In Town Treats!

Aside from the work of running around to get supplies bought, vaccinations for the baby, taxes started, the Jeep fixed, etc, etc, etc, we've been making the most of the fun stuff that "town" has to offer. Our favorites include (but are not limited to), electricity all day long, internet, hot showers, AC, cheese!, beef, ice water, pizza, swimming pools, running water, drinking water (pre-filtered!) and.... ICE CREAM!

 Today we went on a tiny adventure to find the "coconut shell ice cream place" - also known as "the ice cream place across from the big Catholic place" (not a super helpful description as it turns out). From now on we'll call it by it's name, "Es Krim Angie"

 Aunt Naomi came with us, and Nadia got to taste her ice cream too. :0) Mommy had vanilla which tasted so yummily like coconut (mmmmm, made with santan - coconut milk). Naomi had Black Sticky Rice flavored ice cream. Yum! Also made with santan. Phil had chocolate - made with santan. All very satisfying and delicious!

 Just a few latest photos of our big baby boy, who as of today has a TOOTH!!!!

Have i also mentioned that he very nearly sits up on his own? And as of today also does the "inchworm". He gets up on all fours then flattens out to move forward. Yikes!

All of this makes him very sleepy.

And this darling little guy is apparently sort of nervous about thunderstorms. This is a photo from right before we came out from interior. We had a huge storm, and we were all out on the porch drinking in the beautiful cool breeze and getting splashed by the huge rain drops. He spent the whole time hanging on to me for dear life, poor little guy.

Catching Up: Halfie Birthday, Quinn!

Bitty Man turned 6 months old on January 5th. Since we're always looking for an excuse to make and eat something yummy while living in the middle of nowhere, we had a party; a Halfie Birthday Party!

 Paul brought his guitar, and the kids danced like little crazy people - something they love to do.

 Dance, dance, dance. Our boy is half a year!

He had a couple fun little things to open, which he loved to do.

A shaker toy with dried beans and uncooked rice! So smart! Thank you, Irene. :)

 And here he's playing with his new favorite thing, his little cow. For some reason, he reaches for the little cow more than anything else, and here he's discovering it for the first time. (while staring creepily into the camera).

Playing musical chairs. This photo cracks me up because i caught the very second that Hannah and Pascal sat down in the chairs - and Nadia sat down with a "plop" onto the floor. So funny!

Trying to teach the kids how to play the game Telephone. Impossible. But hilarious.

 Here's our 6 month old with his Village Grandma, picking rambutan off a branch. Oh, the crazy fun things that boy is learning.

All that growing and playing and learning and partying is just so exhausting. I love watching him snuggle his puppy, suck his thumb and sleep in his swing. Such a little darling (look at his right hand holding his puppy. i want to cry, he's so cute!).

Catching Up

It's hard to know where to go from here in catching you all up. Mostly it's all a hot, sweaty, dusty, dirty blur. We were busy visiting, spending time with people, listening to all the new sounds, drinking in all the new sights and experiences, fighting off the bugs and pests, working working working on the house and every day things, watching the kids play every day all day outside until they're filthy (wonderfully, gloriously filthy!!!) tired and hungry. We would often lose track of which day it was. Jungle time has a way of blending itself all up into one big ball. But i'll try to keep it straight here for you.

Neighbor kids climbing our fruit trees to gather as much as their basket can hold (then sharing some with us - so sweet!).

 Huge spider that Phil walked into one day on the way to the well. Gave him a small heart attack.

 Phil opening a local fruit for T3YO. This one was soft and yucky inside. She was disappointed.

 Little naughty peeping neighbor girl, peeks into our bathroom. Thankfully for everyone (including her) it was empty.

This is the scorpion that was crawling on my mosquito net one evening.

 A traditional stove/oven at a friend's house.

 After tramping through the jungle with me, looking for bamboo shoots, my friend shows me how to peel and prepare them.

 Sitting still in the midday heat, an old grandma friend waits for me to take her picture.

One hot, dry day Phil decided to clean our water tank. Not a pretty job.

He climbed inside and cleaned it up all pretty! He was one sweaty and mosquito-bitten boy once he was done.

Mr. Blue Eyes has what I'm calling a Village Grandma. This friend of ours has fallen head over heels for my little boy. She loves to joke that she'll adopt him from me. Since i refuse to agree to that, we've settled on just betrothing him to her granddaughter. She just loves him to death... which has worked greatly in our favor in getting to know her and her rather large family.

Another friend of mine, showing me how to make coconut milk to cook with.

A dear lady (with yet another very large family) telling me (or trying to) how she makes floor mats.

And yet another fan of my baby boy.

Next in the Catch Up Posts: Jungle Christmas!

What was our Christmas like in the village? I've been saying this: Hot and sweaty jungle Christmas is still Christmas all the same. Lovely, Jesus-centered Christmas. Simple, quiet, special Christmas. We were still unpacking and in the chaos of our settling in, we still made time to do the special Christmas things. We had a wonderful time.

Making Christmas cookies! It was so hot, and making cookies wasn't first on my want-to-do list, but look at that little face! Who could say no to such a happy, willing little helper?!

 We spent Christmas day (all day!) next door with our co-worker friends, and had a really fun time of fellowship and relaxing. (until the guys had to go up to the end of the village to clean some wounds...)

 We sang Christmas carols together and heard the Christmas story, ate breakfast and a big dinner together.

 Eventually, we made time to go home and celebrate a quiet family Christmas too. We had carefully packed and brought in a few fun gifts for each other. 

T3YO had a BLAST with the stuff from her grandparents. Here she is waiting patiently for her turn to open a gift. Thank you, guys for what you sent! (She's still enjoying all of it, by the way. The paper dolls, the blocks, the cool camera, the coconut tree necklace. All so fun. All so special).

 Bitty Boy had his first Christmas, and is just such a little dolly. 

He opened his fun car from Memere, and loved it right away!

 The kids in our village all dressed in red on Christmas Eve, and came to spend some time getting to know T3YO. She still wasn't sure quite what to do with all that attention...

But after a day or two, figured it out and was quite welcomed by the resident village girls (who now act like her older sister in watching over her, teaching her both good and bad things, playing with her, etc.).

Our son continues to impress everyone he meets. His sheer size is just astounding. No one seems to get tired of trying to hold him, and watching him smile and laugh at everyone. Contests are held regularly for who can last longest hefting that boy's weight (which is, as of now, not determined. The last time we weighed him was last time we were in town... i can only imagine what he really weighs now).

 Our little guy loves the traditional swing in the kitchen of our house. Here he's laughing as we swing him.

And sitting up in his highchair, playing with his new airplane.

Beginning of the Catch Up Posts: The Trip In

Well, here we find ourselves in town once again. After 5 weeks (a FAST 5 weeks) in our new jungle village home, we're out for a small supply buying, jeep fixing, meeting attending break. I will now attempt to catch you all up with our photos, starting from the week of Christmas (yes. we made our major move into the jungle 5 days before Christmas... we are that crazy). Enjoy!

The beginning of our Jeep drive into the jungle. Happy little girlie ready for the bouncy ride.

Still in town, i caught a photo of this lady with a market on her head.

Paul drove the Jeep, with T3YO and our baby boy and I inside (along with our household items), while Phil drove the motorcycle.

We found the road in pretty good condition this time. We only encountered a few stuck trucks and only one washed out bridge. It took us only 8 hours to get to our new home!

A pit stop or two along the way... (Phil is not waving in this photo, he would like for me to clarify :0).

Catching our breath and eating our lunch (peanuts and warm coke).

So tiring. I'm not sure how on earth this girl could sleep with all that bouncing around. She never stayed asleep very long before she whacked her head on the window to wake her up...

 Here's the bridge that was out. On either side of the road is the edge of the bridge, and that hole in the middle has one board across the middle. We made it, but i really don't know how.

Mr Lizard couldn't decide if he wanted to continue basking in the road and risk getting squashed - or if he should skitter into the bushes. He eventually chose to skitter away. It's hard to see here, but he was at least 3 feet long.

 Baby boy, tied to me the whole way somehow also found sleep.

Here's that stuck truck. A photo really does not do any justice to the insanity of these situations in which we find ourselves on this road interior. Yikes.

Taking a quick break. Isn't he so handsome? :0)

T3YO got tired of bouncing around the back of the Jeep and wanted to take a ride with Daddy on the bike. That didn't last long. :0)

For Fun

This just cracks me up. They were trying to say "Lunch Box". The thing that is so hilarious to me is that these two signs are on the same shelf. So close. But not quite. I love it.