Pen Pal Letters

Gabi and her class were excited to get Pen Pal letters as part of Valentine's Day presents and cards - and only a bit late. 

It is always so fun to see the great time that Gabi has at school.

1000 Blog Posts!

This should be some sort of a milestone.  In preparation for moving to KL six and a half years ago, Tracy made our first blog post.  Since then Doug has almost entirely taken over the blog.  It has been pretty amazing to look through at the experiences that our family has had over the past number of years and 1000 blog posts. 


The 1000th blog post might be a time for reflection and a really powerfully written and poignant retrospective on the Woodward Family.  Alas, I don't think this will happen.  For many months at a time, we have fallen behind, but always tried to faithfully document and celebrate the events of life.  There have been some amazing trips and some super pictures. One of my favorite pictures of all time, the moment I hope to freeze in time and someday remember at Rania's wedding or some momentous occasion shows how much we've all grown up since that blog post in our first few months in Malaysia. 

We've been blessed incredibly with having family - with Doug's parents nearby for most of the past 6 1/2 years.  Celebrating holidays, special events and birthdays together are memories that we hold so close to our heart.

We've had absolutely amazing vacations that we never thought would be possible. Trips to amazing tropical islands and man-made wonders in Europe have been experiences that would have only been of dreams and fairy tales were it not for getting to work at ISKL.  We've covered the mundane, like trying to clean out items during one of our three moves in KL and also moments of sheer magic like visiting Inle Lake in Myanmar.   We've traveled between the US and Malaysia a number of times, causing moments of crazy jetlag (and the subsequent trial on how such pictures came to be on our blog).  Through it all, we've always had each other.

The most popular blog of the 1000 blog posts are probably quirks of Google Search responses. A visit to Oak Openings in 2009 must mean lots of people are disappointed when the click on such an uninformative post.   Discovering a bizarre colony of bryzoans may be one of the few beneficial posts that contribute to the great human knowledge base on the internet.  Despite some 47,000 + reported blog visits, it is probably only close family and friends that really visit, and then even infrequently.  It is bizarre to see random pictures from our blog show up in a number of unique Google Search entries. . . most associated with ISKL.  But others relating to specific names we've mentioned or friends with whom we've reunited turn in quirky responses as a result of Google's logarithms.

Perhaps in a few years, we will question the significant digital footprint we have put down for some of our kids.  While Gabi's name is common enough to hide among the multitude of internet sites, Reeve and Rania have unique enough names that it isn't hard to find pictures of their childhood that someday they may not (or may?) want shared to the world.  Those questions right now are secondary to the amazing gratitude we have to an Awesome God who has blessed our family so incredibly.

So on this 1000th blog post, we give thanks to God for his love and faithfulness.  We are thankful for good health and so thankful for the family members who have followed the Woodward Adventures over the past several years!

Prakash Party

Reeve had a good friend who had a birthday party.  So it was good fun and good times for many of the grade 6 boys and girls.

It was nice for Reeve to have a birthday party, and how fun to have it at their house - which has lots of room for entertaining. 

Basketball Tournament

Reeve's team had a mini-tournament on Saturday.  After a tough first game where we played a much older and better team, the boys did better, including Reeve, who scored 4 points, had 2 assists and played well throughout the day.  On Thursday, he was one of the stars in a game against the British School, scoring 6 points in a victory.  It's fun to see him improving through the season!

Climbing Party

One of the great highlights of having kids at ISKL is that so many classmates will have great birthday parties, inviting friends or the whole class.  Camp 5 at One Utama Mall is the largest indoor climbing facility in SE Asia (or Asia?).  So what a treat that Gabi got to be a part of that birthday party. 

We are also immensely appreciative of good friends who help with transportation when we have to figure out ways to get kids to parties when we have other commitments.

Gabi at School

January and the beginning of February were a busy time for Gabi at school - as always.  It is always so great to see how hard she is working, how much she is improving and perhaps most importantly - how much fun she has! 

Reading buddies, Chinese New Year Celebrations, Pen Pals, Science Labs.  Lots of fun memories from a great school year.

Basketball

With Doug coaching Reeve's team, grandma and mommy got to watch a game.  Fun to see Reeve playing, and the team is looking better and better with only a couple of weeks to go in the season!

Dinner Out

The girls had a nice special dinner out.  How great to have mommy back!  The Chinese New Year exhibits at the malls for the Year of the Horse are pretty impressive!

It's a good excuse to show grandma some fun places around town.

Goodbye Langkawi

After a nice weekend getaway, it was time to pack the bags and return to KL.  Work for Tracy and getting ready for the long flight back for Julie.