Halloween

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2010

A great tradition in one neighborhood is for much of the international community to show up and go trick or treating. This year they decided to do it on Saturday night. Some people decorate their cars and pass out candy from the back of cars. Some who live in the neighborhood invite others. So we get to walk around, trick-or-treating and the kids get their haul of candy. Of course, before, we had to stop at Grandpa and Grandma's house for our first stop.

As we walked around, the kids got to see a lot of their friends.

Reeve was Indiana Jones, complete with a whip and a cowboy hat. Gabi went as a cat, and Rania continued to be an island princess.

And, of course at the end, you have to sort your loot, do some trading and take stock of all the fun things you found.

Halloween Dress-Up Day

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2010

The kids got to dress up for Halloween on Friday. Lots of parties at school.

Rania was an island princess.
Gabi was a cowgirl.
And Reeve, well, he was only the best quarterback ever to play the game. (It was unsure whether he would be signing autographs as "Peyton Manning" or "Reeve Woodward.") Obviously one is the future great QB.

Connie Buford & Kenya Reunion

What a thrill when we have the chance to see Connie Buford. In her work with the State Department she passes through the region, and this is the third time I've gotten to see her in the past 3+ years. Two visits to Kuala Lumpur and another meeting for a conference in Shanghai. What a treat to get to catch up on her work and reminisce about the days at ISK in Kenya. It was quite fun.

Juvy's Birthday

How incredibly lucky we are to have Juvy working and helping our family. We had the chance to celebrate her birthday this month. For all that she does for us, we sure are grateful and blessed.

The girls made cupcakes (gluten-free!) for Juvy's birthday and we ordered pizza (and made our own gluten free pizza) to give Juvy a bit of a break on her birthday.

Play Date

We were so thrilled to meet a couple at our church that has so much in common with us. Rob and Julie have three kids, just like us (boy, girl, girl). Both of them are Cedarville grads like Tracy. Julie grew up in Oregon as a PK, just like Doug. And they spent some time living in Indianapolis. Hilarious how small world it seems with so many parallels.

We had the chance to have them over for an afternoon of fun. They had a neighborhood BBQ at their home that evening, so we weren't able to include dinner in all the fun, but how great to have the kids playing and for us to be able to have some good adult conversation. We loved it!

Grandma's Pool

Of course, getting to go to grandma's pool is always a lot of fun!

 Reeve even had some fun playing with the camera -- and ended up with a fun shot!

Church Retreat

We had a delightful long weekend spent in nearby Putrajaya. As part of our church retreat, we had a delightful weekend in a nice hotel in Putrajaya.  They had a kids program which was fun for the kids.  We got to meet some new friends and had the chance to participate in many (but not all) of the discussions and workshops.  It was a valuable experience and fun for the family.

 The kids had fun using the pool, the exercise room and even some fun on the yoga mat that was provided in the room. (Some were more meditative than others :)

We also even got to witness the real "road to nowhere" which is not far from the "bridge to nowhere" which  is just down the road.  Putrajaya was built as the administrative capital of Malaysia, so it houses many of the government services.  In an effort to move some of the congestion and traffic out of Kuala Lumpur, it has a huge infrastructure and wide roads, but few people.  Embassies are reluctant to move to Putrajaya (about 45 minutes south of the city) since there isn't as cosmopolitan as KL. 

Under the Sea

What fun diving and swimming and playing in the water!

Do You Like Me? - Funny Swimming Video