Howdy partners. How are ya’ll doin’? It is a nice HOT Monday here with a bright blue sky overhead and no rain clouds on the horizon. It is one of the dorm girls birthdays today so I have a couple of chocolate pudding cakes waiting to go into the oven. I want to serve them warm so I am waitin’ on the bakin’.
One thing I LOVE to do is take pictures of the kids while they are sleeping. The kids aren’t exactly thrilled at some of them but we always get a good laugh. They sleep in the funniest positions…Garth jokes that we are going to show the pictures at their weddings but I will put my foot down on that one. Well, the girls have these dolls that they love. They pretend that they are Grammo and they always sleep with them. The other night I went in and posed the dolls to match the girls for the picture.
Emma has been really into makeup lately and will do a makeover on anyone willing. It often happens to be Cale. He actually loves all the attention and will sit quite well for all of Emma’s “fixings.” Even for manicures and pedicures. It is a sight I must say. Then they wash it off and start over.

Emma giving Cale a makeover

Playdough

Fixing the amp

Trying to cool off

Chillin'

Playdough and French Toast

I LOVE lazy days like today-with nothing that we HAD to do. Just stuff we wanted to do. Which turned out to be a great family day. This morning we talked about how as a family we needed to have more discipline. The kids thought that was a bad word. So we talked about how it means to have control, teaching good behavior, etc. and we came up with four things we need to work on: Be patient, Laugh more, Ignore the little stuff, and spend more time with Jesus. Then we each made signs to hang in strategic locations to help us remember. Wyatt learned a new praise song on his guitar so we all sang together-I love moments like that. We were also able to do a video Skype call with my family and see new baby Annie!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That was amazing. She is beautiful! Then the kids all played out in our little inflatable pool. It was super hot and that helped a little. Garth and Wyatt took apart his amp and figured out the problem, got a new fuse and fixed it!! Yeah! The kids helped me make homemade playdough-easy peasy Japanesy!
Recipe: 1 cup hot water. Dissolve one Kool-Aid packet in it. Stir in 1 cup flour, ½ cup salt, and ½ T oil. Knead it on a little bit of flour and it is good to go.
After a yummy dinner of French toast from homemade bread we all watched the movie Cars and reminisced about how we were able to see it in the theater in New York a few summers ago with Garth’s family. That was so much fun! We miss those family reunions and connecting with everybody. Cale’s favorite part from the movie tonight was:
Doc Hudson: “Well, I didn’t have much of a choice. Mater didn’t get to say good-bye.”
Mater-“Good-bye! OK, now I’m good!”
It is so funny when Cale says it. On that note, I should say good-bye as well.
Love you all-
Rachie

The makings of a fun camp out

Hot dogs and s'mores

Foiled!

Well, our plans have been foiled! We had planned a fun family campout in our back yard tonight. We had a great spot, too. There is this piece of land that juts out. It is nice and dark, and since we are up so high it overlooks the city of Sentani. When it is clear you can see thousands upon thousands of stars. There were high hopes of seeing a shooting star. Wyatt and Garth put up the tents and made a nice campfire. The girls worked on the food. We had homemade torches and candles to light the way to the tents…sang campfire songs, and talked about what it would be like if we moved back to the States next year or if we stayed…Aside from the sweltering heat, we were having a blast! Then, we decided it was time for bed. Wyatt and the girls in one tent and Cale with us in another. After much giggling and everyone deciding they had to go to the bathroom one more time, we were all nice and quiet. Until we heard the pitter patter of drops-rain drops! We waited a few minutes to see what it would do while all four kids were earnestly praying for it to stop. However, God decided that we needed the rain more than our family needed to camp out. That brought on the fun, mad-dash of “Quick, get all the bedding that you can carry and run to the house.” Followed by, “Oops, I dropped something,” and “Mom, I can’t find my blankie. I think I left my pillow out there…” Ha ha! Now, a half hour later, I am writing to you with all kids in bed, and a furious rainstorm going on outside. Good thing we moved when we did. Quote of the night, ”Emma, do you have your underwear around your neck?” “No, it is just my blankie.” Followed by Cale-“This is going to be a LONG night!”
These are the things that memories are made of.
Love
Rachel

Cale was excited about the play

Wyatt as Judge Locke

The Play

Wyatt’s class, Grade 6 and Grade 7 put on a play for us called The Shaggy Dog Murder Trial. Wyatt was the judge-Judge Locke. The kids did an excellent job of memorizing their lines and presenting a confident stage presence. I was quite impressed. If Wyatt were to have turned around while he was on stage in costume you would be able to see that he is wearing Garth’s Baltimore Orioles shirt backwards. Ha ha!

An Incident

We had a little incident last week that shook me up a bit. I ran into our pasar (outdoor market) and Garth and Cale stayed in the van. While I was in there, a man came up to me and was bugging me for money for a cigarette. I kept telling him no but he got more aggravated and began grabbing my arm, pushing me around, and persisting in a louder voice. My first thought was, “I wonder if I could punch him in the nose without getting in trouble?” But finally he went away. When I walked out Garth could tell something was wrong. I told him the story and he went back in. The Indonesians saw Garth coming and knew who he was looking for. One man took us to the guy that was bothering me and Garth laid into him. “You don’t touch my wife…” The man was very apologetic to Garth (who wouldn’t be when you see how big he is), gave Garth a hug and then took Garth’s thumb and started sucking on it. (A sign of affection). Yuk! Needless to say I decided that I will not go into the pasar alone anymore. My pembantu when she heard the story was very upset that an Indonesian would treat me that way. She said she would go to the pasar for me from now on. So that is good.
The rest of our week was full of volleyball practice and games along with many of our boys going back and forth to Jayapura for a basketball tournament in Jayapura. One (school) night they didn’t get home until midnight!
Wyatt’s bike injuries are much better along with Cale’s marks from his scooter wipe out. YEAH!

The new Grandma (My Mom) and Annie

Donald, Carlena and Annie

My Dad, Donald and Annie

The new Grandpa (my Dad), Annie and my sister

Carlena

Blessing

Today is a day of so many new beginnings for our family. A fresh addition arrived to my sister and her husband in the form of a beautifully perfect little girl named Annie Joy. She arrived at 7:05 p.m. on Sept. 3rd weighing 8 pounds 4 ounces and 20 inches long. There has never been a more highly anticipated arrival before in history. Our family’s welcoming arms go on for miles. This little one is such an answer to years and years of earnest praying. We could not be more thrilled. For the first time, on my side of the family, I am an Auntie! That is a privilege that I will hold dearly. I know that the title of Auntie means that I must always have gum in my purse and be ready to loan out my jewelry…I DESPERATELY wish that I could have been there and been a part of the whole process, but my family did their best to give me frequent updates. As soon as I have pictures I will send them your way along with plastering them all over the walls here of our house. If any of you see my new niece, please take lots of pictures of her and send them to me. Thanks.
I greatly appreciate all our prayers about this situation. We feel extremely blessed.
Love you
Rachel