9 kids...oh my!

So we've had 4 of my sister Anna's kids staying with us the last few days - ages 7 months, 3, 5 and 8 - while she is in India with her husband and older daughter. So, for the last 3 days (and 2 more to go), I have been the mother of 9 kids. Not only that but a single mother, as Craig is still out of town. Anna figured it out and said that technically, I really could have had all these kids as none of their ages line up so they really all could be mine - if I had been crazy enough to have 9 kids (I have a lot more respect for my friend Diana Rosdahl who has 9 kids - maybe not all this close though). We are kind of in survival mode - taking it a day at a time. It's been fun for the kids to be all together. My kids didn't know Anna's kids very well since, over the past few years, we've only seen them once a year since they were living in Singapore. It's fun to get to know our cousins better and spend some time with them. Maybe we know them too well now!

Friday night we had a 'movie night'. We're still trying to get unpacked and settled so needless to say, we don't have a TV set up yet. So, we pushed back the kitchen table and made a 'movie theater' in front of the computer. We downloaded the movie 'Quest for Camelot', got out blankets and pillows, add some popcorn, and wala - it's a movie night! The kids had fun and I enjoyed a pretty quiet house for a while.

Singapore Update

Yea - we finally got our shipment and so we now have a computer. I was told after I got here that I should have sent my computer with my air shipment so it would have been here right away. I guess you learn these things with experience. It's hard to live without a computer (or phone - I didn't have either for a while). I don't have much time (I have a house to unpack an organize as well as the rest of life) but I wanted to post some pictures from our first few weeks here in Singapore.

We arrived on a Saturday and then Monday was National Day here in Singapore - like our 4th of July. We went downtown to see some of the festivities. The streets were lined with army tanks - getting ready for a big parade.

We went to the Raffles Hotel. Singapore was first established as a British colony thru the East India Trading Company (sounds familiar if you've seen Pirates of the Caribbean). There are many buildings downtown that are from this era of Singapore history that have a very British look. This hotel is quite famous (as is the Tiffin Room restaurant is houses). It's really a beautiful structure and grounds.


We walked around some of the government buildings, both old and new.

Looking out over the Singapore River.
This picture is for Grandpa Bruschke. Before we came he sent us information about this unique hotel/casino (The Sands) that a big Las Vegas company built to help increase tourism here. Apparently it has an amazing 'no end' pool that is the entire length of that upper 'ship' looking thing. Hopefully one day we'll make it up there to see it.
The kids started school last week. It's been nice for them to have a schedule and routine. We moved into our house a week before our stuff came and just camped out with mats for sleeping and cardboard boxes for a table. The kids wanted to be close to school so they could just walk and our hotel was so far away. It was nice to have a place to call 'home', even if it was empty.
Our shipment arrived Saturday - yea! Never has couches, beds, and tables looked so good. It was a HUGE blessing because Craig left Sunday for a two week business trip so it was super nice to have him here to help get everything set up and organized. We're still unpacking boxes and trying to find a place for everything - it may take a while. It's nice to know that if we need something, it is here somewhere - although sometimes a treasure hunt to find it (still haven't come across the power cord for the printer). We're also moving on to trying to set stuff up and plug things in. Just this morning, Ashlyn and I blew a power strip and electrical outlet - it's all very confusing - what can plug into what without blowing. Hopefully we won't have too many casualties.

We're getting used to our new life here - in some ways it's just the same and in other ways it's very different. We miss our friends and family back home but look forward to getting out and seeing what this part of the world has to offer.

We made it!

So we made it to Singapore! Actually, the trip really wasn't so bad. Long, as expected (17 hours of air time), but the kids actually slept the majority of the way so it was fairly painless. They watched a few movies, fell asleep, woke up in Japan and walk around a bit, watched a bit more TV, fell back asleep, woke up to land in Singapore. Besides a lot of cramped sleeping, not too bad. We got in at 1:00 in the morning and arrived at our hotel around 2. Surprisingly, everyone seemed to be able to go right back to sleep until the morning (I had to wake the older kids up for breakfast). However, we have been a bit jet lagged since - getting very tired in the late afternoon/early evenings. We're staying in a hotel right down town which is fun (downtown Singapore looks alot like Time Square in New York - but much greener and cleaner). They actually booked us two suites to try and accommodate our family. The bad thing is, not only do they not connect but they are a bit down the hall from eachother. So we have Ashlyn, Dallin, and Breann in one and the rest of us in the other. The good thing is, they are very nice rooms. We get access to the Royal Club up on the top floor for special breakfast, high tea, and evening coctails. We like to go up for 'high tea' and get a nice tray of sandwiches, scones, cakes and cookies - and the kids get free soda's there so they're loving it. We're booked here for a week and then hopefully our stuff (furniture and household goods) will be here. On Saturday, we did a walk thru and got the keys to our house and then took the kids to see it. The kids LOVE the house and are very anxious to move in.

The kids seem to like Singapore so far - they are impressed by how green and beautiful it is. They have a little bit of a problem with the food (well, mainly Ashlyn) - not too fond of any of the local cuisine. Luckily, last night we found a California Pizza Kitchen which made them happy. It was nice to go to church on Sunday - gives the kids hope for future friends. The ward seems reallly wonderful and there seems to be tons of kids our kids ages. They're up to 8 beehives now - I think 6 of them are in 8th grade and all but one go to SAS (Singapore American School). That's good for Ashlyn. We met a really neat family who was there for the first time also who acutally live on our same street and have a boy Dallin's age who is also attending SAS - he seems to be someone Dallin will get along well with. Dallin loved his Sunday School teacher who works for e-bay and really hit if off with Dallin. There seems to be many wonderful families and tons of people with kids that live very near us. We feel blessed to have found a home we love in such a great location. The kids LOVE the house and are very anxious to move in. Yesterday we were trying to figure out what to do since it was National Day and Craig had work off. Craig was frustrated because here we are in a new place with tons to explore and the kids just wanted to swim in the hotel pool and go sit in our empty house. I realized how much the kids are tired of being 'entertained' (because we've had to take them all kinds of places to keep from sitting in hotel rooms) - they really crave 'normalicy'. Hopefully our stuff will come this weekend - it's scheduled to come Monday. The kids also start school Monday which will give them some normal routines.

Yesterday was National Day here in Singapore (like our 4th of July) so Craig had work off. We took the kids down to the Civic Center area to see the Raffles Hotel (a really neat hotel from when Singapore was a British colony in the late 1800's) and the government buildings. There was alot going on down there due to the National Day Celebrations. We had to kind of 'drag' the kids but I think they enjoyed seeing everything when all was done (although, they were quite sweaty).

The kids still really miss their friends in Danville - it will take some time for this to feel like home (just like when we moved from Arizona - it took about a year before they didn't say they wanted to move back). It's a bit harder this time (or maybe easier, I'm not sure) since they know it's a temporary move. The older two kids have some trips to look forward to in the near future (girls camp for Ashlyn in Indonesia, 'school without walls' trip for Ashlyn and Dallin in Malaysia and Indonesia, and a temple trip to the Phillipines for Ashlyn) and this helps them be excited about the adventures they will have here. I know that starting school will also help as this will help them make friends, be involved, and have normal routines. We also look forward to lots of visitors!

We'll post pictures when our home computer arrives and gets all set-up.