Tinny


Tinny as dog..

Tinny as dish (she wasn't a very good guard dog).

The ice cream man

Sundays

Enjoying the world's biggest krupuk after church one Sunday morning.



Shredded coconut to go

Reuben turns five

Back in August it was five years since Reuben's dramatic, unplanned homebirth. The unplanned part was being at home with four ambulance officers crammed into our little apartment bedroom, Soren asleep in the next room, me howling and laughing as Reuben made his way into the world. He hasn't been in a rush since. He's inherited his father's phlegmaticism and moves through his life at a very leisurely pace. We adore him and wouldn't want him any other way (except when running late). He makes us laugh til we cry. At dinner the other night Soren said: Hey Reuben, push away your icecream and have rotten cabbage. Reuben: Soren, that's sin. If not for the fact that he can't read yet (he's on the way, wandering around the house chanting g-g-g gecko! sh-sh-sh shoe!) I might have thought he'd been reading CS Lewis who said 'We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday by the sea. We are far too easily pleased.' My prayer is that he'll know the joy of knowing Jesus as his saviour and friend and of serving Him all his days. 

Soren the Chef

Soren has his own recipe book and loves to use it and surprise us with a 'treat'.

He especially enjoys making the most of the drama of the occasion (applause for his effort is welcome) and always makes sure things look beautiful.

Grub's Up!

Phil was given these apparently yummy grubs from someone in the village. Even he wasn't game; he gave them to a neighbour who gladly added them to the menu for dinner that night.

Rambutans

Eureka! Rambutans don't just look fantastic, they're also sweet and delicious.

We have a tree in our yard and apparently this is the first season that it has produced fruit.

Bread


Once I showed Philip how incredibly easy it is to make bread, with a breadmaker to do the kneading bit and an oven the rest, he gave it a shot himself. He said it felt something like coming home from the hunt, providing for the family. By necessity, not choice, I also make our own yoghurt and breakfast cereal.

Village Life

Drying chocolate seeds to sell.

Weaving sago leaves to make a roof.



A nice spot for Phil to sleep in the village men's meeting hut.

Fresh, mountain spring water via bamboo piping.

The elderly don't go to nursing homes, or live alone, they live with their extended family. This lady is 104.

Fetching water from the river or village pipe.

Cooking food for the family pigs.

Survey team: Phil, Jacob and Yuliana.

Hotel Fun in Jayapura

View of Jayapura Harbour from our hotel window. Jayapura is the capital city of Papua province, an hour or three's drive from Sentani depending on traffic.


We were bemused to see this sign on the way to the army base lookout: If in doubt, better turn back.
General MacArthur brought an end to Japanese occupation of Papua during WWII. This is one of the tanks he brought ashore in Jayapura Harbour.

Dinner at our favourite fish restaurant. You choose the fish; they scoop it out and grill it for you!

Yes, this is for real.

But this is the real Jayapura.

TeeeeeVeeeee!

Thailand

Phil took off to Thailand for 10 days to play drums in the band for the four-yearly conference of our wider organisation. He had a blast while we languished at home. No, not really, we had some fun of our own. There were 520 people of 67 nationalities representing 82 organisations working in 77 countries (if you're into stats..)

Phil raced around Chiang Mai in a tuk-tuk trying to get some vaccines for Autumn and Reuben. Long story short: no luck.

Phil snuck out with a friend to do a Thai cooking course..
Pad Thai. Newtown here we come..

Masak-masak

The kids love to play masak-masak (pretend cooking) together. They collect all sorts of exotic ingredients from the garden, and dirt serves as rice.

They also love to play rumah-rumah (pretend houses).