Celebrating Hari Raya

We were fortunate enough to be invited to Auntie's house for a Hari Raya celebration. This is the time to celebrate the end of Ramandan, and there is lots of food and lots of visiting family and friends.


Our girls were incredibly excited to go back and see Auntie! It was so nice to be back in our nice neighborhood -- and we definitely miss the playground, the quiet street, and most of all, our amazing neighbors. The move has been well-worth it due to the limited commute, but we sure do miss some of the old perks.

After the delicious Malay food, we were treated to some fun doing fireworks. The kids, as always, had a blast with Auntie!

The Benefits of a Van Lady

One of the unexpected perks of our new place is that we have a van lady who comes every Wednesday and Saturday. She pulls up outside of our gate and we can do shopping for some of the many things that she provides. From meat to cereal, we can get a lot of things from the van lady -- without worrying about a trip to the grocery store.



This makes for a nice outing on Saturdays as our kids can help with the shopping. And the Van Lady, Awa, is great with the kids.

UP 3-D and a day out.

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2009


We had a nice afternoon taking the kids to UP 3-D at the Pavilion, an up-scale mall downtown. Nice food at the food court and a nice chance for the kids to watch all the color and the fun story (even the parts that were "a little scary."

Doug's Birthday

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 2009

Doug had a birthday! It was a fun day to celebrate with the family. Low-key, but some nice cake thanks to Tracy's hard work.

Trip to Langkawi

We had a fun time over Merdeka weekend visiting Langkawi. Our adventure began when we got off the airplane and there were no taxis waiting to pick people up. As it was approaching midnight, we were a bit worried. We then heard from people at the airport that there had been lots of rain, and it was difficult to get between the airport and the city. As a result our airport pick-up was not there.


Thankfully, we were able to snag a taxi, and all was fine until we started seeing water on all sides of the road, and then started going through water that was over the road. Some 4 x 4s and larger SUV's were plowing through the water, but our little taxi decided to head down some back roads. . . only to find the bridge washed out and water pouring over the road. It was into reverse, and we slowly made our way over a pedestrian walkway and through little paths that went the way back to the main road. And we were quite happy to pull up to the hotel.



It was a fun two day vacation, and nice to get out of town. The kids had great fun fighting the waves, and we enjoyed some walks on the beach and reading books while dodging more rain.

Rex's Birthday

We had a fabulous time at Rex's Birthday. Complete with a swim party, a clown, some yummy food, and all three kids having a great time!

Reeve and Gabi even got into the dancing during the big dance contest!

Bye-bye Ohio.

SATURDAY, JULY 25, 2009

It was sad to say good bye to summer, departing from our cousins and heading back across the Pacific to Kuala Lumpur. Back to work and back to a routine -- it definitely has its advantages, but the goodbyes never are easy.

The kids had an absolutely amazing summer with their cousins -- it was so fun to see them interacting and playing, riding bikes, walking, making up stories, and exploring. What a great spot during a surprisingly cool summer.

Some pictures from the fun times.
(subtitled: The Jason Quinn & Family show.)

Friends - Gobs of Friends

The Wilson's house was put to big test when our gathering at the park was rained out -- and all the kids of Redeemer crashed at the Wilson's abode to catch up on old friendships. As everyone walked through the door, the refrain of "Wow, you sure are big!" kept coming over and over. The girls had a great time hanging out and catching up.

And how fun to see Reeve with his Indianapolis friends.

Kids-- Gobs of Kids!

With the Woodwards and Herns invading the Wilson's abode, there was a massive influx of kids. Imagine all the boys (all seven of them) strewn across a room, falling asleep on the floor -- some piled on top of others. The girls managed a bit more space in other rooms, but it was a house full! Ten kids in total! Thankfully the Wilsons' were gracious and up for the challenge, with a big house and a massive amount of patience.