Sand Sculpture Festival

Daddy took a week off of work so we’ve been having fun just hanging out and doing a few things that are not too far from home.  Today we met up with some friends to go to the 1st Indonesia Sand Sculpture Festival in Sentul City.  It took us less than an hour to get there.  It was nice just to be able to get out of Jakarta for a little bit.

Sentul City was a really beautiful place.  There were lots of trees and flowers and no traffic.  We wondered if Jakarta might have looked like that once upon a time. 

The sand sculptures were very cool.  Of course, the kids lost interest in them rather quickly. Luckily, there were fun things for the kids to do. Daddy was nice enough to take the kids on some rides so Mommy could hang out with her friends and take some pictures of the sculptures.

We had a fantastic lunch at the food court…fried fish, kan kung, fried rice, gado-gado, mijawa, chicken satay, french fries, and more.  We stuffed ourselves silly.  We fed 4 adults and 3 kids a fantastic lunch with drinks for less than US $40. 

We had a really fun time today. It took us just an hour to get back even with the pouring rain so that was a miracle!  Mommy was afraid we would be stuck in the car for hours.  You just never can predict how traffic will be in Jakarta.  Mostly you expect it to be bad or worse but once in awhile, you are pleasantly surprised.

We love getting out of the city into the country…see the fun Volcano in the distance?





































Ha ha…we really love Indonesia…where else can you ride a “Ferrish” Wheel?

Circus

We took the kids to the circus last night.  There was one literally in our back yard.  We noticed a few weeks ago that there was a huge tent in the stadium parking lot that is just across the street from where we live.  Mommy thought it looked a lot like a Circus Big Top, and that is exactly what it was. 

The show Tarzan D’Mighty Circus was really fun. It was relatively small so we were able to see everything really well…even from the cheap seats.  We all enjoyed the show a lot!  Even Katelyn kept clapping her hands and saying how amazing all the acts were.

 

Excited about going to the circus!

Christmas

We had a nice Christmas.  We had church at 8am and enjoyed an hour long musical Sacrament meeting program. Afterwards we came home and attempted to take a family Christmas picture before opening presents.

“Attempt” at a family Christmas photo…lol.



The kids raided their stockings and opened their presents.  We spent the rest of the day enjoying being together as a family.





Legos were popular gifts for Daddy and Joseph.



My Little Pony was popular with the girls. They got a My Little Pony house too which Mommy got for a ridiculously great price. That in itself is a miracle in Jakarta where imported toys cost at least 50% more than they do in the U.S.



Santa made it all the way to Jakarta and brought all the kids Nerf guns and…



flashlights!


Mommy made out like a bandit this year with an ipad2 from Daddy!  Funny how everyone but Mommy is playing with the ipad…lol.



Later we went downstairs to the rec room to play ping pong.  The kids also like playing in the small ball pit.



It was a fun day.  Joseph said it was not the best Christmas because he did not get to go to Nai-Nai and Yeh-Yeh’s house and play with his cousins.  Oh…he also said there was no snow. It doesn’t snow that often in Texas, but it has on occasion and the kids remember that.  Unfortunately, there are only 2 seasons in Indonesia…wet and dry.  We are defiinitely having no problems keeping warm this holiday season.

Christmas Card

We wanted to wish all our family and friends a very Merry Christmas! This will be our first Christmas without our extended family and close friends nearby.  We love you and miss you and are looking forward to seeing you next year in 2012!

Holiday Parties

We had 2 holiday parties today.  One was Audrey’s class holiday party and the other was a children’s Christmas party put on by the Spouses Association of the company that Daddy works for.   We also had church this morning so it was a very full day. 

Arm painting as opposed to face painting.

 

 

We love Indonesia! Look at the misspelled sign.

And last but not least…a visit from Santa!