Amelia's First Ballet Lesson

Amelia had her first ballet lesson today. She loved every minute of it! It was so lovely to watch her beaming as she tried to follow along with the teacher. In this clip she is trying to move with "scissor legs."

No Longer an Empty House

After just two weeks, we received our shipment. It actually arrived a few days before we did, but the paperwork to get it through customs took a few days. This is the fastest we have ever received our belongings and so although it was exciting, it wasn't the same "Christmasy" sort of feeling we would have had after waiting 6-8 weeks. Nevertheless, we are happy to have the things that help us feel at home, especially toys for the children and to have expanded our wardrobe. The only problem is we are still unpacking. We received 56 boxes and are down to 14, most of which I did while Jim was away on a softball weekend in Budapest. Perhaps this weekend we can at least get everything else opened up. The process of organizing everything will probably take weeks.

Look, there is the shipment! The moving truck is here!

The kitchen is filling up and there are still more boxes coming...

The train table, doll house and toys are here! Hooray!

Books, clothes, artwork, and more

Did the shelf make it in one piece? Yes!

Let the unpacking begin!

Life is Good

"Look at my new balance bike!"

Have you ever seen tomatoes as beautiful as these? They are incredible...best I have ever tasted. 

The peaches are amazing, too!

Scooter Girl is on the move. We even have real hills to ride on...a first for this family!

Amelia has worn these boots everyday since our shipment arrived.

We had a few chilly days last week and Bryce got to wear long pants...

another new experience for this tropics hailing boy.

Settling In

We've been here two and a half weeks are are settling into our new home and school. We absolutely love our new apartment and complex. It is so modern, or shall we say European, and there is so much green space. It is also nice that we can see mountains in every direction we look. The air is clean, there are parks everywhere, and we can walk places...life is good! 

We have been blown away by how well our kids have transitioned. They have just gone with the flow and are so excited to be here. We couldn't believe that Bryce took so well to the babysitter the school provided. Again, the school did an excellent job helping us with childcare for our entire orientation and inservice. Amelia and Bryce have both started their schools and are loving it. Amelia comes to our campus and Bryce is going to a Bulgarian nursery/preschool on our complex. Not a tear from him when we left the first day. He was so so ready to finally be able to start and was bursting with stories when we picked him up. Starting Monday, Amelia will bus to the same center for after school care each day. It is such a relief to seem them both so happy. 

Here are a few snapshots from our arrival. There are so many more to share, but I will start here. You can check back soon for more from our first days. I also know that many of you have seen photos of Facebook from Jim.

We arrived to a stocked fridge and freezer, plus a two bottles of Bulgarian wine.

The welcoming committee did an excellent job helping us settle in. 

Here are some of the other items the school provided. 

It is always nice to have a few essentials to get you through the first few days.

The kids were pretty excited that they were thought of 

and thankfully they didn't love the sugar cereal that we would never have bought otherwise.

The front steps of our apartment building

We live on the first floor, which is above the ground floor. 

This photo only shows a portion of our place. I will try to take another shot soon.

This playground is just around the corner from us. Amelia and Bryce love it!

Look at the little house, Daddy!

And of course we have been making lots of trips to IKEA, which also happens to be just around the corner.

Good-Bye Jakarta

Six years of memories were boxed up and whisked away last week when the movers came. We prepped Amelia and Bryce for the experience by showing clips from Youtube about houses being packed, moving trucks being loaded, and how goods are transferred to container ships. I figured that if they could see the process it would be less emotional, and it was. Bryce reminds Amelia daily, "It's in the shipment Sissy," and Amelia often inquires, "Did that go on the moving truck?" 

The next few days hold some pretty emotional goodbyes. We have so many wonderful people in our lives and we are so grateful for the experiences we have had while in Jakarta. We have gained so much by being at JIS, both as teachers and as people. What an incredible place to learn and grow with young people. 

Perhaps it is easier to leave when we are ready for a change and are so excited about what the future holds...Sofia, Bulgaria. Parks, mountains, clean air, and a wonderful school await our nature loving family. We welcome seasons, even winter, and the chance to be more active outdoors. Amelia is very excited about ice skating and Bryce looks forward to sledding. Jim and I, well, we are just excited for it all!

Being home with the packers allowed each of us to have a single experience of putting Amelia on the school bus and then greeting her when she came home. Bryce came out to join on Daddy's day.

A good portion of the boxes, but not all... 

In the end we had 15 cubic meters, which is pretty reasonable, don't you think?

Goodbye material possessions - see you in Sofia!

Amelia's First Trip to the Dentist

After nearly two and a half hours in traffic to get to our dental appointments, we nearly turned around. But then we would have missed this...

Amelia loved the entire experience, which tells you that her teeth were in tip top shape. She found out that she has ten teeth on the bottom and ten on the top, which was very exciting. After her cleaning was done, she came and watched me get polished up. It was great to have her perched high on my stomach, peering into my mouth while squealing, "Your teeth are blue and your tongue is red!" 

Scootin' & Skatin'

Just cruisin' around on a Friday afternoon.