'Twas the week before Christmas

The kids were out of school with a week until Christmas. The first thing they were most anxious about was Christmas shopping for each other - so that was our Monday activity. Tuesday we headed to the movies to see Arthur's Christmas - help us get into the Christmas spirit (it's hard here since the weather doesn't change). Wednesday it was Christmas caroling at a senior care center with friends from our ward. It was fun to see those lives touched by the sweet music and most of all the care.

Friday was ice skating - it's amazing you can find some ice in this tropical place! This has become a tradition with friends the week before Christmas. A highlight of the season for the kids.

Saturday - Christmas Eve - our traditional 'Joseph and Mary hike' at McRichie Reservoir. This year we invited my sister and her family to come along. We were lucky to just beat the rain and get a few hours of hiking in. Then home to our traditional Christmas Eve tamale dinner and a Christ centered evening.

All leading up to the festivities of Christmas morning. It's been a great week and a wonderful Christmas. We now look forward to a visit from Craig's parents this next week and a trip to Krabi, Thailand - before the kids return to the normal school routines.

Shanghai getaway

Craig has traditionally had meetings in Shanghai, China at the end of the calender year. Each time he goes, he does alot of fun shopping so last year I decided that next time I was going to join him. Luckily there was a next time and I got my Shanghai shopping experience. I also felt like this would be a good chance for me to go to China as I'm not sure we'll make it there as a family (visa's are very expensive).

Shanghai is probably not a great representation of China as a whole as it's really just a big, modern city. However, it is full of some very unique buildings - I enjoyed looking at all the creative architecture.

I did alot of shopping while there - on many streets that look something like this. It's funny because they have this famous street with every store you could imagine on it and then right in the middle is a big mall full of 'knock 0ff's' of the same items.

The Bund is a beautiful area with colonial architecture - from the French occupation. Unfortunately there isn't much history left in Shanghai as most old buildings were destroyed after the Cultural Revolution due to lack of upkeep and widespread destruction.
Luckily there is an 'Old Town' with some historical and very traditional Chinese architecture and shops.

One of my favorite places was the Yu Gardens - beautiful, traditional chinese gardens right in the middle of this big city. I also loved the Shanghai Museum.
A friend from our Arizona days, Bekki Lyman, lives an hour outside of Shanghai and came in to spend a day with me there. It was fun to spend some time visiting, exploring and shopping with her. Funny thing is, I had just seen her a few days before as she was in Singapore with her husband. Overall, a fabulous trip. It was fun to experience cold weather again - something I haven't felt for 2 years!

Birthday Week

Our December birthday celebrations were in full swing last week as we celebrated Ashlyn and Dallin's birthdays. Both birthdays were on Thursday, Dec. 1, but Craig was out of town that night so we celebrated Ashlyn's the day before (Wednesday) and Dallin's the day after (Friday). This way they got their own day of celebration and we had two days to eat one cake before we started on another.

I can't believe I have a child that is 15! It goes so fast. Ashlyn is an incredible girl - she continues to amaze us with her abilities and talents. Craig and I often look at each other and wonder how we got so lucky to have her - she's a true blessing in our lives. Although the teenage thing sure keeps us on our toes! As she reminded us that day - now only 364 days till she can date (lucky for us not drive though - you have to be 18 to drive here).

On the morning of the kids birthday they had visitors. Ashlyn's friend surprised her bright and early and Dallin's 'pose' came over to sing him Happy Birthday and walk him to school. My kids are so lucky to have so many incredible friends - love it! It seemed we had visitors throughout the day and into the night. We had balloons on chairs at school, a pie (baked by three brothers), a girls day with lunch and pedicure, lots of drop in gift and treats - the kids were spoiled.

Friday we celebrated Dallin's birthday. Now we officially have 2 teenagers as he turned 13. Dallin has matured into a remarkable young man. He has grown up so much in the last year - it really amazes us. He's so responsible and thoughtful. He's blessed to have a truly great group of friends that he really enjoys spending time with.
We're lucky to have these two amazing kids in our family - It was wonderful to celebrate them. Next up - Bryant (right after Christmas).

Cebu Temple Trip

This past Thanksgiving weekend, the 'teenagers' and I spent some time in Cebu, Philippines on a youth temple trip. Cebu is one of the closest temples to us - although not our official temple district (we're in Hong Kong Temple district). However, due to proximity as well as it being quite less expensive to get to and stay, this is where our ward has chosen to do the yearly youth temple trip.

Last year Craig and Ashlyn went so this year it was my turn to take the kids. Dallin missed being able to go by just a few days last year so this was his first temple trip experience (although, not his first temple experience as he was able to do baptisms in a few different temples over the summer). A few friends also took their teenagers so it turned into a bit of a 'girls weekend' as well.

This part of the Philippines is probably has the most widespread poverty that I have seen in Asia thus far. In many countries I see pockets of poverty but here it was everywhere. Unfortunately, the Philippines government is quite corrupt so where other Asia countries are improving as foreign companies come, the Philippines still struggles. It seemed more like South America than Asia. Also, it was different to be in a Christian country in Asia as it has a huge Catholic influence since it was once a Spanish colony. The temple is an amazing light in this city.
There were quite a few teenagers that went - needless to say, the kids sure had fun with their friends. They were able to participate in 3 sessions of baptisms over the two days we spent at the temple. Philippines is not the safest place. I've never had to go thru so much security to get to my hotel. We stayed at a Marriott not far from the temple - always nice to have something familiar to go to. Our taxi was always stopped going in and checked - including a sniff dog.
Then coming into the hotel we had to go thru security. Quite an experience. We always just made sure we went places in groups.
Friday night we moved to a resort out on the beach. The kids had so much fun hanging with friends at the beach and pool all day Saturday - we headed back Saturday night. They spent hours pushing eachother off this platform out in the water.


We also rotated on some rented jet ski's - the kids really enjoyed that.

It was such a wonderful trip - getting to spend so much time in the temple and then ending with a fun, relaxing day at the beach. Ashlyn, Dallin and I enjoyed the time together as well as with friends. I'm so grateful my kids have such a great group of youth to spend these years with and make some lasting memories.

Bukit Timah Nature Reserve

It's a holiday in Singapore today (Hari Raya - Muslim holiday) so no school or work. Ashlyn is away at Girls Camp (in Bali - rough) and Dallin went with a friend to the bird park but the rest of us headed to Bukit Timah Nature Reserve - not too far from our home - for a bit of hiking and exploring. Sometimes we forget we live in a jungle/rainforest and take for granted the beauty that is around us.

We did tons of stairs throughout the hike - the kids were troopers.



There are alot of really cool trees in the jungle here - favorite being this twisty one we found.
Also lots of animals - including monkeys. The first ones we came across were a bit shy (notice the one in the tree behind Breann).
This one was posing for pictures and let Bryant get quite close. You have to be careful because some can be quite mean and aggressive.
The kids had fun on the slide after the hike. I told the kids it was a regular game of jungle Chutes and Ladders!

Hallowween 2011

Thought I should put up some pictures of Halloween before we get too far into November. Halloween snuck up on us this year as the kids had Fall Break Thursday and Friday of the week before so they were heading back to school on Halloween. We carved our pumpkins Sunday night (can't do it much more than a day before here, they mold so fast in the heat and humidity).

It's nice to have teenager helpers as carving pumpkins can be time consuming when just dad is handling the knife. The problem was keeping them from fighting over who got to carve what!

The finished masterpieces!
Ashlyn and her friends dressed up for school on Halloween. Ashlyn was a Greek Goddess (I know-I want to reach into the picture and pull the sleeves over the shoulder!).
Alexa was a witch (like both her sisters before her - got to love those hand-me-downs). Bryant was so excited to be Spider Man.
My sister and her family came over for dinner and to spend the afternoon and evening with us. Breann also had a friend from school who joined us, along with her mom.
The kids had fun running the neighborhood trick-or-treating. It was crazy as always - however, I didn't run out of candy this year (2500 pieces was enough this time). Notice the girls running around without shoes on - that's Singapore for you! Breann dressed as a Safari guide.

The loot! A bit of US candy from some who drag it back from the states - mostly local stuff. I do miss raiding all those mini chocolate bars!

Cameron Highlands, Malaysia

This past week I had the great pleasure of spending a few days in Cameron Highlands, Malaysia with my sister - a little getaway into the mountains. The cool, fresh, mountain air was a nice respite to the year round hot and humid air in Singapore. We flew to Kuala Lumpur and then drove about 3 1/2 hours up into the mountains. This place is famous for the tea plantations and agriculture (particularly strawberries).

We saw this beautiful waterfall on the drive up the mountain - there were tons of waterfalls off the sides of the road, this one being the biggest.
We stayed in an old Tudor style colonial home that has been made into a hotel - 'The Lakehouse'. Cameron Highlands began as a getaway for the British who lived in Malaysia during the 1950's. This hotel had that British colonial feel - especially the afternoon tea. It was more like a bed and breakfast and had such a quaint, warm, serene feel - loved it!
The scones and strawberry jam with fresh cream were AMAZING! The setting was just as incredible.
We saw acres and acres of tea plantations- it was really quite breathtaking. We visited three or four different tea plantations during our full day tour. We also learned how the tea leaves are processed to make the black tea that is common for the Malaysian people.
We took a trek thru the local jungle and learned about important plants and bit of the ecosystem that is important to the area. We also learned about medicinal and edible herbs and plants. We were so lucky to have this incredible guide who grew up on the tea plantations (his grandfather came from India to work on the plantations and settled there) and is now an eco biologist.
He took us way deep into the cloud forest to the mossy forest trail - entering what he liked to refer to as 'Pandora'. It was a pretty surreal experience.
If the hills weren't covered in tea bushes, than it was other agriculture. People from the surrounding area come up to Cameron Highlands to buy their fruits and vegetables. The streets were lined with fruit and vegetable stalls.
The tea plantations hire workers (usually men) from other countries (like Bangladesh and Burma) - they live on the plantation for 3-5 years picking tea leaves all day and sending the money home to support their families.
A woman working out in the fields (not very common - it was mostly men).
We also visiting an aborigines village way out in the jungle. Although there are some government projects around (a few houses and water tanks), the people here still live off the jungle - hunting every morning with their dart guns, fishing, and eating the vegetation.
It's a unique experience to see such extremes in the different way so many people live around the world.
Practicing my blow dart skills - good thing I'm on dependent on that for my food (although, don't think I'd want to eat porcupine anyway).
Our last day we spent a little time in Kuala Lumpur (the capital of Malaysia) checking out a bit of the town and, most importantly, doing some shopping. A wonderful getaway!