South Asia Critters: April 2007

Fun with the US Critters--Part One

January 2007
OK, so I'm a little behind in posting this. Sorry! Just wanted to show a little of the fun we had with Steven's brother and his crew and Grandma and Grandpa Jim...

Several of the days we spent at a beach resort that also has a great pool...complete with a volleyball net, slide and diving board.

Of course we had to hit the beach, too, since we were at a beach resort!

"Look, fahhther, it's a sea cuecuhmbehr!" (You had to be there!)

What a cutie!

Grandpa Jim with two of his cuties...Erin and Anna!

Erin's trying to sneak seaweed on Grandpa Jim!

It's the boys!

Allie with her favorite little girl cuz!

Erin says, "I'll just stay here. You guys go on in!"

Brooke's Photo Shoot

Ok, so this is a lot of pics, but I couldn't resist. The summer before we left America, we had a photo shoot of Erin and cousin Anna at the beach. Though we couldn't pin the two of them down long enough for a 2nd go-round while they were here in January, I did manage to get Brooke. Aren't they precious...no commentary needed.

Ah-ha, and you thought I had her trained so well to stand still! She was intrigued by some guys playing soccer on the beach!

Told ya they were precious!

New Year's Festivities at the Montessori

Yes, here in South Asia we just finished celebrating the New Year! There are many festivities that take place on the several day holiday. Daniel, Erin and Brooke's Montessori had their own festival day.

"Can they get this show on the road?" Daniel seems to be saying to his buddy, Wyatt. As all good South Asians do, the festivities began later than planned.
Notice the children are dressed in traditional attire.

Erin and Brooke just can't wait for the party to start either? Can't you tell?

First on the agenda is to get the coconut milk to boil. If it does, it is symbolic that the year will be a prosperous one.

Next up is lighting the oil lamp...along with the traditional foods.

We can't forget about the New Year's Greeting. A coin, wrapped in a leaf and held with a rubberband was given to each child. They in turn had to find a partner, exchange the coins, and say, "Happy New Year." Doesn't seem too hard, but Erin sure looks like it is!

Daniel and Wyatt don't seem to have a problem with it, though!

And now on to the games... During the New Year you can walk into any village and find kids (and adults) participating in lime races, tug-of-war, hit-the-clay-pot-filled-with-water-while you're-blindfolded game, blow-the-flour-out-of-the-dish-til-you-find-the-coin game, pin-the-eye-on-the-elephant game, sack races, pillow fighting on a log, or climbing the grease pole. You might also find them trying to weave the fastest, grind coconuts the fastest or guess how many seeds are in a papaya. The Montessori stuck to some of the easier ones...

The lime race...go girlfriends!

Don't they look cute?

Daniel getting a pep-talk from his big bubby...he'd need it as a little boy ran into him making him drop his lime! Wyatt pulled out in the lead! Way to go, Wyatt!

They even let the big kids participate!

Cabo (above) and Allie (below) trying their swing at the clay pots--which for the Montessori weren't filled with water.

Jessica (below) gets her turn...notices the looks as she whacks away...

Something I hadn't seen at other New Year's Festivities was the pick-up-as-many-flags-as-you-can-game and run back to the teacher to see who has the most.

Erin (above) comes in close to the lead while Daniel (below) takes first! Way to go, Dee!

Let's not forget the knock-someone-off-the-log-in-a-pillow-fight that everyone loves...

Looks like Erin got the upper hand with her big brother, Dee!

Daniel and Wyatt proved to be a pretty even match-up!

Stopping briefly for a pose...

They look like they could get into some stuff, don't they?

They can't stop long, though...it's back to the fun...

Thanks for joining us 4 buddies at our New Year's Festival Fun Day!

Easter Fun!

Thanks to our good friend, Linda Sue, not only did we get to remember what it was like to have a fire ball, we had Easter Egg dye! Thanks, girl...for everything!

Knowing that Easter, along with Christmas, is becoming much too commercialized to bring glory to our Savior, we try to take every opportunity we can to focus on the reason for the season. So, how can you do that by dying Easter eggs? Eggs are made up of 3 parts...the shell, the white and the yolk. The shell is egg. The white is egg. The yolk is egg. Sort of an illustration for God. God is God the Father. God is God the Son--Jesus Christ. And God is God the Holy Spirit. They are all 3 different beings, but they're all God. Pretty cool, huh? Our kids thought so too!

The kids had fun trying out all the different colors...

Cabo