long time no post

I looked at the blog the other day and realized that it has been 2 months since my last post! Of course, after the week of that post we only had 7 days in our house without visitors, so we've been busy. It's been great though. Our friend Ben came for work and he and John are so much fun to be around together. Then my parents came for 2 1/2 weeks and we did loads of fun touristy things. Then we had a week before we left for Christmas vacation in Malaysia with John's family and then we had a week in Indo with the Drummonds and for John's work- amazing! Here are the pics:

My souvenir from Burma (we crossed in with my parents and I thought these roses in the market were so lovely)


My Dad helping Jeff safely watch the huge fish outside some amazing limestone caves.
I've been so busy that I haven't even been taking as many pictures as I wish I did- here's one of just a handful of my mom. She's an awesome grandmother and mother (playing with Sam every morning is as much for me as for Sam).
One night Sam and I made a huge village on top of his play mat (note the buildings, trees, and the pond!)
Penang is one of our favorite places in the world and one thing that is so neat about it are the relationships we have with people there that we get to see every year or so. We really enjoyed our time with the Holdens this time back- so neat to see them with their Sam all these years later (actually John has known Lyn since they were 12- but my 9 years of history with them isn't too shabby either :-) )
We did loads of fun things with the Allens and Grandma- usually centered around showing the kids a good time- indoor playgrounds, outdoor playgrounds, pools with waterslides and splash pads...

Then we went on to Banda Aceh. It was amazing to be there again- strange since I only saw one person that I'd known during my time there. Some things were exactly the same- like the menus at PP Cafe and Imperial Kitchen. There was a ton of new and sometimes surprising development, like a better indoor playground than we have anywhere in Chiang Mai at the back of the A&W.

We met up with Jason and Elissa and Elijah and did a few days in Banda (John worked) and then traveled over to Pulau Weh- the island we used to go to for weekend getaways and where we got certified for SCUBA. It was as lovely as ever- and the beach at the place we stayed was just gorgeous. I adore snorkeling and there was so much diversity of fish and coral and the water was so pristinely clear- totally amazing- definitely one of the best places I've snorkeled.

A view from our bungalow...
I just loved this picture- using the aviators for what they're good for.
Jason built us an awesome fire for some smores
Elijah is a totally sweet little guy and it was a blast to see Jason and Elissa as parents.
Our flight back was messed up so we ended up with a little layover in Medan which was actually awesome- we got to take a becak to Sun Plaza (a mall we used to go to all the time while in transit)- Sam loved the ride and we loved reminiscing the good times we'd had there. Unfortunately the next plane was delayed 3 more hours. All told we got into KL at 2 am instead of 4:30pm and then had to be up three hours later for our next flight.

This was the 12th- our anniversary and I had sort of given up on the day going that well- with all four of us overtired and on the tail end of such a long busy trip.

But then we got back to our home and it was so nice- Pi Pound had done such an amazing job of cleaning everything up while we were away and she had put these really sweet touches around- like buying us bananas, putting flowers in all the vases, getting Sam Christmas presents, and making granola before we were back. I got a three hour nap in the morning and then got a bunch of stuff in order in the afternoon. Sam took a 3 1/2 hour nap! John got in a nap too and then we left at 4:30 for a 4.5 hour date. How awesome to have a babysitter that knows the kids and that we can trust! So we went to see Sherlock Holmes at the theater (we both liked it) and then went out for ice cream and a really nice talk. Plus John gave me the most beautiful bouquet that I've ever gotten!
So tomorrow morning John's mom, aunt and cousin arrive for 4 days and then the day after that my sister and niece come for 2 1/2 weeks. I'm not sure if I'll post or not- but being at home and with my computer is at least a start :-)