We love Bali!!!

They say 3 times a charm...well the 3rd time for us was as charming as ever!

The Balinese people are content, religious, laid back and so resourceful, they just make due with what they have.  We could all learn from these sweet, beautiful people.

This post is long, but Spencer was so great at capturing our trip, and like I said before:

WE LOVE BALI

Jory, Mandy and Cayden were with us in Singapore just 1 day, before we whisked them off to Bali for 6 days of culture, adventure, r & r and just plain FUN!

as always, Spen has us at the airport plenty early :)

and after a 2 1/2 hr flight, we arrived at our Villa

it was gorgeous!

 Sunday:  we were up bright and early for our 2 hour ride to church and to do some touring around the southern end of the island

the kids room

the view off our deck

here we are in Sunday School
largest crowd they've seen

Primary

outside the church
It is held in the home of Heru, in his music studio

there's Pop chatting with the neighbors after church

here we are all snug as a bug in our bus heading for some lunch and to see the sights

...and speaking of sights :O

Our driver took us to this blow hole in Uluwatu

so this is where Ava got it...we are in Asia

wanted her pic taken with the girls

Cayden was such a good sport walking all over in his broken ankle boot
and he was always surrounded by the girls
They love him!

Uluwatu Temple

I guess monkey's like to swim too

and this is what the teens thought about all this site seeing in the sweltering heat

so, back to our little piece of heaven

there were 2 massage tables and we had ladies come a couple of nights to give us massages
Nan gave the girls a try at it

morning swim before heading out for the day

On our way to the beach we stopped to see a 'local house'
here's the kitchen, that is generally shared by all of the extended family

 Jory and Mandy getting  hounded by salesmen

 Sanur Beach is my favorite of all the many beaches I have been too.  I didn't say prettiest, but overall fave!  And let me tell you why.  Where else can you park it on a chair the entire day and receive lunch, drinks, facials, pedicures, massages, hair braiding and even shopping delivered to you???  I also love the shade that comes in every afternoon, and the calm water that is so fun for swimming for the kids.

Pop and Jory went for a walk, and came back with some 'friends'

enjoying the street shops

Cason, we love you!

Cayden even figured out how to swim with a broken ankle, with a little help from nan and pop

whats new??? The Stevens girls hauled their dad off for a photo shoot.  After weeding through 100's of pictures, here are some of the highlights...

Cayden enjoying his 1st facial

another thing I love about this beach is that in the afternoon, all these cute local kids come out to play,
 while their mom's work in the shops.  They are darling!

they each formed a  mound of sand as a little stool and sat in a circle playing games

we really wished that we could have communicated with them better

Ans and Abbie, this girl is your competition.
She had all these kids in line doing just what she told them too.

 The next morning we were off for our bike ride, but not before snapping a few shots of this paradise we were staying in.

we drove up into the mountains to begin our ride throught the rice paddies and villages

 and we are ready to go...here are some of the sights along the way

Nan wanted to stop at this pig farm. It wasn't acutally part of the tour,
but other than the smell, it was pretty cool

the food for the pigs is gathered from restaraunts and hotel leftovers

then boiled in these huge kettles
thank heavens

yum

and outside they were bagging up the rice that had been out drying

this drain from the pig farm goes right into the irrigation water to fertilize the rice
looks a little different
gross, but genius
I love how the Balinese people make use of everything

we saw so many of these bikes belonging to the workers in the rice fields

lunch

delicious!!!  Made by the wife of Bagi, who owns Banyan Tree Cycling Tours
I would HIGHLY recommend them!

Banyan Tree Bike Tours - Bali Cycling, Bali Trekking & White Water Rafting Tour

and after all that I think we wore Ava right out.  She fell asleep in the bus on a little stool, leaning against the wall

Our villa was about a 20 minute walk to Ubud town center, these are some of the sights along the way

when we got into town, we ran into the Bates, a family in our ward

at dinner, Nan ordered 3 plates of food, and all 3 came before any of ours!
Stel and Ava were on each side of her starving, and they just looked at her.
We all got a good laugh out of it.

River Trip-we booked ours through Bagi, who also did our bike ride.  He is a great guide and we really enjoyed getting to know him.

it was such a fun river, white water most of the way

although this drop off wasn't so fun :o

Stel and Ava sat holding hands and giggling the whole time
too bad they aren't smiling here

Our guide, Bagi, was so cute with them.  He made very sure they were safe and well taken care of

and once again Ava is worn out...what a nice sissy

 Monkey Forest:  a beautiful forest, FILLED with monkeys...hence the name :)

too cute...Pops little buddy

these monkeys sure take good care of each other
we could learn a thing or 2 from them

I saw 6 people get bit this time, and yes, Britta got bit again!!!
These monkeys are getting agressive
But this one just wanted Cayden's backpack strap

 Cayden told us he wanted to visit a school.  So we asked our driver, and sure enough, being the Balinese that he was, he took us to one.

the local supermarket buying supplies

here's what the classrooms looked like
I think they could use a few supplies
very humbling after having my girls go to SAS

sorting

and hugs all around, Nan was the 'hugger'

we taught them some songs and sang "I Am a Child of God" to them

then these 2 girls did a traditional Balinese dance for us

and then we all just played...play is international, it defies language barriers

Nan likes the boys :)

Stel was taking this play pretty seriously singing 'Down by the Banks"

while everyone was in groups playing games, I saw this sweet little girl sitting all alone.
I went to sit by her, and noticed that she had a sore on her knee thas was incredibly infected.
I asked if there was a doctor nearby.  She and I walked down the dirt road about 5 minutes to a little clinic.
 the doctor cleaned out her wound, put medication on it, and sent us with an antibiotic,
all for the equivalent of only 2 US dollars!!
Because of Cayden's desire to go to a school, this little girl was saved from what could have been a serious infection.
It was a very humbling experience for me, and I was so grateful we had prayed, not only that morning, but per Nan's request, just before we went into the school grounds, to have the Spirit with us as we went about our day.

It was heart warming for me to see my girls
loving and interacting with these sweet children

and here's a Mom picking up her girls after school
This experience was such a good reminder for us all of how much we have, and what is expected

 More beach fun...

Ava was so kind to let these cute local boys play with her 'Dolphy'

until she noticed that 1/2 of them were naked

she and Stel took short order of that deal

they marched right up the beach and immediately coated him in hand sanitizer
we were all laughing

Sea Kayaking

hot case anyone?

we enjoyed dinner as the sun went down in this gorgeous place

love these 2!

 The next morning we wake up to Pop, out working the rice fields with the ladies.

they even gave him a hat

this pic shows how close we were to the rice fields

then he went out front and started working construction

The Balinese people spend an average of 30% of their income on their religion.
Makes us Mormons look like slackers :}
Most of that money goes into making these offerings that they put everywhere!
They are made of weaved palm leaves, filled with rice, flowers, fruit etc..
the offering lady came by each morning

here's one she placed on this Buddha

Asian style

do we really have to leave this place?