Moving to Texas

I think most of you know this by now but I will post it anyway. The kids finish up the school year June 23rd and we will be moving back to the states shortly after that!!! Danny will have to work in Saudi Arabia every other month for the rest of this year then will be back in the Houston office. So we will be in Louisiana most of the summer and then move to Spring! (The same location we were before this crazy year of moving) We are all very excited to return to our "normal" life back home. We will miss all of our help here!!! I might go into shock and have to learn how to wash clothes again...but I think I will manage!!! I will keep everyone posted and can not wait to see you all.

Natalie= Before we left Houston she was a Blue belt in Tae Kwon Do. She started taking lessons here with a Korean Master and he wanted her to learn the way they do things here...so she has just received her Blue belt and is now at the same level in 2 different forms of TKD. We are very proud of her!

Grey= He is 100% little boy! And I think he is part monkey due to the fact that he climbs on everything and loves bananas! HA!!! His scar is healing very nice. It still has a small scab on the bad side of the wound but the rest of it is barely visible. He said he can not wait to go to Louisiana! I think he just wants to get spoiled by everyone! He wants to be like his sister and take TKD so that should be fun having them both kicking and punching around the house. Maybe we will make a padded room in the new house!

APRIL

Is it really April already???? I guess we have been very busy since my last post in Feb. Most of you know we went on an awesome vacation to Australia and New Zealand. I want to post my favorite pics but this site has changed things and I have yet to figure out how to post pictures! As soon as I figure this out, you will be the first to know! I hope everyone is having a great 2009!

After the "kids" had a peanut butter sandwich

they decided it was time for a nap.

Grey decided he wanted a birthday party at the ice cream shop. They had never had a party there before so I had to ask them if I could show up the next friday with about 20 people. Well you know the answer was YES....They gave me some nice plates to put the cup cakes on and they had balloons inside and out. $50 later...36 scoops of ice cream or sorbet had been consumed with lots of M&M toppings! Grey must be very popular at school. Lots of friends showed up and he got some pretty awesome toys! I made the cup cakes!!!!

Mardi Gras

At the school they encourage us parents to go to the school to teach the kids about different cultures. So since it is Mardi Gras time I decided we could make some mask and necklaces. I brought in my i pod and had the mardi gras music playing...I told them about the floats and beads and king cake. (I did not think the kids would understand why the parents sat in the back of trucks with alcoholic beverages so I left that part out!) We made necklaces with colored noodles...Purple, Gold and Green. Grey and I painted them a few days before so they had time to dry. I think

I had just as much fun as the kids!!! I had to celebrate Mardi Gras in some form!!!!

Rubber Trees

This is a rubber tree farm. All of the trees have little bowls attached to them to collect the rubber. Small incisions are cut into the trees’ bark at night so that latex sap will drip longer before drying out in the tropical sun. Workers collect the tapped latex the following morning. Progressively lower cuts are made in the rubber trees, allowing them to be tapped for many years.
After sufficient amounts are collected, basins of latex are processed with an acid to coagulate it, making the latex more solid. The acid is then removed by rolling the latex under pressure into thin sheets, which are smoked over a fire to stabilize the rubber. In that form the rubber can be exported.

Cu chi Tunnels

These are the tunnels that were used during the "American war" The little Vietnamese men would live underground as long as they had to and set traps for the Americans that would try to get in them. They cooked food in the little kitchen and made trails up to the surface for the smoke to escape. They also made little oxygen holes and made them look like ant hills on the surface. The tunnels are very small. I was very proud of myself for going down in them! It was not a happy place to visit because they show a film on this one guy that was known as the best "rat" killer...aka Americans that found their underground hide out. The kids enjoyed seeing the big holes in the ground from the B 52 bombs!

Happy Chinese New Year

This pic was taken for The Graham's

Festival in the Park

Chinese New Year Celebration

The Flower Festival

Greys trip to the "Kaboda" (pagoda)

Grey was giving the Buddha lucky money

"I am thankful for my scooter"

im sure Buddha loved that one!

This was a field trip set up by the school. We traveled about 1 mile to this Pagoda. Grey calls it the Kaboda and can not change it even we correct him. The kids had a great time learning all about the Buddhist and how they pray. I think they enjoyed feeding the fish and turtles after the tour the best!

The Shack

If you have not read this book already I highly rec. that you go out today and get a copy of it. I have had a lot of spare time and have been reading a new book every week....or every 3-4 days it seems!!! But this book has really touched me and I got a good cry out of it as well. The book is about God and I will leave it at that. I also want to thank one of my very best friends for telling me that I HAD to get the book before I left the states...Thank you Ashley!!!!!

A day in Ho Chi Minh City

anyone in need of a haircut?
fruit stand (very cheap)


Happy New Year sign

bikes only on this side of the bridge

Buddist Temple

baskets for sale

delivery!

Jill and Danny going out on the town!