From motorbike to car

Since we're adding to our family, the time has come to take a few more measures of safety. We got a car that's really comfortable, spacious, yet not too big. Driving in this country is quite the adventure. Here we drive on the left side of the road and rather than a lot of rules, there's more like a philosophy of driving. It's "give and take". You sort of go with the flow and yield a lot but rarely to you have to come to a dead stop. Additionally, cars share the road space with motorbikes, animals, people, and religious ceremonies that are often going on where groups of people will walk a few blocks down a road playing traditional music. There is no speed limit anywhere. How many of these things are normal in the States? Yep, ZERO! :) We also have to install seat belts in the back because it's not that normal to have them in cars here. We still have our motorbike for quick trips and fun outings. Check out the ride:

Baby Emma is Growing

Last weekend Todd and I had a great time getting to see our little baby at our second ultrasound. It's most likely a girl and we are naming her Emma, a name from Katie's mom's side of the family. We we were able to really see her sweet little face, hands, legs, and heart in 4D so it was an incredible image of her moving and turning and looking straight at us! We finally started thinking through what it's going to be like to be parents and have a daughter. We're feeling joy as well as the surreal feeling of the fact that we are adding a member to our family. It won't just be the two of us anymore! Below is me at 4 months and then me at 5 months. I'm not too big, YET!

Our Visitor

We recently had a new visitor drop in.
Can you find him?
(sorry about the bathroom pic
but that's where he decided to reside)

See him now?!!
Ok, he may not look that big, but in real life,
this guy is HUGE and intimidating.

Since we didn't want to get near the guy,
Todd used our porcelain cleaner and sprayed the acidic fluid
until he looked like this. Eww!!
(I stood on a chair outside the bathroom the whole time.)

Play Time at the Park

After two months in our new location, we traveled north of our city to catch some cool/Fallish air! It was the coldest we've felt in almost 2 years! We even had a fireplace in our hotel room! I know it doesn't look cold in these pictures, but at one point I had 5 layers on!! Hmmm...but that's probably because I don't know what "cold" is anymore. Anything that causes me to have goose bumps is a sign to pack on the layers. Have we acclimated some to the tropical weather, I think so. Enjoy these photos from our time at a park in the area. We flew a kite with Anna and spend time with our friends.

We're Expecting!

Ok, we promise this won't become the "baby blog". (We'll make a separate one later.) We're almost 3 months pregnant. It's been quite an interesting experience going through the first few months while living in the heart of the tropics! I've been told to eat alot of protein if I want a boy and alot of fruit and vegetables if I want a girl. Hmmm...interesting concept. One of the questions Todd and I are asking ourselves has been, what is this dude or dudette going to look like?? Below is a baby photo of me and Todd. Can you imagine a little person that looks like us put together? Crazy!

VISA Run to Singapore

We spent most of our time in China Town.

MMmm! Dumplings!

Ok, you may not understand,
but it gets exciting when you have
your first Subway sandwhich
in a year and a half!

AND New York cheescake!

Flowers, Flames, and Friends

We were recently fortunate enough to be able to visit Katie’s best friends while we went to a conference out of country. It was a sweet time frolicking in a king’s garden and taking an Asian cooking class! We love you Sarah and Vicki!

HUGE roses!

HUGE bamboo!

We are the masters of fire! Except Todd. :)

Creative Christmas Fun!

Oh the joys of paper snowflakes, old ornaments, and a potted Christmas tree-plant! We have been thoroughly enjoying decorating for Christmas this year. We hope you are making the most of time with family and being creative this Christmas season. We never realized how blessed we are to have the traditions we did growing up. Watch "Christmas Vacation" and listen to goofy Christmas songs! Don't be boring this year. Do what you did growing up. :)

Todd putting up Christmas lights outside of our house.

Living room decore

Sitting in front of our "photo Christmas tree"

putting up Christmas lights around our "conversation piece" in our living room :)

K's first attempt at painting to add Christmas color to the house.

We hope you have a great Christmas season!

Visit to a Village

During the holiday season here, we decided to visit some of our local friends, since most people go to their home village where they grew up to celebrate with family. We had an incredible 24 hours filled with strange and unique experiences.

Imagine being possibly the first white people to ever enter this village. That was us! It didn’t take long until hundreds of chocolate faces appeared to get a good look at the white people. We instantly had “circus-animal syndrome”, feeling quite out of the ordinary and uncomfortable at first. We did not quite know how to break the ice, and communicate to them that while we are far richer than they are, far more educated, of a different religion and lifestyle, we still wanted to just be their friends. Let’s just say that by the end of the 24 hours, we were called not just their friends, but part of their family.

Here are some highlights of what we experienced in this 24-hour period:

1. Participated in 3 traditional ceremonies. This included seeing a goat sacrificed and eating the goat.

2. We ate tons of their traditional meals, all of which we had to finish or it would have been offensive to them. This including gulping down a whole fish (including the head and tail), eating a spicy sauce that cleared our sinuses, and drinking fresh coconut milk from a palm tree.

3. Sat on the floor in our friend’s house for hours at a time. You have to sit a certain way at all times or else it’s offensive. As a result, we experienced sore knees, stiff joints, and at one point my limbs were numb!

3. Spent a morning “rock sliding” at a local waterfall.

The best part about visiting our friends was that we made friends not only with his family members, but the entire village. The difficult part about visiting the village was realizing the level of poverty they were experiencing, and have experienced for generations. But many of them despite hardships, were very hospitable and joyful to receive us as their guests, giving us the best rooms to sleep in and prepared the best meals for us to eat. We learned a lot about the way they display love and treat guests, despite how different we were from them.