Learning, Learning, Learning

Well...most of our days are spent in language school & trying to figure out how to best communicate with those around us.  We make blunders everyday.  But we are slowly but surely making progress.  I just finished the first level or book of our language study & start level 2 next week. Shawn should finish level 1 in the next week or so. It's hard work, but I know it's KEY if we are gonna be able to serve little ones in this nation.

This little fellow was on the move!  He wanted to go, go, go
when we were at an orphanage in our city.

This year is all about language, culture & research.  We've had the privilege of visiting an orphanage & have had a meeting with someone who has many schools in our country.  We'll go to a kid conference in October.  Lots of research & prayer.  We know that this year will be productive....even when all the work is being done under the surface.  Please pray with us that we'd hear God's voice, LEARN all he has for us & that we'll
discover the specific path he has for us to walk!

ibu Aseh and Pak Puji

Our kids LOVE Ibu Aseh & Pak Puji

We are fortunate to have Ibu Aseh & Pak Puji help us as we live here.  They are a dear family & take care of us in so many ways!  I cannot imagine living here without them.  Not just because they help us practically, but their generous, caring work ethic impresses me everyday!

We had the honor of going to church with them (again, at 6:00 AM....Indonesians give a new definition to early riser).  Afterwards we visited their home.  Such a dear family.  We are honored to know them.

Jalan Sehat

With our neighbor's children after the walk.
The chinese dragon was quite a show!
Follow me on instagram to see a video of their dance
(@concondunn)

August 17 is Independence Day in Indonesia.  To celebrate, families gather at 6:00 A.M....yes that's right, 6:00 A.M. to begin celebrating the day.  One way they celebrate is everyone in the different neighborhood groups in our part of town come together for a parade (where everyone walks around the area neighborhoods), they have games, food, prizes, etc.  So we joined our neighbors and participated fully.

Our neighbors arrived at 5:30 & we all walked together to the place where the activities begin.  It was crazy....We did aerobics all together to warm up.  It was quite the scene!  Then we walked for 45 minutes around our part of town (and my kids complained very little--whew!).  Afterwards we participated in a family game, ate sate (grilled chicken on a stick) and tried to talk to people.  It was an adventure to say the least.  My favorite part was not getting sick after I shared a favorite indonesian dish called "gado-gado" which is like a salad with peanut sauce.  I ate with my neighbor using a shared spoon & community plate. :)

It was a LONG morning, but so glad we participated.

We walked for like 45 minutes around the area where we live!

Annie, Josh & Shawn had to stand on 2 planks & walk all together down the street, turn around & come back.  They didn't win, but it was fun!  They raced against our neighbors & one of our teacher's family!

First Day of School

Annie-5th, Josh--3, Emily--K

School has been an interesting journey for us here.  The plan all along was for Emily to attend an Indonesian Kindergarten at a school that is phenomenal while Annie & Josh would attend the international school.  Well.....after an intense month, we decided the Indonesian school was too much for our little nuggets heart.  So we switched her to the English speaking school & it's been smooth sailing for her since.

The kids like their school.  It is international for sure.  It follows an American curriculum and is English speaking, but there are very few Americans in the school.   Annie loves school and really enjoys the kids in her class.  Josh is still adjusting.  It's different than school in America.  He's trying to find his place and figure out who is friends will be.

This is a place where we'd appreciate your prayers.  So much change in the past year for my kids.  Their hearts are still catching up with the move.  My mama's heart is tender to the pain of adjustment for them.  They are champions and are trying to make the best of it.  But I see the challenge.  I've never been prouder of my kids!  Thanks for praying that they'll know where they fit here, that they would find great friendship & understanding in their relationship with God and that Shawn & I will know how to best parent them in the midst of it all.

Coban Rondo

About a month ago we travelled with 2 other families about an hour away to hike to a waterfall named "Coban Rondo" pronounced /cho-bahn  rahn-doe/.  It was so much fun.  The weather was nice & cool because it is up in the mountains surrounding our city.  We all had to wear our jackets....which is  a nice break from the heat of the city!

One of the fun things was the kids got to see monkeys in the wild.  We all learned for ourselves that monkeys are not as cute in the wild as they are at the zoo.  They like to steal corn, cameras, glasses, hats, etc.  Fortunately, we came away unscathed, but it was because we had several boys with us (my son included) who HAPPILY chased them off whenever they got close by!  :)

The drive up the mountain was beautiful!

The waterfall was powerful...as you walked closer you'd get  sprayed!
 Kids loved it!

Super Man climbing all the rocks

Annie loved playing in the water.

Little Miss always strikes a pose...no matter where she is.
Although, she wasn't a huge fan of the FREEZING cold water!

Nation's Day

We live in a city with several expatriate families....many of whom are not from America.  So on July 6 we had a "Nation's Day", kind of like the 4th of July, but couldn't really be for the 4th of July because of so many other nations represented.  We had a flag ceremony, ate hot dogs & had fireworks.

The best thing for me was Annie & Josh got to carry flags in the flag ceremony.  I was happy because it was one of the first things where they got to participate in the community here.  There hearts really need to be knit in.  This helped.
We are thankful to live in a city where much is offered to help our kids maintain some of their home culture while adapting to the new culture where we live!

Seeing Old Glory always makes me miss
my Daddy!

Josh & Annie had a blast!

Both kids took their jobs very seriously.  My dad would be so proud!

Becoming Normal

Here's a pic of our fam when we went to a waterfall about an hour
outside of our city

We have been in Indonesia for a little over 2 months now & slowly but surely life is becoming normal...well as normal as can be I guess.
As each day passes and we have more and more experiences here, life is starting to take shape and we are able to enjoy living here more & more.  I'll post briefly about what we've been up to!