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!