Christmas Day 2012

I-L-L!   I-N-I!

(If Lori would learn how to post on this blog, perhaps she could post the girls wearing some of their Buckeye gear.)

These are some nice gifts from the most exceptional of grandparents.

Lia crocheted this scarf for Lori.  Lia has made other things, and I'm truly amazed what that girl can make with a ball of yarn.  It's magic to me. 

Christmas Eve 2012

For the first time on Christmas Eve, we had a "shepherd's meal."  We ate the simple meal of fruit, vegetables, bread and nuts while sitting on the floor.  Some good friends joined us; we read the Christmas story and considered that glorious evening's events from the perspective of the shepherds.  It was really enjoyable, and hopefully we'll be able to make this a family tradition.

 

 

Happy Christmas!

We had some neighbor friends over for our annual Christmas party.  Here are some shots of the action.

 

Baa-aa-aah!

At our international fellowship, the girls participated in the Christmas cantata -- they were singing sheep.

 

Lights Out

The girls made the most of the situation when the electricity unexpectedly went out -- they created a manger scene.  Even with no electricity, it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.

 

Studio Pictures

Common here in Asia are fancy picture studios.  Most often, newly engaged couples will go to these studios and have many pictures taken while wearing various outfits and with varied backgrounds.  Studios will have hundreds of wedding dresses, traditional clothes, suits, etc.  Then, once the couple is settled, a 3 or 4-foot picture of the two of them will adorn their home.

Some studios have children's clothing as well.  We found a studio like this and decided to give it a try.  That morning turned into a 4-hour memory making extravaganza.  It was really fun!

Here are my ladies getting prepped.  The studio workers meticulously worked on each of them for quite a bit of time.  When it was my turn, the workers took all of about 30 seconds to get me ready.  (I like to think that since I'm so naturally photogenic, they didn't need to do a lot to me to get me photo worthy.)

 And here are some of the 'professional' results.  Looking good, everyone!

 

Giving Thanks

The day before Thanksgiving was busy with preparations.

 

Lia made mini-calzones.

Val and Meg worked on the name tags for the place settings.

 

A banana cream pie is in the works.

 Here, Lori is preparing our family’s incredibly delectable mashed potatoes.  (They’ve got cream cheese in them – a lot of cream cheese – which makes everything better.)

 

I helped too by moving furniture and supervising ... and taking pictures.

On Thanksgiving, we had a couple 13 pound turkeys for the 12 adults, 5 kids, and 2 babies that filled our place.  Here’s one of them ready for carving.

And the table is set.

These flowers look pretty good in their peanut butter jar turned vase.

 

Everyone contributed to the "Thankful Chain."  Lots to be thankful for!

 

 

Water Balloons

I'm not sure what the girls are doing with these water balloons ... but with those grins, I don't think I trust them.

Back to the Orphanage

After a visit to the orphanage office, some phone calls, and a trip to the local foreign affairs building, we finally were given the okay to return to the orphanage to volunteer each week.  Lori and the girls go every Thursday afternoon to lead an art/craft time with 11 to 14 kids ranging in ages 4 to 14.  My schedule allows me to join them every other week.

We all went on this first visit of the fall season.  In the taxi, Val and Meg listened to their mp3s - clearly getting focused and pumped for this first return visit in about five months.

Quick word about their hats ... a couple years ago in the States, the girls participated in Camp Down Under for a week which highlighted the culture and people of Australia.  Thereafter, the hats found a home in the girls dress-up box here in Asia.  But recently, they've been re-discovered, and the twins rarely go out without them.

Entering the large classroom, the kids responded with smiles, clapping, and a few saying "hello!"  Glad they recognized us!  Most of the kids had been there previously, but a number of kids were new.

We were able to finally use the washable paints we had brought from the States.

Today's story, lesson, and craft were about chameleons.  And I learned that in the local language the name chameleon literally means "change color dragon."  Love it.

New Mountain Adventure

It’s become an annual outing that we go to the mountains each fall to be refreshed by the beauty of nature.  But our usual place has become closed to foreigners.  (Hmph!)  So we had to search for a new place.  A local friend had a recommendation, and our low expectations for going to a new place resulted in very high satisfaction.

Our family, along with some other friends, arrived at the gate of this ‘nature park/reserve’ just 90 minutes from our city.  It was beautiful!  However … the man at the gate said we couldn’t go in because it’s “fire prevention week.”  What?!  So the gate guard and our mini-bus driver got on their phones to call people to see if we can still go in.

While we wait, we check out the park information – pictured here.

Included are some rules for visitors in the park.

It may be too small to read so let me help you.  There are some hilarious rules!

The second line of #6 – “Don’t try to snapshoot pictures with foreign friends without their permission.”  Love it!  Such a good rule.  So then another bus of visitors pull up, they see us, and they get out their cameras.  A couple of them start taking pictures of us – seen here.

  

Then we tell them about Rule #6.  The guy in yellow says, “Oh, so sorry; I’m so embarrassed!  I’ll delete your pictures.”  We then give him permission to not delete the pictures of us.  With a big smile, he says - “Oh, thank you!  Thank you!”

Back to the Rules.  #3 states – “Don’t chase, catch, or throw stones at animals or feed them irresponsibly.”  So we decided we can feed the animals ... responsibly.

#6 continues “Don’t sneeze in to the face of others.”  Good rule.  This should be posted everywhere.

#8 states the final rule – “Say no to feudal superstitious activities.  Stay away from pornography, gambling and drugs.”  My life is being impacted by our day-trip to the nature preserve in ways I didn’t expect nor imagine! 

After getting a good laugh, we hear the driver talking to a ‘boss’ and saying “yeah, I brought a bunch of foreigners, and they want to go in to look around … I know, but they don’t smoke, they don’t have matches, and they don’t have lighters.”  So the boss gives us the green light to go in – hooray!

After a picnic with a beautiful background, we went on a hike to explore.  We missed the leaves turning color, but it was still very impressive.  We’ve lived here for 4+ years, and we wondered why hadn’t heard of this place before.

We started along the main path and stream.

Then we took an alternate path up a steep ascent, and we found a series of waterfalls.  We had a blast climbing up them.  Some of the falls had deep pools.  The girls loved it when I climbed high above the pool, and launched 40-pound rocks into the pool – creating enormous splashes!

I found a place next to the stream to recline a bit - my favorite place of the day.

  

More pictures from the hike.

Hmmm, question – what’s around this interesting corner?

Answer – a very cool canyon.

In this canyon, the wind swept through it, and I caught Lori with the sun behind her.

A pavilion was at the end of the walking path.

Some final favorite pictures ...