As if Shoes Weren't Enough!!

Analia found the flippers in the wardrobe tonight. You should hear her flopping around!! Good thing no one lives below us!

A Day at School

We typically get Analia up at about 5:30 and head out the door before 6:00. We have to go this early because the public transportation gets very crowded. At school she has her breakfast and then gets to go swing and slide. We do misc. volunteering jobs. This week I taped books so that they would last longer, did some paperwork for India, and stuffed envelopes. We usually work in the library for about an hour or so as well. At 2:20 we have our week without walls meeting--Analia is usually a great big distraction. This week she spilled her cheerios in the middle of someone's testimony! All the secretaries are very good to her. The one pictured above has a special drawer Analia can get into and pull out toys. Her name is also Ana and she is from Bolivia! This week Analia had the great privilege of wearing the director's cheese head and pig hats! Not just everyone gets to do that!

Chinese New Year

We always enjoy Chinese New Year because there's not much to do but relax. The Chinese of course are busy visiting everyone and are totally exhausted by the end of it all. We went to the Wongs house for lunch. Puah Meng's side of the family was over for dinner. It was nice to meet some of the them for the first time. The little girl, Emily, was one day younger than Analia. Analia was VERY interested in her. Emily had on the cutest little Chinese outfit. In fact their whole family was in in red. I only own one red shirt which I had already worn to church. Hence, I wore black! We ate some delicious Chinese food-yam cake, roast pork, vegetables, a red soup made with rice wine and chicken, and tons of snacks from Japan. I have to say that the Japanese have some AWESOME snack foods! Michael even brought back a Japanese pear for Analia's dinner. We then sat around some more, drank masala tea, and ate more food. They also passed out the Ang Baos. Analia can get some new books with her money :). This is a special holiday because the extended families get together just to talk!! (sort of like Christmas) I love it. Uncle Michael also gave us a whole bag of Wasabi Pistachios! YEAH!!

The Indian Outfit

Our Indian friends had given us this beautiful outift. We had always thought it would still be too large, BUT the shirt is actually pretty hard to get on. (Matt suggested cutting it down the middle and buttoning it. I told him it wasn't that easy!) The skirt still is pretty big--she'll be able to wear it for a while. She'll at least get to wear it to International Night next week. She was pretty proud of herself in it--who really knows what she's thinking, but she was all smiles.

Take A Look At This

There's not much not say except, "Wow, I hope her fashion sense improves in the near future!"

The Week Without Walls India Team

Well, here they are! They're a fun, very random group. You can't keep a conversation on track to save your life! We've got Americans, Singaporeans, Koreans, Indonesians, and Indians. It's quite the mix. We are excited about having Sumath and Michaela (the two Indian girls) because they can translate for us (and tell us what's going on when we're really clueless!) We're also planning on doing an Indian dance for a special item--they will be our teachers! There is a possibility of one or more students joining us, but we'll have to wait and see!

Please pray for unity--it's a wide range of backgrounds, opportunites for spiritual growth, and good bonding with those we will work with.

A Passion for Shoes

Analia has really taken to shoes! She loves everybody's shoes. When I hear a thunk, thunk coming towards me I always know who it is. Actually it's pretty amazing that she can get anywhere with these big shoes on. She's pretty much all girl with some ruff and tumble boy through in for good measure. We definitely can't say she has good taste in shoes--they certainly don't go with her outfits (love the one in the skirt :) )!

A Rude Awakening

The other night at 3:40 in the morning we were awakened by a rushing sound. It turned out that the sink hose (rubber surrounded by thin metal) had burst. It wasn't that big of a problem since we have a big drain in the floor. We just squeegeed it toward the drain. We ran around for a few minutes trying to find a way to turn it off. It ends up that you have to go outside the apartment and switch off the whole apartment. Matt then went to Mustafas--a 24 hour Indian Walmart that is a block from our house--and got the replacement hose. I'm glad that I have a handy husband and didn't have to call a plumber that early in the morning!!

Telunas

I was a little worried about our vacation at Telunas. It was described as rustic--when Matt was last there the showers were wooden slats--the water drains into the ocean. Well, it still drains into the ocean, but now they have tiled showers. Because it is built like a typical Indonesian fishing village everything is built on stilts far out over the ocean. The tides are huge--so it's a long walk to the beach! There were sides on the walk way, but we made sure we held her hand everywhere she went! There was a 45 minute ferry ride and then an hour and a half ride in an open boat. Thankfully, Analia slept some. It was funny to watch the other kids. They were so excited. They played games, ate, and wiggled all over the bench seats. We shared a "hut" with two other families. Because it is a thatched roof the walls don't go all the way to the ceiling. It made for some noisy nights! We had taken a pack and play and Analia slept well. The showers also only had cold water--so we quickly learned to take our showers during the day!

Analia loved the beach. She literally ran in--no hesitation. The sand also didn't bother her in the slightest. By the end of the trip she liked to shovel sand into her bucket. Matt was really good at playing with her, but she also liked playing with all the older girls that were there. She mostly just sat and watched--they were using her bucket, shovel, and rake to build a castle. It was the United Nations of sandcastle building. There were Americans, Koreans, and Filipinos! They also ended up covering one Korean with sand!

The food was great and we're so thankful that Analia will eat anything. There was rice, potatoes, chicken, fish, satay, and lots of other wonderful goodies. Because we were there on New Year's Eve, they had sparklers, fireworks, and a bonfire. We also had banana crepes with whipped cream!!

It was a nice place to relax--no computers or phones.