A Few Photos from Grandma Bea's camera

We have figured out how to upload Grandma Bea's photos onto our computer (just had to ask my husband) and so I thought I'd add them to the blog. Enjoy!Mom and Dad stayed with Tris and Sunny (my-inlaws) in Cloverdale, BC on the first leg of their journey. Their car is in T & S' driveway and apparently doesn't even look like a car...it's a mountain of snow. BTW, any complaints about our gene pool, blame it on them:)

Mom thinks this is a funny shot...it looks like I'm lounging while my helper is doing all of the work. I think we were discussing our grocery list or something.

This is Abby's birthday cake...Angel Food!...and we just had to add this photo because the look on Abby's face is one that we see quite regularly. When we were looking through our over one thousand photos between us, most of our pictures of the kids are goofy. We blame it on the combination White-Saxby gene pool.

Here's mom enjoying a cream bath (hair wash & condition, shoulder & head massage), manicure and pedicure all at once. Dad was upstairs getting a massage and I had a pedi-manicure as well.

On the flip side (from luxury to poverty) mom, dad and I accompanied Matthew's class to the Bintaro slums (see older posts). This is the center of the living quarters of the families...they recycle for a living.

Just had to get this really exciting Christmas morning moment on film...Tris opening the 8th Season dvd set of Little House on the Prairie. See the joy and delight in his eyes!!!

Our first night on Lombock we spent hanging on the beach and meeting some of the local sellers. This fellow was cooking fish (which we didn't eat...gross stories accompany this that involve catching fish in dirty water and nose blowing with the bare hands...) and also wanted to be our 'go boy' to buy us fruit in the local market. I ended up heading out with Matthew one day in a local taxi and just bought fruit myself.

The ocean wasn't very swim-friendly and so everyone spent a lot of time near the pool. Sometimes we had to snuggle in a little because there weren't enough chairs.

Our real Christmas morning...Tris and I planned on having on the beach in a little hut but because Tris wasn't feeling so well we had it on our balcony instead. We could still hear the ocean waves crashing and see the blue sky & palm trees.

Christmas night dinner...Poppa and Tris stayed home, Grandma Bea, Matt, Abby & I went out for turkey and lamb dinner. It was pretty good, except when we asked for cranberry sauce, gravy and mint sauce for our meal and they arrived, all mixed together into one bowl. Yuck!

Matt & Abby dancing (???) on the beach.

Like I said, we blame it on our genes.

Thanks for reading!

A Belated But Heartfelt Merry Christmas!

Today is our first day back from our Christmas trip to Lombock Island, and although I was able to write a blog it wouldn't post while we were there. I'll revise it a bit but the following was written while we were still on holidays there:

I know that it’s been a while but better late than never...Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Selamat Natal dan Tahun Baru!!

We’re still on the island of Lombok, a small island east of Bali, which is east of Java, which is where we live. As I write this, we have no internet connection, but I want to record a bit of what we’ve experienced in the last week. It’s been an incredible experience for all, including mom and dad, and it’s been a blessing having them with us on all of our adventures. Not sure where to start, but since I am writing the blog I guess I can give you my perspective on our travels.
In order to keep our luggage down, we chose to have an early Christmas at our home in Lippo. However, we still brought stocking stuffers with us and opened them together on Christmas Day. It was very, very different from anything that we’ve ever experienced before, but it was a treat. We sat out on our deck with the ocean breeze blowing some of the heat away from us, and took turns slowly opening our small gifts (not the usual pattern of stockings in the White house!). Unfortunately we had to wait every now and then for Tris to run to the ‘library’ because of some bug he picked up, but waiting isn’t hard to do here. When you’ve got hot sun and no agenda, what else is there to do but wait?

Waiting has become the pattern for us in the past 3 days as this bug that Tris got has made its rounds with mom and dad as well. Our hope is to take a boat to nearby islands (the Gili Islands) and go snorkelling, but tomorrow is our last day and mom’s out for the count today. One of the things we’ve experienced here and elsewhere in Indonesia is that hygiene isn’t a high priority in some places. One question I would love to ask a local would be “why do muslim men wash their feet and legs before entering a prayer room, yet nobody seems to wash their hands after using the toilets?” This is one thing I have noticed time and time again...lack of hand washing. Add that to the constant public nose-picking (not picking the publics' noses, just doing it in public) and sneezing without covering mouths, and it seems we’re surrounded by other peoples’ bodily excesses. Not sure how to combat that but we do find ourselves blessing our food and washing our hands with antibacterial liquid without fail!!

I think that even without the photos [Note: I am now able to add photos and will do so throughout] that we were able to take of our trip down to the southern part of the island, I would love to still share with you what a special day it was for me. Two days before Christmas we rented a car and Tris drove us all down to Kuda beach, a beautiful white sand beach in a very quiet area. We had lunch at a beautiful resort Novotel hotel, and then when we asked if we could linger on the beach of this pristine paradise we were told we’d have to pay $30.00 for us all. Very disappointed, we left the premises and drove a short 2 kilometres only to discover, as we crested a very sharp hill, our own personal white sand paradise. Not only was the beach in a safe bay where the family could snorkel, there was also a beach hut (just like on Surf’s Up!!!) where I hunkered down out of the sun.
You’d think that this little beach would be quiet and private, but as soon as we set up our stakes, some local boys came and tried to sell us some green coconuts with straws in them. One of the things that I have been blessed with while living here the last 6 months is time, and I’ve used some of that time to learn the local language. This came in handy with these boys ( I was able to tell them that I don’t like coconut juice) and we had some basic conversation. They must have run off to tell a local man that a bule was speaking Indonesian, because soon after a man arrived with his 4 year old precious little son, and we had a good chat for about 1 ½ hours. This man, Pak Jana, is a caribow (oxen) rancher of a sort and lives in a village just a bit away from the beach. He asked a variety of questions such as where do I live, how many caribow do I own (I tried so hard not to chuckle at that one), how many children I have, where does my husband work, does he make a lot of money, and how big my house is. All these questions lead to one main question that he was heading towards (and I didn’t see it coming...I have tears in my eyes as I write this). This was “Would you like to take my son home with you?” I’m not sure how serious he was, but almost 20 years ago I was asked this same question by a pastor, father of 9 children, in the Philippines. Just as hopeless now as I was then to take and care for someone else’s child, I said I would love to but I cannot.

One thing I forgot to mention. While we were sitting under the shelter chatting, the rancher, his 2 sons and a few other boys and I shared some snacks together; a little while later mom came along and hung out with us as well. I played marbles with the little guy and then he snuggled up with mom for a bit. We're not sure if he has a mom or not, but he thoroughly enjoyed the attention. I was able to take 2 very touching photos of first his departure from us and then later, our short reunion as we drove out. In the first photo he keeps waving and waving as he walks up the path with his daddy. In the second, as soon as he saw us, he tore himself from his dad and ran as fast as he could to see us. No matter how often I look at these photos, I cry. I think I would definately rate this as my top day in Lombok.

I am eager to upload the photos from my camera when we return to Lippo but unfortunately I can only use my words to describe this day for you. No day better describes the differences between my life and those of millions of Indonesians who live in the same country as I presently call home. While here mom and dad have had a quick overview of the poverty that exists here and I have had doors opened up to me to somehow help relieve, however insignificant my participation may be, some peoples’ situations. How and where, I do not know, but I am praying that when this holiday is over, when mom and dad head back to Canada, I might find the place that God has for me here.
I hope and pray that as my family is basking in the sun and I in the shade, that you are all enjoying a blessed white Christmas. Our hearts are missing our friends and family even as we have my parents here. We miss the hugs, the traditions, the food (although we did have a great turkey/lamb meal on Christmas Day...most of us...dad and Tris were sick at the hotel), kissing the little cousins’ fat cheeks, participating in the White Family Christmas Dinner, having our annual Christmas Open House, and the list goes on. God bless you and the time you spend with loved ones.

Thanks for reading!

Days 6, 7, 8

Happy Birthday to our baby girl, Abby! She turned 11 on Thursday, and we gave her the whole day off of school. Technically, the entire school is off, but we led her to believe that it was our idea. Not like she believes us or anything, though. The morning began with her gifts; the boxes were 5 green or pink frames with photos of her cousins and friends and her in them. This was a special request, and since it seems our kids don't ask for much (except Cheezies and to watch videos every minute of the day) it was a delight to give them to her.

The evening of her birthday we went out for dinner with the grandparents and the Comries. Of course, the kids all had to ham up the photo, which we love to see. As an aside, the Comries are in Canada right now, probably arriving as I write this. They've gone from 30 degree weather to -8 and snow!

Last night we had another little party at home complete with cake this time...our oven was broken on Abby's birthday and so we were a day late on the cake. Mom and dad had brought an Angel Food mix and skor bars, so we had one of our favourite cakes (thanks to Tanya).

For the last day of school we went out to dinner with a bunch of Canadians as well as our Aussie neighbours Johnny and Mel. It was a great way to say goodbye to everyone (each of us is heading away somewhere for the hols) and to introduce mom and dad to some of our favourite people. What's weird for the kids is that both Abby and Matt had one of their teachers there. This is a photo of Mel and I, and no, I'm not on drugs. She is our neighbour 2 doors down and is 1/2 of the Aussie couple I mentioned.

Mom was pretty proud of herself because she has been trying to use chopsticks since she arrived, and this was the first meal she ate entirely with chopsticks...rice and all.

After dinner half of us went to the movies and the other half (us and the Carpenters) went out for coffee. It gets dark here so early that is seems late, but really, I think that we were finished dinner about 6:30 and had so much time left in the evening. The women all decided that my dad finally found his talking match...

both Jonathon (Abby's teacher) and my dad each had story after story to tell, and both would listen to each others intently. It was very amusing for everyone and it was nice to see the guys get along so well. I think Mel and Johnny have a place to stay if they ever venture to Canada (and we're not there yet)!

Last week we decided to do Christmas morning early so today (Saturday) we woke up and opened presents up.
It was great...and we get to celebrate the real Christmas morning with stockings on the island of Lombok.

Tris bought me a lens that takes awesome close-ups and so you'll be sure to see some in the next few weeks. Not sure if we can blog over the next week but we'll try if we have the proper hook-ups.

Just want to say, again, thanks for reading our blog and having an interest in our lives. Amazingly, we've received an incredible amount of letters and cards and even some parcels! Thank you so much. For those of you who sent gifts and goodies with my parents, it is appreciated and we have felt very, very loved and spoilt. It's our hope to be able to connect with each of you personally. If we don't in the next while, please forgive us, but we intend on reaching each one.

Merry Christmas. Our prayer is that each of you experiences what the true reason for Christmas is: Jesus and the love he has for you.

Thanks for reading.

Day Four: Christmas Party with Rumah Anugrah Orphanage (Abby) and Bintaro Slums (Matthew)

Last Sunday was a quiet day of rest (watched BOLT at the 'nice' mall). Monday was back to school for Tris and the kids, and so mom and dad and I had to find something to keep ourselves busy. Unfortunately the photos are on mom's camera and I haven't figured out how to upload them onto this computer, or you'd be able to witness the ultimate in decadent. I booked mom and I for pedicures and dad for a 1 hour massage. He was great with the massage and enjoyed it thoroughly. Mom ended up with 3 ladies working on her and I had 2. Our pedis turned into manis as well, and mom also got a cream bath. This is where her shoulders are bared, her hair is washed and then she sits with cream rinse on her hair while her head and shoulders get massaged. I'm not sure she's ever going to return to Canada, especially when she saw the grand total of $30 for everything (all of us), less tips.

Tuesday was a big day at school. All of the grade 5s got together and bought gifts for the students from Rumah Anugrah, the orphanage which, 10 years ago, started housing and educating about 50 young people from Ambon, a war-ravaged area of Indonesian. A party was held on Tuesday and there was singing, games and of course, food. Mom, dad and I weren't able to stay very long because we had signed up to head out to some slums with the grade 7s in Matthew's homeroom. However, I was able to listen to the kids sing, which was a special treat. The Rumah Anugrah kids sang 2 songs in English and did a very good job. It was neat because my friend Coral drove out to the orphanage the night before and took mom, dad, Abby and I with her, so they knew some of the RA kids who were singing. Unfortunately, because the focus of this orphanage is educating the children so that they can return to their home island, most of the students had to remain at school/university, but we were able to see a bunch of them. Here's a photo of them singing, and then one of Angel (real name is Dorsila) surrounded by SPH girls. Angel is so tiny the only way to distinguish her from the other girls is that she isn't wearing plaid! She's 16 years old and very sweet.

After this event we headed out to Bintaro, with our temporary but wonderful driver Selamat. Thank the Lord for drivers, because without him we wouldn't have been able to go to the Bintaro slums with Matthew's class. The Bintaro slums is a poverty-stricken area where 23 families work together collecting garbage, sorting it and reselling it to recyclers. When we arrived, the area we were to meet in was under cover; beatup, patched and full of sunlit holes. The kids sat on tarps and many moms with their babies watched from the sides. The purpose of the visit was for the SPH kids to get an idea of what life is like outside of their personal, happy, sometimes rich bubbles. Each student was assigned 2 buddies, and they were to use whatever means they could to find out information about those 2 kids, as well as play a fun learning game with them. Afterwards the buddies and their SPH friends were given a boxed lunch of rice, chicken, veggies and a snack. During this time the parents were supposed to monitor the interactions and mainly just be a supportive presence. Of course, not all parents were obedient, and neither were grandparents!

At one point I had lost mom and dad, and they showed up with the woman named Maria who organized these kinds of community events. She has 6 various slums that she works with and is always looking for help. Mom and dad went on a walk with her and she introduced them to a variety of people, and then when they returned from their walk they grabbed me with my camera and I got a bunch of neat photos. I will post them on a seperate blog with minimal comments. So the saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words.

After the slums we headed home, had dinner made for us (this is such a treat and we appreciate it every weekday!) and just hung out.

Today, day 5, was the last day of school. There was an assembly where Tris and I sang in the Christmas choir, Matthew sang in his vocal class choir, and Abby was asked to pray for the Junior School VP who is returning to Australia with his art teaching wife. After a lunch of fresh sushi and CANADIAN CHEEZIES (great combo!) we are resting. Matt's bowling with friends, Abby has a piano lesson and grandparents are sleeping as I blog. It's hard to type quietly but they want the blog and a sleep as well, so they're willing to listen to me type and Abby play while they rest. They deserve rest...they've been going strong! Tomorrow's Abby's birthday and so we are going into Jakarta to get a few things for our trip to Lombok as well as finish up Christmas shopping.

Thanks for reading!

Day One (late post): Christmas Distribution under a Tol Bridge.

No, we have not fallen off of the planet. Since mom and dad have arrived we've been going non-stop though. The days are full and passing quickly. I have posted one blog since they first arrived, full of photos, but our connection was weak and I lost my 1/2 hour of typing and uploading. Baah!!!

Within less than 24 hours of being together, mom, Abby and I accompanied a few other Lippo Ladies on a ministry trip where we delivered gifts (purchased and arranged by Lippo Ladies) to children and babies who live under or near one of Jakarta's tol bridges. Living Faith church has a regular ministry to this area and they were gracious to let us come along for the experience. Of course mom, not knowing a stitch of Bahasa Indonesia, and quite honestly butchers the language when she tries (that is written with permission), somehow uses body language and simple english words to get across what she's trying to say. Somehow people understand.

There were so many things to see. Some of them were shocking, like this bed crammed up next to a pillar and in a small ravine under the tol bridge. This is someone's house... If you look at the background of the guitar photo you'll see the the garbage pile...for some reason it didn't smell nearly as bad as I'd expected, especially in the heat. Some of the things were wonderful, such as the laughter of these ladies who came to hear the Christmas story with their children and grandchildren. At one point mom and I ended up talking to a group of young men nearby to where the church and ladies were celebrating Christmas with the moms and children. Sometimes I find that young guys get a little offended if we take their photos, but these ones were asking and were quite happy to sit and chat with us. While we sat and got to know them with our limited language skills, Abby helped hand out the backpacks. We missed out on that but I didn't mind. I think we were all where we were supposed to be that day.

One of my favourite photos of the whole event is this one, where a little girl just received her backpack filled with school supplies, a sleeping mat (to keep her off the dirt and mud at night), goodies and some water.

Later that evening we decided to not head to Jakarta for church since 1/2 the family had been to the big city earlier that day. Instead we hung out at home and went to bed early.

Thanks for reading.