A few photos of the last 2 weeks.

Life is, as I've said before, settling down a bit, and I think that is why we haven't taken as many photos. One can only take so many photos of the school and it's surroundings, and that's where we spent a lot of our time, especially Tris and the kids. However, we're just going to post a few photos of what's been going on lately in and around our home.

Last Saturday was the "big shopping trip" and a friend, Rebecca, and I found a great orchid place. We each bought one for $4 and the pot to put it in for another $3.50. Check out the orchid! What is crazy is that even though that seems incredibly inexpensive, a few others on the trip found an even better shop with even better prices...$2 a plant! The flower colours were wonderful. I found a few hydrangea bushes, white ones, but the way that 'foreign' plants have died in my yard I thought it best to stick to native species from now on.

A lot of effort has been put into the yard and the house as we're trying to make it as homey as possible, and now we are beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel. I bought 2 more cans of paint yesterday and hope to paint one more wall and the foyer. Once I finish that I am going to have to find a new project! One recent purchase that has added a great amount of warmth and hominess to our place has been of 2 rugs. They would have looked great in our old place as well. I guess once you have a certain taste and style it just doesn't go away, no matter where you live.

Tris and Matthew made me laugh the other morning, because I had a deja vue of years past, when Matt was a little kid. Both would stretch out on a carpeted area and Matthew would imitate Tris stretching. Now Matt is learning the how's and why's of stretching and is realizing the benefits of it all. Unfortunately, being 13 he wouldn't let me take a photo, so you get Matt's stocking feet and his uniform, but not his big smile. BTW, the rug came in handy because the house is entirely floored in tiles.

I wonder how many of you remember my husband 5 years ago...laying in bed, unable to walk and in a lot of pain all of the time. He had 2 back surgeries in 2003 and during that time I wondered if he'd ever be the same. Well, check out this photo (and check out the look on his face!) of Tris shooting some hoops. This is on a Sunday afternoon but he looks forward to playing basketball on Wednesdays after chapel (4 pm). Outdoor sports in Indonesia are not pretty...at least the players aren't. However, they may be drenched in sweat but the guys always seem to have fun. We're hoping that the kids will join basketball in January so they can run around just like their dad. Mom playing isn't even an option. I spent at least 30 minutes shooting baskets (attempting to) 2 sundays ago and if anyone was paying me per basket I'd be broke. Can't imagine playing under pressure!

Here's a photo of Abby and her mouse-trap machine. Not sure how it worked but it's a great shot of her and her invention!

That's it for now for photos. I'll try and take some more this weekend. I had an opportunity to taxi into Jakarta this Saturday (tomorrow) but I had to cancel; I'm hoping to try again next Saturday. We finally have a number of a driver and we'll check him out to see if he's okay. Once we do, I have free reign to drive into Jakarta and get him to stop whenever I see something of interest and 'photo-worthy.' I feel bad just pointing and shooting without asking around here, but in the city I can be a bit more discreet.

Thanks for reading.