Christmas Happenings

There has been a lot of Christmas going on here!  

We first started with the school's play "The Grinch". Because of visa issues for our music teacher, we had parents step up and produce a wonderful play for our kids. 

So I was a bad mom and didn't get the kids in costume...  Gabby was the mom and Gav was her son in the Who Family. 

Then of course no Christmas party is complete until Santa and Mrs. Clause show up!

Chris thought he would give Santa's lap a try... Pretty sure he was being a bad boy! ;)

Mrs. Clause came and gave me a snuggle during dinner. She is just the sweetest!

And then Mr. Clause got a little jealous. So he had to have his picture taken as well.

It was a great family night out at the Lupe!

On to the next party...

Gabby was asked to do the opening for the big Freeport Christmas celebration. 

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Well, this was a big post and I forgot to finish and upload.... So on to the next one!

International Travelers

Who would have thought?!?!  

I sometimes sit back and think to myself how life is so different from 5 years ago. If someone would have told me that I would be sending my two young teenagers off to boarding school, in another country, I would have told them they were nuts!  If they would have told me that I would let them fly internationally all by themselves, I would have told them they were certifiably INSANE!  

Well, maybe I am the one that is insane!  Here are Marz and Ted flying from SIN to PEN all on their own!  Eeks!!

Dad taking a picture of them, from a distance, while they are waiting to go through immigration. 

They are so grown up! :)

How do I get through this, you may ask...  Well, I pray A LOT! 

Prayers for their safety while traveling and peace for this momma! :)

xo 

PS. I all fairness, I have already let Marz fly from PEN to Bali on her own... But that was so last school year! ;)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving for us this year was quite different for our family. Chris, Mersades, and Teddy were in Singapore on a visa run so Marz and Ted could get back in to Indonesia at Christmas time. Gav, Gabs, and I were in Tembagapura keeping the home fires burning. Actually we could have gone to Sungapore, but that's just more missed school for the younger two. :). 

Anyway, even though our immediate family was split apart for the holiday, we, Gav, Gab, and I, had our Tembagapura family to celebrate with. 

Chris, Marz, and Ted, may not have had a surrogate family to spend the day with, but they had each other. The kids hadn't seen Chris since August, when they left for school. So they spent the day shopping where Chris had a fun time spoiling the two oldest!

To round off the day of shopping, Chris and the kids went looking for a place to eat and found Chili's. In the words of Chris, "At least it's American!" ;)

So this is the new "norm" for us. We may not all be together to celebrate Thanksgiving, but we all can still be thankful for so many things!  I am very thankful for extended families, for all the opportunities we have, and for those times when we can all be back together!

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone! Feel Blessed! xo 

Beautiful Morning!

First time I have ever sat on my upper balcony. Beautiful morning... My feet are warm! :)

Another Teenager!!

Happy 13th Birthday Gavin!!!

Well, we do anything really different for Gav's birthday than past years... Dinner at the Lupe with his two best buddies!

Here are the pictures... 

Wow!  Three teenagers in the family!! :)

Why I Couldn't Homeschool!

Because this would be their classroom!  At least I have them reading on their break... ;)

Teddy is 15!!

It's hard to believe, and yes, everyone says it, but I truly can't believe Teddy is 15!!  I still can remember the days when he was a little belligerent bugger and now he is a very kind caring respectful 15 year old!  I guess true discipline does work! :)

But that's not what this is about... We were fortunate enough to be able to be in Penang for Teddy's birthday!  To start off the birthday weekend, Gav, Gab and I flew in to Penang early Friday morning. Once school was out for Marz and Ted we watched Marz practice volleyball and then Aunt Becky had Teddy's yummy birthday treat ready for Teddy. One thinking you don't have to worry about with growing boys and girls is if they have dessert before dinner, will they eat all of their dinner?  I am pretty sure that is never a problem, so that's what we did!

We then took the whole dorm out to Chili's for a dinner celebration. Ted's choice. :). Sorry, the photo is really bad!

That was Friday night. Now the kids are on their October break...

Saturday, Ted's official birthday, was filled with more eating and (Ted wants you to know) presents wrapped in a hotel towel!  I guess you just have to do what you have to do with the things you have to do it with! ;)

Then we went and wasted money at an arcade and the kids took a ride in this 5D machine. 

Not bad... It's just one of those things that you do when you are home away from home away from home. :)

Happy Birthday Teddy!! xoxo

Pit Stop - Batik

We are once again on our way to Malaysia to see Marz and Ted for their school break. But before we get to see them, I had some business to take are of in Bali. One was getting my hair done, and the second was buying Bali Silver to take to the ladies back on site to raise money for the local Papuan children. Unfortunately for Gav and Gab, they had to join me for my all day excursion and couldn't go to the pool. Lucky for them, all this next week, they will have plenty of pool time. 

I must say though, that the most exciting part of the day was when we took this little pit stop, on the way back from the silver store, where the Bali ladies were making batik. Batik is a process of using oil to outline the design on the material and then go through a dyeing process to color the material. It's not as simple as that, but if you want to know more about the process, I am sure you can ask "Uncle Google".  ;)

Here are a few pictures of the ladies and Gabby, who on her shorts, got a handmade Batik design by one of the ladies. 

Pretty neat. I love watching all the talented people in Bali!

Our 11 year old!

Happy 11th Birthday Yummy G!!

Well, we learned with this birthday that ice cream cone cupcakes ARE NOT the best idea when you live in a tropical jungle!!  We slowly watched them fall over...  So the best plans were kicked out the windown and the cake moved up to the first item of business!

So we ate and then opened presents so the tummies could be settled before the big match up. 

Next up!  A good old fashion game of Dodge Ball!  Just in case you were wondering... No one was injured or WHINNED during the main entertainment!!

An hour and a half of dodge ball and the kids didn't want to quit!  But it was time for a few more snacks and a fight over the last pathetic cake cones! Humidity had killed the cones! ;)

Time to go get ready for Hot Stone at the Lupe!

Happy 11th birthday Gabby Goo!!

Mersades 16th Birthday!

Sorry about the very late post from Marz's birthday!  I had forgotten until this morning...

Last week Gabby and I flew to Penang to help Marz celebrate her birthday and also watch some volleyball. Even thought we didn't see a game, we got to see both of the kids practice. I guess that will have to be good enough for now. :)

Here are some pictures from the weekend. They are kind of in backwards order...

Mersades dorm dinner at Friday's. They made her get on a chair and give a speech before she got her birthday cake. 

Most of the dorm kids. 

Birthday "cake" back at the dorm. 

Ted and a friend. 

My girls. 

Everything we do, when I go visit the kids, revolves around food!  They are eating constantly! ;)

Ted going back to his Papuan roots, carrying his food stash back to the hotel. 

Growing up too fast!

Ted and his VB practice. Why this is the only VB picture I took, I don't know! ;)