The Trip Back

We put the kids to bed in their clothes the night before we left since we would be getting up at 3:30 a.m. to get to the airport. 

 Packing and cleaning done. Lots of anxious and excited feelings that night to be going back to the U.S., even if it was just for a week and a half.

Sleepy kiddos in the airport.

Waiting in line to get our exit visa stamp.

Who knew that our first every cronuts would be eaten in the Jakarta airport and that they would be incredibly good.

Saying our final good-byes to Indonesia from the sky. 

They served us a sandwich with noodles in it on our first flight. 

Boy were we lucky on this flight. TONS of empty seating which was absolutely wonderful. 

Our first and only glimpses of snow this winter--somewhere over Alaska/Canada. 

We made it! 23 hours of flying--accomplished. Thankfully the flights were mostly uneventful. Lots of movie watching and trying to sleep. Poor Shae threw up right after we landed, as we were gathering all of our things to get off the plane. Poor kid. Thankfully, he recovered quickly. 

Then to wait for luggage and find grandma and grandpa and make the 2 hour car trip to Pennsylvania. 

Boy oh boy did it feel nice to be back in our own car. Everything just felt so calm. Driving on a highway (at rush hour close to DC no less) with civilized traffic, with the kids buckled in the back in their booster seats. It just felt so good.

After heading in the wrong direction to a VA Cafe Rio (oops--we were a little sleep deprived), we made the switch and got to the Cafe Rio that is on the way to my parents house and enjoyed a yummy meal.

After being in hot hot summer weather all winter long, we were all freezing in the 46 degree temps. 

Pulled in to my parents house around 9 p.m. ready for a good night's sleep. Some of us couldn't even wait to get inside to start. 

Goodbye Jakarta

It was only short-term and there were so many things that drove me crazy (no hot water in the kitchen, the rolly chairs, the lack of light in the kitchen, the washing clothes process, no oven, the ants, the mouse, the elevator waiting--especially when only 1 of the 3 was working) but that little apartment was home. It will always have a special place in our family story. 

And just like any home, there's things you love and things you don't. This view of the city was one of the things that I loved. I'll never forget those New Years Eve fireworks, or the many beautiful lightning storms that we got to watch. 

While the apartment was very small, it really was everything we needed for a short time for an amazing price. We feel really blessed that we found it. 

The gym was a huge blessing. It had a learning curve with some of the super old equipment and misfit dumbells, but I got in to a good routine and was so happy to have that me time each morning. It was also INSANELY busy in the morning, and is a pretty small room so that made for some fun times. 

These pics were taken on a Saturday afternoon when I had the gym completely to myself (which NEVER happened) and oh was it glorious. 

This pool. This is where my Jakarta heart is. This is where we went just about every single day of our Jakarta lives. This is how we got out each day. This is how we got our wiggles out. This is where Belen learned to swim! (Still so proud of her for being so brave and trying hard things). We had lots and lots of fun at this pool. SO SO grateful we had this. 

 Swimming across the deep-end like it's no big deal.  

 

 

This family saved us. They were an answer to so many prayers. They took us in to their home and took care of us as if we were family, despite the fact that they barely knew us, despite the fact that we were only going to be in Jakarta for 4 months. None of that mattered. They loved us at a time when we really needed it. We will forever be indebted to the Bells for all they did for us.

 Belen LOVED having a closet full of girl dresses at her disposal whenever we went over to their house to play.

 I got to work in nursery in our ward in Jakarta. Most Sundays it was just me and my companion and this Guatemalan sweetheart. Oh this girl had me wrapped around her finger. She was the chunkiest, snuggleiest thing ever. Miss her little toddler waddle run chasing down the cars she loved zooming across the nursery room. So grateful that I got to love her and feel of her love for me. 

Zaynab was my amazing nursery companion. I loved being friends with her while in Jakarta. She came over a few times so that her daughter could swim with my kids. I taught her how to make brownies, she shared her amazing Persian food with me, we had them over for dinner and Uno, I helped her write a talk that she was very nervous to give in English, she taught me how to pop popcorn on the stove. She is a refugee who has been here for 6 years. She has been through so much in her life, yet never complained. She is so strong. I am so grateful for everything that she taught me about patience, perseverance, and loving the Lord. 

 Sure will miss this beautiful fruit that was dirt cheap and delicious. (We found one here in Paraguay last week and it was $5.00 for one!)

 These signs in the bathrooms always made me giggle. How would one even get in that position?

 All that moped parking. This picture was on a weekday but man those places were PACKED on the weekend.

 I have not been missing the 3:30 a.m. wake up call from the mosque, but I do feel extremely grateful for the opportunity that we had to learn about the Islam religion and be so immersed in it while in Jakarta. I loved that Shae would stand on our balcony and point out and count all the mosques he could see. I love that the other day, here in Paraguay, he pointed out a building that had a dome on the top and said, "Woah! A mosque in Paraguay!"  

This was a hard time of life for me in many ways, but I am very grateful that we did it. For all the things that we learned and saw, and all the memories that we now cherish. 

March Little Things

 It hasn't even been a month since we left Jakarta but it already feels so distant as I look at these pictures. All the days spent wandering around this outdoor area with the kids so that we could get some energy out are long gone now.

 Shae saw a kid climb up this slide and wanted to do it so badly. He kept trying, but just couldn't do it. He kept ALMOST giving up and begging for my help to get up, but I just kept telling him that if he wanted to get up there, he had to find a way to do it, and he did! I loved seeing how proud he was of himself when he finally got up, and then to see him continue going up and down, up and down after gaining that confidence in himself.

 The kids found these waffle ice cream bars at the little kiosk by our apartment and thought they were the coolest thing. Basically a waffle folded over and stuffed with ice cream. Shae kept trying to convince me to let him take it home and put syrup all over it, but I thought that might be a little much.

 New batik! They were so so excited to wear the new batik church clothes that they picked out with dad to church pretty much every Sunday until we left (which was quite a few b/c they were purchased in February).

 Found this easy project that consisted of putting milk on a plate then adding a few drops of food coloring, then dipping a q-tip in dish soap and placing it on the plate. The food coloring swirled and swiveled all over and made some really cool designs. Then the kids decided to use their milk as paint. 

 A few weeks before we left Belen made friends with a college student from Sulawesi. She was often at the pool when we were and just loved swimming with Belen, which Belen absolutely loved as well.

 Shae discovered this brown fuzzy blanket at our friend's house and attached himself right to it. That boy and fuzzy blankets. Extra points if they are brown.

  Last time swimming in the secondary pool that we only swam in a handful of times because it just wasn't as great (mostly because it was either baby pool or deep).

They had a blast playing with their naked Barbie and Ken dolls.

  After a shower, "Mom, do that towel thing on my head like you do."

 Our last two months in Jakarta we felt so blessed to have the Bells invite us over for a weekly play date. Having them in our lives was an answer to many prayers.

  Shae took a few bday pictures for us of us with Belen and when I looked through the camera roll I found this selfie of him showing off his ouchie from a few days before when he was running and biffed it pretty hard.

 A Belen drawing of our family. 

 One day we went to the pool and the water was greenish. The kids were convinced that leprechauns had infiltrated the pool. 

   I finally got out to do some Batik shopping for myself and I decided on this one.

These signs in all the bathrooms made me giggle (and wonder how to even get in that position).

 Darin got his face on a huge banner! 

I was so happy to find some candy coins at one of the grocery stores in Jakarta. They were silver, not gold, but who really cares? Threw together a quick scavenger hunt for the kids the night before St. Patty's day leading them to their silver coins. 

Belen's clues were pictures showing her where to look.

 They were excited about the coins, a little disappointed that no Lucky Charms were left for them like last year, but they got over it pretty quickly. 

Belen's Jakarta BFF. She misses this sweet friend so much. She is 3 years older than Belen but played so well with her. She would always come over to our bench after sacrament meeting and grab Belen's hand and take her to primary. I peeked in one day and instead of sitting with all the other little girls her age, she was sitting right next to Belen. Talk about a mama heart-warmer. She is a sweetheart.