Me and my Friends

These are some of my mates, mum has begun teaching some of them english.

This is a picture of me and my girlfriends. The little one is named Keisha and I sat with my arm around her for about 15 minutes. And then another girl came along and I put my arm around her too - it was very nice! I had to fight off a number of boys who kept on wanting to get in on the action! They were very jealous!

Finn meets our helpers

Ibu Sumi and Ibu Tati were proud as punch when they first saw Finn.
Ibu Tati (the older one) is usually very permissive but quickly
jumped in and took Finn away from Ibu Sumi! They were a bit concerned
when mum let Finn cry one day but she explained that it would help
Finn sleep like me and they let him cry - although they were wanting
to pick him up every few seconds! Babies in this country are not
allowed to cry so it is a bit of a cultural difference for them. Finn
is doing really well, I never hear him during the night and mum and
dad seem to come out about 6 or 6:30 to feed Finn so he is sleeping
most of the way through the night!

Having some fun with Aunty Maz

we had some fun using mum and dad's new computer to take photos of
ourselves. My parents have "switched teams" and now own a Mac! Dad is
very excited - mum is catching up - i think it takes nice pictures -
Finn says "gaaa!"

Home at Last!

After over three months on the road I finally got back to my own bed. We spent three months in Australia and stayed in over eight houses during that time so it was a relief to finally get back in my own bed!

We had a nice flight out of Sydney although I had some new teeth coming through so I didn't feel like sleeping very much although Finn slept nearly the whole time! The lady at the desk was very nice and gave us 5 seats between us so we could all stretch out except dad who watched films the whole time!

When we got to Jakarta we were met by a wall of heat and humidity and smells and were reminded that we are definitely not in Aus anymore! Dad had a conference for 4 days which he said was really good and helped clarify our position and role within the company. Jason, Paula, Ethan and Ezekiel as well as Aunty Maz and Paula's mum were there as well so we had a great time playing together!

Mum had an interesting experience when she went out with the girls one night and saw a baby a little older than Finn with his big brother not much bigger than myself sitting on a bridge over a road on their own with a can in front of them while their mother begged on the road below. We are very thankful for our family and all that we have - even if we have to bath in a bucket every now and then!

Waiting, Waiting, Waiting

We were waiting for Finn's passport for nearly a week even though dad asked to have it expressed through the system. He tried to take his own photo for the passport and then print it himself in order to save a few dollars, only to have the photo rejected and then had to send in another photo and pay someone to take a photo and delay the process even more.

The passport finally came on Tuesday and then he had to contact Indonesia to ask for a letter of invitation so we could get a visa - unfortunately we had internet problems so the letter didn't arrive by the time dad had to leave for Sydney. So on Wednesday he drove to Sydney, got the tax done and waited for the letter. Unfortunately the only day we were in a hurry the man who had to sign the letter was late coming into the office so it didn't happen that day.

Finally, on Wednesday night the letter came and was printed (thanks Ro and Neil) and dad made another mission to the consulate in Sydney to try to get the visa processed. Although we found another small point of stress as it takes 5 working days to process a visa in Sydney (it takes only 3 in Singapore) which means that our passport will be completed on Wednesday morning and we are flying out Wednesday afternoon... We are trusting and waiting that we will get on the plane...

And then there is the story of the tickets... which we have had some problems with organising them although we thought that they were all done, but we have them now and we are beginning to pack bags which is fun! I have been given so many toys and books that we will struggle to fit them all in!

Christmas time

This year we had Christmas in Ulladulla with Nanny (Dad's mum!). It was great fun. We went to church in the morning and then came back and opened presents - I was very patient! It was great fun and I enjoyed reading my new books and playing with my new toys although it seemed that every house I visited had a whole bunch of new toys for me to play with! We had some friends over for dinner and I enjoyed my first baked dinner - it was awesome, I particularly liked nanny's Yorkshire puddings (anyone who has tasted them would understand - there is a story going round that dad cried once when someone ate the last Yorkshire pudding, although I think that is an urban myth!)

Playing with FInn

This is me and my little brother Finn. He is really small. I like to give him big hugs and talk to him although he doesn't say much back to me at the moment.