Busy Week continues...

As I mentioned before, this time of year is a busy time for us at the school. This week has been no exception. It started with KL's piano recital on Monday afternoon. Then on Thursday a.m. his class put on the elementary chapel for the week. They did an Amazing Race video which talked about persevering (The teams played rock, paper, scissors to determine who was going to win the race and KL's team won so they got to win the race...which was fun for them and for his parents :-). At the end of the time they also remembered the moms for Mother's Day by singing a cute song and presenting all the the moms with flowers. It was very sweet. Today Greg and I headed to Carrefour on the mainland (large Wal-Mart type store in case you haven't heard of it before). You can often get things a fair amount cheaper there, so it's worth the trip on occasion to drive there and shop. We were mainly interested in getting stocked up on pet food to last us for the summer while we are in the US. On our way home we swung by another mall to pick up my new glasses (which I had ordered on Wednesday) and Greg bought me an external hard drive as my Mother's Day gift. I know it's not all that exciting, but it's what I wanted. With all the digital scrapbooking I have been doing, it's taking up a lot of room on my regular hard drive. I decided I wanted to get as much of that kind of thing off as I can to help the computer run better, plus I can take it with me places if I want/need to.

Here I am sporting my new glasses...opinions???

On Thursday night we had our annual Staff Farewell banquet. This year we only have to say good-bye to six of our colleagues. Many years it has been double or triple that. We had a nice dinner and then spent the next hour or so "tributing" those who are leaving us. It's always a great evening of fellowship with a many laughs and a few tears mixed in. As many years as we have been here, and as many people as we have seen come and go, it still is hard to say good-bye to those we have come to love and appreciate over the years.
With my good friend, Missy, who is leaving us.

KB left yesterday (Friday) at noon to travel to KL for a basketball tournament. It is his first such trip and he seemed to be excited about going. The boys were being hosted by families from the international school who was hosting the tournament. He called us last evening and said he and another boy, were staying with a single lady who is the middle school counselor at the school. He said she was very nice and had taken them out to Chili's for dinner. We asked him if he was remembering his manners and he assured us he was. :-) He just called me on the phone a few minutes ago and they are just heading back home. It's about a 5 hour drive so he should be here before very late this evening. All in all, it sounds like a very fun time.

Also, yesterday afternoon/evening the school held it's annual Food and Fun Fair. Our group sold banana splits and I was one of the "scoopers" for the evening. It had rained a bit earlier in the afternoon so we weren't sure how things were going to go during the evening, but it turned out to be beautiful weather...overcast and cooler but no rain! Yay! There was a great variety of food sold, including many ethnic and local dishes. There seemed to be a great turnout and I think a good time was had by all. At the end of the evening the Junior class held their Junior for Hire, which they do to raise money for their senior trip and activities next year. I think that proved to be very successful for them, thankfully. We, along with our good friends, hired a boy...not sure yet what we will use him for, but he's the son of some of our other good friends and Kalaiah just adores him...so we might have to use him for babysitting! lol!

KJ trying to win a fish at the Fair.

This is the boy we hired that KJ loves so much.

Tonight I'm attending a church lady's event. It sounds like a great time of food and fellowship so am looking forward to just spending some time with the ladies. I need to get off here and get something prepared to take, however.

Finally, I thought you might enjoy this pictures of Greg and Karl on their birthday...don't you just love Greg in that hat! lol!

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Piano recital, science fair, and sunsets

It's that time of year again...time for piano recitals (and musicals and band concerts etc). We currently only have one of our kids taking piano lessons (KL) and he asks us to let him quit at least once a month. So far we have managed to stand firm in our decision to make him continue through at least next year. We both hate for him to quit because, with a little practice, he could probably be a good piano player. He brought it up again today on the way to the recital. I had to give him the mom speech about how nothing comes easy and free, but that if you work hard for it someday all your hardwork pays off and you can appreciate the journey to get there (as well as the end result). Over all he took it pretty well and let the subject drop. I'm sure he will be bringing it up again next soon. Here is his performance from this afternoon.


Last week we had the annual science fair at our school. It was incredibly hot and very crowded in our small chapel (I think they need a different venue next year). It didn't help any that it was pouring rain outside so no one wanted to go home until it let up. It was hard to get around the room to see all the projects, but most of the ones I did see were very interesting and were well done (I thought). This year all of the projects had to have an interactive component, which was a very neat idea. I think it made the fair more enjoyable for everyone. KD and his group of boys made a homemade seismograph. In the end, I don't think it worked quite as well as they had hoped, but they did put quite a bit of work into it (at least a couple of them did anyway). Here are KD and a couple of the boys from his group posing beside the machine.

Finally, the weekend before last we were blessed by this gorgeous sunset. There are some pretty ones here, but ones like this don't come around everyday.
Have a great week!!

Moonlit Masquerade-JSB 2008

We had a fabulous evening Friday night at JSB. The theme was Moonlit Masquerade and it lived up to it's name. The decorations were gorgeous, the food was wonderful and the program was top notch. Everything went very, very well.

The "dress" thing turned out okay. When I first arrived at school I heard some middle school girls commenting "isn't that the same dress etc.?" before I was ten feet from the car. That bothered me a little bit at first but then I got over it. In the grand scheme of life it's really not that big of a deal. In the end, this girl and I even ended up taking a picture together (which I will post below). Actually, there was another staff member who had on the same dress too! So I have concluded that we all just have good taste! LOL!

Enjoy the pictures of the evening (I think you can click on most of the pictures to make them bigger if you want)!!

Here we are with our masks.
The Varsity boys basketball team and coaches minus the 3 freshman players (only sophomores, juniors and seniors come to the banquet).

These were the table decorations.

The Juniors created very elaborate masks for each of the Seniors and the sponsors.
The Sponsors.
The "same dress" ladies!
The Senior class...please excuse all the chairs and tables in the foreground.

Jacki and I. We were in a gondola in Venice... :-)
Greg and his friend, Karl.
Enjoying the gondola "ride". What you don't see, that I photoshopped (poorly) out, was a lady and a man (tourists) who were in their bathing suits (the man in his speedo) staring in the window behind us while we took the picture!! ...maybe I should have left them in! lol!

Val, Jacki, myself, Missy, Robin and Vicky enjoying the evening. Val and Robin are Junior class sponsors so they (and their spouses and the Juniors) put a lot of work into making the evening so special.

Global Food Crisis: Hunger Plagues Haiti and the World

In case you haven't been keeping up with the food shortage crisis, here is the link http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=8754 to a (very long) article that someone on one of my adoption groups forwarded to the group. It makes me sad to think of the people in Haiti (and other desperately poor countries) struggling so much just to eat. I am SO thankful KJ is with us, but it breaks my heart to think of her family not being able to even get to eat to survive. I have been pondering ways I can help, because even though we have felt the "pinch" of the rising cost of food here, it's nothing compared to what these people are going through.

I am not saying I agree with everything in the article because I am no expert on the subject, but I did find it a very interesting read. Maybe you will too.

Celebrating another birthday

Yesterday Greg celebrated his 41st birthday. He shares the same birthdate with his best friend from college who also happens to work at our school (as the director). Yesterday his friend turned 40, so there was a big to-d0 for him which all the staff attended. At one point during the party, everyone sang happy birthday to Greg as well, so that was fun (but unexpected and a little bit embarrassing for him I think:-). His students brought him many bottles of coke (he's a coke fan and the kids all know it) and our kids gave him a token gift of chocolate covered espresso beans. I made him a nice dinner of steak and baked potatoes. We also had cake and ice cream for him afterwards, to which we invited some friends over to help celebrate. Unfortunately I didn't realize my camera battery was completely dead until I went to take a picture of him with the cake. Our friends did take pictures but it's going to be a few days before I can get my hands on them so there aren't any pictures to post with this udpate. Greg didn't say too much about his day, but all in all, I think he had a nice one.
**********************
Tomorrow night is the Junior-Senior Banquet that I mentioned in my last post. I did find out the young (senior) girl bought "my" dress...I will let you all know how that goes in my next update, which might be a couple of days because we (the seniors and sponsors) will be spending all day Saturday preparing for a "thank-you" dinner and program for the juniors (who put on the banquet for the seniors) be held Saturday night. Lots of work, but lots of fun as well.

Until then....have a good one!

Various things...nothing really exciting

Nothing too exciting has been happening the past couple of weeks since we got back from our spring break...just lots of little things that have been keeping us busy. Greg has been involved in coaching the boys basketball team last week and this week. Yesterday was an exciting finish to the island tournament with our boys earning a bronze medal and the chance to move on the the state tournament which takes place the week after next. The team this year is quite young (only one senior) so they should be even better next year with more experience and maturity. Greg is pleased they have made it as far as they have this year and looks forward to seeing them finish the year playing their best. I will let you know how it turns out. Our boys won the state tournament a couple of years ago and it was very exciting.
******************************************

Today the kids had half a day of school so that the teachers could work on curriculum stuff...great for them, but not as great for me because my day is longer than usual (and I don't much care for the curriculum thing)! Oh well...such is life sometimes! KB and KD are off on a Boy Scout fishing weekend as of this afternoon and KR is having friend spend the night with her (after going to another classmate's bday party this afternoon). Daddy is taking the opportunity to spend some one-on-one time with KL, which I am sure he will love. He took him on the motorcycle to the mall to do a few errands and then they are going to the internet cafe to play some Battlefield...sounds like a great Daddy/son evening, don't you think?
*************************************************

KL's class had a poetry reading in his classroom last night. Unfortunately I forgot to take my camera so I didn't get any pictures, but a friend did. However, she has not given them to me yet so I have none to post. I did get KL to recite his poem again for me here at home so I can add it to the blog for Grandma and Grandpa to see...

*************************************************

This little cicak (pronounced chee-chuck) lizard lives under our microwave...most days I don't mind him, but some days I could do without him (the days he leaves his little dropping on my counter are the worst!). This particular day he was being SO bold. He kept coming out to snatch up some cheese even though we were just feet away cooking! Greg tried to take some pictures, but the lighting wasn't the best . I hope you can see him a little bit (if you click on the picture you can make it bigger and you can see him better)...crazy thing.

The other thing we have been dealing with a lot lately are the cockroaches...I don't know what the deal is but I am about fed up with them! A couple of weekends ago we took a whole afteroon to clean EVERYTHING out of our bathroom, scrubbing it down good and then we cleaned out the cupboard under our kitchen sink, washing everything down and putting contact paper on the shelves...only to have them back as if nothing had been done! Ugh! It's very disconcerting to open the cupboards and drawers only to have things scurrying about..I can't help but scream! I don't know why they are so bad lately, but I just wish they would GO AWAY!*******************************************************
Next Friday night is our annual Junior/Senior Banquet. I went out the other night and bought a new dress for the occasion. I don't like to spend too much money on the evening, but since we are class sponsors I feel I need to get a little nicer outfit than usual. I bought a nice dress from a dress shop in the mall. I like how it fits and am pleased with my purchase. Last night I got a phone call from a colleague (dorm mom). She heard I bought a dress there and asked me which one it was... then she went on to say that one of the girls in her dorm was interested in the dress as well... I hope she decided on a different one. I don't want to be wearing the same dress as a teenage girl (who will probably look much better in it than I will!)...especially if it turns out to be a senior girl since we will be in pictures together! This happened to a friend last year..and the kicker was these two ladies ended up at the same dinner table that night! Greg says he doesn't understand what the big deal is...obviously he has never been a woman.

I will post about the evening after it's over.

***************************************************

Finally, here are a couple of digital layouts I did this past week. As always I am happier with some more than others.

Have a great weekend!!

Spring Break

We are back from our time on Perhentian Island (off the east coast of Malaysia). We had a great time. The weather was cooperative, the water was gorgeous and we managed to return without getting seriously sunburnt! Overall, we think it was a very successful trip! We got up at 5 a.m. on Sunday morning and headed out about 6 or so. A colleague of ours, who had been there recently, said he made the trip to the jetty in four hours, but it took us seven! I don't know how fast he was driving, but I just don't see how you can make it there that quickly! Once we arrived at the jetty it took about an hour for us to be ready to head out on our speed boats. The trip from the mainland to the island takes about half an hour. When we went three years ago the water was choppy which made the ride on the speed boat rough and wet. This time, however, things couldn't have been smoother, for which we were thankful (although the kids loved the wild ride last time!). I am going to post pictures below and tell the story of our time there as I go.

Along the highway, in the highlands, on the way over you see signs like this. We had never actually seen an elephant in the wild on our other two trips over (we had seen plenty of elephant droppings though), this time we were lucky and spotted one along the road. Of course we had to stop and take some pictures of it.

As the kids are all running along the side of the road from the van back to where we had originally spotted the elephant I couldn't help but wonder how wise we were to allow them to be out in the open when there was a wild elephant nearby! I immediatly thought of Yellowstone Park and all the tourists who risk their lives to get a good photo of a bison (and how incredibly ignorant I think people are to approach them that closely). I kept thinking "here we are doing the same thing!" Not that we were that close to the elephant, but still. If it had decided to charge there wouldn't have been much protection to be had there. I am just EXTREMELY glad it didn't!

Here we are on our speed boat and ready to go. KJ was quite excited about the new adventure.

Enjoying the breeze! It was hard to take a photo because of all the bouncing around you were doing while you were trying to take it.

This is the view that greets you when you arrive at Mama's (the place we stayed). Isn't the water beautiful?

Because the water is too shallow and there is too much (dead) coral to approach the shore with the regular speedboats, you have to transfer all of your gear and yourselves to a smaller boat which takes you to shore.

This is the room Greg and I and the girls stayed in (the boys had a separate room in back). It was the same one that we stayed in three years ago as well. It hasn't changed too much, although the bed has been updated (I think). And they have added AC since we were there last so that was very nice to have (even though they turned the electricity off from about 4-7 p.m. everyday).

Besides snorkeling, we rented a kayak a couple of times and enjoyed paddling around looking for turtles. We did not see any the time I went out with Greg and KJ but others were more successful. KJ kept saying she wanted to go back, so we didn't spend too much time out and about.

The boys giving it a try.

On Tuesday the people next door to our cabin checked out and a new family moved in. The first thing we noticed about them was that they were a family like ours...an adoptive family. I am not sure I would have approached them at all, but the father of the family recognized Greg as being one of the coaches of the varsity boys basketball team at our school. This man is the principal at a school in KL and he also coaches his varsity boys team. Because he approached Greg first, it then broke the ice for more visiting and learning about their family. They have two bio children and a little girl who was adopted at birth here in Malaysia, who is of Indian descent. Turns out their bio daughter is only 2 months younger than KR, and they became fast friends. It was such a blessing to have a playmate for her as she had been bored without anyone her age to play with. They ended up doing quite a lot together, including KR's first attempt at snorkeling in deeper water. I don't think she would have been brave enough to try it (believe me we were working and working on her to give it a try but she refused) if it weren't for this other little girl encouraging her. In the end she had a GREAT time seeing all the fish and she is SO glad she decided to do it.

Here they are starting out together (KR on the left).

After they are back to shore.

All finished and so excited.

While the bigger girls were snorkelling the little ones were tired and decided to take a nap on the beach.

Notice the fingers...yes, we have regressed in that department...Waaaahhhhhh!!

On the first day we met this family we were visiting with the grandmother, who was in Malaysia visiting her son and family. One of the first questions you often get asked by someone you don't know is where you are from. When this lady asked me this, I said we were teachers at Dalat school but that we originally came from Wyoming. Looking a bit surprised she asked us where in Wyoming. I told her I was from NE Wyoming but that Greg had grown up in Cody. Then she said, "Oh really, I live in Cody."!!! She went on to tell me that she works at Wal-Mart (checker) four days a week (Sat-Tues) and has been there for 6.5 years (in Cody that is)! So, Grandma, in Cody, here is her picture (along with her son) so you can recognize her next time you are in there (I think she said her name is Jan or something like that). I told her I would tell you to stop by and say "hi" next time you are there (on those days) and let her know who you are!! What are the chances of meeing someone from Cody, WY on our vacation??!!



Finally, here are some other pictures I just wanted to share with you.

KR with her snorkeling gear on.

One of the highlights of the trip for me was being able to see a sea turtle (and touch it!). We didn't see any when we were kayaking but I did make it out snorkeling for a bit one afternoon. If you look at the picture below you can see some real turquoise water past the coral/rocks in the water (almost to the opposite shore...or better yet, click on the picture and you can see it larger). That is where we had the most luck spotting the turtles. I wish we could have gotten pictures of them but none of us had a waterproof disposable camera. I guess we will just have to live with the memories instead.

Here are the kids in our group (minus one boy, not sure where he was at the time).
Looking down the row of the cabins on the beach. Ours is immediately to the left with the sandals leaning up against the porch.
KL and his friend enjoying the sunset.

View of the mainland from the speed boat on the way back to the jetty.



************************************************************



And last but not least, today is my nephew, Rilee's fifth birthday. I am not sure if he will even read this, but if he does I want him to know we are thinking of him today and wishing him a very special day! Hugs and kisses from all your cousins, Rilee. We hope you have a wonderful day! Here is a digital layout I did of him from last summer.