Philly

In the beginning of Dec we took a long wkend trip to Philadelphia to reconnect w/ good friends there. We stayed w/ Seth & Sarah Dorrell who were awesome enough to join us revisiting some of our favorite places…here’s a Moroccan restaurant – could’ve done w/o the belly dancers & loud music but the food was super savory – thx S & S!














Great to see Brad & Becca again too – we’re enjoying Indian w/ them & Seth & Sarah…














Happy Bday Andrew! Andrew came out to Bandung to see us our 1st yr in Indo before he & Irene got married – was great to finally hear the woman he’d been bragging about for some time :)




























A quick snooze @ Seth & Sarah’s…guess it’s been all those late nights we’ve been havin’ :)

Thanksgiving

We had Thanksgiving in Roanoke, VA with Jason’s sister (Christy’s) extended fam & Elissa’s parents. It was quite a full house but great to be w/ fam on Tgiving. Afterwards we had our 1st getaway just the 2 of us since Elijah’s birth. He was 2 months old so we figured it was about time ;)

Sportin’ his “1st Thanksgiving” onesie – a shower gift ☺

Roanoke’s famous for it’s mammoth star at the top of one of their main mountains. We enjoyed a hike up to see it – Elissa’s @ the bottom waving to help w/ a little depth perception…There was a live feed cam so we were able to call E’s parents & Elijah to see us online. ☺

Also on this particular mountain was a little zoo we enjoyed – thought it was quite funny that this cebu was licking the pig…weird!

Check out the video...& Elissa's comment on the series...I mean species it is!

Our last night in Roanoke we went out for some yummy Indian food (who would’ve thought in Roanoke?!) We enjoyed strolling around downtown looking @ all the little shops…including this one w/ a great quote E’s pointing to…

It says, "Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass, it's about learning to dance in the rain."

We finished our 2 day getaway with Mexican fare – a great time to be away together before the hecticness of moving back to Indo began in full force.

“Wormy”

Here’s Elijah with his 1st baby toy – he’s just learning how to grasp things w/ his hands, totally adorable.

Over the river & through the woods, to Grandmother’s house we go…

Here’s Elijah w/ his Pop…

& Nannie (Elissa’s grandparents)

A little rest goes a long way….

Caribou Coffee

Little E had his 1st trip to his aunt Crissy’s favorite coffee shop on his way to see his great-grandparents in Richmond, VA. Elissa had her decaff mocha & ‘Lij had his…well, milk.

Fall Jaunt

We took ‘Lij on a short walk to the horses behind where E’s parents live – it was a bit chilly but little E got to sport his Hokie stocking cap in honor of our favorite alums, Mom & Dad J.

“Nenek”

This’ll be Lij’s name for his grandma (E’s mom) – it’s “grandma” in Indonesian. Here he’s having a lunch break w/ her at her office.

Catchin' Up!

So we're safely in Indo now but need to post pix from the last few wks to catch up ... here's to more to come soon!

New Projects Link

Elijah's Passport

It seemed kind of funny getting a passport for him at two weeks, but you do what you gotta do. We weren't sure what to do for his eye color - blue (for now)...



The crazy thing is it's good for five years. Imagine a TSA officer comparing this to a five year old :)

Here's to Better Health...

We took Elijah in for his two month immunizations a couple weeks ago.



He didn't like being poked, but after a little yelp, he was his usual happy self again. He got some cool bandaids out of the ordeal too.

Socks & Shoes!

First knee high socks - and lovin' em!


First shoes.

Chill'n at Pawpaw & Grandma's Crib :)

Mom and Dad Drummond let us stay at their house while we were in Orlando. We couldn't resist...

Thanks Mom and Dad!

Great Grandma Z Meets Elijah

After West Palm Beach, we headed over to Fort Myers to see Elijah's GREAT Grandma Ziemer. She is an incredible lady, and we enjoyed introducing Elijah to her.

Visiting Uncle Rob & Fam in West Palm Beach

We had a lot of fun visiting Rob, Sharon, and Katie down in West Palm Beach. It was the first time we'd gotten down to see them at their place, and the first time they'd seen Elijah. Kim and Lissy came with us, so it was a fun road trip :).

Elijah liked hanging out with Uncle Rob.




Cousins!!!!

Shadows at PBA

Jason's bro Rob took us for a tour of the Palm Beach Atlantic University campus. We got to sit in on two classes he was teaching (he is a professor of drama and acting at the university). It was fun to see him in action and the campus is beautiful.

Well, they are doing some construction - actually a bad deal for the theater department since they are taking the campus theater and turning it into a showy "reading room" addition to their brand new library. Anyway, I saw these shadows on a building and had to snap a couple shots.

Quick Drive to Daytona to Remarry

Several weeks ago, Elissa took her engagement & wedding rings off to wash some dishes and her wedding band disappeared. Her mom, grandmom and her looked around for it for a while, but it never turned up; so she walked around for a while looking engaged. Finally, I got my act together and went back to the store I bought Elissa's rings at originally and bought another one.

Anyway, after I bought the ring, we grabbed some food at Taco Bell for a snack, and hopped in the car for an hour drive to Daytona beach, so I could remarry her at the beach.

Along the way, Elissa noticed the packet of hot sauce with my chalupa...




It was a little bit of a whirlwind because we had to be back in Kissimmee, FL by 8:00pm, but we had a really cool walk on the beach, a great Cold Stone milk shake, and I gave Elissa her new ring.

Hanging Out with the Antrims

We enjoyed spending our first few days with the Antrim clan. Elijah got to meet his cousins Lissy and Laini and his Uncle Joey for the first time. We enjoyed going out to eat and hanging out at Kim and Joe's place.


The girls liked Elijah, and they thought his paci was very cool!

Enjoying Some FL Sunshine

We went down to FL mid-November to connect with friends and family there (and remind ourselves what the tropics are like) The first morning we went for a walk around Crane's Roost Park in Altamonte Springs and tried out our kain gendong (Indonesian baby sling). Not bad for a couple of bucks - in fact it works awesome!  Elissa's good friend Wenny gave this to us right before we headed back stateside.

Elijah Inspires Copy-Cat

What can I say, we were eating over at our friends Jeff and Becca's house and we looked over and there were Elijah and Lenny vying to be the cutest.

Dropping back by the Brains

On our way back from OH, we stopped back through Roanoke to see the Brains. Jason's older sister Kim Antrim was also in town to see the latest addition to the Brain family, Chase, so Elijah got to meet her for the first time too!

While we where there, Jason raked up some leaves in the backyard, and Gavin "un-raked" them. Here is a cute picture of Christy and him after the incident and a couple shots of it in progress...

Aunt Kimmy meeting Elijah!


We went for another beautiful walk with Kim, Christy, and Gavin. I couldn't get over how beautifully the sun was lighting up the leaves on this tree.