A Ride On High

This is how we felt this morning when we finally boarded the cable car to take us to the top of a mountain, after an hour plus wait. It was well worth the wait!


Here we are at the top of Gunung Machinchang.

Aah, the hugeness of it all, the smallness of me!

The views were amazing, down to the Andaman Sea and over the island. There were a number of lookout places and a fun bridge to walk out on, as well as a little burger stand where we grabbed some lunch.


Riley was especially captivated by the deer in the little animal farm that was also on the grounds.

5 very tired people rode the taxi "home". I think we will sleep really good tonight!

Christmas

Christmas Eve was a special time. Austin brought pizza in to our room, which we thoroughly enjoyed. We watched Polar Express and drank hot chocolate in our nice cool air conditioned room. The boys were very excited to open the last window on our Advent Calendar before falling asleep to the sound of Christmas music (which we brought with us).


Christmas morning they were up long before dawn. I heard Pruitt slip out of bed and try to find the little gift he was giving to Riley, so that he would have it beside him when he woke up. It was fun to surprise them with some things they had ooed and ahhed over when we found a Toys R Us in Kuala Lumpur. Later we took snow man candles down to breakfast with us. The breakfast buffet was serving pasta, salad, baked beans, toast and fruit, to mention some of the things. It was the unusual Christmas breakfast, but very tasty!


Later we went out on the beach again. We all played volleyball with an imaginary net and the boys dug for Pirate treasure. So far they havent' found much!


I have missed my family and friends a lot this holiday season and it's been difficult to be so far. Yet I am so grateful to be able to experience the beauty and warmth of Asia. Sitting on the balcony at night, listening to the wind rustling the palm leaves and letting my thoughts tumble out as I talked with Austin, I realized again how much I have right now. My soul is breathing in gulpfuls of life as I let all the questions and "bigness" of the future slip away. I have today, and today is beautiful.

Sand Angels and More

We've been having a lot of fun exploring, trying out new food, swimming and, in general, relaxing. Though I must say that it is a challenge to relax when you are on a vacation with 3 active boys!


The boys decided to make sand angels, since we obviously won't have any snow to make snow angels this year!


They have such vivid and creative imaginations. The other day they found the pile of disposable slippers in our room and made some kind of a game out of throwing them at each other. They said they were "toasting" each other, which I guess meant that you were out if a slipper hit you.


The place we are staying at has a fantastic pool, as well as being near the beach. It has been a nice place to cool off during the hot afternoons. It has a waterfall on one end, which is where they are all chilling out as I am writing.

Sand Castles

Here is the big castle my guys worked on this morning. For some reason, they were much more interested in building it when their dad got involved! Not that I'm surprised, everything is more interesting when he is around!


Here is Riley's volcano.


And the finished product. There is even a moat going all the way around, though it's hard to tell from this shot, and bits of mother-of-pearl decorating the tops.

Ahh, my heart is full. We've made it this far. We are all feeling well, which is huge! There is so much more I could write but my boys are in from the pool and are hungry!

Corn, Jellyfish and Sand

Lets see, where were we... breakfast. Pruitt was the first to spot the corn and soon made up his mind that that was what he wanted for breakfast. Soon he and Riley were devouring cups of buttered, salted corn while Jensen and I hunted down some pastries and poor Austin had to settle for a little of this and that. We soon found a taxi and headed to our hotel. I didn't know quite what to expect since I had spent hours trying to find a place and every place said they were either full or were not suitable for a family. I had finally found one place that had room and sounded big enough for us all so I reserved it. I was quite happy to finally get to our room and find it exceeded my expectation. The best part is the balcony with it's view of the mountains, and the fact that it's a 5 minute walk to the beach.


We have been spending a lot of time by the water and are loving it! The boys have been a little freaked out by jellyfish, which we've been seeing from time to time but that hasn't kept them out of the water for too long. The locals don't seem to be bothered by them and there haven't been very many.


This morning they all spent some time building castles in the sand.

Food, Trains and Ferrys

Here is a view from our hotel window. We walked through this fruit market a few nights ago and ate some delicious local food. Jensen wasn't too keen on the curried noodles but the other two have been pretty adventurous and Pruitt even ate, and liked, squid. We found some papaya salad today and it was soooo good. We've been eating lots of fried rice too.


We took an overnight train to an island. The boys were pretty impressed with the berths. Riley was so wound up, despite the fact that he barely made it through the long wait to board the train. He thought he had to have a top berth so we put bags around him to make sure he wouldn't fall during the night and he was on top of the world! Our Malay neighbors got a kick out of it all! Before he finally drifted off to sleep, I heard him singing to himself, "You better not shout, you better not cry, you better not scream, I'm telling you why..." The boys all slept soundly, while I kept waking up to the sound of people walking through the car and announcements being made. I was glad when it was morning and Austin brought me a cup of coffee from the train's restaurant and I sat, watching a beautiful Malaysian morning come to life. Ahh, what could be better than coffee and seeing the sun rise over palm trees and mountains. Well, you may call them hills but compared to what I am used to seeing, they were mountains!


We had a 90 minute ferry ride across to the island and the boys entertained themselves for a while before announcing that they were sea sick. It all ended well, though I had my bag ready, just in case. We were very happy to disembark and find some breakfast.

The Fun Begins!

We are thoroughly enjoying our vacation in Malaysia! Our flight out was delayed at least 10 hours due to fog, but I was happy because we were able to sleep in our own beds all night instead of getting up and trying to drag ourselves to the airport in the middle of the night! We left around 2 pm and had a good flight. We then spent a couple of days in Kuala Lumpur, shopping, looking around and enjoying places like A&W, as seen above.


The famous "Twin" Towers of Malaysia. We found some great shopping and eating places in the basement mall. Dunkin Donuts and Toys R Us made for some very happy boys! Oh my goodness, you would think that our boys have never been in a toy store, for all the commotion they raised! It was very exciting for them and they couldn't understand why we couldn't buy them everything they wanted!


Oops! These were supposed to go on first but I still haven't figured out how to switch things around. Anyway, a couple of days before we left, we spent the day at the Millers, celebrating "Christmas" with them. Riley always enjoys sitting on Grandpa's lap, especially if he gets to take pictures!


Jensen read the Christmas Story and we passed out presents. The boys remembered how Grandma used to have piles of presents and they used to take turns passing them out. She didn't disappoint them and the fun lasted for quite a while! We are so blessed to live so close to family. We spent the rest of the day eating yummy food, including goodies my mother-in-law brought out of hiding, like cashews, honey roasted peanuts, cheese balls and all kinds of chocolates! It didn't feel like we were thousands of miles from "home." I really miss the rest of our family and friends. Some days I walk around with a big ache in my heart. Yet I am so grateful for the family and friends we have on this side of the world.

Christmas Programs

December has been quite busy so far. The boys have each been part of a Christmas production at their school. Here is Jensen as an innkeeper.


Pruitt was a sheep.


And Riley was a shepherd. He is still as ornery as ever!


Here is Riley with more of his classmates.

Other highlights have been making Christmas cookies, taking some friends Christmas shopping and getting to know some of our neighbors better.

Green Space

We all loved being able to get out of Dusty Dhaka for the weekend. While the adults were in sessions, the kids found lots to do outside and had a blast. Riley spent hours "fishing" for a crab in this little pool. Pruitt fell headfirst into it and was soaked! Frisbee, soccer, the muck at the river were other highlights.


For me, it was the flowers, the open green spaces, the trees...

Overloaded

Overloaded. That is how life feels right now. And I'm not staying on top of things very gracefully. Riley just got over Shigella, or something like that and now we are fighting a stomach bug of some sort. He and Pruitt were both home yesterday and Pruitt had to miss school again today. They have been such good sports through it all, though their mother is becoming rather worn out!

On the bright side, I was able to get out of the house this afternoon to go to parent teacher conferences. Even though half of the time was spent sitting in fumes or bumping along on rough roads, it was a nice break. It was so encouraging to speak with their teachers and to hear such positive reports. They have been thriving in the new class room environment, have made such good friends and are really being stretched in so many positive ways. They are all practising for Christmas programs and I am hoping that seeing them will put me in a more festive mood. Dust covered palm trees just don't have the same effect as a white blanket of snow! Most of our neighbors are getting ready to slaughter an animal for the coming Eid holiday, while I know back home most people are putting up their trees, hanging lights and going crazy with all the shopping and parties. Somehow it just doesn't feel like Christmas yet... time to dig out those cookie cutters and start playing some carols. We'll get in the spirit of things yet!

Speaking Out

Sometimes we speak out to try to change the world, and other times we speak to try to keep the world from changing us. Ellie Weisel, Holocaust Survivor

The recent acts of terror in India are heavy on my heart this morning. Part of me wants to quiver in fear; if it happened "next door" it could happen here. I am also so sad for those who have had to suffer through this, both the victims and their families. Part of me is afraid that this will only fuel the fire of hatred against Muslims, will only increase the fear that many people feel. Today I am writing, not to change the world, but to keep this event and others like it, from changing me.

I just returned from a staff conference where our mixed staff of Muslims, Christians, Hindus and Buddhist met together. We learned, we laughed, we interacted with each other and it was beautiful. We talked about our uniqueness as such a diverse organization, how we are like a big family. Have we found the perfect way of doing things? Not at all! Do we always get along? No. But we are trying and that gives me hope.

What concerns me this morning is the way labels are being used. As far as I know the recent happenings in India were acts of terror, carried out by Muslims. But that does not make all Muslims terrorists. Terrorism is defined as the unlawful use of violence to frighten people or accomplish a goal. I'd like to point out that there is "terrorism" all around us, in every religion. In some places it is just covered up a bit more but that doesn't make it any less terrible to the victims. If a Christian pastor molests young children, is he not causing them to feel terror? Is he not, then, a terrorist? Does this make all Christians terrorists? What about child traffickers? What about those who visit sex workers who have been forced into the trade? The list could go on...

It is true that there are writings within Islam that condone acts of violence against those who do not share their faith. But is it not also true that "Christian" leaders have pulled out portions of Scripture to support acts of violence against others? When will we ever learn that you cannot fight violence with violence and win. No matter who you are.

I want to challenge all of us, especially myself, to live my life in such a way that even my most bitter enemy will not have reason to hate me. To treat each person, regardless of race, religion, age, gender or status, the way I would like them to treat me.

I don't like to be labeled. Do you?

Akash

In the middle of Old Dhaka, down a very noisy, narrow and crowded alley, there is a house. The rooms are full of women and children who come for many reasons. For some, it is to be near the hospital where a sick child is being cared for. For some, it is a safe place to nurture the unborn life within them, a place where they are treated with love and not shame. It has become a home for abandoned children and a transitioning place for orphans. Some friends and I spent some time walking through the different rooms. There were several classes going on and the younger children were very enthusiastic about singing for us. I noticed an older girl sitting with them who has hydrocephalus. I am fairly certain I saw her 10 years ago when we visited and she was then quite small. Her mother abandoned her at the hospital at birth, when she saw there was something wrong with her. She has spent her whole life at the house. Her movements were slow but she was full of life and kept starting new songs for the children to sing for us.

We passed some unwed expectant mothers on the stairs and my heart nearly broke to see how young they are. In a culture where the girl is nearly always blamed for such things (though it is rarely her fault, from what I have seen and heard) I cannot imagine what they must be going through. Upstairs we came to a room for handicapped children. My first thoughts were , " I don't know what to do here." As I started to interact with them, I began to see more than twisted bodies that needed to have their diapers changed and their teeth brushed. I saw gorgeous smiles, brilliant minds and the capacity for deep feelings, both joy and sorrow. This morning I was reading how God chose things despised by the world, things that counts as nothing at all to bring to nothing what we think important. I thought to myself, " Yes, that is them all right." I had to think of the one girl who could barely sit, who was copying the drumming patterns I was doing on the floor. She was brilliant! Another mischievous little one kept throwing her toy so that I would pick it up and give it back to her. She had a delightful laugh! Another one was talking to me in her own way, only I was not so brilliant when it came to understanding her. Then there was the little boy who was crying his little heart out, feeling so unloved and uncared for. They said he gets really jealous if others are getting attention and he is not. The poor dear. He wasn't just crying because of the rejection of the moment, he was feeling a lifetime of rejection and his pain went deep. These children feel so deeply, are so aware of life and what really matters. There is nothing stupid about them.

We went on and found a few toddlers, but by this age, if they are normal, most have been adopted. A young mother came over with her darling newborn son. As my friends took turns holding him, I asked her if she had given him a name yet. She told me his name is Akash, which means "sky". I was excited because that is Pruitt's Bengali name so we talked about that a bit. I found some more babies to hold; they were all so adorable! There seemed to be a mixture of mothers and volunteers, checking on the babies, changing and feeding them. It was beautiful to watch. After a while, the Sister in charge of the ward came in and changed little Akash. She had a small audience and I wondered what was going on. Soon I noticed his mother was there, talking and shedding some tears. It was then that I realized she was saying good bye. We had just been talking about the adoption process with one of the Sisters and suddenly it was happening before our eyes. It was so hard to see it from this end. Soon we were all crying with the mother. Her pain was so real. But what strength, what bravery, and what love! She knew if she kept him, he would be treated shamefully as he grew up. By giving him away to a family who is going to great lengths to make it appear that he is their birth child, he will have a chance to grow up with dignity.

When I see my own Akash and when I see a gorgeous blue sky, I am reminded of a brave mother who loved her son enough to give him away. I have even more respect for families on both ends of adoption. My brother and his wife are in the process of 2 adoptions at the moments and through the last 18 months I have gotten a glimpse of the excitement, the unending paperwork and expenses, the heartrending long waits, the eagerness, the thrill of the words "we have a girl!"

Kudos to all you out there who have the courage and love to pursue adoption. You are doing a beautiful thing. And to those have given your child up, for reasons others may not understand, you have so much courage. To those of you who have been adopted, you can hold on to feelings of rejection or you can trade them in for the realization that you are wanted more than most of us.

To the rest of you, if you know anyone in the adoption process, find ways to support them. No one should have to go through labor and delivery of any kind alone.

To Baby Blue and your brand new baby sister, we love you so much and are so so happy that you are going to be part of our family. Your cousins can not wait to come home and meet you! Neither can I.

To Baby Akash and his mother, you will always have a place in my heart.

My Knight In Shining Armor

Riley has been sick again, the last couple of days. He had a nasty cough accompanied by an ear ache and fever. So we took a trip to the doctor yesterday. He slept all night last night and woke up feeling much better and we are all happy about that!


Between the trip to the doctor and then a trip to the grocery store, we probably spent a couple of hours sitting in traffic. I didn't time it, but it sure felt like it! Every time I go out lately, it has felt like there is more traffic than usual and it has been harder to find transportation, especially to go across town. On the way to the doctor, the driver said that he was told that every day 450 new cars are coming into Dhaka. No wonder! This is one time I really wish I could blame things on my imagination, but the reality is that this city is fuller than ever! I am so grateful that my job allows me to stay home most days. Since the kids are all back in school today, I am going to relish the quiet and clean my nasty looking ceiling fans and hopefully get some food made ahead for the weekend.

Waiting At The Airport

There is nothing like chocolate donuts and coffee to pass the time! We got to the airport early and had some time on our hands so we found a great coffee shop and had one last treat.


The boys did so good and kept themselves entertained as we waited. Our flight ended up being delayed but we were just so happy to be flying instead of having the long bus journey that we didn't mind the wait too much.


The boys eventually dug beyond the coloring books that were in their bags and found packs of skittles and other snacks and were quite happy!


The boys were already making plans to return to India and visit the Taj Mahal. We shall see. In the meantime, we are home in Dhaka and doing well.

Heading Home

Here we are, all piled in the taxi, ready to head for the airport.


We were so blessed to be able to fly home and were able to borrow a suitcase and load it with some things we can't get here or were just really cheap there. It was quite fun!

More of India

My men - aren't they wonderful! One of them was completely tuckered out at the end of a very fun day, but the other one is just pretending. I'll let you guess which one is faking it.


While we ladies were filling grocery carts with all kinds of goodies, the guys tried in vain to find a taxi to take them home and ended up taking this horse and carriage.


Riley and a friend, enjoying a cool drink.


One of the many amazing meals we were served at our friends' house.