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.
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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.
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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?
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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...

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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.

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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.



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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.

KD turns 12!!

Today KD celebrated his 12th birthday! It's so hard to believe. We are planning to have a paintball party for all the boys sometime in April, but wanted to make sure we did a little something special for him on his actual birth date. So, he invited a few friends to go with him to the movie and then back to our house for supper, cake and ice cream. He also had his best friend spend the night. He didn't say too much about all of it, but I think he had a nice time.

Notice how the frosting is starting to run at this point...such is life here in the tropics...

With his brothers and friends.

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We were looking through some old photos this week for something else and I ran across these of him when he was little. I thought his birthday was the perfect opportunity to share them on here. My adorable little boy is growing up into a wonderful and responsible young man. He's still adorable (I'm his mom, I can say that) but he's growing up and it's hard. Not that I would want him to stay little his whole life, but I miss that little boy sometimes.:-) Ok, how cute is this face????

While looking through the photos I also ran across this photo taken 5 years ago for his birthday. These three boys are (amazingly enough) still here and still good friends of KD's. The boy in the back was unable to come to the movie last night but the other two were here. Look how much they all have grown and changed!
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We are on Spring Break! Yeah! It's the first time our school has ever had a week-long spring break. We are going away for a few days, leaving early Sunday and will be back on Friday (see below) so I won't be checking in before then. I will post pictures and stories from our trip when I return. Hope you all have a great week!!