Ordinary Beauty

My days are filled with small things...small people (my kids and neighbor kids), small steps towards growth (in patience, love, communication, friendship, physical exercise etc.), and many small delights (flowers, conversations, laughter, rainbows). Please enjoy with me a few of the ordinary things (in my home and around the area where I live) that I have noticed that are very beautiful.

Who can resist a baby's beautiful smile? :)

This is an amazing fern-covered fence!

Ariella with the beautiful fence.

A beautiful day! And fun on the swings!

The beauty of gently holding a baby rabbit.

Ariella is picking flowers with a very sweet Indonesian girl.

This is Zoe playing "airport"...a game where she brings her doll in her stroller to the airplane that she sets up (plastic chairs in front of the washing machine). The stroller is stowed under the sink, and then she and her baby (or babies) travel to Indonesia. One day when playing this I explained to her that Indonesia is where we live now...and she told me that Indonesia is her "favorite world." I think the beauty of her creativity and play and happiness to be here is delightful!

A rainbow seen from our back yard.

Daniel reading a bedtime story to Zechariah.

Zoe enjoying the beautiful fire pit.

I hope you enjoy these glimpses into my life. Life with my kids seems to take more patience than I have and some things in my life seem to take more courage than I can muster up. But I am trusting God to help me to be patient and brave. And gratitude for the beauty around me helps me as I slowly grow and learn. Where do you see beauty in the ordinary things in your life?

My Parents' Visit and Thanksgiving

I have sooooo much to be thankful for!

My parents made the 40 hour trip to come and visit us here in Indonesia for two weeks!  Zoe, their first grandchild, was the main attraction.

Zoe meeting her grandparents at the airport

They brought all sorts of presents and treats.  Dad, Daniel, and I played over 100 hands of 3-handed bridge.  Mom helped Zoe learn to roll over (on her 4 month birthday) and do other tricks.  Having my parents here made me feel like the world is not such a big place after all.  My familiar people, my family, were able to intersect with my new life here.

As an early Christmas present my parents paid for the 5 of us (well, Zoe was free) to go on a little vacation to a beautiful island North of here called Karimunjawa.  Daniel already wrote 4 blog posts telling all about our trip: one two three four.  The snorkeling was amazing--It was like seeing the Discovery Channel in real life.  And it was great experiencing it all with my parents and having them help take care of Zoe.

My parents are looking for shells on this beach

We took a small boat out for 2 half days of snorkeling

Dad came up with the idea of feeding fish cashew nuts

On Thanksgiving Day we celebrated at my house here in Salatiga with my parents and with friends (the other MAF families, another friend from language school, and Ibu Santi who works at my house).  What a lot of fun!  The only food item that I missed was cranberry sauce.  We made pumpkin bread/pudding/pies out of a real pumpkin...no canned pumpkin here!

Our 4 MAF families here have 5 babies (4-7 month olds!) and 6 more children (ages 2-6).  Lots of fun!

My parents left on Friday and it was hard to say goodbye.  Sometimes I feel guilty to live so far away with their lovely grandchild...but I know that we are where we are supposed to be.  We all talked on skype already and heard about their trip home.  Zoe stared intently at the computer screen and even "talked" to them a little.

Do you have any suggestions for long-distance grandparents?

What are you thankful for this Thanksgiving?