Easter 2011!

On Easter morning we woke up at 3:00 AM to get ready, to celebrate Easter with the Indonesian Christians.  There is a tradition in Tembagapura to have a torch parade, through town just before sunrise, to kick off the Easter celebration.  Last year we miss it, so this year we made sure we were there to partake in the festivities. 

Needless to say, the kids were not all that thrilled to wake up that early, but once they found out they got to "play" with fire, they perked up a bit.

Here they are, waiting to get their torches lit.

Ready, Set, FIRE! 
Yes, Gabby even got to hold one!  And Yes, I made sure my hair stayed out of the way!!! ;)

 Dad and Mersades.

The people...  Some had just gotten off work.  Some were on their way to work.  But all took a moment out of their day to celebrate our Risen Savior!

 The boys...

I don't know these boys.  I was just testing out my camera... :)  The one the left is Indonesian, and the two on the right are Papuan. 

 Boys will be boys!  Hmmm, Let's see if we can start the jungle on fire....  No worries here.  Too much rain!!

So when the parade through town was finished, all who participated, and all who wanted to, met on the soccer field for some morning coffee and treats.  They also stayed and listened to the Christian band that was playing Easter songs.
Last stop for the torches before the people walked on the field... :)

 Last stop for us! 

The sun coming up over Mt. Zaagham!

Happy Easter Everyone!!! 

Hiking With the Family

Easter weekend we decide to do the "walk" from Tembagapura to Hidden Valley as a family.  We thought it was a great day for all of us to go.  It was overcast and not too terribly hot.  So off we go.  This picture is the family starting down (the only time we go down on this "walk") from our house.

We then pick up the "Coolest Dude" in all of Tembagapura..... The kids PE teacher.... Mr. C... for "Cool"!

We then pick up two more people..... Yes! Two!..... You may need to take a closer look! And I an not talking about the two standing in the back ground either!
(Just kidding, they did not walk up the hill with us... :)

So we leave Tembag and head up...

Chris has to stop along the way and give Mr. C a geology lesson!  There was a land slide there the night before.

Then Gabby gets tired....  And dad the "super hero" comes to the rescue!

Ooh La La....  He is soooo STRONG!  The rest of the kids are thinking to themselves.... Why wasn't I born last?!?!?!?  :)

Time for a rest.....

During rest time, Dad entertains the kids by throwing rocks over the side of the mountain.  There is a huge drop off there.  I practice taking "action" shots with my new camera...

Can anyone find the rock?? :)

Now remember at the start of this post, I said it was overcast?  As we started the climb, the sun came out and it got very hot!  Only Chris and I had hats to shade our faces.  So needless to say, the kid were very hot.  I ended up giving Gabby my hat because she didn't even have her hair in a pony tail!  I ended up getting burned! OUCH!
Here is Teddy cooling himself off by dunking his shirt is a stream of water...

Well, we finally made it!  It had to have been the slowest time I have ever had walking the hill.  But it was probably the most fun! 

Here are all of us in front of the Hidden Valley (Aing Bugin translated) sign with Mt. Zaagham in the background.

And now that I look at it, Three of the kids were in BLACK!  They must have been hot!  Next time we will go prepared! :)

Happy hiking/walking/crawling!

Robin

And She's Off...

This year the middle school is off to Borneo, Malaysia! The kids left early this morning, to the low lands, on the chopper. They then fly to Jakarta and then on to Malaysia tomorrow. Mersades will be back next Sunday. We will all have to wait, until then, for more pictures. But for now, here are the pictures from the helipad this morning. Take care, and God bless!

HAPPY EASTER!

I just wanted to wish everyone a very Happy Easter! I will post pictures from our weekend as soon as get things figured out.
Love and Miss you all!

My New Toy!

I am very excited to get to know my new toy! Chris got me this awesome camera to take awesome pictures (like the one below) of all of our adventures. Now the only problem I have to figure out is... How to use it! That and figure out what is wrong with "Blogger"! I once again canNOT get my pictures to upload from my computer. The crazy thing is, I can get post done through my phone! That is why, Becky, I can do all the "fancy" photo work! :) NOW I have run out of room to post anymore... Until next time

Walking With The Boys

Since today is a day off of school for the kids, the boys decided to go with me on my hike to Hidden Valley. They did a great job! Next time we will try up and down! :)

Echo Beach

Last night we took a drive about 20 minutes from where we are staying to go have dinner on the beach with our friends from Tembagapura. It was beautiful!