali, due to just having neck surgery. So she joined us on Skype!  I LOVE technology!

After five days of of bankrupting the family, I decided I better get home!  After all, I had been gone almost a month!  So home I went... 

The partying continues in the next post!  Stay tuned... :)

Christmas: Part IV

Our next stop on our extended Christmas vacation was Club Med, Bintan Island, Indonesia. We actually flew from Lombok via Jakarta to Singapore.  Bintan is about a 40 minute boat ride from Singapore. The kids had never been on a ferry like that before, so I thought I would give them a new experience!  And that it was!!

This was everyone before the very, very bumpy boat ride!

Needless to say, we didn't look like that after getting off the boat!  Gavin's comment was, "I will NEVER eat a whole bag of Doritos again before getting on a boat!" :)

Pretty much the only reason we go to a Club Med. The kids love the trapeze!

The kids and Chris got in a game of beach volleyball while I was sitting on the sidelines do to a back injury from trying to kill the ball in a game of squash. Of course it was against Chris! ;)

Finally got Marz to golf!!  It helped that there was a cute golf GO for Marz to impress!! ;)

Like always, dad enjoying the show!

Gav and Marz were in the show...

Mom, Dad, Chris and I golfed on one of the most beautiful golf course I have ever seen! Unfortunately our team did not win the tournament. :(

So that was Club Med Bintan in a small nut shell. It's always a great time at Club Med because there are so many activities for the kids to do!

Now, on to the last stop... Singapore!

Christmas: Part III

Lombok, Indonesia 

After a busy and fun Christmas week in Tembagapura, we took the family to Lombok Island for some fun and relaxation in the sun. We spent 7 days of doing a whole lot of nothing... Well I say a whole lot of nothing, but the next 16 pictures suggest otherwise. ;)

We stayed at a beach resort on the west central shores of Lonbok. The location of the pool to the beach was about 15 feet! Truly, the best of both worlds! :)

Of course in between our pool and nap time was our card game time!

Chris did take the three oldest out diving the Gili Islands, which are located in north west Lombok. 

Grandpa and Gabby stayed in the pool. :)

The only reason I wanted to go to Lombok was to visit a place that made Lombok pottery. So Chris, the girls, mom and I set out on a tour. Unfortunately for me, it was not the tour I wanted. I didn't want to go where all the tourists go, I wanted to go where the "real" artisans were working and see all the steps in making the pottery. But I guess when you don't explain yourself well enough, then you get what you get! 

Gabby did get to make her own little pot. 

Artist using an egg shell motif to decorate some of the pottery. 

The finished product. 

After our "tour" to the pottery, the driver talked us into visiting a small village where the ladies were weaving traditional Lombok textiles.  They welcomed the girls to give it a try. 

The ladies sit in these looms for 10+ hours a day unless they have to help get the rice harvest in from the fields. 

They dressed Marz in traditional Lombok dress. 

This lady here was spinning cotton in to yarn. 

New Year's Eve!

We all put our party hats on and went to the fabulous New Year's Eve party at the hotel. 

And if course, a true Indonesian vacation is not complete unless you get one of their $6, hour long, feet and leg massage. Needless to say, we got a few of these during the week!

Time now to pack up and fly off to the next destination... :)

Christmas: Part II

Since my mom and dad came for Christmas, and we haven't been home for a Christmas in five years, I wanted to try and recreate out traditional "Schlomer Family" Christmas. Yes, oyster stew and all!

To accommodate all our guest, we had FM set a tent, or two, up in our back yard. Since it rains in Tembag every now and again... Ha ha ha!! Understatement of the century! It rains ALL THE TIME!  This is why the need for tents...  It just so happened that the night the tent was first set up, there was a torrential down pour and at 12:30 in the morning, CRASH! Needless to say the "crash" woke all the adults up, "What the heck was that?"  Dad thought someone had fallen down the stairs!

So we call FM first thing in the morning and they were great getting everything set back up in time for the party!

Before the party could begin, a friend of ours, took the kids and dad down to Banti, a local Papuan village. They too were getting ready to celebrate Christmas, in their own way, with a traditional pig roast. It just so happened that they needed some extra muscle to help move the hot stones on to the pigs and Teddy just happened to be there to help! :)

(These photos are all courtesy of our friend Merv.)

Not many people can say they have visited an indigenous Papuan village, but our kids can say that and say that they participated in traditional Papuan pig roast!  What an experience!

Now in to the party!!

Christmas Eve was so much fun!!  We had so many people over to the house and sooooo much food!!  My mom did make oyster stew, with canned oysters a friend brought in from Australia. I made the traditional Sloppy Joe's. It was as close to a Schlomer Christmas Eve that you could get:

Great Food!  Great Friends!  Great Family!

I was too busy running around to take pictures, so thank you to my friend Danella for snapping some photos for me!  The boys were off running in the jungle with their friends, so no pictures of them and unfortunately, mom, like many others arriving at site, got hit with a bug and celebrated for a little while, but then called it an early night, so no picture of her. :(

As you can see, it was truly a night that memories are made from!  Whether in the United States or in Papua Indonesia, Christmas is celebrated to the fullest!  

Jesus Christ our Savior is Born! Hallelujah!