Indonesia First Impressions and Lessons

Jakarta.
Green lush foliage and crumbling concrete. Tropical sun and low gray smog. Sudden mirrored high rises and rusted corrugated shacks. Crazy lawless traffic and powerful pedestrians. Surprise and contrast, including the people--at once shy and friendly, embarrassed and solicitous.

Things I learned.
Pray you are never in an ambulance in Indonesia. No one pulls over for you.

If you need to get somewhere quickly, a motorcycle is best--you can weave, dodge, use the sidewalk, use either lane (or the space between), and bring your friends, family, or cargo along. (Actually, cars seem to have most of the same advantages, they're just too big to fit into the spaces that a motorcycle can!)

Deep fried crickets taste like crunchy nothing. The fact that they are splayed out with legs in all directions is not something to think about until after you eat them.

Putting sunscreen on short minutes before jumping into the waves of the Indian Ocean is not very smart.

Aloe vera plant products are apparently not carried in pharmacies or stores...but it grows in many garden pots and if you're lucky, a nice person will cut some monster slices to help heal your sunburn.

Pocket knives are very handy to have. Especially when you need to slice monster Aloe Vera leaves.

Pocket knives are not great to forget about and leave in your carry-on bag--they may make it through the x-ray machine once, unseen, but be confiscated the second time through.

"Brains Suck" is a weird name for a coffee shop.

"Panties Pizza" is a funny name for a pizza place, but the slogan "I love panties like I love you" makes it downright hilarious.

America's architectural obsession with beige and gray is embarrassing. America's fear of using bright colors is kind of pathetic.

The blossom from the end of a bunch of bananas is very pretty.

Teakwood furniture makes me drool.

I wish I could fit a gamelan in a suitcase.

If you're old enough to reach the handles, you're probably old enough to drive that motorcycle.

"Not very hot," as in spicy, is a completely subjective and useless measure. There is no such thing as mildly spicy food here. "Mild" sambol will scorch you.

Apparently the hottest chabes (chiles) are green, not red, and they look exactly like pickled green beans in a mix of pickled vegetables. They do not taste like green beans. They taste and feel like lava, except crunchy. And can't be spit out in polite company when one accidentally ends up in your mouth.

Food that is so spicy that it hurts going in feels similarly painful on the way out.

There are so many more plants in the world than one can imagine. I wonder how many kinds of "palm trees" there actually are?

Anyone who wants to complain about taxes spent on infrastructure or government building oversight in the U.S. needs to walk the crumbling streets of another country. I am grateful for sidewalks, crosswalks, traffic lights, storm drains, sewer systems, water treatment plants, clean air, smoke-free public places, building codes, and health inspectors. I am willing to pay for the luxuries I enjoy in America.

Random photo from a while ago

Church History Trip Day 1

We had the wonderful opportunity to take our family--2 parents, 5 kids, and 2 grandmothers--on a cross-country drive to see many LDS Church History Sites. We had 12 days of adventures, history, sights, hotels, picnic lunches from a suitcase and cooler, and rare time together as a family.

We felt so blessed to have this opportunity and enjoyed ourselves immensely!

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Day 1: To the Airport

Monday, June 17, 2013
Spent the day getting ready, trying to rest a little to minimize jet lag, and celebrating Grandma Vehar's 76th birthday!

Taylor is not feeling well, so slept most of the day...we hope he can shake this off. :( Poor guy!

	And we're off....or NOT! Flight delayed. Estimated departure now 1:50 A.M :/ [Map]
Ah, the fun of the airport in the middle of the night [Map] Grandma Mary, Jarom, Landon [Map] Dad, Grandma V, Taylor [Map]
	Grayson, Maddy, Mom [Map]

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Sent from my iPhone by My Vacation app (www.myvacationapp.com)

So Many Miracles...

Well...the long night of unemployment has ended. Actually, Mark started a job back in October, but my blogging schedule tends to be a little more behind-the-times than up-to-the-minute. Regardless, we are so grateful to have work. As an added bonus, his job is right here in Meridian. In fact, his office is a mile away as the crow flies! We are able to stay here, in Idaho, in our home, our ward, our schools, etc. We had told the kids and their teachers that we were moving in October and then, at the end of September, our quiet miracle happened when Mark was approached by a Doctor friend in need of an office manager. So after all the applying, interviewing, and stressing about jobs in Utah, California, New Mexico, Colorado...one phone call changed our lives (and saved our bacon, so to speak!) Mark enjoys his job and Dr. Roberts is great. We have been so very blessed!

Taylor's Pops Concert

Rock that cello!!

You could call it homage, or massacre, or masterpiece, depending on your point of view, but all I know is that I don't remember Middle School Orchestra sounding like this! The 7th & 8th Grade Orchestra at Heritage Middle School is awesome!

Stay tuned for Part 2-- where the choir joins the orchestra for a little Coldplay!

Landon is a WINNER!!

Landon was the First Place winner in the "Caged Inspiration" Old Idaho Penitentiary Poetry Contest. He won some cool prizes and had his poem published to their website: http://www.idahohistory.net/poetry.html .

The poets could write about anything related to the Old Idaho Penitentiary. Landon had not been there, but studied about it in his Writing class. One of the prizes was a private guided tour for the whole family, so soon we will get to check it out! Way to go, Landon! Here's the poem:

10 years to life the sentence said

Then they entered the rooms without even a bed

A punishment cruel no matter who to

Stuck in the darkess with nothing to do

Fifty-seven escapes out of five hundred tries

Any who enter are soon bound to die

Many caught in a day like Williams and Meeks

Most of the rest found in just a few weeks

The Idaho Penitentiary: a fortress-like jail

Where misery lurked with each moan and each wail

But criminals each of the prisoners were

And were there for being a murderer

Or other crimes that were equally bad

With people that have truly gone mad

Justice the Old Penitentiary brang

Even if lives were ended with a hang

The Idaho Penitentiary has a mournful history

But even still--it means a lot to me.

Spring, Sprung, Sproing!! Part 2

Yes, it's been a crazy spring...our trip to Arizona was just the beginning:

Sad news...
During spring break we got a middle-of-the-night call (oh, how we dread those...) that my just-older brother, Craig, had passed away--very suddenly and unexpectedly. It was and continues to be very surreal. We traveled to Portland, OR, at the beginning of April for the Memorial Service. It was a mixed bag of bittersweet--good to see family and friends, but so unbelievable to be meeting under those circumstances less than 6 months after my Dad's passing. Our hearts and prayers continue with Shellee, Hailey, Sierra, and Jordan.

Job, schmob, who needs it...
Mark has been working off and on doing different construction/remodeling/etc. work, so we've been dealing with him traveling and us surviving here during his absences. Not ideal, for sure, but we have been so blessed to have work while we look for a job. We can't believe we have made it this long--we know the Lord has truly sustained us!

Glad news...
We traveled to Utah at the end of April for our nephew Brandon Davidson's wedding. He and Jenny seem perfect together and we are so, so, so happy for them! Their reception was THE BEST one the kids say they have ever been to...they were in heaven with all the candy, etc. (Yeah, you're the favorite cousin, now, Brandon!)