Very important meeting

The Ambassador is the first one on the left side of the table.  Mr. Movember in his batik shirt.

 

Movember

Lest you think that Indonesia is too far away, here is evidence that Movember is also celebrated here! (Have to say that it's mostly among expats though that could be because most Indonesians do not have a whole lot of facial hair to play with.)  Jaffa loved Zeric's mustache.  I was not a fan.  It did not make it to the waxed, twisted handlebar phase.. thankfully!

Kites

Our friend Angie had her 8th birthday party at the Kite Museum.. we hadn't been there in at least two years.  It's still lovely. The kids started off with a movie about the history of kites.. and it looks like Indonesia has an even longer history than China flying kites!  We saw that, at the annual kite festival in Bali, some kites were so big they had to be carried on the back of a truck and needed 30 people to fly them!

 

We then took a tour of the museum...

And then all of the kids made their own.

And then flew them!

It was a nice, relaxing afternoon.  One of the best parts?  Angie's dad is the head chef at one of the best French restaurants in town.. and so the pastry chef made something super special keeping with the kite theme!

Welcome Elliot!!

 

We have a new nephew/cousin!!

 

Meet Elliott Nathan Oleksiuk, born November 7 around 3:30pm EST..

weighing 9lbs, 4oz. 

 

 We all wish we were there to give him snuggles!  And kiss those fabulous cheeks!!

 

And to hear from Jonah what he thinks about being a big brother.  It looks good so far!

Congrats to Jerusha and Zach for making another beautiful baby.. and for getting through the five days of pseudo labor (Jerusha bearing it, and Zach bearing her!).

Do you have this????

Or is it only Asia that gets bulgogi chicken at KFC?  If you can't get it, let me know and I'll send you some :D

New bike

It was time.. if not because his legs were getting too long, then because his friend (who nearly got poked in the eye) called his bike a baby bike.

 

So, Eben and Zeric went shopping.. and this one even has stunt pegs on the back wheels!

 

 

 He is sooooo fast!!

Halloween!

In usual expatriate American style, we rocked it again for Halloween!

We had a big party in our compound, and invited tons of friends... we had more than 45 kids in all, and four activity stations: tattoos and nail painting, mummy pizzas, craft bags, and COOKIE DECORATING at our house!

 

 

4 dozen cupcakes and 130 sugar cookies -- GO!

 

 

Simultaneously, a spinach-guts-mummy was being created in the kitchen..

 

 

 

Once we got through all of the baking and decorating, we donned our Harry Potter costumes and headed to the haunted garage (deemed by the kids as too scary to enter more than three steps) and a big community potluck dinner.  It was a great evening! 

[And exhausting! We were all asleep on the couches by 9pm!]

 

 The Hogwarts family.. left to right: Zoey, Professor of Culinary Creations; Zeric, Potion Master (with a focus on beer); Jaffa/Luna Ravenclaw house student; Maelle, fellow Hogwarts student; Eben the Deatheater.. and in front.. Blu as Doby in his pillowcase.  Not shown: Mercy as Fang.