Thanksgiving

We celebrated an early Thanksgiving with my family before leaving for Indonesia this year. Jonathan and Anna were able to drive over from Ohio for two days which was really nice.

Shae heard about Turkey Trots this past year and kept mentioning how he wanted to do one on Thanksgiving. So the morning we referred to as Thanksgiving, we bundled up and went out and tried to do a little Turkey Trot. Unfortunately it did not last too long as the wind was really strong and really cold. We tried.

   And then we feasted. It was so wonderful to be able to enjoy all the yummy Thanksgiving food and quality family time before we left. 

 Little did we know at the time that we would get two more Thanksgiving feasts the week of Thanksgiving (people in our ward are so thoughtful). One family invited us over the Tuesday before Thanksgiving which is the day they decided to celebrate this year. That Tuesday was the prophet Mohammad's birthday so everyone had off of work and school, so they decided to celebrate then since it would be more convenient for them. We had a really nice dinner with them. Their youngest son is 12 and let our kids wrestle around with him, which they loved (not so sure he did). He was really sweet and also showed them a bunch of magic tricks.

On the day of Thanksgiving, we went to a plaza to get our photos taken for Indonesian IDs, then went to McDonalds for lunch. The most American place we could find in Indonesia to make it feel a little more like home.

 The kids thought it was pretty funny that they got rice with their chicken nuggets.

 I love how international McDonalds always have local cuisine as well. Which was fun to try once, but in the future I'll definitely be sticking with a burger and fries :).

That evening, we went over to the house of a family in our ward. They invited a few families over. We had so much yummy food and it was just really nice to be able to talk and laugh and have a good time. They were so sweet and told us to just bring whipped cream and ice cream for the pies since they knew that we were still figuring out grocery shopping and that we don't have an oven. I hated not being able to bring something a little nicer, but also really appreciated their thoughtfulness in making things easy on us that first week in Indonesia.

Belén loved checking out the hamster with some of the younger kids. 

 While Shae was busting a gut watching Home Alone with the bigger kids.

There's certainly nothing like being in another country to make you think about all the things you are grateful for. SO MUCH. 

I'm grateful that peanut butter can easily be bought in Jakarta. 

I'm grateful that we have warm water to shower in, and that the water pressure is good.

I'm grateful that we have air conditioning in every room of our apartment.

I'm grateful that our wifi works well.

...these first few gratefuls may or may not have been some of my biggest "comfort" fears before coming here...

I'm grateful for the church community. That we can go anywhere in the world and have a community of kind people to welcome us. 

I'm grateful for Email and Skpye and Whatsapp and Marco Polo that help us stay connected with family and friends while we are away.

I'm grateful that our little family gets to be on this adventure together, and despite all the hard things, we get to grow and learn and come closer together through it all (at least that's the hope right :). 

I'm grateful for living prophets and other church leaders who are inspired to help us know how we can be better disciples of Christ. When President Nelson encouraged members of the church to do a 10 day social media fast back in October, I first thought, well I don't need to do that. Then I thought, I should do that, at a time that would be most beneficial for me. Knowing I would miss all the fun holiday things (baking, parties, decorations, snow, picture books, etc), I had a feeling that I should wait until December to do it. A few days before December 1st I kept feeling like I should do it, so I started my social media fast on December 1st and it has been really wonderful. It's seems like such a silly thing, but it has been a testimony to me that there is spiritual power in following the prophet's council. 

I am grateful for Jesus Christ. For the light, peace, and hope that he brings to my life in troubled times, as well as untroubled times.

Moving Out

We lived in this little home in Ithaca longer than we have ever lived anywhere else, 3 years and 3 months to be exact. You could definitely tell when we cleaned the baseboards and behind furniture, found cobwebs in the ceiling corners, etc. Yikes. I was a bit embarrassed to have a few of the RS sisters come over and help clean, but also SUPER grateful. 

After finalizing our move plans and buying plane tickets, we had about 3 weeks to get everything ready to move to a storage unit. As soon as we bought the tickets I was pretty anxious to get packing, but also didn't want to be living in boxes for longer than needed. So we just did little things here and there those first two weeks and then really hunkered down and did it all the last week. 

It was really nice that we were able to do most of the stuff while Shae was gone at school. Belen was as helpful as a 3 year old can be, taking things out of all the open boxes we were still working on, haha, including this umbrella that seemed to go in and out of a box about 20 times.

Last workout in this little gym. So many wonderful feelings about this place and the peace it brought me each (most) day(s) to start off my morning focusing on me before tackling the rest of life. So cheesy, but I grew so much in this little space that I really felt was mine. 

We have been talking about living in Indonesia for over a year now, but it wasn't until the kids saw our house empty that they really seemed to "get" it. They walked in to the house and said, "Wait, where is all of our stuff? Where is my bed?" and "Where are we going?!"

The apartment was small. I hated all the stairs we had to climb with my hands full of groceries and kids complaining about being too tired to climb the stairs. Carrying the laundry outside in the snow or rain to the column next to us wasn't my favorite. The paint was constantly chipping, leaving pretty good sized spots in the wall without paint. The dining room was carpeted which isn't ideal with little kids. But despite all of those things and more, that little space was HOME. 

I have so many wonderful memories of things that we did or that happened in that home, from birthday parties, friend gatherings, Joy School lessons, and our first family Christmas to Belen learning to walk and Shae being upgraded to a toddler bed that he was always falling out of. Then all the small things... the Family Home Evenings, Family Game nights, and Pizza Movie Nights. The bedtime march chant as we went off to bed and the many many bubble gum bubble gum games as we chose someone to say prayer. Playing on the balcony and watching all the beautiful birds that came our way. Going on nature walks through the path in the woods. Seeing the new playground be built. Shoveling two feet of snow out with a dust pan. Seeing Shae finally master pedals on a big boy bike and watching Belen go from no interest at all in her balance bike to racing down the street with it. Thank goodness for this blog that has all the small things recorded so I can look back through them all someday. This little apartment definitely taught me a lot about what it means to create a HOME. I'm so grateful for the things that I learned and the ways that I grew in that little house.

We had so many wonderful friends offer to feed us and help us clean and babysit those last weeks. We loved all of the sweet CES missionaries assigned to our branch, but especially this last one who fed us one evening our last week in Ithaca.

 I should have gotten more pictures with friends before we took off after church on Sunday, considering many of the friends will not be there anymore when return. We ended up leaving in a bit of a hurry after sacrament meeting (our original plan was to leave for my parents after the entire block), but Shae really wasn't feeling well, so we figured it would be better to be on our way. 

We were glad he was able to make it through sacrament meeting as Darin and I both got to share our testimonies one last time in our sweet branch. Many of the people we have known over the years are no longer there, but I loved serving in Relief Society and Darin in the branch presidency. We were constantly in awe of the examples of love and service that the members of this branch showed to us and to each other. 

Saying goodbye is always hard, but watching the kids say goodbye to their friends felt extra hard.

 So so thankful for this sweet lady and her husband for letting us crash at their house our final few nights in Ithaca. It only seemed fitting since we also stayed at their place when we first arrived in Ithaca and our first apartment fell through--back when they didn't even know us! We will miss them greatly.

While saying goodbye is hard, it definitely made it easier knowing that this would not be our final Ithaca goodbye. Friends, apartments, and our church congregation will change, but we are excited to still have a couple years left in this wonderful town.

October Little Things

 Indigenous People's Day...day off of school...beautiful fall family hike.

 When you don't have much to make an FHE treat, you just pull out what you can find. In our case that was graham crackers, melted chocolate, leftover mini M&Ms (from the granola ball snack we made for Belen's preschool), leftover mini marshmallows (from all those smores' bars from the summer), and peanut butter (of course).

 These two together just melt my heart. They are the best of friends and I am so sad they are no longer together. Belen asks about her sweet friends and prays to be back with them just about daily.

 

 Moving seems to have shaken up the "take my picture" phase, but she was still going through it full swing back in October.

 We had a nice quick visit with Darin's aunt and uncle as they stopped in Ithaca for a night on their way home from Maine. The kids just loved playing with Ken.

 I got a ticket for not pulling up to the sign, even though I thought I had pulled up sufficiently, but you know, sometimes it's hard to tell over those big hoods! After fuming about it the entire way home, I looked it up and it was just a warning to make sure I pull up closer next time. Thank goodness. And as much as I love the library, it sure is frustrating going to the downtown library with no parking lot. (While fuming in the car, I got a call from the library saying that I had left my wallet there. When it rains it pours).

 Belen loves to write her name, but it is always just a little out of order. And how about those E's.

 I walked past Shae's room one day and saw this sign above his bed. Apparently it was a good coping method for him when frustrated with his sister. He would just go and put a check next to her name if she was being a meany or bossy. The A apparently stands for doing something nice, so at least there's that too.

 He even made a sign for himself and would put checks when he wasn't very nice.

 Darin's was the next to appear. I was pretty proud of not having a sign up there for the longest time (either I'm doing all the things right or all the things wrong, depends on the parenting book you read). Then one day while we were reading a story, I sang one of the Halloween songs in a book that Shae really wanted to sing. He stormed off, grabbed a paper and put a big check right by "Mene mom." My perfect record was gone, just like that. And because of a story no less! 

 Speaking of stories... October is like Christmas because of the book sale! Check out that nice line. Belen and I got there just a little before it was opening (Shae and daddy were on an EQ hike). We still had to stand in line for about 40 minutes. I tried not to go crazy this year since we were getting ready to move, but still found a couple really good books that I couldn't say no too, as well as a Pokemon Sorry game and a Madeline game. 

While we were looking through loads and loads of books, the boys were off hiking and eating Five Guys.

 I took the kids to McDonalds after they got their typhoid shots. Pokemon toys were the Happy Meal treat which we had no idea about until we walked in. Shae was like, "It's as if they knew I was coming!"

 Belen opted for the Hello Kitty necklace instead.

 My sweet friends threw me a surprise going away dinner, that I had absolutely NO idea about, which is why I am dressed in my pajamas while everyone else looked so nice. I really thought I was going to be babysitting, just sitting on the couch working while the kids slept. I felt a little sheepish for my attire, but absolutely loved the amazing company. Those girls are just the best. So hard to say goodbye to them. (One of the girls has grandparents that served a mission in Indonesia and made sure to put her Batik table cloth on the table. So sweet).

Cierra made me this fabulous peanut butter chocolate cake with homemade peanut brittle on it.

 Final playdates for these two.

 My hold for The Read-Aloud Family: Making Meaningful and Lasting Connections with Your Kids by Sarah Mackenzie came through about two weeks before we left. I almost didn't start it because I didn't think I would be able to read it with everything going on with the move. I am SO glad I did, really, I should have just bought the book since I was scribbling so many things down in my notebook that I loved. It would have been easier to go through with a highlighter! Definitely a book that I just need to own. She really just spoke to my soul. Put all the feelings I have about reading with my kids in words. Here's a few thoughts from one of the chapters that I just loved.

 Education is for love.

 I just love that so much.

I love how she discussed stories being our kids first experience with a lot of tough things in life. But thanks to the stories, hopefully they can handle those tough things a little better when they are facing them.

I also love when she talks about reading being the easiest activity to do with her kids. That is exactly how I feel! I honestly hate playing dolls and cars and pretend games. It's just not my jam. But give me a big stack of books and I'm a happy camper. It really is the easiest thing to do with them. (I do also love that Shae is getting to an age where we can play bigger kid games, because I also do love me a good game).

I have like, a million other thoughts/feelings about reading with kids and the huge role that has played in our family dynamic, but I'll refrain for now :).

All those silly ways we find the kids sleeping.

 Shae got invited to one of his school friend's bday party at a bouncy house place. He was in heaven. It was also a Pokemon party. Did I mention he was in heaven? It was so fun to watch him run around with all of his little school friends and to put names with faces. It also made me sad being able to meet the kids and parents and then telling them all we were moving a week later. I am very grateful though that he was able to have this short two month Kindergarten experience before we took off.