Christmas 2010

We had a wonderful Christmas. Bryce and Ali arrived early in the morning on Dec. 21. It was so great to see them. The week before Christmas we did the Hop on Hop off bus. Went to Boat Quay and Clark Quay where we did the River Cruise and had dinner at Maharajas that evening. The next day Kurt had the day off so we went to Sentosa Island and enjoyed the fish spa. They both liked it ;) I was happy about that. After the fish spa we went for some pizza and then Bryce, Kurt and I did the zipline. It was fun but too short. That evening we took them to Songs of the Sea. It is a silly little show but the laser lights and special effects are pretty good. Thursday and Friday we spent doing a little shopping and just relaxing. Christmas Eve we rode the double decker bus and viewed the lights down Orchard Road. The Christmas lights are very beautiful down Orchard. Christmas morning we woke and had a nice morning and enjoyed the day with cinnamon rolls (that weren't burnt) and a nice pork tenderloin dinner. We received some very nice gifts from the family. It was so nice to have Bryce and Ali to share Christmas day with.

On early Sunday morning we traveled to the airport and caught a plane to Siem Reap Cambodia. We were greeted at the airport by the Branch President, President Loy. He took us to church which was a wonderful experience. It was interesting to have to wear the headphones and receive translation. There were 5 members confirmed that day - with more baptisms in the afternoon. It was such a blessing to experience these confirmations. The talks that were given were good and solid talks. Ali wasn't feeling to well so President Loy took Bryce and Ali to our hotel. I went along with them so that I could check them in. After we got them settled I returned to church with President Loy and his daughter, Chetana and enjoyed a wonderful Relief Society lesson.

That afternoon we just relaxed at the hotel and then later in the evening took a TukTuk ride in to town. The next day we awoke to tour several temples in the Angkor Wat region. These were amazing structures with lots of history. Some were at one time hindu then transformed to buddhist or vice versa. After awhile it was kind of hard to keep up with all the different stories. Each night we would ride the TukTuk in to town for dinner after a long day. On Tuesday evening President Loy took us to a restaurant where they served a traditional buffet and there was traditional dance performed. The food was not that great but it was interesting to watch the dance.

On Wednesday morning we went to a children's art school where the traditional dance and music are taught. It was a wonderful experience. I loved watching the children perform. I loved watching the hand and feet movements that they make. It is just beautiful. After the children's school we went to a fishing village that is on a lake. It was a sad site to see and the smells were a little hard to take. It is so humbling to know that these people live such a primitive life. We saw people bathing in the lake, we saw children going to the bathroom in the lake and this is also their drinking water. While at the village mothers would come up in boats with their children begging for money. It was difficult to see and made me again realize how blessed I really am.

Cambodia is a country that has had a very difficult history. President Loy told us that he had 7 siblings. He moved to Siem Reap from Phenom Phen in 2007. During the Pol Pot regime he lost both his parents and 5 siblings. It is a common story in this country. I fell in love with the people. I could easily go back and serve a mission there teaching English. This is the first Asian country that I could honestly say that about.

We returned to Singapore on Thursday, Dec. 30 and used the rest of the day to just relax. Ali is expecting our 3rd grandchild. She was a real trooper on this trip. She did not always feel really well but she persevered and made it through. It was really nice to share this experience with them.

New Years Eve was spent relaxing here at home and bringing in the New Year. It was strange to wake up the next morning and turn on the TV to Fox News and watch the celebration happening in the States. Kinda crazy!!! That day I took Bryce and Ali to the Fish Spa again and we enjoyed a fun day. We played a lot of cards while they were here. We always enjoy that and the friendly competition :) New Years night we took them to the East Coast to experience Jumbo Seafood where the serve pepper and chili crab. Bryce liked it a lot. Ali and I enjoyed the sweet and sour prawns. The East Coast is nice in the evenings because you can see the ships out in the harbor and in the evenings the ships look like a bunch of little cities with their lights on. It really is beautiful. Later on in the evening we decided to go to the Night Safari. We took a side trip via Gill (our GPS) leading us to Jahor Bahru - it was crazy at the time - now it is funny. We were on the bridge that leads to JB, Indonesia with no way to turn around. We did not have our passports, etc. We had to go in to the security office where they accepted our drivers license and kindly turned us back around towards Singapore. We eventually made it to the Night Safari and a nice evening there. It was the last evening before Bryce and Ali returned home. We took them to the airport the next morning. It was hard to say goodbye. Ali didn't feel very well when we dropped them off so I was a little worried but found out that she did fine on the trip home. It was another treasured memories made. I am grateful.

Update and Thanksgiving Thoughts

John and Nayda arrived here on Oct. 30. We had such a great time with them. They were pretty jet lagged and really didn't get up to speed until about Wed. Nov. 3. We took them to the Night Safari, Sentosa Island Fish Spa, Bird Park, Singapore Flyer, China Town, & Little India. I think some of it might have been a little overwhelming. John seemed to really enjoy relaxing in the pool. It was just great to have them here. They flew out of Singapore on early morning of Nov. 12. It was hard to say goodbye.

On Saturday, Nov. 13 Kurt and I took a trip to Australia. We had been planning this trip for about a year. Our friends Sally and Tom Sanders joined us the last minute. We flew in to Sydney and enjoyed a dinner cruise at Circular Quay that evening. The next day we woke and rode up in to the Blue Mountains and enjoyed the sites and views there. It is spectacular. Kurt and I did a few of the trails. On Monday we traveled to an aboriginal cultural center and learned interesting facts about the culture (Muru Mittigar). On our way back to Sydney we stopped at the Featherland Zoo and were able to see Koala's and Kangaroo's. We also saw a Carraway which looks like a huge dinosaur bird. Very interesting with it's little dinosaur horn on top of it's head. That evening we drove back and stayed in Sydney until Wed., Nov. 17. Sally and Tom flew on to New Zealand and Kurt and I traveled up to the Gold Coast to Port Vincent. We went snorkeling in the Great Barrier Reef on a very pristinely beautiful day. We saw huge fish and the reef was amazing. Another bucket wish list ticked off. We were blessed to have gone to the reef on the day we did because the next few days were pretty rainy. We went to the Dain Tree Rain Forest on Friday and it rained the whole time. It was actually pretty fun to be in the rainforest in the rain. It again was beautiful. Later that afternoon we went on another river boat cruise on the Dain Tree River and saw real crocodiles in the wild. One was very small, one small but one was HUGE. I was glad that we stayed out of it's way. It was massive. We flew back to Sydney on Sunday morning very early to catch our plane back to Singapore. Sunday was a crazy travel day. We were at the Sydney airport with a 5 hour layover until our flight left. We arrived back in to Singapore at 12:30 a.m. By the time we got home and in to bed it was 1:30 a.m. Tom and Sally stayed over for the night before flying out to the States for their new assignment in San Fransisco. I arose early Monday morning to teach seminary - but actually I just had them work on scripture mastery.

This was Thanksgiving week. Kurt had to work on Thursday since Thanksgiving is not celebrated here so I invited the missionaries over for dinner on Friday night and fixed Thanksgiving Dinner for us and them. I actually did a pretty good job considering it has been years since I cooked a proper Thanksgiving dinner. The missionaries that were here were Elder Martin and Elder Daas. They are both very special young men. Elder Martin is from the states (AZ, I believe). Elder Daas is an Indian missionary but was born in England and raised in KL. He told us the story of how is father had been introduced to the Church in England when he Elder Daas was two years old. His mother had been raised Catholic (which I think was very interesting since she is Indian). They moved to KL when he was young for his father's business. He was the only Christian (much less Mormon) in his school and was persecuted and got pretty beaten up. His testimony of the Gospel was amazing to me. How easy it would be for him to have been discouraged and left the gospel - but the example of his parents and his faith helped him to raise up above the persecution and here he is serving a mission in Singapore/Malaysia. I never cease to be strengthened by the testimony of those that truly have tribulations that should keep them from holding to the rod but yet they stay firm and true. I am grateful. I told that young man that his mother was a celestial woman and he began to tear up. I was very grateful to hear his testimony and be strengthened by it during a Thanksgiving feast to celebrate our blessing. I know I am very blessed and I am grateful. I am so grateful for the restored gospel in my life and for my testimony of the Son of God and Heavenly Father's wonderful Plan of Salvation/Happiness.

I set up the Christmas decorations this weekend. I am excited to have Christmas just around the corner and that Bryce and Ali will soon be here.

Thoughts

I have had a very good week. I supposed the week started off great because I know John and Nayda will be here on Saturday. So happy about that. Monday night we had FHE at our home with the YSAs. Love this group of people. They always make our home happier. The missionaries came with them. Love Elder Martin - he is such a great young man. Tom and Sally came over also. We watched the movie The Ultimate Gift. I have to say, this is one of my all time favorite movies. I always cry and I become motivated by it's message. If you haven't seen it - you need to!

Tuesday morning I had a wonderful visit through skype with my family. I love seeing Isable and Halle's faces. Halle even was animated and seemed happy to see me. Isabel sang to me and my heart was happy when Kiersten helped her sing "Follow the Prophet". Makes a gran's heart very happy. I am so grateful for Kiersten and the great Mom that she is to these beautiful little girls. She is a wonderful companion for Taylor. Thanks, Kiersten.

Tuesday, I spent the day studying for my seminary lesson which covered Section 42 "The Law" Section. It took all day to prepare but since it was a lesson for two days - well worth the time. That afternoon I met my friend, Kathy Rameriz at the US Embassy and we walked over to the botanical gardens and had a nice walk. I love walking in the gardens in the late afternoon. It is still hot and I still get dripping wet but there are cool breezes and the sun is not piercing down. I enjoy just being in the beauty of the nature there and the peacefulness of the gardens. There are swans on the lake, beautiful ginger plants that smell heavenly and lush green everywhere.

Wednesday, I went with Sally to meet Brittany Morris and her mother at Vivo City. We at at the Food Repbublic there and then traveled by tram to Sentosa Island and the fish spa. I always enjoy the fish spa - it tickles like crazy when the fish start to nibble but then this relaxing feeling comes and it's just crazy how it doesn't tickle anymore and it feels good and the nibbles take off all the dead skin and make your feet feel so smooth. The best part is the leg massage afterwards. It was nice to meet Brittany there with her Mom, Melinda. Brittany is one of my sisters who I visit teach. She is 19 years old over here working at the Resort World Hotel in the cirque act there. We have seen her perform - it's pretty incredible. Brittany is from Vegas and will be here for another 1 1/2 years in her contract. Her mother has been here visiting the last week. I've grown to really love this young woman. She has a special place in my heart. It was great to meet her mother.

This morning had a nice little visit with Bryce and Ali. Congratulations Ali on your audition to Houston Grand Opera. So very proud of you!

I have had a wonderful day studying my scriptures today. I will teach Section 45 tomorrow and it teaches about the 2nd coming and it's signs but how we are not to fear - it also reteaches the parable of the 10 virgins and reminds us not to be foolish but to be actively engaged in the gospel and putting oil in our lamps daily. This section touched my heart very much. I am so grateful for my testimony and for my knowledge of the Plan of Salvation and the gift of my Savior. Got pretty emotional reading this section because it reminded me of how blessed I truly am. I have a wonderful family, I have the priesthood in my home, I have made sacred covenants and I love those covenants. My sons are married to wonderful and talented women and am grateful for that.

I am grateful.

Aussie BBQ

Yesterday our ward had a fun activity. We met at the Pasir Ris Park which is on the northwest coast of the island. The activity was an Aussie BBQ. Everything there was Australian. The music, the food, we even wore green and yellow to support the activity. It was good food, too. The meat was small hamburgers with fun spices in them (I need to find out what they were), true sausages for hot dogs rather than wienees, and Kangaroo steaks. The Kangaroo was actually pretty good. When eating their hamburgers or sausages, they don't use buns like we do - they just use plain white bread and lots of tomato sauce (ketchup) - lol. We weren't allowed to call it ketchup yesterday - it was tomato (prounounced tomoto ;) sauce. The music was fun to listen to, also. I didn't know until yesterday that the BeeGees were actually Australian and not Brits. See, you learn something new every day. They taught the youth how to play Australian Football - which to me seems to be a mixture of Rugby and American Football. There were lots of people and it was a great way to spend the afternoon and it was actually kinda cool weather - not unbearably hot. The Lord blessed this activity ;)

There are bicycle trails and walking trails along this park. It would be a fun place to go back to and ride bikes.

Matah ati - A Tale of Love Through War

Kurt had a campout this past Friday night with his scouts. My friend, Sally also had a husband who was in the US for training so we decided to have a girl date on Friday night, Oct. 23. We went to see an Indonesian Opera/Dance performance called Matah Ati. It is a historical story about a King who finds a princess during the battles in the 1700s against the Dutch. The girl becomes a warrior princess with 40 women followers who supports the king in his battle against the Dutch. In the end they marry and start the Indonesian Mangkunegaran Dynasty. The dance was beautiful, the costumes were amazing and the musical instruments were very typical of the drums, the xylophones being struck by hammers, flutes, bells. The dance was called Javanese. Asian dancing is so beautiful. The hands and feet are very important in the dance. The Javanese dance is different than the dancing in Bali because in Bali they use crazy facial expressions in the dance (big eyes, funny mouth formations, etc.) In the Javenese dance they used the hands and feet similar to the Balinese dance but their facial expressions were very soft and stoic - which added grace to the dance. It was a very interesting experience and I enjoyed it very much. We had excellent seats with a wonderful view of the stage. It was the world premier for this production. It may be going worldwide or at least plans are to take it to Europe. It was nice to be there on opening night and see the VIPs.

Afterwards, Sally and I went to one of the Hawker Stands (local eating forum) and had some good BBQ pork and rice. Singapore is so beautiful at night. I love the night lights of Singapore. It's nice to be out and about walking in the city at night because it is so much cooler than in the day time. Times like Friday night are when I pinch myself and think - gosh, how blessed I am to be here. It was a good night.

Depavali

On Thursday evening October 21, 2010 we had a wonderful cultural evening here in Singapore. Sister Pongkodi who is a Hindu convert to the Church introduced us to Depavali - the "Festival of Lights" which will be celebrated here in Singapore and in Hindu countries on November 5. She explained about the various gods and how they fight good over evil. During Depavali the Hindu's celebrate the death of an evil god who found light at the end of his life. Hindu's now celebrate this every year and do so with song, dance and food. Seems a little bit like our Christmas. She showed how to put on a sari and how a Hindu bride would be dressed. Lot's of reds and golds. Very beautiful. We also were able to decorate our hands with Henna and I did so. Maybe a picture will come later if not I will post on Facebook. I always wanted to do the henna but now that I have - may hand is stained permanently for about 3 weeks. When I look at my hand I think it is always dirty. Oh, well. Why anyone would want a tattoo - don't understand. It was a very interesting night and I always enjoy learning about new cultures. It opens the mind to this wonderful world.

New Blog

I'm going to try this blogging thing again. and see what happens. I keep reminding myself this is a great way to journal and to remember blessings and happenings in my life. So going to start over ;) and be better at it. I still need to figure out how to post pictures and all that good stuff but I will be better at working on it.