First Portrait of Emma

This is little Emma in the womb at 3 pounds and 4 ounces. We were blessed to be able to have a 4 dimensional ultrasound yesterday. It was the most surreal and beautiful experience to be able to watch her on a TV screen moving around and playing as the doctor examined her heart, lungs, and made sure she was still a she. :) Emma is healthy from head to toe so far and she's still a she as far as we can tell. The midwife in the room at the time looked at this snapshot and said, "look, she's praying." If you can see, she has her hands up in front of her face. It looks like they're folded together. This is how the local people on this island pray. Todd and I also observed that it's very possible that she has my German button nose. :) What do you guys think? Isn't she beautiful!

The Growing Belly

Katie at 30 wks, 7.5 months or so.

SE Asian Delites

Our favorite place to eat on this island is a strand of seafood restaurants right on the beach where you can see the sunset. I know, we live a hard life here. You can order fresh fish, shrimp, squid, or lobster caught that day! They add vegetables and greens along with fresh fruit juice like coconut or mango. Your table is literally in the sand right near the shoreline. You can imagine how beautiful it is. Unfortunately, we only have a few photos of the seafood before it's cooked. The last time we ate here, we had our friend Elizabeth with us! We're so glad we got to see you Elizabeth!

Russian Delites

Ever since Todd traveled with our friend Igor to Russia, the desire to eat authentic Russian food again has never left him. There is only one Russian restaurant on our island. Usually we avoid restaurants that don't do international food well, which most of them don't. There's always a few spices or a few exchanges they make in the ingredients that Southeast-Asianizes the food! But here's our tribute to Igor and delicious Russian food:

No smiling in Russian photographs.
When Todd went to anything touristy in Russia,
he just let Igor talk and most people thought he was Russian!

Russian dumplings. Mmmm!

Borsche, a Russian soup. It was close but not the same as in Russia.You have to say it in a low voice with a Russian accent, "I eat Borsche."

It's the hospitable thing to do in Russia to drink a shot of Vodka before a meal. Well, this was a local drink that wasn't quite as tasty as Vodka. Still, we enjoyed our Russian-Southeast Asian experience.