All Packed Up

Another trip - This time the flight is an hour and fifteen minutes, but the plane leaves at 9am and I am NOT a morning person. I should be getting ready for bed, which I will do in a minute. :)

I planned a trip to Idaho to visit my mom. Ms. A and I are meeting her in Boise, driving to the Twin Falls Temple Open House and heading to Shelley, Idaho where we'll meet Sara, Mr. P and Ms. E. Tuesday we are heading to Utah to visit my grandmother, family, friends and to see the Salt Lake city sites. Friday is the Rexburg Folk Dance Festival, a Kearsley tradition for a long time!. Saturday is my dad's family reunion. It will be wonderful to see everyone.

Washington County Fair

The Washington County Fair was up and running while Allen, Reed's dad, was here for a visit. We thought it would be a fun place to go.

The animals were enjoyable. Ms. A loved petting the rabbit, rooster, sheep and other animals.
She was even more excited about the rides. Grandpa Allen bought her a ride pass (thanks!) and she was off and running. She rode the rides all by herself and had a grand time. The first time around for some of the rides was a bit unsettling, but she quickly got the hang of it.

Our little girl is quite the daredevil. She loved the roller coasters and ran to the swing ride. I loved watching her hand her pass to the attendant and then she would choose which seat she wanted. We had a great time. I was a little sad at watching go on the rides ALL BY HERSELF! Our little girl is growing up.
After the rides Allen bought YUMMY ice cream for us to cool off , plus you can't visit a county fair and not get ice cream and an elephant ear or funnel cake (which we had earlier - I love fair food).

Serenade

I went to check on Ms. A during her naptime when I heard her sweet little voice singing. I had to wait until the end of the song before I got her out of the bed.
She loves to make up songs and share them with us.

Coming for a Visit

Bedding Changed - Done :)
Floors Vacuumed - Done :)
House Dusted - Done BIG :) (I can breathe again! Hooray!)
Kitchen Cleaned - Done :)

Anxiously Awaiting Grandpa Allen - In the Process! :)


Reed's dad is visiting for the weekend. His parents are building a home in Spokane and trying to selling a home in Virginia, so Allen is here and Gayla is in Virginia. We haven't seen them since Ms. A's second birthday, so we are very excited about his visit and looking forward to more now that they will be closer.

Ms. A has been having a difficult time recognizing who Grandpa Allen is. She keeps asking if Sonja is coming. I think she misses our friends Alan and Sonja who are in Malaysia. We explained to her that it's daddy's dad who is coming, so I think she understands a bit more. :)

Happy Birthday, Ms. E

Happy Birthday!

Ms. E is six years old today!

When Ms. A woke up this morning, I reminded her that it was Ms. E's birthday. At the top of the stairs she sang Ms. E a Happy Birthday song. It was so sweet to hear her birthday wishes for her cousin.

Here are a few pictures of the fairies of Pixie Hollow :)

Sara made these adorable skirts for each of the girls. She also cut out wings for them to decorate. Ms. A was very excited about her wings and playing with the big girls.

I love the picture of Ms. A 'helping' Ms. E blowing out her candles. We'll have to talk to her about that when her blowing becomes a bit stronger.


For more pictures and info check out Sara's blog. (I'm a bit obsessed with getting pictures edited and posted, so it may take a bit more time for Sara to post, since she's not like me and my picture fetish.)

Sand in the City

We visited the Art Museum on Friday with Sara, Mr. P , Ms. E, Meredith, my cousin, and her daughter, Ms. L. It was wonderful to see Meredith and her sweet little girl! While the adults enjoyed the art, the children had a difficult time, especially Ms. A. We have taken her to several museums while we were in Greece and Egypt and I think she filled her quota for a few years. We were introduced to the Discovery Area, which was designed as an introduction to art for children. Ms. A , Mr. P and Ms. E enjoyed that area!

Ms. A has been wanting some pink sunglasses, thankfully Ms. E let her borrow hers for a couple of pictures. :)



We rode MAX into Portland and on our ride I noticed an advertisement for Sand in the City in downtown PDX. We decided to visit that as well. The kids had a blast playing in the sand while the adults enjoyed watching the sand sculpturing. It was a great afternoon.

(Thanks for the pics Aunt Sara, my battery died after the first picture.) For more pictures check out Sara's blog.

15th of July

I love celebrating the Fourth of July and since we were out of the country, we missed the fireworks. Sara graciously purchased a few fireworks so we could celebrate when we came home. We invited Jen, Garry and their children. Ms. A was tickled to see Mr. A . She put her arms around him as they shared the chair. She really missed her friend. It was wonderful to watch them play together.

The kids loved the fireworks and the sparklers. Ms. A had a fun time waving the sparklers.

We had a great time catching up with our friends and family.

Thanks Sara for the pictures. After so many photo taking experiences, we forgot our camera for the fireworks. :)

Update

We are safely home and unpacked. Sara took such great care of our home! Ms. A, Mr. P and Ms. E have been in heaven playing with one another. It's been such a joy to see them play together. Yesterday, I went to check on them and there were Ms. E and Ms. A in one corner of her room playing ponies and Mr. P was on the other side of the room playing with Ms. A's new toys. It was great seeing them together again.

I am so excited to see our friends and catch up on our lives. Last night Jen and Ms. E came over for a quick visit. Little Ms. E is no longer a baby! She's still adorable as ever. We had a great visit with Jen. It was fun to hear a bit about her family's vacation in Jerusalem.

We have been so happy to be home. When I opened the doors to the laundry, I jokingly told Reed that I heard angels sing! It was great to clean our clothes in 3 hours instead of 8 and I know that the clothes were CLEAN and NOT WRINKLED!

I was so tickled to turn on the internet and see things come up so quickly and consistently! Hurray!

The only difficultly I've had is sleeping. I'm not a morning person, so when I woke up at 7am I was so frustrated that I couldn't sleep any more. This is probably a good thing, time will tell. :)

Last night we asked Ms. E and Ms. A if they wanted to sleep in the same room, which they replied very excitedly, Yes! After a reading a story and giving kisses, I wished them a good night. This morning I went to check on our sleeping beauties and had a chuckle when I saw them both asleep with pillows cast aside. How can life get any better?

DUCK Tour and Sultan Mosque

For our last full day in Singapore, Reed and I decided to go on a land/water tour of the Marina area. After riding the bus and train, then walking down to the marina, we found DUCK Tours.

On our way to the marina, we saw the Singapore Flyer and the War Memorial. The Flyer takes 37 minutes to complete one circle, we decided the pictures of the flyer would be sufficient. The War Memorial represents the civilians who died during World War II. The four towers symbolize the four nationalities of Singapore, Chinese, Malay, Indian and minorities.

The DUCK tour was fun. The vehicle was used during WWII as a land/water assault vehicle. We went into the river first and saw the Esplanade Theatres which boast over 7000 spikes on the roofline. It is Singapore's equivalent of Sydney's famous Opera House, except that the two-lobed spiky Singaporean version deliberately bears a striking resemblance to durian. The Merlion reminds the Singaporeans of their history as a small fishing village (fish) and then the modernization (lion) of Singapore by Sir Raffles. As Singapore's official symbol, it is 28.2 feet tall and weighing 70 tons, spouts water daily on the south bank of the mouth of the Singapore river.
(info source)

Ms. A loved the water part of the tour. The breeze felt so wonderful and she loves the water.

We visited the Sultan Mosque after a scenic walk from the Suntec City Mall (one of MANY malls in Singapore). It was very impressive. I loved the massive gold onion-like dome.

Chinatown and Little India

This is the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple. We were impressed by the size of the building. It was huge. The doors inside were closed, so we couldn't enter. The interior opens every day at 4:30AM, 10:30AM and 7:30PM for the monks to pray. We enjoyed looking at the exterior.


Sri Mariamman Temple is a Hindu temple built in 1827. It is the oldest Indian Temple in Singapore. the statuary on the exterior is typical of Hindu temples, but still very impressive.











" The Masjid Abdul Gafoor contains a sundial above its entrance. It is the only mosque with a sundial throughout the Islamic world. The sunburst has 25 rays decorated with Arabic calligraphy which denotes the names of 25 chosen Prophets. It was completed in 1907 and has a unique blend of Moorish-Islamic and South Indian architectural styles. I loved the green, yellow and white color combination. All the stars and crescents adorned the mosque beautifully.

Peanuts and Ponies

We found this nice Chinese restaurant in Chinatown's Food Street where they served steamed peanuts as an appetizer. Reed opened up his chopsticks and Ms. A was instantly mesmerized. She had to try the chopsticks too. She did a pretty good job for a first timer, but decided that toothpicks were better. She grabbed the peanut, pushed it onto the toothpick, and then placed it on her spoon for her to eat. It was a delight to watch her methodically eat the peanuts.


We are staying at the Rider's Lodge, which used to be the Singapore Turf Club. It is a new hotel surrounded by trees and bushes. Yesterday Ms. A and I found Jimmy the pony in an enclosure. We were very excited that he was there for pony rides, but we didn't know where or how much it cost to ride him. As we were heading to our room, we met the hotel owner or manager. We asked him about the pony rides and he gave us 2 complimentary tickets! After our site-seeing, we discovered that Jimmy was there. Ms. A was tickled about riding Jimmy. She beamed the whole way around. We decided to let her use both tickets and she was even more excited. During her second ride, an employee told us to ask the front desk for more tickets if we want to tomorrow. I'm sure Ms. A will be more than willing to go again. As we were leaving, she said goodbye to Jimmy and thanked him for the ride.

First Impression - Singapore

I love Singapore! We heard it was a beautiful place and that the public transportation was top-notch, but seeing is definitely believing. When were leaving the airport, we went to the taxi stand and there was a taxi waiting for us, no need to ask for assistance or barter the price. :) He used a meter and was very friendly. As we drove to our hotel I was struck by the greenery. Even the overpasses, bridges, and ramps had flowering bushes on either side of them. The median between traffic was beautifully landscaped. It was a delightful sight after all the busy cities we've visited.

Reed and I also talked about the friendliness of everyone, even the street vendors are polite, they didn't follow or hound us to check out their items. They simply invited us and if we said no, they accepted it. :)

Today as we were driving to our hotel, I noticed the taxi driver's screen. I watched as a notice was displayed regarding a lost item at the airport. We were told if something gets lost within the transportation arena, you give notice to the authorities and the item, if it was in any vehicle, bus, or train, will be returned within an hour. Hopefully, we won't need this service, but it's great to know about it.

All Packed Up!

Yes, we are leaving tomorrow afternoon. We are so excited to be heading home after a brief visit to Singapore! The suitcases are packed except the laptops and a few other items.

Ms. A has been quite the little helper in getting things ready until I started packing her toys. Suddenly, items that she's forgotten about have become her new favorite toy. Thank goodness for her three hour nap today. I was able to get everything packed up and ready to go!

Ms. A has been so anxious about leaving, she's had a hard time sleeping. She keeps talking about her pink net that her friend, Mr. A, gave her. She is so excited to share it with her cousins.

Great video

I was visiting my friend Rachel's blog and she had this fabulous video on it for all those husbands of card making wives. I had a great time watching Matt make a card. It turned out perfectly.

Enjoy!!

Penang Primary

These are the amazing children from the Penang Branch. Since today was our last Sunday, I took a picture of the Primary. There were four children missing. Caitlin and Swan are the Primary Presidency with Caitlin being the President. They have a Nursery leader and her assistant, a CTR teacher and I taught half of the Valiants, Swan taught the older half as well as being the chorister and Caitlin's counselor. I taught the 9 and 10 year olds. I had four children in my class, Addy, Eugene, Eunice and Ewin (not pictured). It was wonderful to teach them from the Book of Mormon. They are a wonderful group of children. It was an amazing experience watching the children learn and grow in the gospel.

Back Row, left to right: Caitlin, Adrian, Eugene, Gabriel, Arron, Addy, NgeeYong, Kelvin, Sabrina and Eunice.
Front Row, left to right: Ichi, Sister Iman and Asani

The children sang "God Be With You 'Til We Meet Again" for the closing song in Sharing Time. It was the perfect way to say our farewells. It was hard not to cry. I will miss you all. :)

Penang Branch

We have the most wonderful branch here in Penang!

One of the first things I did before our move was to find out if there was a congregation established and how close it was to our new home. I was delighted to learn that our church had a branch. The branch members opened their hearts and arms to welcome us. We have made some wonderful friends and it is 15 minutes from our home. I knew we would have a support system in place should we need anything. It will be difficult to leave them.

Tonight, the members threw a farewell party for us. We had a wonderful evening. We were so touched by their love. Here are a few pictures of some of our friends.

Danny and Ms. A bonded immediately. Every Sunday she would look for him and then run to him for a hug and some playing time. Whenever we talk about going to church, she'll ask if Danny will be there.

Caitlin and Ms. A were instantly friends. Our first Sunday she excitedly grabbed Caitlin's hand as she took Ms. A to Nursery. Caitlin is the Primary President. Ms. A constantly refers to Caitlin as her friend. She loves to draw pictures for her and will sit with Caitlin during sacrament meeting. Caitlin is an amazing person and has been a dear friend of mine as well. We will miss her dearly.

Here is a picture of some of the members in our branch.
Back Row Left to Right: President Chung, Danny, Ms. A, Ricky, Heather, Sister Yoko (Ms. A's Nursery Teacher), Sister Lim, Papa (Sister Yoko's husband), Brother Lim and Caitlin.
Front Row Left to Right: Asani, Sister Imai, Yuzaburo (he's in Ms. A's class at church), Wendy (Danny's daughter), Reed, and Batbold.

WE WILL MISS YOU!

Freedom

This is my first Fourth of July in a foreign country. With the time we've spent away from home and in visiting other countries, I have come to realize even more the precious gift of freedom. To be able to do and say what you want without fear of what may happen is an amazing gift. I am so grateful to the men and women now and in our country's past who have fought, lived and died to protect this AMAZING GIFT! How blessed I truly feel. Thank you for your sacrifice, courage and strength!

"Loving your country shouldn't just mean watching fireworks on the Fourth of July. Loving your country must mean accepting your responsibility to do your part to change it," said Barack Obama in a speech in Colorado Springs July 2, 2008.

*HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY *

Beware, Bodily Function Story Below

All my life, I've been a bit squeamish about bodily functions stories. My mom and sisters loved to test my boundaries in this department. I have to admit being a mom has allowed me the opportunity of overcoming this personality quirk in a way that can be quite entertaining. Below is one of those FUNNY MOM/CHILD - BODILY Function experiences that I loathed when I was younger. This is one of those stories a parent relishes in telling to embarrass their teenager, so hopefully Ms. A won't be too upset in the future. It is a POOP story, so be aware that I warned you.

Ms. A has been having issues with her bowels, to the point that we have had to resort to giving her a mild laxative to help her out. We've also given her fiber-rich food and lots of water, but she's still afraid to poop. The other day I gave it to her and waited for the 24 hours it has taken before. When I went to take a shower the next morning, I heard this cry for "MOM!" I ran into the living room hoping to raced to the bathroom before anything happened, but I didn't succeed. There was she was standing on the sofa saying 'Mommy, I pooped!' with one foot on the cushion and the other on the back of the sofa. I grabbed her and with her legs opened, we ran to the bathroom.

I stripped her down and with poop falling out of her panties, set her on the toilet. We quickly discovered remnants down her leg, on her socks and to her great dismay - on the toilet seat! When I asked her if she wanted to use mommy's bathroom, she quickly agreed. We ran to the other bathroom and made it to the tub without any accidents. When I started to rinse her off, she informed me that she still had poops. I told her we had to clean her legs or the other toilet would be dirty. She quickly accepted my logic, I hurriedly rinse her off and put her on the toilet to finish her job. After all that, she of course got a shower to clean everything off. As I was washing her, she pleaded for me not to wash her hair! Check out why! After everything was cleaned, I took her back to the living room. She refused to sit on the sofa without a towel, apparently she thought the cushions were dirty. (they weren't)

Later Reed and I had a chuckled as I related the story to him. Secretly, I wished he could have shared in the experience. I should have been quiet though. We put Ms. A to bed, when a half-hour later I heard her crying. Normally we ignore it, but since she had a hard day, I figured she needed some cuddles and loves. When I went inside, Ms. A stated "I pooped!" Yes, she did, and on her favorite blankie which helps her sleep. Reed and I cleaned her and the soiled clothes and blanket. And I put in my second batch of laundry that day. :)
When Reed went to bathe her, she was a bit disgusted when he tried to put her in the shower with tiny poops flecks on the floor. She started to cry and I quickly took her to our bathroom and a cleaner tub. On the way Ms. A commented that my tub was cleaner than daddy's. She had her second bath of the day with the same request of no hair washing. :) You can see how strongly she feels about her hair being washed.

When I put her to bed, she said she couldn't sleep without her blankie. I explained where her blanket was and promised that I would bring it to her as soon as it was clean. That didn't help, so I gave her to Reed to cuddle with and he put her to bed with the reassurance that mommy was cleaning her blanket and that 'She was brave and could sleep without her blanket.'

The next morning Ms. A carried her blankie all over the house. We have all recovered and we are anxiously waiting to come home with the hope that her little system will be happier with American food.