Moments

Moments you can't share on the phone . . .

You wish . . .

. . . time could stand still.

Moments . . .

you can't experience in an email . . .

or even . . .

on skype.

These are the times we'll remember. . .

with our Borneo grandkids.

A New Friend

In the end it wasn't too bad! Does anyone know what this creature is called?

A Special Birthday

A Birthday celebration, even in Indonesia, always includes a cake and Tehya was right there to help. It turned out to be some nice time alone, just the two of us, as everyone else was busy with other things and the Birthday girl was napping.

As I was taking the picture, she said, "This is for your blog, right Grammy?" I laughed, and asked her if she wanted me to put it on my blog. She said, "Yes."

Sprinkles for the final touch.

The room is ready.

The goodie bags.

The guests arrive.

We all sang Happy Birthday. It seems to be an international song.

Everyone had a great time! Happy Birthday Makenna! We feel like we are just now getting to know you. We sure do love you and are so happy to be able to share this day with you!

PS Also wishing a very Happy Birthday to Ben, whose Birthday we are missing.

First Glimpses

I tried otherwise, but the collage is the only thing that would upload right now. The top left photo is on the plane headed to the island of Borneo. A warm, clean and friendly place was there to welcome us. The kids wanted us to see their rooms first. The playhouse that Papa built in 2005 is in Paet's room. I love the windows in the house. The girls share a room. The bottom left is a glimpse into the kitchen and the last one is our room that we are enjoying for the third time now.
This home has had some much needed work done to it, such as changing the squat toilets and very low counters in the kitchen. . . but that is not all . . . it is a happy place for the kids, with a yard and playground shared with many.

Jakarta

We landed in Jakarta on Friday afternoon, local time, about 24 hours after leaving home. Other times that we have come here, we've had to stay overnight before flying the final leg of the journey. This time, however, we were warmly welcomed in Jakarta already!

On Saturday we spent some time at the Grand Indonesian Mall. It was not like anything I've seen in Indonesia and much grander than a lot of malls I've seen in North America. Kind of hard to reconcile in a country where you see so much poverty. This mall had all the name brand stores you would find in North America, a large kids play area with rides, a floor serving food with themes from countries around the world, a water fountain show etc.

Today we had a great time at the pool and later on at a water park. I have not been able to send pics to family, so I hope these pictures tell some of the story. Tomorrow morning we all fly to Borneo! The kids are very excited! And so are we, of course!

New Keys

Just a few years ago, really, not even a year ago, I would not have imagined that I'd be excited to go on a trip with my own little computer. Yet here I am, feeling the freedom to go to far away places and visit friends at home, all at the same time. I'm not sure I was any more excited about my first set of keys!

Last week a young man came to our house to set up a wireless router and so began my first lesson on, what he called, my new netbook. I remember years ago someone saying something about having a computer in the kitchen and putting all my recipes on there and me thinking, "Why would I do that, if I can read them in a book? Well, this is like a book in my kitchen where I can now type in the name of the recipe and it will appear. Times have changed.

I'm still trying to figure out how this whole Internet thing works. How can a computer work without being plugged in? Oh, and does it always have to be near a place it can pick up on this special signal, or can it run on a charged battery? Dumb question, I know, I'm figuring these things out and I know more questions will come, but for now I am happy to have connection. Sort of like knowing there is gas in the car and that's what matters.

Now, having said that, if you don't hear from me for the next ten days there could be several reasons. I may not have connection, but I may just be having too much fun all day long and just drop dead into bed at the end of the day. I'm prepared for the midnight wake up calls of the mosque, then the roosters crowing and then the door opening and little feet running on tiles to join us in bed. And so the days will begin.