Bintan

The day after Christmas we all got on a bus and headed to a boat which then took us to the Indonesian island of Bintan.  We stayed in a fun resort enjoying the pool, beach and other facilities.  

16 heads counted and we are ready to pull out.

Soda at the pool bar was a special treat.  Abigail, Breann, Dallin, Bryant and Xander with a little Ella in the pool.

Ella and Juliet: Best friends in the pool.

 Joseph wearing his new and only BYU t-shirt I gave him for Christmas.

A run game of football in the shallow pool.

Joseph took the kids riffle shooting at the resort activity center.

 Juliet and Ella got to ride a pony while we waited for the big kids.

Juliet and her cousin Alexa waiting in the boat terminal and sharing a tune.  Juliet is mighty attached to Alexa.

Christmas Eve and Day

We had a wonderful Christmas holiday with my parents celebrating with us from Africa, where they are currently serving a mission, and with my sister's family, the Bruschkes, whom live in Singapore too.  Just a few years ago, I never would have imagined such a family gathering in our neck of the woods, but life sends us little surprises all the time.

We merged the Bruschke's holiday traditions with ours this year, joining them on their "Joseph and Mary" hike.  I stayed behind with Juliet preparing the Bethlehem dinner.  But from the looks of it, they had a fun time hiking in the jungle, swinging from vines and playing by the stream.  

On Christmas Eve, the Bruschke's joined us for our traditional "Bethlehem Dinner" with lamb, goat's cheese, pomegranates, flatbread, grapes, olives and other sumptuous food from Biblical times.  Afterward, we enjoyed a Christmas Eve program.

 All the musically inclined kids performed for us, including Magdalene on the harp.

Grandma read everyone a special book she brought from Africa called Twas the Night Before Christmas in Africa, a fun, cultural spin on the traditional story/poem.

We started a new tradition with our children.  Each year on Christmas Eve they will all receive a new children's Christmas book to open and read that night.  Then they will sign it and date it and I, mom, will keep it stored safely for them until they have a home of their own to enjoy their collection each Christmas with their families.

Christmas Morning

Magdalene was sure excited to get an iTouch this year.   She is an electronics fan like her father.

There were lots of smiles and happiness to go around on Christmas morning.

I thought this was a sweet picture of Grandma and Abigail sharing a moment together while Abigail unwrapped a picture Ella drew for her.

Ella proudly holding up the picture.

Juliet and Ella both adore cats and dogs.  Ella prefers dogs while Juliet prefers cats.  They also fight like cats and dogs at times.

Magdalene wrote a note to Grandpa and Grandma for Christmas.  Grandpa is saying "thank you."

We had a traditional dinner at the Bruschkes' home followed by ice cream.

Italy

Joseph and I had the opportunity to go to Italy for a week.  Joseph needed to work in the office in Milan and I was invited by the company to attend the annual Christmas party.  We took the occasion to travel on the weekend to Venice and Verona.  It was cold, cold, cold, about 30 degrees at the warmest part of the day.  But after having experienced only summers for the last 6 years, it was a nice and refreshing experience to see snow, have a runny nose and numb legs, cold appendages, Christmas lights, and really enjoy hot chocolate with pastries.  This was my 3rd trip to Italy.  I have visited all three times in the winter and next time I vow will be the Spring or Summer.  Italy is a place that is never tiring though. 

The gondolas parked for the winter right off San Marco.  

 We enjoyed exploring the side streets and canals.  One nice thing about visiting Venice in the winter is that it is very quiet.  The quaint streets were only dotted with a few tourists here and there and mostly local Venetians.

View of the Grand Canal from the Rialto Bridge.  It was foggy and drizzling the whole time we were there.

After spending two days in Venice, we left on Sunday morning to attend church services in Verona and spend a night there.  I have never been to Verona and I fell in love with it.  It is the home of the fabled Romeo and Juliet, but also a city rich in history as a port in the Roman empire.  Here is Joseph in front of the Castello, complete with drawbridge and a moat.

Me inside the Castello on a bridge covering the moat.

A rare picture of Joseph outside the Castello... he had the camera and I the map for the most part.

A statue that dates back to the Romans In the main piazza.  The frescos on the side building are also original.  It was all just so incredibly charming.

The Colosseum in Verona.

 View on the bridge that links the two sides of "old Verona."  On this side, there are the ruins of a Roman theater and an old Monastery at the top of the hill.

 Me pictured inside the cloister of the Monastery.

This is a poor picture for two reasons: one, it is my iphone so the resolution isn't too great; two, the man taking it had never used an iphone before.  Joseph and I went to a formal company dinner with 8 courses at a beautiful hotel in Milan--The Four Seasons.  It was an old convent that dated back to the 18th c. and converted to a hotel .  It was a beautiful hotel with cloisters and amazing landscaping in the courtyard.  It was decorated beautifully for Christmas.  The whole reason for me coming to Italy was to attend this dinner.  We were the only Americans and shocked the Italians with our number of children and the fact that we drink no wine.  

Happy Birthday Ella

 Ella turned 5 on November 30.  She wanted everything pink and she is head over heels in love with anything that has to do with dogs.  She knows every dog on the street by name and pets all of them through the house gates.  She has made up an imaginary pink dog named "Sparkle" that sometimes takes shape in stuffed dogs and others in Ella herself.

Halloween

Halloween was quite an event here.  I don't particularly care for Halloween.  It is sort of the kick off, or the holiday to wade through to the better ones to follow, namely Thanksgiving and Christmas.  And it always seems to come down to the last minute.  I was up late getting the details of costumes together and handling last minute changes (Magdalene was going to be a flower then change to a bat) and meltdowns (Ella's mermaid costume was too small and I had to do some serious begging and bribing to get her to wear the witch costume, which was ADORABLE.)

Xander was Sensei Wu from Lego Ninjango.  I made a beard, but he was not quite brave enough to wear it.

 Went to school parties from 12:30-3:00 straight.  Juliet got to make a cookie with Ella at her Pre-K school party.

Magdalene was a bat posing here in front of the house before leaving to trick-or-treat.

 Juliet was a princess.

There I am, a fifties housewife, getting ready to hand out candy.  I had several thousand pieces of candy and it lasted almost an hour.  The streets are crowded with people in all shapes and sizes and decked out in all manner of costumes--something similar to carnival I would think.  Abigail was a flower and sold water bottles with her cousin Breann.  They each made about $150 profit for a couple hours of work.  Not bad.

Grocery Shopping

I have resorted to several methods of getting groceries these past few months without a car:

I have some delivered from a grocer who calls me daily to see what I need for the day.  I frequently bike up to the local store and get some basics to take home by hanging the bags on the handle bars.  And the other day, I pulled Juliet in the wagon up to the store and got a bigger haul.  She had a grand time.

Girls Camp

It has been too long since I posted anything.  I am soooooo busy.  With a husband working a lot and commuting an hour or so now that we moved up to the north of the island by the school, I barely have time to do much of anything but keep up with the kids and all the activities and the dramas in life.  For example, Maggie has fractured her wrist and her knee, with a cast and crutches, and 10+ hours in emergency rooms.

Abigail recently went to girl's camp in October.  It wasn't her first girl's camp.  She actually had the opportunity to go in Minnesota over the summer to a regional girl's camp that included eight stakes in the region.  900 girls and 100 leaders attend the "encampment" held on the University of Minnesota campus in Duluth, Minnesota.  She left early Monday morning and returned on Saturday afternoon.  There was no contact with the girls--only through cell phones with the leaders if there was an emergency.  I must admit it was strange going that long without talking to my daughter.  She basically knew none of the girls and was assigned a roommate at random. When she walked in the door that afternoon, she seemed older.  The first experience of really leaving the nest was successful.  She had a fantastic time and her only regret was that it had to end.  I was proud of her for going and making it such a great experience.  

Back in Singapore, she attended girl's camp in Indonesia on an island not too far from Singapore called Telunas.  Joseph volunteered to be an adult male/priesthood holder as they needed two and asked him if he would go.  I'm glad he could go and spend that time with Abigail and the other cute girls in our Singapore 4th ward.

Arriving at the camp Telunas in long boats.

My cute, but absentee globe-hopping husband.

Cliff jumping--that looks like a scaredy face.

 The ropes course.

The girls.  Abigail got to go with her cousin too--Ashlyn, first on the left back row.