The van Rensburg Family

Fun in the Snow!

2012-01-29T22:31:00.002-06:00

We had to invest in snow pants and boots for Raquel since they were required by her school. Gideon, on the other hand, had no such requirements and is seen wearing pink boots and a girl's columbia jacket and snow pants. At least they're blue and, most importantly, warm:)

Great Grandparents

2012-01-29T22:25:00.002-06:00

Great Grandpa and Grandma Blaubach

and Great Grandpa McClain

2012-01-29T22:14:00.002-06:00

Such adorable laundry:)

Gideon walked around liked this for quite sometime. We thought he looked like he was in some type of training.

Cute cousins!

We finally got a passport picture for Roman after a failed attempt at the Cedarburg post office and Walgreens. He finally opened his eyes enough (after we took his clothes off) for us to take this gem. We'll have to see how his picture compares in 5 years when this one expires.

Aging

2012-01-29T22:05:00.004-06:00

I turned 30 on the 2nd. I had stopped using my walker two days before- yes!:)

Dylan and I went to BD's since I had a free birthday meal. Of course I received a gorgeous tin foil hat that all the kids tried on. After supper we went back to mom and dad's for cake and ice cream. Fun day!

2012-01-23T09:54:00.002-06:00

With Kristen and Derek up from Florida and Nathan back from India, all the Blaubach siblings were together once again.

and all of mom and dad's grandchildren, so far

2012-01-22T21:26:00.003-06:00

We went to a lovely wedding on December 30th. They had a fun photo booth - we're still getting glitter out of Roman's hair:)

Fun with Friends

2012-01-22T21:15:00.003-06:00

In between Christmas and New Years two dear friends, Chantal and Renee, were able to visit with their families. It had been three years since the three of us had been together.

Three years ago there were only 2 kids between us, now there are 7 (Gideon was sleeping:), with one more on the way (congrats Chantal!:) It was so fun to see them!

Christmas!

2012-01-20T23:39:00.003-06:00

Roman's first Christmas:)

Raquel made and wrapped this present for me all by herself. Inside was a box of drawings she had done. Very sweet:)

Raquel got a Strawberry Shortcake doll and three of her friends.

Gideon sat in his chair eating for over half an hour while we read the Christmas story and opened presents. He didn't care that he didn't get any- as long as we kept the food coming.

Finally it was his turn!

Lunch with the Fam

Cute baby:)

2012-01-07T20:16:00.002-06:00

We've been a little busy lately...

Thanksgiving 2011

2011-12-07T22:16:00.002-06:00

First snow/sickness/surgery

2011-12-07T22:00:00.004-06:00

On November 10th we woke up to a beautiful sight

It didn't last very long and melted quickly, but it was fun to watch during breakfast

Poor Raquel had a couple days of a stomach bug and spent a lot of time on the couch with a bucket.

Dylan got his wisdom teeth pulled and was drugged up for a few days. This picture is of him on the way home from the surgeon. When we got home he watched a movie. Later on he asked me how he got home and he didn't remember any of the movie that he had seen.

Catching up- Fall Fun

2011-12-07T21:17:00.004-06:00

2011-11-09T22:23:00.003-06:00

Raquel taped all those tubes together and made a boat. I guess she's sailing back to Indonesia.

Grandpa and Gideon cheering on the Packers

Raquel reading to Lucy

I went to eat lunch with Raquel and read a story to her class last week. Here she and her friend are waiting for all the other kids who get hot lunch:)

Isn't he cute?:)

Pumpking Carving

2011-11-09T22:16:00.003-06:00

The accessories were all Dylan's idea:)

Harvest Party

2011-11-09T22:04:00.004-06:00

Raquel's class had a Harvest Party last month. Everyone dressed up and they had fun activities planned for all the kids.

I finished her costume the night before. She was Belle from Beauty and the Beast, complete with "glubs':) and a flower.

The whole class

decorating mugs

playing 'Pass the Pumpkin'

decorating pumpkin shaped cookies

McDonald's Play Place

2011-11-09T22:00:00.003-06:00

2011-11-09T21:56:00.003-06:00

Driving Raquel home from school the day she had her field trip to the pumpkin patch and apple orchard:)

2011-11-09T21:42:00.003-06:00

Such a helpful big sister:)

Gideon's not a fan of the hat

Yes, Gideon is 5 months younger than Belle:)

Klode Park

2011-10-20T16:30:00.004-06:00

It's hard to believe that just two weeks ago it was sunny and gorgeous outside. We got Raquel out of school a little early this day and went down to play in the sand.

Here Kristen, a picture of both your nephews:)

Half Day, Honey Acres and Holy Hill

2011-10-06T12:50:00.005-06:00

On Monday Raquel had a half day for some odd reason, so when she got home we headed out to Honey Acres. We learned all about bees and how they make honey. We got to taste some honey and then bought some to take home with us. Yum yum!

It was a beautiful day so on the way home we stopped at Holy Hill and walked 187 steps up to the top of the tower to see the beginning of the fall colors.

Raquel did great walking up most of the stairs, but when we got to the last landing she got scared and started crying and saying she wouldn't go anymore. People were passing us and telling her that it was ok and she could do it. I finally got her to calm down and she went up the last few stairs. Everyone at the top cheered for her:)

Picking a Pumpkin

2011-10-04T11:34:00.004-06:00

We started the month of October by going to Basses to get a pumpkin and play on the playground.

Raquel loves to daily measure herself against Dylan and me, so she stood very nicely for this picture.

Gideon - not so much

Apple picking

2011-09-26T21:09:00.004-06:00

Last Thursday, Mom, Elise, Raquel, Gideon and I went apple picking. We picked a bushel of Macintosh and then went home and made applesauce. The next day Raquel took the applesauce to share with her class for show and tell.

Gideon was thrilled with all the "balls" and kept throwing apples all over the place:)

3D/4D ultrasound

2011-09-15T22:53:00.005-06:00

Today I was a "model" for GE Healthcare customers being trained to use a 3D/4D ultrasound machine. I got to take home some pictures and video of our little guy. It was very cool to see. Pregnant ladies I can get you the number for GE if you want to do it too!

In the video he has his hand on his head:)

Sleepy boy

2011-09-15T22:37:00.006-06:00

So lately Gideon has been waking up much earlier than normal and by nine each morning he's wiped out

Here are a few examples

Last wednesday-
He had been trying to get up the stairs but the door was closed so he just went to sleep

Last Thursday-

For a while I heard him driving around banging into things. Then I just heard him snoring

Yesterday

eating also appears to be exhausting

Bong

2011-09-15T22:10:00.005-06:00

No we have not started doing drugs, we merely went camping over Labor Day weekend at Richard Bong Recreational Area in Kansasville WI. Turns out Richard Bong was America's leading air ace during WWII.

Dakota and Tonya after a good night's sleep:) - Dylan lurking in the background

the kids loved the dirt

yes, that's a rock he's chewing on- the cup is full of them mixed with dirt

2 peas in a pod

On Saturday it started raining around noon and didn't stop the rest of the day. We all went out to eat for supper since we couldn't make a fire. After supper the women took the kids (by that time it was just Raquel and Lina since my parents thankfully took the 1 year olds back to their house for the second night:) to Burger King to play and the guys left to buy a 20x30 ft. tarp and tie it to the trees around our campsite. In spite of the rain that night we were able to build a fire and roast marshmallows!:)

1st day of Kindergarten

2011-09-15T22:01:00.004-06:00

New clothes

All ready to go

Here it comes!

So excited to be on the bus:)

Arriving home after a good first day!

So far she is doing really well. Her chief complaint is that she has to wear shoes all day. I don't blame her:)

last day before school

2011-09-15T21:53:00.002-06:00

Raquel started Kindergarten on Sept. 1, so the day before that we did fun things. First we went shopping for a first day of school outfit and a lunch box. After that Raquel and I went to the Museum where we saw the butterfly exhibit and then watched 'Under the Sea' at the IMAX

She really wanted to hold a butterfly

Almost!

Getting closer...

Success!:)

Cute Kids:)

2011-09-15T21:42:00.003-06:00

Old World Wisconsin

2011-09-15T21:21:00.003-06:00

On Lydia's last day before leaving for La Crosse we spent the day at Old World Wisconsin. It was a beautiful day- I bought a bonnet for Raquel since she was complaining of the sun in her eyes. Those prairie people knew what they were doing and it worked like charm.

We started the day out in the oldest church in Wisconsin and sang a hymn

Gideon was a more charismatic worshipper

Then Raquel and Elise tried their hand at washing clothes by hand

fed a horse

watched a blacksmith make an S-hook

Gideon chased a chicken

and we went back to school

First and second cousins

2011-09-15T20:56:00.004-06:00

While in California we were able to visit my cousin Allyssa one day. Her husband Josh (please pray for them as Josh was just deployed last week) and their four boys live near the Air Force Base in San Pedro. The kids had a blast playing with the boys and Allyssa and I got in a few games of cards:)

We went to a park and fed the ducks

I tried to let Gideon feed them but he ate the old bread we were giving them and then attempted to dive into the water.

Oupa and Ouma!

2011-09-14T20:15:00.007-06:00

At the beginning of August we flew to California for 10 days of fun in the sun with Dylan's parents. We got to do lots of fun things like go to the beach and Disneyland!

All our dreams came true:)

Reuniting with Buddy and Jessie

The beach was pretty fun too!

Fun and tiring

swimming in the back yard

hanging out with Oupa

And of course we enjoyed lots of yummy food! (well, for the most part. I skipped the oysters:)

Thanks Philip and Tirzah for a wonderful visit!

Bay Beach

2011-09-14T19:21:00.004-06:00

A few days after the wedding, we went with my sisters, Kristen and Carrie and their families to Bay Beach. It's a small amusement park in Green Bay that we used to go to when we were little. When we were growing up the rides were mostly 10 cents a piece. Times have changed, so now most of them cost a quarter or 50 cents, but it's still a pretty good deal! The kids all had a blast. Fun times:)

My mom and two youngest sisters, Jenna and Elise met us up there.

Gideon even got to ride all by himself!

Sweet cousins:)

The big boys had some fun too:) Evan maybe a little too much...

Gideon loved the kiddie pool. It was about to rain so it was getting a little chilly but he just kept running in and was highly amused by the other children.

All that fun makes you tired!

Tonya and Dakota's wedding

2011-08-03T11:45:00.005-06:00

On July 29th Tonya and Dakota became Mr. and Mrs. Witte!

Cousins:)

Raquel was one of the 5 "flower girls" she and Lina held the train of Tonya's dress as she walked down the aisle

Dylan was a groomsman and I was a bridesmaid

Family picture minus Nathan who is in India. We missed you Nathan!

A beautiful and fun day ended with Raquel having a blast dancing the night away.
Congrats Tonya and Dakota!!!!!

2011-07-08T22:57:00.005-06:00

I found some pictures from the last couple months...

Raquel "played" pee-wee soccer on Saturdays in May and June

She looked cute, but we soon realized that soccer isn't her passion

The weather didn't help matters. It started out cold and windy and never got much better. One day it was pouring rain and 50 degrees so I didn't have her play. The next week was nicer so I made her go. In the middle of the game she heard a plane overhead, stopped and yelled over to me "MOM, that was thunder, we need to go home because it's going to RAIN!"

Gideon was dedicated in June. He stayed still for about 2 seconds

Mom always orders a lamb cake with this verse for the dedications. It's Isaiah 40:41 He gently leads those that have young. When my dad went to pick it up, he saw they had switched the word "leads" with "leaves". Oops

playing piano with Jenna

Visiting with Joel, Christina and cousin Emily

Dylan's 29th Birthday

2011-06-21T20:06:00.008-06:00

1+8 = 9 :)

Berry picking

2011-06-18T17:58:00.003-06:00

Raquel and I went to the first day of strawberry picking at Basse's farm today. She did a great job of picking only the reddest berries and letting me know when mine did not meet her standards:)

Birthdays!

2011-05-04T22:29:00.003-06:00

On May 1st Raquel turned 5 years old and on May 3rd, Gideon turned 1.

We're Baaack!

2011-04-27T10:22:00.004-06:00

We had a great visit in South Africa, and are enjoying being back in the States.

I will now be updating this site more frequently

See ya soon:)

Sick House

2011-02-03T06:43:00.002-06:00

In Indonesian the word "hospital" is "Rumah Sakit" which literally means 'sick house'.

Well, we were able to experience the sick house first hand today. Today is a public holiday due to Chinese New Year, so we were taking the opportunity to sleep in and Gideon was actually cooperating with this. At 8:00 am he was still sleeping and Raquel was in our office watching a movie while sitting in the office chair. We were awoken by a crashing noise and screaming from Raquel. She had pushed her feet against the desk to roll the chair back, but a wheel got caught on a play mat and the chair flipped over. She was holding her arm and wouldn't stop crying. When we looked at it, it was already bruising and starting to swell. After talking to a friend who is a nurse and consulting with a family here with 6 kids (5 of them boys:) we decided to take her in for an X-ray. We went to the public hospital in town. Ken and BJ came with us (some of the staff at the hospital know them by name due to their frequent trips there:) to show us the ropes. They did an X-ray and everything was fine, Praise the Lord! Raquel did a great job and is feeling better now. She has a couple bruises and her arm is a little tender, but we're so thankful it wasn't fractured.

We only went to this hospital for an X-ray. If she had required treatment we would not have her treated there, but would have gone to a better hospital in a city about an hour away. I took the picture below on the way to get the X-ray. These disposable (but apparently reusable) surgical gloves were were hanging in the sun to dry.

Since we started out in triage we saw a couple people come in to be treated. It was very sobering to see the suffering of these people who don't have the resources to seek better medical care. While our visit ended well, my heart was heavy for those we left behind.

Raquel

2011-01-03T06:20:00.002-06:00

My mom sent Raquel a science kit for Christmas and she's been having fun doing different experiments and learning about making different colors from red, blue and yellow.

She has a three week break from her school, so we've been spending lots of quality time together:)

Today we were running errands in town and she said "Mommy, when we are sweating, that's God. I asked if she meant that God made our bodies to sweat and she said, "Yes, our sweat comes out and that's God on us."

We went to a sewing store to buy some ribbon and she saw little packets of sequins and glitter and wanted to buy them all. I told her that we could think of a project to do and then come back another day and pick out a few things. As we were driving she was trying to decide what she wanted to make. We were stopped at a stop light and she pointed to a sign and said "that's what I want to make" it was a poster with a picture of a muslim lady who was running for office and Raquel wanted to make a head covering (a lot of times they're pretty fancy and sparkly:)

We were at another store and Raquel saw a type of candy she had never seen before. She wanted to buy it, but I said no and offered her some chocolate candy (like M&M's) that we already had. She sighed, took it and said, "I guess I'll just get diaweewa" (I had told her the other day that eating too much chocolate will make you sick:)

Life with her is always entertaining:)

Merry Christmas!!!!

2010-12-31T10:23:00.003-06:00

We really enjoyed our second Christmas in Indonesia. Even though we missed our family and friends from back home, we had fun celebrating the birth of our Savior with good friends here.

Raquel was very excited on Christmas morning. She had been counting down the days for a couple weeks.

She got lots of fun presents

Gideon wasn't quite sure about all that went on, but still had a good time:)

Raquel's neighbor friends came over after she opened her presents to help try them out.

For lunch we went to our house helper's house and visited with her family.

Then later the Teall's came over for dinner and we feasted:)

Raquel and Kendra were matching!

It was good day:)

Now, on to the New Year!

Happy 2011 everyone:)!

Idul Adha cont...

2010-11-30T19:57:00.003-06:00

My friend is the "mother" for about 50 girls at an orphanage nearby. They had recieved beef and goat meat and we were invited to go and eat sate (meat on a stick:) with them.

Here the girls are getting the meat ready

Some of it all ready to go.

Then they lit fires in these little grills outside and started to fan the flames

Raquel had a blast playing while the the food cooked.

When the fires were hot enough they brought the sate out to be grilled.

It takes awhile to cook sate for 50 plus people. We got there at 6 and didn't eat until almost 10. Gideon fell asleep:)

this picture makes me laugh

and then we ate! (and then we went home and went to bed- it was a long night)

Idul Adha

2010-11-17T10:12:00.004-06:00

Idul Adha is holiday "celebrated by Muslims worldwide to commemorate the willingness of Abraham to sacrifice his son Ishmael as an act of obedience to God, before God intervened to provide him with a ram to sacrifice instead." You can read more about it here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eid_al-Adha

The mosques were singing all night, and then all over the city today, goats and cows were being slaughtered. We no longer live across the street from a mosque, but there is a school by our house that was sacrificing a cow in a field nearby.

They skinned it and chopped it up right there, and then split up the meat for all the people.

We explained to Raquel that that's where hamburgers and biltong come from:)

Gideon was almost more popular than the cow.

2010-11-17T10:07:00.001-06:00

Merapi

2010-11-06T04:00:00.008-06:00

You've probably heard of the volcanic eruptions that have been occuring over the last week. As the crow flies we are 15 miles from Merapi's peak, but fortunately are protected from any lava flow by Merbabu, another volcano that has been dormant for 1,000 years. Here is a picture of the location of our house, Merbabu and Merapi.

My friend who lives up the street from us took this picture of ash clouds from her house on Thursday morning.

These next two were taken on Friday morning after the volcano had erupted throughout the night.

Today (Saturday) we received some of that ash.

Here it is on some leaves.

I don't know if you'll be able to tell, but the road is dusty with ash.

Since we didn't have masks and now there is a shortage, this is how we protected ourselves as we drove around (of course I didn't cover my eyes, but this was the easiest way for Raquel:) I covered Gideon in a blanket and used a shirt stuffed into either side of my helmet to cover my nose and mouth.

Please continue to pray for the victims. Although we have had very little effects here, 15 miles south of us over 100 people have died and there are almost 100,000 people in evacuation shelters. Many of them have lost homes, livestock, livelihoods and have no idea when they will be able to return and attempt to rebuild.

Firsts

2010-10-10T10:57:00.002-06:00

This weekend was full of firsts. Dylan preached in our church for the first time (in Indonesian!:). Unfortunately I couldn't be there because the morning before something happened to my neck when I sneezed and I still can't move it very well without pain. (that was a (unwelcome) first for me:)

After successfully delivering his sermon, Dylan returned home and we decided to go to out for brunch. Because of my aforementioned neck issue I couldn't carry Gideon in the front carrier, so, for the FIRST TIME, Dylan did.

Well... the other day I heard a little noise coming from this young man so I quickly undid his diaper and held him over the toilet. It actually worked which was wonderful because we are using cloth diapers and they're great except for about once a day when I have the 'privilege' of washing out a 'soiled' one:)

Isn't he adorable?

2010-10-03T21:01:00.001-06:00

Hari Kemerdekaan

2010-08-17T08:04:00.006-06:00

Today is April 17th, Indonesia's Independence Day. Raquel's school had a celebration yesterday. Here she is with her teacher Ms. Prina. This year the month of Ramadhan falls at the same time as Independence Day so things have been a bit different from last year. There were no neighborhood competions and our neighborhood is waiting until next month to have our party.

Generation gap

2010-08-15T12:02:00.007-06:00

Last week Gideon and I were riding on an angkot (public transportation like a small van). There are no such thing as car seats here in the land of motorcycles and scooters, so Gideon is conveniently carried in our fabulous ergo baby carrier that Dylan's parents sent us. This particular afternoon there were two older Javanese woman on the angkot with us. As usual they were cooing over the baby- asking how old he was, telling me how big he is compared to their babies. They also were (as usual) worried that he might be cold, but I assured them that since he had been strapped to my body in 90 degree heat for the last several hours that we were both actually quite warm. They then explained how they carry their babies wrapped up and in a cradled positioned (the picture above is of an older child in a traditional "selendang", a baby like Gideon would be lying down). As they shook their heads disapprovingly they made sure to tell me several times that they would never carry their baby like I was.

As they finished telling me this, a young high-school girl joined us, took one look at me and exclaimed quite excitedly "Angelina Jolie!" Well, for a second I began to feel quite flattered at this poor blind girl's mistake, but then she explained that Angelina Jolie uses a baby carrier similar to the one that I was using. I have no idea how she knew that, but this girl was thrilled with my choice of baby transportation:)

Gideon and me in Bali

(I look tired because I was. How does

Angelina Jolie do it?)

Javanese grandma approved:)

(My house helpers help me

every time I use this, maybe

someday I'll remember how to do

it all by myself.)

Water Babies

2010-08-01T08:34:00.002-06:00

We've been enjoying some strange (but welcome) cooler weather the past few weeks, but today the sun was out and hot, so we went to the pool!

Gideon tries the water for the first time

"well, I guess it's alright"

One of Raquel's water wings had a hole in it, so I got to hold them both:)

Cute Baby

2010-07-31T11:10:00.001-06:00

Funny Faces

2010-07-28T06:08:00.001-06:00

Piala Dunia

2010-07-21T09:26:00.002-06:00

From June 11 to July 11 the World Cup was held in South Africa. Dylan (along with the most of the rest of Indonesia:) managed to see almost all the games even though they were shown at either 9:30pm or 1:30am here. This picture is from a game when we were in Jakarta. He's watching with the guys who work for the CMA guest house where we stayed.

2010-07-07T22:55:00.002-06:00

July 7, 2009

July 7, 2010

Lately...

2010-07-03T07:54:00.004-06:00

Raquel and Gideon are learning to get along:)

Raquel and Laken went on a trip in the backyard

I made this outfit for Gideon to wear to his first Indonesian wedding

The wedding really tired him out:) This is his favorite way to take a nap.

Bali

2010-06-30T00:26:00.006-06:00

A few months ago Tonya asked if we would like to meet her in Bali for a week on her way back to the States from China. I really had to convince Dylan that it might be fun to go to the beach and he finally agreed:)

The weather and the beach were gorgeous!

Gideon loved meeting Aunt Tonya:) and we could only pry Raquel away from her side for naps and to sleep at night

Besides the beach we also enjoyed eating food we don't normally get here. Fresh seafood and pizza were some favorites.

Calamity struck when Dylan's surf board snapped in two while surfing this reef.

This is near an old Hindu temple. There are dozens of monkeys running around stealing things from tourists - the one below is chewing on Raquel's shoe that he stole right off her foot. Thankfully someone was able to get it back for us.

2010-06-12T09:57:00.004-06:00

We've been a little busy, and I haven't been very good about taking pictures. Tomorrow we're leaving and meeting Tonya for a week in Bali, so stay tuned for more pics later:)

Bumbo

2010-05-31T09:20:00.002-06:00

Grandpa, Grandma and Jenna came to visit!!!:)

2010-05-29T20:53:00.005-06:00

My parents and Jenna came from the 16th to the 28th. We had so much fun with them, and are so glad they were able to come! Here are a few pictures, I'll put some more up on Facebook

We celebrated Raquel's birthday for the second time:)

Game #581 of Sequence Junior:) - did you get a dragon Grandma?

Visiting Raquel's school on dental check day

riding on the angkot

Gideon loved meeting Grandma and Grandpa:)

Swimming!

Visiting Borobudur

2010-05-29T20:27:00.002-06:00

Raquel has a very attentive audience

Gideon's one week Drs. appointment.
Gained one and a half pounds and received a polio vaccination.

Off to the park in the mission van. Raquel is excited to ride her bike, and Gideon is content in his bathtub turned into a car seat. I'm sure we'll have fun introducing real car seats in the States next year:)

Which one?

2010-05-29T20:20:00.002-06:00

We're still trying to get Gideon's birth certificate paperwork sorted out. The day after we got home from the hospital we were told we needed a picture of his head and shoulders with a red background. We laid him on Raquel's play kitchen and attempted a photo shoot. I think they're hilarious:)

We're a little behind...

2010-05-29T19:20:00.002-06:00

Time has flown since May 3rd when we welcomed baby Gideon into our family:)

Big sister Raquel loves him very much- just needs to get the hang of being gentle:)

Rainy season hasn't quite left us yet, hence the raincoat and boots when playing outside

This is Gideon and Ethan. Ethan is 7 weeks old in this picture and Gideon is 9 days old. Ethan's mom, Heather, and I were in the same class at school all last year and up until she had him in March.

Happy Birthday Raquel!!!!!

2010-05-01T07:45:00.005-06:00

Raquel woke us up at 6:00 this morning asking if she was four now. We assured her she was and then she wanted to know if the baby was coming that day. I had always told her that first the baby would be born and then it would be her birthday. Wishful thinking I guess:)

Since she had to wait ALL the way until 3 that afternoon for a little party, we let her open one present in the morning.

Very excited about the Leapster game system from Oupa and Ouma!

She got right to work

Getting ready for her party and showing how old she is now

playing games with friends

Duck duck goose!

putting candles on the turtle cake

It took some convincing for her to eat the cake. After she blew the candles out she just wanted to open her presents, and told us she wouldn't eat anything. Finally after a while of watching everyone else around her eating, she joined in

finally getting to open presents:)

it was a long fun day- now she has finally crashed (all the balloons that we blew up are underneath her blankets so that the fan doesn't blow them away:)

Happy Birthday Raquel! Daddy and Mommy love you very very much!

Raquel turns four tomorrow!

2010-04-30T09:58:00.004-06:00

A trip down memory lane...
May 1, 2006

Raquel joined our family

2007 Her first birthday - celebrated with Great-Grandpa McClain who turned 80 the next day.

2008 Picking her nose on her second birthday celebrated at the MTC in Missouri

2009 Ready to eat her two cakes last year as we celebrated her third birthday the week after we arrived in Indonesia

Stay tuned for more birthday fun happening tomorrow (unless her brother decides to crash the party:)

We love you Raquel!

2010-04-26T07:46:00.002-06:00

Waiting...
Gideon's Moses basket is all ready for him to make his appearance. (don't worry, we have a stand for the basket- he won't sleep on the floor:) Raquel did tell me that she thought he would be sleeping on the floor in her room. I nipped that rumor in the bud!

Raquel and Pak Paidi, the man who takes care of our lawn, washing our bike together. He comes to our house every Wed. and Rauqel loves following him around and 'helping' him:)

This is Raquel's new favorite outfit. She found these 24-36 month sized tights in her drawer the other day and paired them with the shirt and shoes seen below. We make her wear a skirt over the entire ensemble when she's in public.

2010-04-16T07:11:00.003-06:00

Raquel all ready for a birthday party for her friend Arika (they were supposed to either wear pink or purple:)

She made a chicken mask at school:)

Raquel has been getting ready for Gideon's arrival. I had planned on putting all his clothes in the baskets, but when I came in the room, it was already done for me:)

We saw this important information at the dentists office and thought we should pass it along

Dylan preaching in chapel at school

Our good friends Logan and Kendra Teall just arrived here this week with their son Laken. We've enjoyed catching up with them, and being able to show them around town a little bit. (notice my lack of ankles - 9 days left!)

Selamat hari Paskah! Happy Easter!

2010-04-04T05:46:00.006-06:00

We had a really nice first Easter in Indonesia.
Lately we've been talking to Raquel about why we celebrate Easter. She likes hearing the story over and over again, and is always asking us about God. It's very interesting to hear her questions, she keeps trying to figure out if anything is bigger than God (like our house:) Today she told us that God really gave her a lot of teeth.

We started out our day at church at 7:30
the power went out in the middle of the service, but that didn't bother anyone:)

Raquel decorated an egg and joined in a hunt for chocolate coins in children's church. She won a prize for her egg pictured below:)

After church, our friends, the Svoboda's came over and we hid eggs for the girls to find. They did a great job:)

Then it was time for lunch. Ham, cheesy potatoes, deviled eggs, salad and mango pie for dessert. Delicious!

Happy Easter everyone-

He is Risen!

Dyeing eggs

2010-04-04T05:21:00.002-06:00

On Friday, Raquel's friend Arika came over to play. We attempted to dye eggs with some food coloring that I had brought from the states. I found out that they actually do sell some (almost) white eggs here, so went to the market that morning and hunted some down.

Success!

The colors turned out really nice the first day, but then after I took them out of the refrigerator on Sunday, they started sweating and the color started to come off. They ended up looking more like tye dye eggs, which is still cool:)

2010-03-29T09:13:00.001-06:00

2010-03-29T06:52:00.003-06:00

Anybody want some ice cream?

Raquel put this hairband on Dylan, and declared him a princess:)

Last weekend we went to a fun water park with another family, and Raquel had a blast after she worked up the courage to go down the slides. Once she started, we couldn't stop her.

Afterwards we went out for lunch. The Cheah's are another NTM family from Malaysia. They were in our class in Missouri and lived across the street from us for a while.

Before she went to sleep, Raquel made sure each of her dolls had a book (gently placed on top of their heads:)

2010-03-27T09:38:00.001-06:00

Sick freak people

2010-03-26T06:51:00.002-06:00

The angkots are a source of public transportation around town. They are all the same light blue color but vary as to their adornments. This is my favorite one by far. I don't know if the driver feels this way about his passengers or the other drivers around him. Maybe it's both :)

2010-03-22T08:16:00.002-06:00

Raquel's school turned two years old this month, so they colored birthday cakes one morning.

I don't know what it takes, but eventually she falls asleep

2010-03-13T10:09:00.002-06:00

Dylan started making this kitchen for Raquel a while ago, and we finally finished it and set it up in her room today. (Yes, she dressed herself)

blech!

2010-03-02T06:27:00.002-06:00

Dylan's forcing me to post this picture. This is our class at school, and every week we have to give presentations. Here I am presenting last week about Indonesian beliefs about pregnancy and regulations that pregnant women are supposed to follow. The other couple in our class are with MAF and my friend Heather is due next Monday with their first child.

Some warm pictures for all of you freezing folks:)

2010-02-06T09:12:00.005-06:00

We had a short school break this week and headed down south for a couple nights to enjoy the beach with our friends Phil and Shelley and their 18-month old daughter, Nadia. It was HOT which was actually kind of a change for us as it's been cool (70's) and rainy in Salatiga lately. We had lots of fun at the beach and when the girls went to bed the adults got to play games. Fun times:)

This was a cool beach we went to one afternoon where Dylan got to surf, and there was this handy cave type thing that shaded Raquel and I.

We also uncovered this ancient man

If you ever wondered what it was like to live in a fish bowl, or maybe like a movie star- here is an example. If you notice the girl on the right is, not so discreetly, photographing the Svoboda's as they swim. This is a regular occurence here wherever we go- I've even heard there are websites that have competitions to see who can post the most pictures of white people. I don't really know why you would want pictures of total strangers, but I'm sure there are enough of us out there now to fill several photo albums.

Below is a video of Raquel. She's been asking to read the story of David and Goliath every night before bed, and has become a little obssessed with giants.

2010-02-06T09:03:00.001-06:00

Shower!

2010-01-31T07:44:00.003-06:00

My friend Shelley had baby shower for me at her house on Saturday. Beautiful decorations, delicious food, fun friends and cool stuff for the baby were all included. Thanks so much Shelley!

Success!

2010-01-16T22:18:00.002-06:00

This is one of the four eggs the chickens have laid since Friday.

Dylan rebuilt their house, as we learned they like to be off the ground.

Come rain or shine, Raquel will play with the chickens for hours on end. Yesterday Dylan went out to get her and found her in their house- she told us she was going to sleep there with them.

Ayam ayam (Chickens!:)

2010-01-14T04:35:00.004-06:00

We are the proud owners of two (supposedly) egg-laying chickens:)
Dylan went this morning to the market with our gardener and they bought two for five dollars, then they made a little area for them to live in the tree house. Raquel really likes them, so we'll see how it goes. Tomorrow we'll go on an egg hunt!

Birthday

2010-01-04T00:38:00.005-06:00

Unfortunately I was rather sick on my birthday, but we had a nice day with just the three of us. I got breakfast in bed and the Grinch on DVD:) to round out our Christmas movie collection. Raquel and I had baked a cake the day before so she and Dylan decorated it together. We went out to supper, and came back and had cake. Now Raquel keeps reminding us that it's her birthday next, but only after the baby is born. She told me today that she dreamt about the baby last night. She said the baby needed a cup, and a helmet so it can ride on the motorcycle:)

Making the cake in our matching aprons made by my friend Shelley

All ready to go out for supper:)

Yummy cake!

Christmas pictures...

2010-01-04T00:38:00.001-06:00

Are on Facebook:)

Pacitan! (again:)

2010-01-03T23:31:00.006-06:00

Before Christmas, we headed down to the beach for three days. We took the mission van and Dylan drove the whole five hours through crazy traffic. Raquel was really good on the trip, and slept a lot of the way. Obviously there are no rules about car seats here:) However, we did learn about one rule of the road when Dylan got a ticket for passing someone on a solid line. I think that rule is enforced especially at lunch time:)

Raquel got over her fear of the waves and had a blast at the beach. She was begging us to go at 6 in the morning, and would have stayed all day if possible:)

Dylan got in some good surfing

We found this cool beach, but only got to stay for a little bit as it started raining soon after we got there. We'll have to go back next time:)

Christmas is coming!

2009-12-03T09:21:00.004-06:00

We decorated for Christmas on Friday. Raquel was so excited. We bought a tree in town and she couldn't wait to put it up that night, and did a wonderful job of helping:).

Window clings from Grandpa and Grandma (Dylan helped her space these and her ornaments out a bit more after this:). Unfortunately the snowman only survived until the next morning when Raquel woke up before us (as usual) and loved him to death. There were pieces of him all over the floor. It was kind of like it snowed:)

Jesse Tree - finally!

I started making this before last Christmas, but never finished it. Now it's done except for the ornaments, so I've been making one every day as we go along. (It's only been three days, we'll see if I keep up:)

Each day we read a different Bible story, starting with Creation and ending with the birth of Jesus, with all the stories in between highlighting how the Old Testament is all about preparing for Jesus. In each pocket is an ornament to hang on the tree, a piece of candy and a card telling us what to read.

The first three ornaments have been a globe (I did the Indonesian side of the world for now:) for Creation, an apple and snake (that ended up looking more like a worm) for the first sin, and a rainbow for the story of Noah.

2009-12-03T08:56:00.003-06:00

We drove up Mt. Telemoyo on Sat. with our friends the Pries. We are going to miss them as they are going back to Germany in a couple weeks for four months and then on to Kalimantan.

When we got to the top we couldn't see anything as the clouds had started moving in. This picture was taken about halfway down. Thankfully we made it off the mountain before it started pouring, but we still had about a 20 min. drive back home in a downpour. We hadn't brought ponchos, but Raquel slept through it anyway.

Raquel acting like Mr. Bean when he was taking measurements to put a window in his wall.

Pretty Christmas dress from Oupa and Ouma

Bouncing while waiting for a dental check at her school. It was the first time she had ever been to a dentist, and she did a wonderful job. The other kids in front of her were crying, but she just marched in, sat down and opened her mouth as wide as she could. They actually had to tell her to close her mouth a couple times after they were done:)

Singing in the Rain

2009-11-20T07:07:00.002-06:00

Well rainy season has definitely begun. Almost every day we have at least a couple hours of torrential downpour. Here are some pictures of Raquel and I during one of the first storms. The novelty has worn off now, especially today since I forgot to put my poncho in my bike before school and got drenched on the way home, but I am very thankful for the cooler temperatures the rain has brought.

After riding her bike in the back yard after a rain storm, the wheels on Raquel's bike were too muddy to be allowed in the house. We gave her a hose and a scrub brush and she was entertained for over an hour:)

Field Trip

2009-11-04T08:04:00.004-06:00

Last Friday Raquel's school went on a field trip. One parent was required to go, so I tagged along to her first field trip to Taman Kelinci or Rabbit Park. There actually were some real rabbits in cages, but the main attraction, I think, is a playground and type of ropes course for kids complete with a zip line. The sheet Raquel brought home said to bring a drink, snack, change of clothes and shower supplies. At the last minute I threw a change of clothes in my bag trying to imagine why she would need them.

When we first arrived I noticed some water buffalo cooling off in the river behind the park. Little did I know that those very same creatures would play a critical role in the days events...

We started the morning off by sitting with all the other kids and parents and singing some songs, then the kids separated into their classes and went off to play some games. (Raquel's the last one in the line (the white one:)).

Ropes/obstacle course

After the games and a snack, the powers that be began explaining our next activity. I was listening very intently to try and understand our instructions. My Indonesian isn't that great and when I thought I heard the words 'memandikan kerbau' (give the water buffalo a bath), I thought I must be mistaken. However, soon after that everyone got up and marched down the hill to the river. Plastic cups were handed to all the children and an assembly line of teachers formed to shuttle the kids back and forth across the dirty water to the water buffalo so they could throw water on them. Unfortunately, the buffalo were not entirely thrilled at the prospect of thirty 3 year olds using them as target practice and didn't cooperate all that well and kept running away (can you blame them). Raquel was afraid to go across and wanted me to go with so I tried. The video below this post shows how close we got, but the buffalo got away.

She did, however, get to ride on a bamboo raft with her teacher and other classmates.

After that, I realized why we were supposed to bring an extra set of clothes. The kids were soaked with the filthy river water, so we went back to the park, all the kids stripped off their clothes and, using the water provided in the blue barrels and a hose, proceeded to 'memandikan' themselves:)

A fun (and interesting) day:)

2009-11-04T08:03:00.001-06:00

Pics of Raquel and one of something entirely different

2009-10-21T05:01:00.003-06:00

All ready for a neighborhood wedding (we need to get her some nice shoes. Her feet have grown so much since we've been here!)

Going on a date with Daddy to eat ice cream and color.

Getting ready for rainy season

In other news, a baby cicak met it's untimely demise on our front door jamb. He went unnoticed for sometime, until the other day one of our pembantus spotted his rather well preserved skeleton. Unfortunately I have no sympathy- there are twenty more to take his place

Our little fish

2009-10-07T10:23:00.002-06:00

Raquel has always been scared of water. A couple months ago she fell into the deep end of the pool which didn't help matters. Since that time she would refuse to even let us hold her in the deepend, let alone try to swim by herself (with water wings). We kept trying to encourage her to try it out. Last Sunday before we went to the pool (our Sunday afternoon tradition) Raquel told me that she was going to let me hold her in the big pool. I didn't think she really would, but told her I was happy anyway:) Right before we left for the pool I was looking at my sister Kristen's blog and we saw a video of my niece, Mya, swimming. Inspired by this, Raquel again resolved to go into the big pool that afternoon.

Much to our surprise, she did it! -and hasn't looked back:)

Picinc in a pine forest

2009-10-07T10:12:00.002-06:00

A couple Saturday's ago, our small group drove about an hour up our nearby mountain for a picnic. It was a beautiful day. The kids played really well together while the adults talked, ate (of course:) and enjoyed the cool air, scenery and sunshine:)

Ouch!

2009-09-24T10:21:00.003-06:00

This morning as Dylan (with Raquel riding on the front of his motorcycle) was stopped with his blinker on waiting to turn right into our driveway (that's like a left hand turn in the States) a guy on another motorcylce going too fast tried to pass them on the right. Instead of passing, he hit them knocking their bike over and went crashing down himself. Thankfully Dylan was able to hold onto Raquel as they went down and all she has is the road rash she proudly displays below. Dylan took the brunt of the fall and has several scratches and bruises all over especially his shoulder and knee. Praise the Lord there was no serious injury. There was an older man who saw the whole thing and stopped to give the man who hit them an earful. He defended
Dylan and loudly reminded the speeder that our road is not a racetrack. (People go way to fast down our road). We're so thankful that he was there as a witness and that he was on our side. God is good all the time!

No more hand-made clothes!!

2009-09-24T09:35:00.004-06:00

(If you don't understand the title of this post, run don't walk to the nearest blockbuster and rent Fiddler on the Roof immediately. You'll be glad you did:)

I didn't even know these things actually worked, but since the beginning of August I've been learning the art of using a treadle sewing machine. Now that I've gotten the hang of it, it's really easy to use. Since it doesn't need electricity to run I was able to finish sewing some curtains late one night when our power went off for a few hours. I just strapped on a flashlight headlamp and continued sewing (No I don't have pictures of that:).

a beautiful butterfly:)

The bedskirt I made for our bed.
(I had the duvet cover made by a seamstress in town a while ago)

I made this the other night:) The pattern I found on line looked much cuter than this creature

but Raquel still loves it despite it's deformities. Maybe some clothes will help. Maybe not...

new schedule

2009-09-24T09:19:00.002-06:00

Since Dylan is in a higher unit than me, his schedule has changed and now he has class in the afternoons while I still go in the mornings. So, he got to see what Raquel does in the mornings.

Waiting for the car to pick her up for school

have a fun day at school Raquel!

Back to the beach

2009-09-24T09:06:00.002-06:00

A couple of weeks ago we finished another unit of school and had several days off so we decided to take advantage of them and head back to Pacitan (4 hours south of us) and enjoy some beach time. We went down with another NTM family from Germany who have a little girl six months older than Raquel and an almost two year old boy. We had a really nice and relaxing time. Dylan got to try out his new surfboard that he recently had made (thanks Philip and TirZah for the birthday money:) and thankfully it worked great!

Check out our NTM Blogsite!!

2009-09-14T03:23:00.006-06:00

We have started to update our NTM blogsite more regularly with what's been happening in our lives. Check it out if you want to see more pictures, prayer requests, and what the Lord has been teaching us. Please feel free to click on "discuss this post" and leave a comment if you would like. Thanks!

Mt. Telemoyo

2009-09-05T06:55:00.002-06:00

Today Raquel was able to go with us as we drove up Mt. Telemoyo. We actually didn't go to the top because Dylan's bike was acting a little strange and he wants to get it serviced before we go up again. There is a road going up because there are telephone towers at the top. The air was so nice and cool and you can't beat the view!

We discovered that this must be a popular spot for dating couples. The bike behind Raquel belongs to one of the several smitten pairs we spotted:)

Mount Andong

2009-08-31T07:21:00.005-06:00

On Saturday morning Raquel went to one of our pembantu's house to play and Dylan and I joined some people from our school for a hike up a nearby mountain. It was a little more intense than I had expected (an hour and a half going straight up and 45 minutes down) and I'm still feeling it in my very out of shape legs and blistered feet:) but it was fun and the view was gorgeous.

On the way to the trail we were quite the attraction for the locals who kept asking us to take their 'portrait':)

getting higher...

almost there...

this 'house' was actually a burial site for an important religious leader

and we made it!

What Raquel's been up to...

2009-08-29T07:08:00.003-06:00

Chatting with Aunt Lydia on Skype

Fell asleep clutching her ping pong balls

Modeling the outfit that Grandma and Grandpa bought in India

pretty pretty princess

2009-08-21T08:07:00.003-06:00

Well tonight we attended our last independence celebration. Last Sunday night we joined our neighborhood in a party that last all night for some (till 11 for Raquel and I and 12:30 for Dylan:) On Tuesday Raquel and I went to a party at her school, and yesterday we all went downtown for a parade/carnival. Tonight was a party held at our school with our teachers and fellow classmates. Of course, as with all these events, there were games. The first was krupuk (a kind of chip) eating contest. The chips were hung from strings and each contestant tried to finish their chip the fastest without using their hands. The men went first and then the women. I am a little embarassed to confess that I won the women's contest (I would win an eating contest). Below I am pictured in the championship round. The lady on the left, who was my runner up, beat us all, but the fun didn't stop there...

Raquel had fun running around with the other kids and got incredibly dirty.

This next game was hilarious on all sorts of levels. The men have a type of eggplant hanging from a string around their waists and the object of the game was to hit the ball in front of them with the vegetable to the other side of the court.

The women tried it after the men and, again, I wound up in the championship round. I guess I'm good at games that require absolutely no skill, but not that great - the girl behind me ended up winning - Way to go Heather!