Thursday, November 26, 2015

Happy Thanksgiving (from the future!)

Here in Indonesia we are a day ahead of you in the States.  This means that right now we are done with our Thanksgiving.  It's cleaned up and we are sitting here about to go to bed.  I must say that thanksgiving was a HUGE success! 

We hosted Thanksgiving at our house.  We had 13 people here.  People from Australia, Germany, Papua and America. (we were the only Americans. 

It was my first time hosting Thanksgiving and making the majority of the food.  I was a bit nervous since everything had to be made from scratch!  It was kinda fun to run around looking for similar foods and substitutes to what I could not find.  

It was a huge success! Dinner was delicious!  I was up until 3am the night before Thanksgiving cooking, baking, cleaning.  I am tired, but my heart is full.  As we cleaned we listened to Christmas music!  =) Ahhh. 

It was HOT AND HUMID today.  I think I sweat out water as soon as I drank it.  LOL.  But gosh darn it we still drank homemade hot apple cider!..because......TRADITION!  (I can hear Tevia now!)
  =)  

I loved this day.  =)  Enjoy our photos!   Happy Thanksgiving America!  =)   Cant wait to see your pictures! =) 

Everyone (minus me)
Amanda 
My pumpkin pie cooking in my oven. The oven is a small removable box that sits on top of our propane burners.  It works pretty good! 


The Spread =) 

The Joy. =) 

More joy. =) 

The Grace. 


Chicken turned out great! 

Yum! 


Happy Thanksgiving! 



My momma will be proud.  I hunted down pickles to make these!  No easy task! =) 

Hiding under everyones plate was a note to them of why we are thankful for them personally.   We told them to look under their plates right before we dished up. =) 

Add caption

Everyones personal notes. =) 

My first ever made from scratch pumpkin pie.  Wow! And it turned out great! 

Matt and my language helper Sylvia! 

Grace and Layla enjoying some pie! 

My heart was full tonight! 

The whole crew!  Happy Thanksgiving from Indonesia! 



hey look! Even the cat made it in the crazy family photo! 


Monday, November 23, 2015

Holidays in the Tropics! (wipes sweat off face)

At the pasar (local market) in Wamena! 
Hello friend! Can you believe we have been living here 2.5 months?!   It is going fast!

We are picking up more and more language everyday!  More of the language came back to Matt than he expected.  I was starting from the ground up, but I am getting it!  I am able to go out in public and have conversations with people.  I probably sound like a 4 year old speaking, but still!!!  I'll take it at this stage in the game.

We have made friends with many people here.  We love the people here in Papua.

Matt's big catch! A giant snakehead!
There is SOOO much to learn here.  Two different cultures, language, cooking, getting around town.  It is a lot.  But we are doing this, and it feels like home.

Matt is recovered from dengue fever.  Man. That was a bad one.  I've never seen the man so sick.  The meds brought his fever down to 102.5, the rest of the time it was at 104.0.

That was a trying week for us.  I had a few scary experiences Grace was diagnosed with reactive airways that same week.  She was wheezing and coughing at night and needed a nebulizer each night.   Both she and Matt are better!  Thank you Jesus!  

We went to Wamena!  We got to go visit for a week!  It was my (amanda's) first time, and it was fun for Matt to go back and see how it has changed and take a trip down memory lane.  We even saw the house he lived in as a little boy.  =)  We got to see where we will live and we really like it!  It was surreal being in Wamena!

The market is so fascinating!
We really know that God is working in us during our time in Sentani.  Even in the really hard week we really realized that He is using this season to refine us and prepare us.  So we are thankful.

Speaking of thankful.  HAPPY THANKSGIVING!   We are hosting Thanksgiving here!  =)  We are having our fellow teammates over, our neighbors, and two additional friends.  It will be a packed house!  But it is going to be FUN!   I am making the majority of the meal here in Indonesia!  =)  haha!  Pray for my cooking!  LOL!  =)
Matt and Jared.  Two peas in a pod.

There is a huge learning curve here.  Matt bought an aluminum oven that sits on top of our gas stove. Well I made a couple batches of rolls and then I had my Indonesian friend over to work on my language so I asked Matt to pop the last batch in the oven.  I pre-lit the stove but the flame went out so about 10 minutes later Matt checked the temperature of the oven and it wasn't warming up, so he tried to relight the stovetop.  He clicked the spark and BOOOM!!! off went a bomb.  The gas was flowing and filling up the stove so when he tried the igniter it exploded.  His arm and leg hair was all singed off and we praise God the glass didn't shatter at him.  He was engulfed in flames and it was such a big explosion our neighbors windows rattled!  Matt was a bit shook up, but now that everyone is safe it's kind of a funny story!  Matt installed a new regulator on our gas bottle that doesn't allow the gas to flow if there is no flame!
Matt getting educated on the zillion
types of bananas here in Papua.  =)
Market in Jayapura

I am sure there will be more stories like this!  (Hopefully not quite so dangerous)  =)

Thank you for praying for us friend!  If you want prayer please email us!  We would love to pray for you!

Enjoy these photos!

Much love,
Amanda, Matt & Grace

I love the colors here!

This place really is beautiful!  Mount cyclops in the background.

Lake Sentani. 

Lake Sentani! Indah! (beautiful)

Such a ham! 

They are called cuscus.  Apparently they are delicious. These are for sale at the pasar. (local market) in Sentani right across the street from our house.



Grace found a pink bird.... it was love at first sight. 

In Wamena!!

A sweet old man playing a traditional instrument in Wamena. 

My very first baycuk. (bike taxi)  They don't have these in Sentani, but they do in Wamena.

Wamena is the perfect example of a clash of cultures.  I think this picture sums that up very well. 

Up until a week before this photo was taken this bridge was the main bridge that ALL traffic used.  See the lean to it....thats not camera angle, that's real. =) 


Sweet lady selling goods at the pasar in Wamena.

Such a pretty smile.  Selling goods at the pasar in Wamena.

Swinging bridge that you really wonder if you might fall through.  

Our new house! ..... okay, just kidding.  But it is common for people to live in these. 

Our team in Wamena spoiled us.  We had a day to go to the river together.  It is a neat group of people! 

The house that Matt and his family lived in while in Wamena.  I bet they have some memories of this place! =)

Sampa Jumpa!  (See ya!)

=)

Amanda