Goodbyes at JIS

Every year at JIS we have to say goodbye to colleagues and friends. This year was no different. We had to say goodbye to our friends the Fergusons; Ingrid, Andy, Maia and Sophie. Noah and Maia have been in play groups together since they were born and Sophie and Ayla were good friends too. On a personal level, I had to part with Ingrid with whom I worked closely together at JIS Pattimura for 7 years. I will miss her!

Another person who will be sadly missed is our friend Gerardo Cuneo. After 17 years at JIS he decided to join Lisa in the States.
Gerardo and I have become very close over the years especially because of our shared interest in football. We have played in the same team, we have coached the JIS kids together, we have gone to tournaments together and we have played fantasy football together.
Gerardo has also been an essential member of some memorable Boys Trips to Papua, Flores, Siem Reap and Chiang Mai. Unfortunately his time at JIS with us was up, but the memories will stay forever.

Gerardo , we wish you all the best for the future and I am sure that our paths will cross again. Stay in touch my friend!

Here are some photos of his farewell match at JIS





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Noah graduates from JIS Prep Junior

Noah has had a fantastic year at JIS with Mr. Whitney in Prep Junior. It is amazing how much he has learned this year at school and how much he has grown.
Well done Noah!!

Here are some pictures of Noah's end of the year performance and of Noah showing us his school work portfolio.

Brother and Sister

Aren't they the 2 sweetest, cutest little kids that you can imagine? Well....sure in these pictures they are...........but believe me......... pictures can be very deceiving at times....UNfortunately they are not always like this....Ha!

Surprise

Last weekend my brother Arjen and his wife Truus came for a short visit to Jakarta. They were going to attend a wedding in Bali, but managed to arrange a stop over in Jakarta first. I had not told Sue anything so you can imagine that she was shocked when she came home on Saturday and saw them sitting in our living room. WHAT? WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE? It was very funny to see her face, she usually doesnt like surprises lake that......

Kalam's Birthday

At our house it is a tradition to celebrate each family member's birthday with a present, a card and a birthday cake. Since the kids consider our staff family too.....we end up with lots of birthdays.

Last week it was Kalam's birthday. He is our 'jaga', which means helper / care taker. His job is to keep the house safe, to keep the pool and garden clean and to help out whenever necessary.

The kids love these birthdays....because they get to eat CAKE!!

The Bunny Curse at the Sietsma Residence

For the longest time our kids had been asking us to get a pet bunny.

So last month we finally gave in and we got them a nice little furry friend. It was very cute young little dwarf bunny. Needless to say that the kids just loved it. The next morning, we suddenly woke up and we heard Ayla talking to the bunny....,,WAKE UP bunny! C' mon...no more sleep....time to play. WAKE UP BUNNY!!" After she repeated this for about 10 times I figured something was wrong. I got out of bed only to find out that the bunny was indeed in a VERY deep sleep......it was NO more!
We told the kids that it was sick and had to go to the hospital.
The kids kept asking about 'Fluffy', so we decided to get a Fluffy # 2. A week later it arrived, another young and very small bunny. The next morning I got up early to check for myself if it was still ok and....believe it or not............it was dead too!

At this point we thought...ok that's it......no more bunnies!

Kids kept asking about bunnies though, so we decided to try one last time. This time we got 2 big adult bunnies and guess what? They both made it through the first night.

But soon the curse struck again and Sue called me one day and said it looked like one of the bunnies was having a seizure. It was shaking and moving uncontrollably. When I came home it seemed ok, but the next morning it never woke up. Bunny number 3 had gone to meet its maker! Can you believe that?
At this point bunny number 4 is still alive, but we fear for the worst.....when will the curse strike again?