Our Littlest Sunbeam

Juliet is looking so grown up today, her first Sunday as a Sunbeam in Primary.  She is officially the youngest Sunbeam in the class, having just turned 3 before the end of last year.  She is also in underwear!  So exciting to put away diapers (almost--we are still working on the night time) and see a little girl emerge from the baby of the family.  I am afraid she will always be my baby though . . . 

Legoland

 The kids are still on winter break and we are always looking for things to keep us busy during the three weeks away from school.  In September, a new Legoland opened right next door to us in Malaysia.  This was pretty exciting and we have been eager to go.  All my kids love Legos so it was an exciting excursion.  Legoland is about 15 minutes across the border into Malaysia, so not too far at all.  If we didn't have to go through customs and immigration twice to get there, it would feel a lot like driving down the highway in California to Legoland.  I ventured alone because Joseph had to work.  Unfortunately, he doesn't get a three week winter break.  It was a little hotter than California; smaller too as they have only completed the first part of the park; and empty because all the locals are in school.  Otherwise, it is exactly the same.  We haven't been to Legoland since Abigail and Maggie were 5 and 3 years old.

Ducking into the air-conditioned building lab was a refreshing necessity.  Abigail built a mini lego version of herself.

I think Miniland is the best place in the whole park.  Legoland Malaysia's Miniland is all Asian cities and monuments.  I've been to the real Taj Mahal and it was breathtaking.  I must admit that this Lego version was pretty impressive too.

Mimi Malaysia with the twin towers in Kuala Lampur in the background.  You can see with the few people in the background the scale of these buildings.

Ice Skating

Ice skating in Singapore?  You bet!  The hardest part is trying to find warm enough clothes to be around the ice.  It is a bit like coming up with Halloween costumes . . .

Juliet and Ella both had these little penguins to push around.  They were both fantastic on the ice.  Ella cruised around for two hours without stopping.  Juliet was also totally independent, quickly picking up the idea of pushing off of one foot at a time and keeping her feet close together.  She skated independently the whole time, albeit a little slowly.  I just stayed close by her and gave her pointers.

Gardens By the Bay

We spent a morning with mom and dad and the Bruschkes exploring a new park/garden here in Singapore by the Marina Bay Sands Hotel.  The hotel itself has become a recognizable Singapore icon with its three towers topped by a boat architecture.  The gardens are also unique to Singapore with these "super trees."  They are made of metal and have foliage that  grows on them.  They look like futuristic trees.  We didn't get to enjoy them long before we got rained out by one of the heavy tropical storms that come though here daily during monsoon season.  

This is a gorilla. The garden was organized into smaller gardens with themes.  This particular garden had plants of different shaped animals and insects.

Xander thought these were dinosaur eggs.

There is a skywalk you can pay extra for to walk around the super trees.

You can see the first tower of the Marina Bay Sands hotel on the far left of this picture.

A photo I took from Joseph's office window of a Singapore storm rolling in.  These storms dump 6 inches of water easy in minutes.

 A couple days later, Mom, Dad, Cami, Craig, Joseph and I went to the top of the Marina Bay Sands hotel, 57 floors up, to the chocolate buffet.  The chocolate was good, albeit a bit too rich to feel good afterwards (for about 24 hours.)  There were 57 varieties of chocolate desserts.  The views of downtown Singapore and the bay were stunning from the roof.  We feel fortunate to live in such a beautiful, safe, clean city.

Happy Birthday Juliet

Juliet turned 3 on December 26.  She was so excited about her pink cupcakes and blowing out the candles.  Because we were in Bintan on her real birthday, we celebrated on December 29 with her cousin Bryant (who also had a birthday while were traveling) and the Bruschkes.  Grandma and Grandpa Larsen were there to celebrate with her and that made for a special day for our special girl.

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.