Sori Tru!

Whew! I know it's been a while since we've updated this page. I am forgetting that I promised to be bare bones with this blog and just get the highlights out. I want to elaborate and fill you in on so many details but tend to get bogged down with the idea of writing the stories to go with the pictures. Sigh. Anyone want to join me for a cup of tea? It would be much more fun to share face to face. Love to you all!

Happy New Year (but not for the pig)

New Year's Eve was another quiet family night. (It is good that we like each other.) We were encouraged to stay in as the tradition of inebriated celebrators is to throw rocks at anything that moves. Say no more! We played games, watched movies and had fun making memories as a family. The next day brought its own interesting events as Tim and the boys traveled with Aries and our Aussie friend Christian to a local village to catch a pig for that evening’s pig roast held at our house. From squealing to tabletop I have included some pictures of this fine feast progression.

Based on his initial response we thought Weston might become a vegetarian. He did, however, enjoy every bite!

Not-so-conventional Christmas

Christmas was lovely—but very different. It was unusual celebrating in a place that didn’t really celebrate. Tim’s words summed it up well. “I knew Christmas would be different here—I just didn’t realize it would be pretty much non-existent.”

It wasn’t entirely non-existent; there were "Dollar Store" style decorations (including one 6' Santa!) in most of the shops,

as well as a small (nighttime!) Christmas parade put on by one of the local stores

but there were precious few of the familiar sounds, sights, and smells of the season outside of our home. We didn’t even sing Christmas carols at church! Many of the locals left or spent Christmas with their own families. We felt a little alone in our joy-filled celebration. In fact, we had a traditional Christmas dinner, ham and all, with just ourselves on Christmas Eve. I stop here to say that I hope I’m not painting too sad of a picture because we had a wonderful time as a family. The kids were as excited as could possibly be, waiting to see if Santa could actually find them in PNG. Amazingly, he did.

Thankfully, he was in and out before my 4:30 a.m. early birds awoke, I’m sure of it, to the sound of his sleigh bells as he left our house. Oh, I know my parents wished this on me.

After a leisurely morning of opening some gifts and enjoying homemade cinnamon rolls, we got ourselves ready for the First Annual Christmas Island Hop

(who knows what year 2 holds, but it sounds good.)

Our Filipino friend Aries, his sister Christian, and his Dutch fiancee joined us along with two Filipino nuns as we traveled by boat to Samarai Island to enjoy some swimming, snorkeling, fishing and relaxation.

Austin and Inia enjoyed some fishing from the dinghy

The kids had a blast playing with the Sisters

Cooling off with Kulau (fresh coconut milk)!

My favorite picture from the trip was of Weston asleep in my laplap (skirt) which was tied to a tree.

Ahhh, bliss!

Shhhhh!

Zzzzzzzzz!

It felt different celebrating Christmas in this way, but we couldn't complain with the incredible beauty surrounding us.

Logea Island

Dekadeka Island

Aries, Anita, Christian, and Us

It helps to know, too, that we can rejoice in the Gift of Jesus anywhere, anytime, and with anyone!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!