Sad news

I just got off the phone with my sister who shared the news that my Grandfather, Paul Purvis, passed away last night.  He was 93 and had been struggling with his health recently.  It has been a few years since I last saw him, but the memories are very fresh.  Jim does a great impersonation of Grandpa, which I will have to ask him to do again for me.  One of the things I noticed about Jim when we were dating, is that he holds his coffee mug the same way as Grandpa - the thumb resting on the cup handle and then moving back and forth.  A weird little thing.  I was his "fancy Nancy" and I will miss him so much!  What a great reunion we will have in heaven :-)  As Grandpa always said, "and that's the way it twas."  My love to all the family as you mourn and remember and celebrate the man that was Dad, Grandpa and Great-Grandpa.

Happy Father's Day?

Interesting...this is supposed to be the dry season, but we have had rain almost every day.  Right now we are enjoying another thunderstorm and I love seeing the lightning from our big window.
Well, we celebrated Father's Day today!  I woke up and remembered that I didn't have the kids make any cards for Daddy.  I quickly assembled the "team" in the home school room and we worked some magic.  I posted a sweet picture of the kids with Jim and come to find out - it is not Father's Day!!  I really need to download an American calendar to keep current on special dates.  Oh well, we'll call it Father's Day in Indonesia!

From the looks of it, Della must have known we were making a big mistake!!

It was confirmed yesterday that our family (kids included) will be attending the next Gospel Rally in  Manado, Indonesia.  For those of you planning on looking this city up on a map, it is on the island of Sulawesi.  The six day trip at the end of June will consist of many chances to engage with the people and to witness the Gospel Message going forth to thousands of people each night. We are so thankful and will be so blessed to be in attendance.   Manado is known for incredible diving and snorkeling.  We  hope to see some water, maybe volcanoes and definitely some beautiful landscapes.  Jim said that I should bring school work for the kids.  I said this adventure is the schooling!  The learning is in the seeing and experiencing new places and cultures.
Speaking of new cultures...each island of Indonesia has it's own tribal group/culture.  The native people of  Sulawesi are the Minahasa.  What I know so far of this group, is that they eat anything and everything.  Our friend was over yesterday and her father is Minahasa.  She told me stories of eating very crazy food, including the aged family dog!  So, I quote from Wikipedia..."protein options include cats, forest rats, fruit bats, and dogs, the last of which is the obligatory centerpiece of any wedding ceremony or Christmas feast."  I hope no one is going to feel obligated to pull out all the stops for us, if you know what I mean.
For the next couple of weeks, we will be able to sit under the teaching and preaching of two  Westminster professors.  This is so encouraging for Jim and we both enjoy getting to know everyone as they visit Jakarta to share their gifts.
Time to clean up the kitchen, so I will write again soon!  Please continue to pray for us and we will do the same for you.  :-)

A Grand Wedding

Congratulations to Roberto and Fransisca!  This also marks Jim's first time officiating at an Indonesian wedding.  It was a long day, but Mary and Della rocked it!  It was so interesting to see this wedding from start to finish and how they incorporated Chinese, Indonesian and Western traditions. 
 The wedding ceremony was held at the church at 10:00 in the morning.  There were about 100 people in attendance.  Of course, it was a Friday, so many people had to work.  The Bride, Fransisca, wore a gorgeous custom gown and veiled her face until Roberto was told by Jim that he could "now kiss his bride!"  The flower girls had not practiced with petals the night before, but were given some for the ceremony.  Mary and Della, while being escorted by five year old David, started scattering their petals.  Quite concerned by this deviation from the plan, David yelled out, "What are you doing??"  It was sooo cute!
After the ceremony, the girls and I were whisked away to a hotel downtown, where for the next few hours all the members of the bridal party and the women of the bride's family were treated to makeovers.  In the end, I was forced into a chair and got my first pair of false eyelashes!  I do prefer the more natural me, but Jim liked the look. :)

Now it was time for the formal portraits.  All the ladies changed into beautiful evening gowns as the real celebration was just starting.
 

 They continued with the traditional Chinese Tea Ceremony.  Couples came up and sat in front of the bride and groom, and were served tea.  After the couple took a sip they gave the cup back and then stood and presented the bride and groom with a red envelope (money inside.)  This scene repeated itself until all the friends and relatives had "paid" their respects.

The reception started at 7:00 in the evening and the Bridal Party made their entrance down a very long walkway and up onto the stage.  The newlyweds and their parents stayed there as the guests filed by  to greet them.  Food stations were set up all around the ballroom and a band played, although there was no dancing.  I estimate that about 2,000 guests came for the party, which is a far cry from the amount that attended the actually ceremony.

Everything was so beautiful!  The highlight for me, was watching a movie starring Roberto and Fransisca.  It was just like a big screen movie and the footage was edited from the morning's ceremony.  I just couldn't believe how it was done in time for the reception and what a great job they did editing.  First time I ever saw anything like it and thought it was pretty special.

I promised you wedding pictures and I hope you enjoyed them!  :-)