It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

I just thought it would be nice to share a bit of the Christmas season -- what we've been doing at our house so far!

We started the Sunday after Thanksgiving, which is the first Sunday of Advent. We got out our Advent wreath and our Christmas tree. We are so thankful that artificial trees are available here!

We have a lot of stars in our Christmas decor, to remind us of our sweet Bethany, because she had this very special star in her footprint.....

Bethany's special star footprint inspires our Christmas decor

So this is our Advent Wreath, shaped like...... a star! Every evening (okay almost) after dinner, we light the appropriate candles, and recite John 8:12 "Jesus said 'I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness but will have the light of life.'" Then we sing a Christmas carol together, read Scripture and a little devotional. Jonathan enjoys watching the candles, although we sometimes have to cut the hymns and readings short to be kid friendly.

Jesus said "I am the light of the world." John 8:12

When we were putting up the tree, Jonathan of course wanted to be involved. We decided to go for the tabletop tree as we didn't think it would last very long on the floor!

Jonathan is an excellent helper, but has to be instructed not to eat the lights!

And not to try and wobble the table so much that the tree falls off! He's got some muscles!

We added some decorations. We brought some special ornaments from home ......

Remembering our firstborn

And our second blessing from the Lord!

And the greatest blessing of all -- Baby Jesus! (Yes, my friend, I still have this, and it came around the world with us!)

Our last vacation deserves to be on our Christmas tree forever!

Then we added a few batik ornaments that we bought here locally....

And last, we needed a tree topper. Fortunately my neighbor had a good idea for this!

Aluminum foil + cardboard + toilet paper tube = WOWSA tree topper!

You won't see it in Martha Stewart magazine, but our Christmas tree helps us to celebrate the Christmas Spirit!

Things that are different: Asian problem solving -- what would you do?

I wish I had a picture for this post ....but I just don't.  But perhaps it's for the better!

So today we had a deluge rainfall, right at lunchtime when Jonathan and I go to school to socialize with the students and eat with Dave.  I put Jonathan in the baby backpack and we carefully headed to school under a big umbrella.

What would YOU do if you were driving along on your motorcycle and it started raining REALLY hard?  No poncho available.

Why, you simply stop by the side of the road, take off your outer clothes and stash them under the bike seat.  Then you continue driving in your underwear until you reach your destination, towel off, and put your dry clothes back on!

I saw this today at least twice!  It doesn't work for women, though.

Things that are different: Neighborhood baby clinic

One thing that is special here is that each neighborhood has special ways of taking care of it's own.  It's a government system, but it works very well.  There is a neighborhood man (elected but unpaid) who heads over 15-30 families.  Everyone who moves into the neighborhood or even visits for more than 24 hours is supposed to report to him, just so he knows what is going on.  We also have a neighborhood guard duty, made up of men from the neighborhood, who patrol every night to make sure all is well and safe.  The women and the men in the neighborhood each meet monthly to take care of business.  Each group has it's own bank account, from which members can take out small loans if needed, or get some money for medical care if someone is sick. 

All neighborhoods also have "Posyandu" or neighborhood  baby clinic, every month.   I used to help with the Posyandus when I was single working as a nurse in Kalimantan.   The Posyandu here is quite abbreviated compared to the ones I used to work with.  It goes like this:  On the 15th of every month, at 4:30 pm, all of the mommies in the neighborhood pack up their babies and toddlers (up to age 5) and head over to the house where Posyandu is.   A lady with a bar scale and a sling weighs all of the babies and the weight is recorded.  Baby and mommy are given a snack (a banana or candy or cake or soybean porridge), and then they head home.  Babies that are not gaining weight properly are referred to the nearest government health clinic.  A couple of times a year, mega dose vitamin A is administered to prevent vision problems. 

So Jonathan and I have been attending for several months now.  It's nice to be able to keep track of Jonathan's weight, and to get to know the other mommies in the neighborhood.  At his last weighing he was 9.9 kg (21.8 lbs).  His birth weight was 7.3 lbs (7 lbs 5 oz) so yep, he's tripled his birth weight in a year.

Here's a couple of pictures of Jonathan at Posyandu

A bar scale (like what they use in the market to weigh goods) and a sling are used to weigh every child in the village under the age of 5.  Here Jonathan is taking his turn.

Close up view:  This is fun mom!  (Note: this kid has got a lot of teeth!)

A Visit from Opa and Oma!

How Fun!  Last night we had a visit from Opa and Oma! 

When I was single and working as a nurse at Bethesda Mission Hospital (http://www.borneohospital.com/), I had the priviledge of working with Wendell and Margie Geary, aka Opa and Oma.   I learned so much from them, and even from our visit last night, continued to gain pearls of wisdom from Oma.  For instance, she encouraged me to find time to be in the Word of God daily, even though this is a challenge with a small child. 

I hadn't seen them since 2006, but when I met them again last night, it felt like just yesterday.  I guess traveling around the world twice a year keep them young ...and being committed to serving God without reservation well into their official retirement years. 

Jonathan was in full charm mode -- he had fun playing with Oma....



And with Opa!



    Thank you for visiting us!  We had fun and were enriched too!

A Movie! It's Jonathan's One-Year Old Birthday Party!

The best thing about Jonathan's birthday for.....

Jennifer: Being able to pull out the birthday outfit that I've been saving for him since his baby shower at Grove Elementary! It's so wonderful to USE things for him that I've been saving!

Dave: Watching Jonathan watch his friends open his presents for him!


Jonathan: Carrot cake with chocolate frosting, strawberry and chocolate flavored ice cream! Wrapping paper!

Wow! A Whole Year of Fun with Jonathan!

Today is Jonathan's First Birthday! What fun! We had a little party today, and I hope to post some pictures and a video in the next day or so.

We also had a "virtual" birthday party with Dave's family over Skype. They were in Spokane Washington (and via speakerphone from Idaho) and they had a nice chocolate cake, a candle, and even a present for Jonathan (which will be mailed later!). They very much enjoyed eating Jonathan's chocolate birthday cake in front of us on the video, although we didn't get to taste any.

Indulge a mommy, I must share an obscene amount of pictures from Jonathan's life over the last year. It's been so much fun!



34 weeks and counting! (He was born at 38 1/2 weeks!)


 

Just born! Our little Pumpkin born just 10 days before Thanksgiving....and we were soooooo thankful!



His first bath! Daddy got to do the honors, with the nurse's help!

Footprint time!

First meeting with Grandma Coral! (Still on November 17, 2009!)

On our first or second day at home, a photo session with Dave's parents! Yep, we are pretty happy to get to bring him home.

Grandma Coral stayed for 3 weeks to help out and play with Jonathan too!



A little jaundiced and a little sleepy!

3 week old macho man!




January -- 2 1/2 months old and a real chunk! His really FAT stage!



February -- an official family photo with Jonathan at 3 months old. Thanks again so much for this picture, Mark VanDonge! http://markseye.com/



Ash Wednesday -- Jonathan actually really liked the service, but stayed up too late and this is the result.



Hmmm....at 4 months this bathtub is starting to feel small!

A squishy, juicy healthy 5 month old Jonathan!

5 months old here. A special visit from Grandpa Ron from Tennessee!

5 months : Found his feet!

This trick is always good for a laugh!

Baptism day! April 11, 2010 at Walla Walla First Presbyterian!



All together with his cousins on Baptism Day!



Here he's telling you all about his first swim at Aunt Ruthie's pool in Spokane! I think this was in June -- so 6 months old.

7 months old in July, just a few days before we left the country. He's playing with his friend, Sammy Franklin!

Okay, we're at 7 months now and some of you probably think this has gone TOO far with too many pictures! So I will stop now, but come back in a few days for a video from Jonathan's birthday party. Much fun was had by all!

Just want to say again, how THANKFUL we are that God has given us this little boy to live with us.









Update on Volcano -- Is Merapi going back to sleep now?

If you haven't noticed much in the news about our volcano here, it's because it seems to be settling down. Thank you Lord, this is what we've been asking for!

The experts have not lifted the evacuation zones yet, but many of the refugee camps are emptying out as people are heading back home to their villages. Over 200,000 people were moved into a safe zone, but I'm not sure how many actually sustained damage to their homes and land? For these people, who suffered loss of loved ones, homes, possessions, cattle, and crops -- the recovery will be long.

There is optimism, however. The farmers, who have lost their crops for THIS season, are expressing excitement over how fertile the land will be in the next season. Volcanic ash is very good for the soil.

The Christian university in the city south of here will be working with Merapi victims in the long term. I know of one worker who is looking for specialists who can help the farmers and villages figure out how to get their irrigation and water systems functional again. This university is also doing trauma counseling, I know. Can you imagine fleeing from a burning cloud of steam, or being burned by one?

And dozens, DOZENS, of burn victims are still suffering in the hospitals. Some of them will die, and many will live on with severely debilitating scars and permanent tissue injuries.

I do hope this is my last volcano update of interest. We hope Merapi goes back to sleep ...but for how long? The last eruption was in 2006 -- a mere 5 years ago.

Thank you for your prayers, and please may they continue!