Hello Cello

Joseph and Abigail had some fun with the cello and the camera.  I thought these were pretty cute.  Abigail has come quite a ways since she started cello a couple of years ago.  She is in Advanced Strings this year again and still takes private lessons weekly.  She recently upsized to a full size cello and we bought her a new, very nice German made cello.  She wanted to sleep with it the first night we had it.  

Zoo with Juliet

I love having time to spend with Juliet in the mornings.  She is such a sweet girl and so excited about discovering the world around her.  Last week we went to the zoo with Cami and Bryant.  She got to feed the giraffes and wasn't at all scared of them.  She sure loves animals.  

Back in Singapore

To make a long story short, Joseph left Cargill and took a job with another metal trading company in Singapore called Coeclerici. We had our stuff delivered to Minnesota, kept it in the garage in boxes and then two weeks later shipped it out again for Singapore. We spent a nice summer in our home in Minnesota enjoying family, lakes, and our little bit of forest. We hope to keep the house and come back each summer. Minnesota is a great place to call home.

We are in a new place here in Singapore, in the Woodlands, just around the corner from the SAS, the kids school. It is about a 5 minute walk is all and great for them to sleep in a little more and just skip along to school minutes before it starts. We made the decision to put Ella into school there too in the Pre-Kinder program. Abigail walks her to school everyday and I walk to pick her up. We do not have a car as of yet. So four kids are all settled into their classes and we are finally getting down to a routine. Once Joseph starts work and our stuff comes, life will really seem like it has gone back to normal. I hope to have time to catch up on the summer blogging that I need to get done.


The first day of school at the Singapore American School, asa SAS.  Ella is so excited to go to school with her brother and sisters.  Abigail walks her to the PRe-Kindergarten campus each morning before heading to Middle School, 7th grade.  Magdalene is in 5th grade and Xander in 2nd.

Minnesota Summer

Unfortunately, we took a pathetic amount of pictures during the summer, considering all the things we did.  We started the summer in California and then headed to Minnesota.  We spent a lot of fun hours with Joseph's family, celebrating Don and Marilyn's 50th wedding anniversary.  These are the pictures taken with Joseph's ipad.  I need to add some of the pictures with his camera.

Canoeing at David Gordhamer's lakefront home.

Sharing Costco churros and lemonade with David and Daria's kids.

We got together with the Kraft family for a dinner.  It's currently an even dozen of cute kids.

 Joseph and I went to a session in the Saint Paul/Minneapolis temple.  The kids enjoyed some time on the grass outside.

Summer wouldn't be summer without some time in Grandma and Grandpa's garden.  Maggie loves to look for vegetables and berries to pick.

We stayed in our new home in Eden Prairie.  It was so lovely to have a home of our own, even though it was a little baren of stuff.  We had a chance to host "Decadent Dessert Night" with all of Joseph's family that live around Minneapolis.  What kid doesn't love a buffet of decadent desserts and an ultimatum that they all must be devoured by the end of the night-no limits.  We want to make it an annual event.

Minnesota is beautiful in the summer.  I love driving on the country roads and seeing the lakes, fields of wheat, farms, corn, silos etc.  With the purchase of our home, we officially claim Minnesota as our home outside our home in Singapore.

Abigail and Grandma enjoying dessert during the anniversary program at the chapel.