Christmas Ad-Lib

Now that our family has entered a Christmas break from school, we're totally excited just "to be". we hope to do a few low key fun outings with the family to see some of what our new country has to offer, and also just to have fun! Hopefully, a few pictures will follow. I'm legal now to ride our scooter, as I officially have a "surat izin mengemudi" (driver's license) for a scooter (a car license is a separate license altogether). And yes, I google translated the above to make sure I was writing the Indonesian the right way :)  We know more Indonesian than when we arrived, but so far that's about it!

We didn't know quite what to expect regards to getting our hands on some of that "Christmas" stuff...the stuff that  back in Canada sits in boxes and bins in the basement for 11 months out of the year. But, on short notice - with a little help from our friends...but not Ringo, Paul, George, & John - we were able to get a Christmas tree! 

Since Salatiga doesn't have douglas fir tree farms in close proximity, we didn't run down to the local Superstore and spend $28.95 for that wholesome natural genetically modified look. And we certainly didn't go frolicking in the snow full of Christmas spirit looking for that perfect tree with evenly spaced branches. Instead, we got a "does not require water" type of tree that came in a box. Furthermore, the branches go wherever you want to put them! Thanks (again) to some MAF friends it also has some pretty blinking lights on it. Of course, I don't really have any full-on shots of it here...it still needs some love. Lets just say Amy's standards to what is an "acceptable" Christmas tree differ slightly to my own preconceived Xmas expectations. But, I'm sure our whole family will enjoy it...purdy or not!  That said, we just put on some decorations Luke made at school and it really helped with tree character.

Charlotte does love it though, especially since she's now able to generally make her walker go where she wants it to go (not necessarily what her parents like). Those few decorations sure look tasty!

Simon and Luke did a little cookie decoration last night, the best part obviously being the taste testing...

The cookie burglar is on the prowl!

Not bad Luke & Si!

Luke and Si goofing with some neighbour kids. I think the neighbour kids were mostly laughing at Simon, as he was putting on a show.

Since we're well into 'rainy' season, almost everyday you get at least some rain, usually in the afternoon...but sometimes it rains just whenever and for quite awhile. The rain does cool down the temperature (which is very nice since we don't have AC anywhere in the house yet), but I'm sure you can imagine what lots of rain does to the humidity. Most things are damp most of the time...which is another good reason for AC as in at least one room you can kind of control the humidity and thus protect important items from rust and mould.