Waterfalls

We recently hiked to this waterfall with an amazing family who teaches with Mike, the Bryans! They took us for a picnic lunch at this waterfall about an hour from us. We had to walk through this small village, then through the most beautiful rice fields I have ever seen. The wind was blowing and we could hear the dried rice heads hitting each other and it was so beautiful, it is hard to describe. To be able to go to the waterfall, which is just a dirt path that winds through the hillside, a women stands at her house, where the path starts, and charges a nominal fee to be able to go to the waterfall. It made me laugh so much, but Indonesian's are quite smart business people and never miss an oportunity to make a little money.
The kids also hiked with Mr. Bryan and Mike up and around the top of the waterfall. They were amazed to see where it started and were glad to work up a sweat because the water is VERY, VERY cold!
To stand on the side of the mountain and look at the beauty of God was breath-taking!

Jazz and Ella's first day of Pre-school

Jazz and Ella started pre-school this week (8-3-09). They are attending a play group/preschool for children that a few of our friends set up. One of our favorite people are teaching at it, Mbak Dion and her sister Mbak Dina. It is an international preschool with children from Korea, China, Indonesia, and Americans. Jazz and Ella attend 3 days a week, 2 hours a day mostly so I can get some school done and so they can be with Mbak Dion. They kids have LOVED it. I was a little worried about Ella but she is doing great and always comes home with a smile. That could also be because she and Jazz ride on Mbak Dina's motorcycle to and from school every time. The school is not far. I will truthfully say, I would NEVER, EVER, EVER let my little guys ride a motorcycle anywhere if we were living in the states but in Indonesia . . . . . lol!

Melissa Cass-Dorcas

Melissa grew up here in Indonesia with Mike. She came back to visit and was able to get together with our family. She and Mike had a lot of fun sharing their memories of growing up in Indonesia.

The Pine Forest - May 2009

Bet you didn't think a Jungle Island would have a Pine Forest!
We truely felt like we were home in Sonora. It was cool and overcast. The kids really loved hiking the mountain.

Homeschooling in Salitiga

These are the 2009 graduates from 2 homeschooling families. The 4 children that are not Maclean kids are the Klein family. They have lived in Indonesia for 6 years and the dad teaches English to Indonesians. We love to hang out with the Kleins.

Mbak Dian

Here is one of our FAVORITE people!!!! We all love her. This is Mbak Dian, Mbak is the word for older sister. This what the Indonesians use for Miss. She is not married and just had a birthday where she turned 20. She teaches Cybelle and Jazzs' playgroup 3 x a week and she comes to my house 2xs a week to help take care of the little guys, mostly Ella, so I can get school done. She has very good English so she too is helping me with my Indonesian. She is very creative and fun and loves Jesus too. When she started working for me, I asked her to only speak Indonesian to the kids. Now, Cybelle, Jazz and Ella know wayyyyyyyyy more Indonesian than momma. lol. She is also good at helping me to understand the way things work here. I am always asking why and how come. She likes to know how things work in America. My helper and I are always teasing her, that she will marry an American because she likes American food, especially cheese. (Indonesians don't like cheese). On Dian's birthday, our family threw her a little party. After you turn 18, Indonesians don't really celebrate birthdays anymore. So we found out Dians favorite fruit and dessert and got a little present for her. Her favorite fruit is bananas and her favorite dessert is pudding (Indo style, a little different than American style). We made her banana pudding with Nilla Waffers. She had 3 helpings. She declared it her all-time favorite dessert. (Thanks to special people who provided ingredients) We got her a gift certificate to get her nails done. She had never had a manicure. She was so excited and was showing off her nails the next day. A girl is a girl everywhere. It has been so great getting to know Dian and I am very glad she is blessing my kids with her joy and wisdom.

Wati Grant

We would like to share some of the AMAZING people in our life here in Indonesia. The first picture is of my language teacher and friend, Wati Grant. She tutors me in Indonesian 2 times a week. She is married to a co-worker of Mike's. Her husband, Mike Grant, is from the East Coast of the U.S. Her beautiful daughter, Daniela, is a good friend of Cybelles. I really love Wati, first off because she loves Jesus so much and lives her life in accordance with that love. She inspires me every time I am with her. She is also very very very patient with me, while I slaughter the Indonesian language. Wati is also a very good cook and always has yummy things for me to try at her house. She is a very understanding and special friend.

Happy St. Patricks Day

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!!!
We, with a little help from our favorite leprechaun Amanda B., had a little party today to celebrate St. Patrick. It was a little hard to explain to our Indonesian helpers/ friends why we were all wearing green and eating green food. It finally boiled down to, a day to celebrate the color Green! Guess I did not translate it well. lol
Well, we invited a few homeschooling friends over and did crafts, thx A.B., played games and ate green snacks. We had a good time. It is fun to celebrate all the American holidays here because the Indonesians have several holidays. They are called red letter days. Everything shuts for Red Letter Days. Why are they called Red Letter Days, I will tell you. Because they are in red letters on the calendar.
Anyways, we had a great time being Irish/Americans. We hope you have fun eating corn beef and cabbage and wearing green today!

California Girls

You can take the girl out of California but not the California out of the girl. The Mac Leanables Swimming during "winter". This was us over Spring Break here in Salitiga the first week in March.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2009
FROM THE MACLEAN FAMILY
MIKE, CORRIN, TRISTAN, COSETTE, CYBELLE, JAZZ AND ELLINGTEN!
LIVEN' THE LIFE IN INDONESIA!

Ellingten is One!!!!!

Our Baby Is 1!!!!

Our beautiful baby girl turned one year old on January 21st. She is now walking and talking. She has the greatest smile and can get all of us laughing. She likes to say, "Guys!" and walks around our house looking for all the "Guys". It seems, every Indonesian stops us on the street to touch and smile at our blessing. She is in love with our helper, Ibu Sari, and if she is unhappy with mom, prefers to get spoiled by Ibu. Ellingten enjoys "dancing" with the big girls and "wrestling" with the boys. She thinks her Dad is the greatest in the world and loves to cuddle with Mom. We are completely in love with our Ellingten and can't wait to see what the next year has for her.

Pacitan January 2009

Vacation was interesting and fun. The place we went to was 5 hours from our house. We rented a car and driver to take us. I will say that is the only way to go!!!!! We stopped at Mc Donald's for lunch and truly we could have come back home after that, because the kids were in heaven that we went to McDonald's. The kids had hamburgers and french fries and soda and then we had an ice cream cone. It still cost us $20.00, same as the states. lol. You don't get that kind of food here. This was a huge treat!
People had warned us that the place we were going to was like camping. VERY BASIC!!!!! Yes, like bring your own towels and sheets and water basic. So I was prepared. I guess I should have prepared the kids. We got there and the look on Tristan's face was priceless. PRICELESS!!!! He looked so disgusted. So funny. His nose was wrinkled up and he said, "Mom, This place is a dump!" Then we went to the rooms, which are pretty much beach shacks and he said it again, just so disgusted. Well, he was right. There was a bed and a little night stand thing and then it was Indonesian bathrooms, with a squatty potty and a pvc pipe stuck out of the wall for the shower. But it worked. The power was out one whole day; so the restaurant said it could not cook lunch. Luckily we brought p and j to make sandwiches and some snacks so we were OK. It was extremely hot and muggy. We had these little fans in the rooms that just moved around hot air.

After the first night, when none of our kids slept. Mike and I said, we might call the driver and see if he could pick us up early. But then we got up and to the beach and it was wonderful fun. It cooled off that night and so it was much better.
The water was so warm. I have never ever been in water like that. It was like a really perfect bathtub, not hot but not cold. I really thought I would not get in the water but with water like that, I loved it. The kids loved it too. Mike taught them how to jump waves and then how to body surf. The 2 older kids never got out of the water for 3 days.
It took us 3 days to get Jazz into the water and then he did not want to come out. It was good to see him get over his fear. Mommy and Jazz spent a lot of time right on the edge of the water, putting our toes in and playing in the wet sand. Our persistence paid off and the look on his face was the perfect victory!
Mike took Ella out to jump waves. She never was scared or unsure. She was laughing and smiling the entire time. What a beach baby!
Cybelle, after seeing Kung Fu Panda, had loads of fun kicking, punching and rolling around in the waves. Daddy taught her how to jump waves also. Even when a wave would wash over her, she would pop back up smiling. We completely LOVED our vacation!

White People Have Invaded the Neighborhood!

We have moved into a really great neighborhood here. There are a lot of families and a lot of kids. It would be called a middle class neighborhood. There are quite a few husbands, or husband and wife teams who commute to a larger city to work and come home on the weekends. Almost everyone has not just the one family unit staying at home but the father and mother of one of the spouses. You see grandma and grandpa taking care of the kids while parents are out of town working. I really love the dynamics of our neighborhood. There is always someone home in every house so everyone know whats going on. I feel like our kids are pretty safe because there is a grandma or grandpa watching everything going on. Our kids do stick out like sore thumbs. They are the youngest white kids here and love playing with all the neighborhood kids. The neighborhood kids love to come to our house and play with all the toys we have. Ella is a big draw until she starts destroying the train set or Lego's or doll house. Then it is Ibu Corrin, Ella! The kids have also picked up some Indonesian from playing with everyone and trying to communicate with all the kids. We enjoy being the party house!