Kids on the Climbing Wall

SUNDAY, MAY 25, 2008

Since our church was having a joint service at a later time (than normal), and we knew that it would be difficult to fit both services in the old colonial building, we decided that we'd save our church visit for another week.

Another teacher from school had offered families to show up at school and do some climbing on the school's climbing wall. We weren't sure if Reeve would be up for it, since at the gymnastics program in Indianapois -- at Jireh Sports -- he had usually refused to climb.

But he was eager -- and made it all the way to the top of the wall. Gabi also greatly enjoyed climbing the wall and is begging to know when we can go again!

It was also fun to spend some time with a few other families from school that have little kids. The older kids were very helpful with Reeve and Gabi's first time on the climbing wall.

A Visit from Aunt Martha!

SATURDAY, MAY 24, 2008



We were absolutely delighted to have Aunt Martha visit for a short weekend all the way from Iowa. She was in Shanghai for a trade tour from Iowa. She took a break from traveling with the governor to make the extra six hour flight to Kuala Lumpur. We were absolutely delighted to spend the weekend with her.




We had fun hearing how she is doing, as well as catching up on cousins. Throw in some Thai food, walking around KLCC, ordering Pizza Hut, and some swimming, and the visit was over way too soon.

How wonderful to have family visiting from the other side of the world!

An Early Father's Day Golf Trip

SATURDAY, MAY 24, 2008

A group of teachers from school were organizing a trip to one of Malaysia's premier golf courses, about four hours north. While I (Doug) am certainly not a golfer, I thought it would be fun father/son bonding time to hit the course. With Father's Day coming soon, it served as an even better inspiration.


The course was truly, spectacular, and lived up to its billing as a wonderful course right on the edge of the Straits of Malacca, on the West Coast of Malaysia. The course is rated the third most scenic course in Malaysia, and its signature hole (pictured above and below) is rated the 2nd most scenic hold in Malaysia.



Doug was also quite happy to score his first par, and hit his first green in regulation. It is a minor victory, but our golfing partner, Mike, was quite gracious, putting up with all of Doug's hacking -- after all, it was the first time that Doug had ever played 18 holes of golf in a day.

Nothing like a scenic outing -- and dad certainly enjoyed the Father's Day outing courtesy of his children.

Olympics, Look Out!

With form like this, the future Olympians better be trembling in their swim suits!

If only we had Chariots of Fire music. . .but this will have to do. . .



The heroics of this second place finish will clearly go down in history as one of the most memorable efforts of all time.

Reeve's Swim Carnival

On Thursday, Reeve had his swim carnival at school. While Doug's parents blog has some even better pictures, you can get an idea of just how happy Reeve is when he is at school.



Doug had the opportunity to cut out of school (thanks to a colleague taking his class) and head over to Melawati (the location of Reeve's school) to enjoy the 2008 Swim Carnival.

From 10:00 - 10:45 the five prep-senior (kg) classes raced against each other. Freestyle, backstroke, and breaststroke were all featured. The top two place holders received coins in their teams' buckets -- and in an amazing act of coincidence -- perhaps the first time in the history of the event -- ALL FIVE TEAMS TIED WITH 19 COINS! They all got to pose with the trophy and enjoy each other.

It was astonishing how every kid in prep-senior could swim across the pool, and maybe only 15% had the help of a flotation device.

Every time we have the chance to visit Reeve at school, we are overwhelmed at how happy he is at school. The kids were eagerly chanting for each other "Go Jake, Go. Go Jake Go!" as each of their peers would sing. What a great environment for kids.

The Amazing Rania

We are trying yet again, with another conversion method to show

. . .completely incredible. . .

. . .the phenomenal . . .

. . .the Amazing Rania. . .!



Hopefully the audio will match the video this time!

Mother's Day in Malaysia

For the first time in ages, I (Doug) had the privilege of celebrating Mother's Day with my mother. I don't think this had happened probably since 1993, so it was a special treat to be able to celebrate with Tracy as well as with my mother.

Adding to this great event was the heightened responsibility of representing my siblings in this gathering. It may not go down as the best Mother's Day in the history of the universe, but we certainly enjoyed getting some flowers, a small gift (some chocolates) and taking both mother's out to dinner after church.



Gabi and Reeve and even Rania were excited to be part of the Mother's Day celebrations. In a stroke of extreme irony, Tracy's Mother's Day celebrations were briefly interrupted on Friday afternoon. A pedicure and manicure was planned for after school on Friday, and Tracy was on her way when her son called in tears. He had forgotten his Mother's Day present on the bus.

So instead of enjoying the pedicure, Tracy spent the time traveling to the busing office to retrieve Reeve's gift -- a pot of dirt with a real seed and a paper flower made from his picture.

But on Sunday morning, the kids (Reeve and Gabi) were ready downstairs with candles lit, ready to sing "Happy Mother's Day" to their mother when she came down the stairs. Tracy also put the girls in matching dresses -- so they were quite adorable!



And in the evening, we decided to give grandma & grandpa time with the grandkids (aren't we generous!) so we could go out to eat and enjoy a movie.

Playing with Friends

SATURDAY, MAY 10, 2008



Our kids continue to enjoy the friendship with neighbors on our street. For much of the past few weeks, Gabi has waited anxiously for "Auntie" to get home -- and then will play with our neighbor for hours. Their animals have tea parties, they create entire houses from the doll collection that our neighbors have, and inevitably, Gabi is sad when it is time for bedtime.

Rania is also quick to follow her sister next door, and Reeve has even enjoyed some driveway bowling. Our gracious neighbor always provides a snack and some drinks for kids, making the evening visit even more enjoyable.