Happy Birthday, Brooklyn!

Happy 7th  Birthday, Brooklyn!

 

 

 

On June 10th, Brooklyn turned seven.  In true Brooklyn fashion she had very specific requests for her birthday.  First, she did not want a traditional cake.  This girl is LOVES strawberries so we went with strawberry shortcake.  Second, she wanted a mermaid party with mermaid tails.  My favorite Sumatran sewing lady whipped up these cute mermaid wraps.  I wish, I had taken a picture of Brooklyn's two year old cousin wearing her tail.  It was too cute for words.  Brooklyn had a fantastic time.  It has been a long time since we celebrated with family.  It was wonderful having everyone in one room. 

Please mom no more pictures...just let me open my gifts.

 I am SEVEN!

What is this?

Princess Charm School!  Thanks Paul and Michelle!

What is inside of this box?

Ladybug shirt from Gymboree!   I have to give props to Gymboree for including dark hair little girls in their clothing.  I am loving it and hope they continue!

 

The big gift!

What in the world??

This mermaid doll looks like me!

Brooklyn poising in her mermaid tail.

A few RaNdOm things

ISR Gong

 

Gonging Out

Every child or teacher that enters International School Riau is welcomed into the school with a Gonging In ceremony. It gives everyone a chance to get to know the new individual and symbolically marks the beginning of their journey at ISR.  Well, the same is true when you leave. One of the last things every one does before leaving ISR is participating in a Gonging Out ceremony.  Gonging out day is always tough.  The kids did great.  Each of the kids was asked what they would miss most about leaving ISR.  Kade said, "He would miss all the great people in Indonesia."  Sydney's response was that she will miss her friends and all of her "other" Moms.  Brooklyn said, "She would miss the V's."  The V's are our good friend the Van Stadens.  Gabi is Brooklyn's best friend.  John and I did not have to answer the question which was a good thing because I would have probably lost it. 

  

 Brooklyn getting gonged out of ISR by her preschool teacher

 Kade getting gonged out by Mr. V the school PE teacher.  Kade's gonging out had an extra special  twist.  He got to lead the school in a dance called "the shuffle."  He loved it.

Sydney was gonged out by two teachers Mr. Davis and Mr. Murphy.  Here is Mr. Murphy. 

How much can you squish in a 40 foot container?

The first of ten wood crates that will fill our 40 foot container. 

Crates 4-8 are full!

The last of the items to fit in crate #10.

We knew that moving back to the states was going to be an interesting process.  We had no idea how difficult the process was going to be until day #4 of packing out when the moving company informed us that we were not going to fit in our forty foot container.  You should have seen my face when John relayed the message to me.  I seriously think I might have shot fire out of my eyes.  There was no way we should not have been able to fit.  After ranting and raving for five minutes John and I finally came to the conclusion we had only one option and that was to repack.

Poor John had to relay the message to the moving company.  I think they were really surprised that John and I were not willing to pay the overage and would have been totally fine with them pulling out all 212 boxes and repacking each of them.  The moving company did not think that re-packing sounded like the best option because they magically made it fit after re-packing just five boxes.   John and I were both relieved to see the end of packing out. 

We have no idea how long it will take for our stuff to arrive in Stanwood.  I am guessing 6 to 12 weeks.   It will be fun to see all our stuff back in our house. 

Home Sweet Home

Boy is it nice to be home.  There is nothing better then getting off the plane and smelling the sweet, clean air of Washington. It is a nice change from the smoke and humidity.   Now that we are back in the states and I have a bit more time on my hands I will try to get this blog caught back up.  So many things have occurred over the last month and I want to make sure and get them recorded before I forget.

I have decided to continue on with the blog even though we are back in the states in hope that it helps us stay in touch with friends abroad. Our family adventures are far from done so I hope you will continue to want to follow along.

The following video is a little sneak peek of the surprise party thrown for us by the orphanage with help from our friends Wendy and Shane.  The night was the perfect ending to our time in Rumbai.  It was tough to say goodbye but we no know our relationship with this orphanage is going to continue.  We believe that God has called us to support His work in Pekanbaru and that is exactly what we intend to do.