Griffin is out... Pierce is in?

You may have heard that high-flying dunker Blake Griffin will be missing the Olympics with a knee injury, leaving Team USA without one of their most electrifying athletes.  Never fear, if called upon, Mary will gladly represent her country.

together in CT

we are in america!  it's been a whirlwind to say the least!  we spent our first few days in Connecticut (with two day trips to boston) visiting danny's family.  it was great to see them and they were gracious as our kids jet lagged.  we are just about over jet lag, though every one of us has gone through a spell of illness so that doesn't help with sleeping.  but, we're almost healthy and sleeping normally.  

i was actually really encouraged by our time with danny's family.  after just a day mary and luke picked up like we had just seen them.  luke insisted that grandpa sit in his chair and luke would throw the ball at him full force, grandpa loved that.   he only did a little screaming at strangers besides church and the time that the lady at the nursing home kept trying to pick him up, but don't worry his cousin took care of her with a bite and she was out of sight.  seriously.  :)

here are danny and the kids, kevin and his kids and their father at the nursing home visiting great grandma for her 97th birthday.  the kids were a little crazy but they were good entertainment for the elderly there.  

mary was very curious about great grandma and wanted to interact with her.  after we left she kept asking to go back to great grandma's house.  it was sweet.  

and here is luke's sweetest moment with grandma.  uhh, melt my heart.  

and here is luke being normal, devouring his watermelon and soaking his clothes... one of his favorite activities.  

kevin and dylan having a moment.  i caught all of these sweet (and probably rare) moments with little kids cuddling on film.  score. 

and lastly, mary's art work.  mary was being really quite in danny's parents office room for awhile so someone went back to check on her.  she approached me with her head hung low in shame, knowing she isn't allowed to color her body, of course.  she said, "but mommy it means i love grandpa!"  i mean, what do i say to that?!?  i had a stern talk with her about how we only color on paper (this was her first time coloring on herself) and then i asked her to come outside and pose for pictures.  good mom alert, right?  

Yesus Sayang Semua

I've been wanting to post this video for a while, but couldn't get a strong enough connection in Indonesia to make it work.  It's from Mary's preschool end-of-school-year performance.  The song is Yesus Sayang Semua- 'Jesus loves everyone.'  Mary would sing this song all day, every day.  Oh, and our Boston friends will notice Eli singing (well, not really) next to Mary.  

It was a fun moment for us as parents to see our little girl singing with her friends, especially in her second language.  We also have a video of her teaching all the parents about counting farm animals, but it's a long one.  Trust me, it's cute.  (I should apologize for the bad quality.  We have an HD camera, and when I watch  it on my computer it looks great.  For some reason, blogger can't seem to get it right.)

We've been a bit busy since we arrived in the States, but are hoping to do a few more updates on the blog soon.  Lisa finally got out her camera today, so maybe she'll get around to it soon.  Until then...

to america we go...

ready, set, go... to america.  

we are almost ready.  we have two hours and then we're off on our long, long journey to america.  you can pray for us... that are kids are magical angels and want to sit in their seats for 8 hour shifts.  and that God gives danny and i all that we need to be selfless and giving towards our kids.  though this journey will not be overly enjoyable for us, it won't be for them either.  at least we understand WHY we have to sit on a plane for 22 hours.... we can't wait to see family and friends!!!

the people we will dearly miss... 

VERA!  

we love you!  you are so fun for our kids and we love having you in and out of our home.  

IBU SRI! 

the greatest babysitter and indonesian grandmother we could ask for!  

we are so thankful for her in our lives.   

IBU ANIK!

a wonderful helper and buddy to our kids.  here she is sharing her rice with mary and helping her eat in indonesian style... with her hands.  :)  

and though there is so much we will miss about indonesia, we can't wait to visit family and friends in america... and maybe eat some of the amazing food that we miss so much!!!  bacon, danny!?!  :)

alun-alun

saturday morning we headed down to alun-alun, which is the town center, like the boston common... kind of, but not really.  :)  it's the indonesians version of boston common.  when we lived in boston i loved going down there and having a picnic and enjoying the city.  it helps me feel like this is my city and it's a place i really enjoy.  danny, well he's just a good sport.  he never understands why we can't just eat at the table at home and then go outside.  but, here he is being a good dad and sitting on the picnic sheet with the kids.  confession, danny and i ate at our table after we got home.  :)

luke seemed to really enjoy himself.  there was quite a bit of grassy area so he just kicked the ball around and chased it... for a long time!  he had onlookers too... they would cheer for him and he'd make faces and wait for their applause.

this is mary climbing a tree.  she's got skills.  

and lastly, luke posing with a stranger.  :)  i assure you, danny was right there.  

i really liked being at alun alun.  we had a few conversations with strangers, had fun with our family and i felt happy that this is our city.  i hope our family will be taking more trips there.  danny, you can start stretching for our picnics now!  

the best.

**luke, way to photo bomb the cutest picture of daddy and mary ever.  

happy father's day to THE BEST a kid could ask for!  

sekolah

mary in her little school uniform.  so big and oh so cute.  

and i have to show the back just so you could get the full effect of the ginormous shorts!  :)

at school with her teachers and some buddies.  it was the last day of class and hardly anyone came and those that did didn't wear their uniforms... of course i wait until the last day of class to try to get pictures.  there were 9 kids in her class, not 3... and they usually all had on the cute uniform.  :)

this was the special party day... do you see my kid's sweaty hair.  apparently they did a dance party that day and they said she jumped and danced for 20 minutes straight.  i don't know where she gets the sweaty gene from?  ;)

wonderful miss vinda.  

this was mary's teacher.  we are so thankful for her!  mary loves miss vinda!  usually asked to see her on weekends and would run up to her, give her a big hug and they would say "i love you" to each other every morning.  after the first 2-3 weeks of mary crying every time she got dropped off, that is. :) needless to say, we were thankful when they bonded.  it was a big step for mary... she ended up going into a class of kids all older than her, they use mostly indonesian (though the teachers can speak english too), and she's never been dropped off at anything like that.  

we are really proud of the way mary adapted to school.  she just went to school for the last 7 weeks of the year but she still learned so much... learned most of her letters, a lot of numbers, and a lot of new songs in indonesian.  our main goal in having her there is language and socialization with indonesian children... she still has a long way to go, but made great progress!  she frequently has us repeat prayers after her that she learned in school (in indonesian), she always sings her indonesia songs and she understands and says new phrases and commands almost daily... but she was still pretty clueless if they read a story in indonesian or do a whole lesson in only indonesian.  :)  she sings a song call "yesus sayang semua" all of the time... it means, jesus loves everyone.  like, we'll be walking down the street, on the public transportation, in the grocery store and she's singing her heart out.  i pray that once she understands what she is saying she will be just as confident it the Message.  

all in all, we had a great experience at kidsland and look forward to starting school again in august!