First Christmas in Wamena

A few days ago we celebrated our first Christmas in Wamena! We forgot to take a cute family photo in front of the Christmas tree, but here are the kids:

Ariella enjoying homemade peppermint stick ice cream.

Zoe eating it too! A friend brought us candy canes from the US to put in it!

I forgot to take a picture of Zach eating ice cream. Here he is with his hands in bandages and socks with thumb-holes (for sucking). I'll explain in a bit why his hands were bandaged...

A note about firsts...
I have had "first" Christmases for quite a few years now:
2015 First Christmas in Nampa, Idaho, waiting for Zechariah to be born.
2014 First Christmas in Nashville, TN, waiting for my nephew David to be born and then actually being present for his birth.
2013 First Christmas in Nabire, Papua, Indonesia, in our new home there with 1-month-old Ariella.
2012 First Christmas in Sentani, Papua, Indonesia, where we were living temporarily. 1-year-old Zoe was oh-so-cute that year. Earlier that month I miscarried her younger sibling.
2011 First Christmas in Salatiga, Central Java, Indonesia while we were in language school. This was Zoe's first Christmas and I made cookies to bring to our neighbors and went to the city-wide sunrise service.
2010 First Christmas in Apple Creek, OH (not Daniel's first Christmas there, but mine). We celebrated with Daniel's family and had so much fun picking out a tree from a Christmas tree farm while it was snowing!
2009 First Christmas in St. Louis, Missouri. We were there preparing to volunteer at Urbana. This was also our first Christmas married.
So I have to go back to 2008, when Daniel and I were newly dating, to have a Christmas in New England. Time is just flying by! Every year since getting married I have celebrated Christmas in a different place!

And back to this year...

We had a quiet Christmas, mostly at home, after poor Zach burned his hands on the oven door on Christmas Eve (when we had friends over for dinner, of course). He was doing so well that we did venture out of out house to the afternoon Christmas service in the little building on our housing complex. Here is a photo I took after church...we have 6 babies (age 1 and younger) in our expat community right now. Zach is the 3rd oldest, the biggest/heaviest, one of 4 boys, and one of 2 Americans. Here they are with their dads:

babies from L to R: Marie, Melody, Marc, Brett, Zechariah, Jesse.

Christmas morning I enjoyed re-reading the Christmas story from the Jesus Storybook Bible, opening gifts (especially watching the girls open their gifts), and FaceTime with extended family. And we played with new games and started reading new books. It is easy for me to romanticize the Christmases of my childhood, and long for the excitement that I felt about Christmas as a child (and having other people do all of the cooking, cleaning, present-buying and wrapping, etc). Now at Christmastime I think a lot about how Mary may have felt, as Jesus' mom. And I think of the fear and awe that the shepherds felt and how truly good the news was that the angels proclaimed.

"Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you; You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger. ...Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests." -from Luke 2:10-14

Christmas is about so much more than my family, my community, and the place where and ways that I celebrate. I need this good news of great job more and more each year. And this Savior is for all people! He is for me and for you, for the people who are easy for me to love, and the people who I struggle to get along with, for those who are generous and those who take advantage of others... He is for all the people. And I am grateful and filled with awe that God chose to enter my world-our world- as a poor and helpless baby.

Our weekend getaway and Zach is 10 months old

Last weekend Daniel flew our family to the city of Timika to spend the weekend at the lovely Rimba hotel. This was our first real vacation since moving to Wamena 8 months ago, and it was fun to do something special together as a family. We chose to stay at the Rimba hotel because we heard that the pool was nice, and it didn't disappoint us. Zoe and Ariella loved playing in the water!

With 3 small kids, we kept our schedule very simple:

We woke up.
We enjoyed the breakfast buffet.
I went to the pool with Zoe and Ariella while Daniel stayed at the hotel room during Zach's morning nap.
Zach and Daniel joined us at the pool after naptime.
We went back to our hotel room to change out of swimsuits, and then ate lunch at the hotel restaurant.
Afternoons were filled with naptime and sometimes Zoe played outside at the playground or walked around with Daniel or with me.
After naps we went for a walk and then to dinner at the hotel.
Then we went back to our room, played games and read stories, and put the kids to bed.
Daniel and I hid in the bathroom for a while. I read while he worked on writing a novel.
And then we slept too.

Sisters "reading" together

The bathroom

I think that I would have liked to do other things (like sit by the pool in the afternoon, go for more extensive walks, etc) if I was there without my little ones, but this vacation was relaxing! And I really enjoyed the pretty flowers, butterflies, fountain and other lovely features at the hotel. Beauty is refreshing too!

"fishing" in the lily pond

pretty fountain!

I love these blue flowers (and this girl)!

Flying with Daniel to and from Timika (with stops at interior villages) was fun! Here is a photo of us at Qwijawigi.

Zach was their favorite person to meet.

Flying with my husband!

On Monday, the day we returned from our little getaway, Zach turned 10 months old. He is crawling quickly now, eating lots of food, and playing with everything. He is a champion hair-puller and loves to chase us around the house, sometimes trying to chew on our feet! Zechariah is continuing to grow, and weighs almost 25 pounds. I love how interactive he is, communicating with sounds, clicks, smiles, laughter, and hand motions. I am told that he pulled himself up a few days ago, but have yet to see it myself. He loves taking baths and playing with his sisters. I feel blessed to have had another fun month with my precious baby boy! (Though at the same time, I find parenting 3 kids to be very overwhelming!) You are special to us, Zach!

Fruit...yum!

So much exploring to do!

Let's take a photo all together....

8-Month-Old Zechariah

It has been a few days since Zach turned 8 months old. He is such a fun baby! Zechariah loves to play with people and with his toys. He's close to crawling, but hasn't quite figured it out yet. With his four sharp teeth he eats a lot of finger foods (pumpkin, bread, broccoli, puff cereal, carrots, banana). He still nurses a lot too, and usually gets up once a night to nurse (I feel lucky that he does well sleeping...though I'm usually up at least once with Ariella or Zoe each night too). He enjoys rides in the stroller, being held by lots of people, and grabbing everything including hair, eyes, nose, and ears.

Big toothy smile

He has just started clapping his hands and is very proud of himself.

Ariella helping Zach hold his sippy cup.

Zechariah is still quite big, weighing 21.3 pounds. I love you so much, darling little big baby! Thank you for your smiles and snuggles and the ways you "talk" to me!

Thoughts on Mother's Day

First of all, I am so grateful for the moms in my life... For my mom who has loved me well and speaks truth and wisdom. She is the "glue" of my family of origin, reasonable, hard-working, always serving us and praying for us. I love going clothes shopping with her, going for long walks together, and watching her love her grandchildren!

And for my mother-in-law who is so very loving and accepting of me and has raised my husband. I love watching her love her grandchildren too! She comes up with fun ideas...making giant bubbles, snowmen, flower gardens.

I also am so very grateful for my children who make me a mom.

They get a little crazy at bedtime!

As I've enjoyed their hugs today I have also been thinking about the baby I lost (miscarried at 14 weeks in December 2012). She or he would be 3 years old later this month. I am thinking of and praying for others who I know have lost children or who want to have children but have not been able to. Mother's Day is a wonderful day and can be a really hard day too. My dear friend Emily wrote about how hard this day is for her this year here. I hope that if Mother's Day is hard for you (perhaps because your mom is no longer alive, was not loving, or you have lost a child or been unable to have children) that you are able to grieve and are able to receive love from God and/or from someone important to you. Much love to each of you today!

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?

Berpiknik

Hi there!

It's been a long time since I've written anything here, but what better day to start back up than my 35th birthday?

I have been back in Indonesia for almost a month now, after nearly 2 years in the US. My family is living in the new-to-us city of Wamena, in the highlands of central Papua. Today my husband and friends Karin and Doug planned a picnic to celebrate my birthday. I was excited to see more of the beautiful region where we are living!

First we planned to drive to the hydro plant...but the road was newly washed out.

Look, a pig!

Then we headed towards the yellow bridge near the big washout area. On the way we saw the place in the river where CMA missionaries first landed a float plane in this region in 1954. The people living nearby are proud to be close to the place where the Gospel first entered this region. Some churches hold Easter services here, and this area is open to people who want to picnic. But we thought it might be hard to keep the girls out of the river (and very dangerous if they went into it!!).

We were not able to get to the yellow bridge because that road was filled with mud. We tried walking there, but it got too squishy. The girls enjoyed walking in the mud and rocks.

Then we backtracked a bit to an area with a very fun (and well-maintained) foot bridge. We walked over the bridge and down a path.

Here are the 3 little pigs!

I like the steps to get over the pig-fences.

Here is a little garden.

We walked back over the bridge and had our picnic in a pondok--a wooden structure with a floor and a roof. Karin packed lots of yummy food for us!

Afterwards the girls played in the grass nearby.

Everything is new to me here, and there is so much beauty...I like the wooden fences and the traditional huts (honai), flowers, people walking everywhere, mountains in every direction. Flying around here is amazingly beautiful too! I will share photos of that another time!

This afternoon I also had a surprise birthday party at my neighbors' house. I am grateful for so many people who care about me! Transitions are hard, and my emotions are mixed. I am very grateful to be here in Wamena, though, I'm grateful for the friends to miss who live elsewhere and for the friends for me and for my family here. I am grateful for my God who is always with me, wherever I am. And look at this--I have lived another year! It will be interesting to see what this year will bring!