GOOOOOOOOD MORNING VIETNAM!!!!!!!

Moving to Texas

2009-04-19T19:51:00.000-07:00

I think most of you know this by now but I will post it anyway. The kids finish up the school year June 23rd and we will be moving back to the states shortly after that!!! Danny will have to work in Saudi Arabia every other month for the rest of this year then will be back in the Houston office. So we will be in Louisiana most of the summer and then move to Spring! (The same location we were before this crazy year of moving) We are all very excited to return to our "normal" life back home. We will miss all of our help here!!! I might go into shock and have to learn how to wash clothes again...but I think I will manage!!! I will keep everyone posted and can not wait to see you all.

Natalie= Before we left Houston she was a Blue belt in Tae Kwon Do. She started taking lessons here with a Korean Master and he wanted her to learn the way they do things here...so she has just received her Blue belt and is now at the same level in 2 different forms of TKD. We are very proud of her!

Grey= He is 100% little boy! And I think he is part monkey due to the fact that he climbs on everything and loves bananas! HA!!! His scar is healing very nice. It still has a small scab on the bad side of the wound but the rest of it is barely visible. He said he can not wait to go to Louisiana! I think he just wants to get spoiled by everyone! He wants to be like his sister and take TKD so that should be fun having them both kicking and punching around the house. Maybe we will make a padded room in the new house!

APRIL

2009-04-08T03:54:00.001-07:00

Is it really April already???? I guess we have been very busy since my last post in Feb. Most of you know we went on an awesome vacation to Australia and New Zealand. I want to post my favorite pics but this site has changed things and I have yet to figure out how to post pictures! As soon as I figure this out, you will be the first to know! I hope everyone is having a great 2009!

2009-02-26T01:55:00.000-08:00

After the "kids" had a peanut butter sandwich

they decided it was time for a nap.

2009-02-26T01:46:00.000-08:00

Grey decided he wanted a birthday party at the ice cream shop. They had never had a party there before so I had to ask them if I could show up the next friday with about 20 people. Well you know the answer was YES....They gave me some nice plates to put the cup cakes on and they had balloons inside and out. $50 later...36 scoops of ice cream or sorbet had been consumed with lots of M&M toppings! Grey must be very popular at school. Lots of friends showed up and he got some pretty awesome toys! I made the cup cakes!!!!

Mardi Gras

2009-02-26T01:36:00.000-08:00

At the school they encourage us parents to go to the school to teach the kids about different cultures. So since it is Mardi Gras time I decided we could make some mask and necklaces. I brought in my i pod and had the mardi gras music playing...I told them about the floats and beads and king cake. (I did not think the kids would understand why the parents sat in the back of trucks with alcoholic beverages so I left that part out!) We made necklaces with colored noodles...Purple, Gold and Green. Grey and I painted them a few days before so they had time to dry. I think

I had just as much fun as the kids!!! I had to celebrate Mardi Gras in some form!!!!

Rubber Trees

2009-02-26T01:29:00.000-08:00

This is a rubber tree farm. All of the trees have little bowls attached to them to collect the rubber. Small incisions are cut into the trees’ bark at night so that latex sap will drip longer before drying out in the tropical sun. Workers collect the tapped latex the following morning. Progressively lower cuts are made in the rubber trees, allowing them to be tapped for many years.
After sufficient amounts are collected, basins of latex are processed with an acid to coagulate it, making the latex more solid. The acid is then removed by rolling the latex under pressure into thin sheets, which are smoked over a fire to stabilize the rubber. In that form the rubber can be exported.

Cu chi Tunnels

2009-02-26T01:14:00.000-08:00

These are the tunnels that were used during the "American war" The little Vietnamese men would live underground as long as they had to and set traps for the Americans that would try to get in them. They cooked food in the little kitchen and made trails up to the surface for the smoke to escape. They also made little oxygen holes and made them look like ant hills on the surface. The tunnels are very small. I was very proud of myself for going down in them! It was not a happy place to visit because they show a film on this one guy that was known as the best "rat" killer...aka Americans that found their underground hide out. The kids enjoyed seeing the big holes in the ground from the B 52 bombs!

Happy Chinese New Year

2009-01-28T01:30:00.000-08:00

This pic was taken for The Graham's

Festival in the Park

2009-01-28T01:21:00.000-08:00

Chinese New Year Celebration

2009-01-28T01:12:00.001-08:00

The Flower Festival

Greys trip to the "Kaboda" (pagoda)

2009-01-22T00:59:00.001-08:00

Grey was giving the Buddha lucky money

"I am thankful for my scooter"

im sure Buddha loved that one!

This was a field trip set up by the school. We traveled about 1 mile to this Pagoda. Grey calls it the Kaboda and can not change it even we correct him. The kids had a great time learning all about the Buddhist and how they pray. I think they enjoyed feeding the fish and turtles after the tour the best!

The Shack

2009-01-21T05:23:00.000-08:00

If you have not read this book already I highly rec. that you go out today and get a copy of it. I have had a lot of spare time and have been reading a new book every week....or every 3-4 days it seems!!! But this book has really touched me and I got a good cry out of it as well. The book is about God and I will leave it at that. I also want to thank one of my very best friends for telling me that I HAD to get the book before I left the states...Thank you Ashley!!!!!

A day in Ho Chi Minh City

2009-01-18T05:12:00.001-08:00

anyone in need of a haircut?
fruit stand (very cheap)

Happy New Year sign

bikes only on this side of the bridge

Buddist Temple

baskets for sale

delivery!

Jill and Danny going out on the town!

2009-01-16T00:29:00.000-08:00

My friend Liz decided it was time for her to get a bike to ride around HCMC.

She came over to show off and to take me for a ride

We went around the compound and giggled way too much and came back to the house and found Danny outside with the camera. I guess he thought we looked just as funny as it was! Maybe I will get brave and drive the one we have.....or maybe not!!!

2009-01-15T23:55:00.000-08:00

Pics of Grey and Braxton acting very silly Christmas night. (maybe all of the sugar they had during the day)

I think Stella (my brothers dog) had just as much as everyone else!

All of the kids on Danny's side of the family. Mine are #10 and #11

Christmas day at Aunt Anne's house. We had a great time playing Guitar Hero. I wish I would have had room in my suitcase to bring the game back with me! Maybe next time....or maybe one will just appear in Vietnam....hint hint....

2009-01-15T23:46:00.000-08:00

This was Christmas morning at Nonnie and Poppy's house. Natalie woke up before everyone else so we did not get to see her look at all of her things she got from Santa. Grey was so excited because he got the puppy he has been asking for and her name is Apple (not a real dog...the one he is holding)

Happy new Year!

2009-01-11T16:39:00.000-08:00

I hope everyone had a great time during the holiday. We got to visit with so many people and we also missed a bunch of people! It is always difficult around Christmas time to visit everyone. I have a plan for the next time we come in town. So we are back in Vietnam....school starts back up today..YIPEE! Danny is back at work and I am slowly getting back to my normal routine. We are very excited that we will be able to watch American Idol. (I also get to watch the Golden Globes live this morning)

Abby is still alive...as some were worried that the Vietnamese were going to eat her while we were gone! And we also have a pregnant fish. Not sure how that is going to work out but we will find out soon enough! I stare at the tank and "Alice" stares back at me....Danny tells me to just leave it alone and quit worrying about them but my motherly instincts are kicking in (and not to mention I have been working with OB doctors for the past 10 + years) I know they are fish and they will take care of themselves...
I want to let everyone know how wonderful it was spending time with most of you! And our doors are still open for anyone to come on over for a visit!!! We have plenty of room....and a good Vietnamese cook!!! We will start acting like tourist again around the city so be on the look out for new pics! xoxo

Christmas Around the World

2008-12-10T06:45:00.000-08:00

My computer is deciding to give me a hard time...so yes some of these pictures look the same and I was unable to delete them....anyway, tonight the kid's school had a wonderful celebration about the different upcoming holidays in all of the different cultures. Each class sang a few songs. Grey's class sang a song in Vietnamese and then sang Jingle Bells and We wish you a Merry Christmas. Natalie's class sang Jingle Bells, but the Australian version they created. (that would explain the kangaroo ears she has on) All of the kids were awesome! One little guy in pre k 4 discovered he could hear his voice in the mic and had a good ole time singing at the top of his lungs!!!! Ihave a few videos I will try to post later....I am suppose to be making sure I have everything packed up and ready to go! Can not wait to see everyone!!!!

Happy Birthday Natalie!!!

2008-12-10T06:35:00.000-08:00

Natalie decided yesterday that she wanted to celebrate her birthday at school so her friends could sing Happy Birthday to her. SO....our driver has a sister-in-law that makes cakes for birthdays and weddings. I paid about $8 and it was great! The kids sang in Vietnamese! What a great memory for her!!! (the first pic is of natalie's good friend from Korea...Soo Young)

Oh Christmas tree, Oh Christmas tree....

2008-12-10T06:21:00.000-08:00

As you can see, we got the biggest fake tree they had!!! Just kidding, they had bigger but since we were not going to be here for Christmas we chose to get something small to decorate. The lights are pretty fancy. They only worked 1 day. They still light up but we are no longer able to choose the blinking speed....so the top of the tree blinks 90mph and the bottom half blinks every few minutes. But at least we had a good time. Tis the season!!!

Happy Birthday Dad

2008-12-10T06:16:00.001-08:00

Soccer Stars

2008-12-10T05:57:00.000-08:00

Natalie and grey have been playing soccer every Saturday morning bright and early! It is more of a soccer clinic than an organized league with games. There are a lot of ex-pat kids playing and also some Vietnamese kids. The first time Grey went out on the field he was so ready! But as soon as the coach made the kids line up to warm up, he did not want to participate at all. So the following weekend we told him that santa was watching and if he did not play soccer he was going to bring back some of his toys....SO needless to say, he was on the field warming up and participating! Natalie's picture was in the local magazine (that we could never find) promoting the clinic.

Something New...

2008-11-17T04:01:00.001-08:00

We are proud owners of a Yamaha Sirius Night Rod Limited Edition 110cc's of pure MOPED power!!! Why do we have one you ask? Well...our driver ends his work day around 530pm and is off on Sunday....SO since we have sooooo many places to go during the hours he is not here we need transportation! ( only kidding...Danny NEEDS the moped!) Danny felt the need to add to the 4,000,000 other bikes on the street. Everything we need is within 2 miles so no need to worry! I am not sure who is more excited...the kids..or Danny!

2008-10-28T22:07:00.000-07:00

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

2008-10-27T06:30:00.001-07:00

Watermelons make great Jack O Lanterns!

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