We hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving!
We are headed to the cold (by cold we mean the low 70's!) Highlands this weekend to celebrate with our co-workers.
We won't be having traditional turkey (or Big Bird!)
but we will still be celebrating the amazing goodness and blessing of God in our lives.

He has done so many wonderful things for us that we absolutely do not deserve or merit.
And for that He deserves all the thankfulness and gratitude our hearts can manage to express!

What will you be thanking God for this Thanksgiving?

...the mystery craft...

So here is the making of the craft I got yesterday at the Christmas Bazaar (read the post below this if you're not sure what I'm talking about)

The materials-a string of garland with wood ornament cut-outs on it, glue, cardboard letters, non-toxic acrylic paint, and various glitters and sequins.

Paint, apply glitter, sequins, and letters... and wah-lah!A fun garland to hang on the Christmas tree! The colors on my tree are mostly blue and lime-green, so I went with those colors. I think I got a bit out-of-control with the glitter and the sequins, but I haven't done a crafty project in a while and it was hard to contain myself!
I made it for Isaac. (obviously) I figured it was more fun than just one ornament...although for his first Christmas next year he'll probably get one of those too. In my mind I think it'll be fun to make one for all our kids as their own special thing to put on the tree every year... we'll see when the time comes. I know I'LL have fun putting it on the tree THIS year:)

A culture more familiar...

Today I went with Daniela, Mrs. Guru and K5 to a Christmas Bazaar!The event was put on by a group of Americans in a nice hotel ballroom downtown.
There were many tables full of Christmas decorations and other tables with gift ideas and arts and crafts. I got a few ornaments (and a cute arts and crafts project to make for Isaac for our tree... I'll post that later once it's finished!)It was strange to be in a room with so many white (and a couple black!:) people at once...to blend in and (other than an occasional comment about my belly) go unnoticed was wonderful. There were many countries represented, but probably the majority of the women there were American. As I perused the tables my heart relished in the moments when I overheard things like, "Oh, I just luv' that!" or "This is just so purty!" spoken in deep Southern accents. The whole time walking between those crowded tables I heard "Excuse me" and "Oh, sorry...just comin' thru..." (Not that the culture is rude here, but it's not a necessity to squeeze by somebody and excuse yourself...it's just understood people gotta get by:) It's amazing the little things that can make you feel at home.For a few hours, surrounded by all those Christmas items and "ordinary" faces speaking REAL English, it was like I had been transported home, even for just a little while!

Happy Birthday Mom (aka-Mama Lou)

Today is Mom's birthday! Mary Lou Rivers (Mama Lou as Sharon calls her) graced the world with her presence this day back in.... uh... well... that's up to her to say. Here she is looking oh-so lovely with our niece Katie. Today is ALSO Grandma Puccio's birthday! (Mary Lou's mom) That's right! This family is full of double birthdays...and a triple birthday when you know that Uncle Eddie (Mary Lou's older brother) share's February 26th with us... fun huh?
We hope your day is wonderful!

"Selamat Hari Jadi,
Selamat Hari Jadi,
Selamat Hari Jadi Mary Louuuuuuu...
Selamat Hari Jadi!"

Happy Birthday Mom! We love you!

Not Halloween in Asia...

But it was a somewhat Asian Halloween for our nieces Kaelyn and Adrienne! We bought these outfits for them in Chinatown in Singapore. Kaelyn was a princess for her big preschool party, but when it came time to trick-or-treat she wanted to match lil' sis Adrienne and be China dolls. We think they're adorable and will fit right in when they come to visit us in the spring.

3 NEW POSTS!

I posted 3 posts today...so be sure to keep reading until you get to the melted plastic bucket from Friday...

a Royally good time...

We hung out with our co-workers quite a bit this weekend and one thing we did together was visit the Royal Selangor Pewter factory. Apparently this company makes some of the best and most famous pewter crafts in the world. We were expecting a hot humid factory, but instead it was a state-of-the-art museum/learning center, factory, and gift shop all rolled into one- and it was all air-conditioned!Drinking complimentary Sprite from a pewter cup (pewter is heavy!)
Getting hands on experience at 'hammering' pewter...
These creatures are actually old pewter money! Apparently before coins they used animal-shaped pewter as currency here... the bigger the animal, the more money you had...
And a replica of the twin-towers made from pewter tankards...it was HUGE!
This is the World's Largest Tankard- the sign to the left of it (out of the frame, sorry) is the "certification" from the Guiness Book of World Records... I would have thought some town in Germany would be the home to that record!

Got my Eye on you!

You may know that one of the attractions in London is "The Eye." The gargantuan super nice ferris-wheel the Brits have made famous.
What you may not know is that there is a second "Eye." This eye travels the world and is set up in various countries for important events and what not. For several months now the Eye has been here because of the 50th year of Independence celebrations...so we went with our co-workers to see it before it leaves...K5 got butterfly wings...too cute.
And then Justin wanted to look cute in front of the Eye too... (actually he was forced to put them on:)Then K3 and K4 got picked on by the clown...
And here's us up in the Eye! What a view! The rain cloud moving in made for perfect weather and cool pictures.
Here's the K's and their parents in the "gondola" below us on the Eye...
Good times!

...gotta be the cheechaks...

Cheechaks (spelled "cicak" here) are small gecko/lizards we have here. They're everywhere and we've given up trying to keep them out of our house. Then again, we're from Florida and they're not much different than the common small lizards found on any porch in the Sunshine State.

So yesterday we went to IKEA and picked up a couple of things. One was a handy-dandy basket to hang from our shelves in the kitchen (plan on putting potatoes, onions, and garlic in it instead of on top of my microwave which is where they've been) and another was a hook to hang from said basket...on this hook I planned to hang bananas (which had also been on top of the microwave).

I come home.
Put my basket on the shelf.
Put the hook on the basket.
Put the bananas on the hook.
Then go into the living room for a few minutes.
Anthony heads to the kitchen after putting together our new trashcan from IKEA and says,
"Have you seen the bananas?"
I thought he was just being sweet and sharing in my excitement over my new basket and banana hanger.
"Whaddya mean?"- I say playing into it, while heading into the kitchen.
I round the corner and this is what I find...
I burst into laughter (doesn't take much)...
My favorite banana is the one that is somehow wedged between the coffee maker and the microwave....and the half-peeled part as one must have slowly dropped....The bananas weren't old or anything and it was only a few minutes. We didn't hear them drop, so we're just gonna blame it on the cheechaks.

Also, here is our new trashcan. No this is not a replacement for the bucket that melted (that was just a bucket) we just finally got a bigger trashcan and wanted one with a lid...they don't really have rubbermaid stuff here, so we opted for the metal lever-powered one from IKEA...then again, given the chance I'll opt to go to IKEA anytime!

Preventing Identity Theft

It's important in this day and age* to destroy any documents you wish to dispose of which may contain any personal information - bank account numbers, social security numbers, tax forms (older than 3 years... I know the law... shoot).

The most effective way is with one of these bad boys...

In the absence of a paper shredder, you can also burn the papers. But remember: plastic melts as easily as paper burns...

*The phrase really is "day and age," not "day in age." I had to look it up to avoid a repeat of the "tie you over" fiasco.

Concrete + 11 Million Friendly Faces = Bangkok, Thailand

If you've ever had the chance to go to Bangkok, you know what I'm talking about. If you haven't been (which is one reason we have this blog) lemme tell you... Bangkok is HUGE.

And it's made entirely of concrete.
Dirty, unevenly paved concrete.
Concrete that goes on forever.

But you can overlook that part if you can have a few days there like we just did.
If you ever go to Bangkok, make sure you do it with friends. If not, the concrete will eat you alive. Kidding...but what trip isn't more fun when friends are there!?!

Our friends just had a baby there... I have no clue if they want their daughter's picture all over our blog, so we'll limit it to these sweet little feet poking out of the carrier as we went out for DELICIOUS Lebanese food one night.
We also did touristy things like eat at Hard Rock Cafe...And visit the Grand Palace...I had a tank-top on and brought a wrap to put around my shoulders in order to obey the rules they have about dress at the Grand Palace, but the wrap wasn't enough so Anthony gave up his tshirt for me... what a great guy!Speaking of rules...we feel the last one listed is the most important. Danielle and David (the new Mr. and Mrs. Wiley) don't worry if you want to visit the Grand Palace someday... it says wily "Strangers"... you guys aren't strange so you shouldn't have a problem getting in... as long as you're not wearing a tank-top that is...Many of Bangkok's streets are lined with vendors selling anything and everything... Cara, in case you don't pass your dental boards in a few months, there is still a place in the world for you to use all that knowledge...
After walking a lot all day, to the above Cafe and Palace on said dirty concrete, I met up with yet another friend to get a foot massage (not allowed to have a full-body Thai massage until the baby gets here) while Anthony went with her hubby to get ice-cream. I don't have any pictures of it (just imagine me in a chair reclined with a sweet smiling Thai lady rubbing my feet and legs), but I had to mention it because the chatting my friend and I did was so memorable- thanks for the time CB!- plus, every Thai foot massage should be documented in some way.

It was a great few days and fun time with friends!

Happy Hari Raya!

The month of fasting is over!
That means its time to eat and relax with family and friends.
Last year we went to around 10 homes in one day eating in every single one (and understanding much less of the language than we did today)... we woke up kinda like Adik thinking the day might be as long as it was last year (not that it's not fun, it was just looonnnggg last year)Today was different- to our relief, we admit- and we ended up only visiting in two homes.
We figure it's kinda like Christmas back in the states where some years, there just seems to be more people there and more stuff happening, and other years it's quieter. Today was a relatively quiet day in comparison.
The two homes we visited in were Kakak and Abang's parents' homes. Without further delay...the pictures...

This is the only picture we have with just our outfits and a close-up of them...
Snazzy huh? (My dad is probably looking at my "Pop-eye" eye and laughing...it was a sunny day here!) I took a belly picture for the baby blog in my outfit...
Here are the kids...
We're not real sure why BangMan's fly looks like its open. The "skirts" they have around their waists are separate from the rest of the outfit... his kept doing that the whole day...we thought it was funny.
And here is Kakak and Abang and their kids...And here us with some of Abang's family (his mom and dad, and sister's family...)I love this pic...
After the 'formal' greeting when his dad entered the room, Abang's dad pulled him in for a great big hug. (ignore the magazine!)

Next we went to Kakak's parents' house...
No formal pictures there (they're more laid back)
but some of Kakak's extended family came by while we were there... we think it's so cute when all the kids dress the same! Reminds me (Sharon) of Christmases when me and my sisters would be all dressed the same.
These boys' dad had the same outfit on too, but since I didn't know him, I decided not to bother him with a picture.
Anthony had left his guitar in the back of our car and BangMan and Adik found it and asked him to play... these are our best friends, so it's kinda funny that he's never played for them before!
It was a great day...much more laid back than last year!

(Sidenote: Today our good friend Jason got married to his BEAUTIFUL bride Lena back in the states. We wish all the dressing up we did today was to be with you guys! Congrats!)

...flower fire is back...

The "Bunga Api" (literally translated "Flower Fire" or affectionately known as "fireworks") is back!
Last night at Abang and Kakak's we were pleasantly surprised after dinner when all the kids hurried outside to play with fireworks. There were no sparklers this time, so there was little chance of going to the clinic. We're not sure where Abang acquired the fireworks... (since they're illegal here)...but we had fun with them anyway!

Here is Adik with some fireworks trying to throw up a couple of "peace" signs...but he's 3...so we give him credit for trying...Our outfits are all ready for the Hari Raya Celebration. So stay tuned for the big reveal next week...Hari Raya starts next Friday!

We be Chiffin'

This is Cif.
Cif is wonderful!
"C"'s are pronounced with a "Ch" sound here.
So when you say "Cif," it should sound like "Chif"

Cif is like my wonderful Clorox brand "Soft-scrub with Bleach"
but with a milder, fresher lemony smell.
Except here, Soft-Scrub costs about RM15.00 and Cif is RM2.00.
RM2.00 is like .58 cents.
$0.58 and it gives you these kinds of results...
That's no shadow on the floor in the upper part of the picture.
This is not a doctored photo.
This is a chiffed photo.
This week we and Justin and Daniela have been cleaning our office/guesthouse.
Justin and Daniela were the ones that revealed Cif to us.
Thanks guys.
The Off-House gets cleaned... but it was in need of a deep clean.
A Cif clean.

Here's a light switch crying out to be chiffed.
Incredible. Took off layers of paint and grime.
I have no idea if they sell this in the states.
But if you see some, buy it.
The we can all be chiffin'!