What's happening with the Messicks

Our Utah House, we can't wait!

2011-05-05T05:26:00.002+08:00

The front of the house.

The back yard, a nice size such a change from the 2000 sq ft. lot we have here in Singapore! They already had a play structure and the cement pad on the right has a basket ball hoop.

One of Tyson's favorite features, technically it is a 4 car garage.

Our view from the front yard. Because of the clouds you can't see all of the mountains. I just love the view, I forgot how beautiful the mountains are.

Across the street there is an empty field to play in. I love how there is a soccer ball just sitting there. No worries of someone stealing it.
It's a small world. A friend called me yesterday here in singapore and asked if we were buying a house in Highland. Turns out her sister in law told her that the house across the street was being sold to someone from Singapore. So we already have made a connection to a neighbor, with boys Ashton's age.

Meets my #1 requirement. Nice size kitchen and has 2 ovens. I also like how open it is. This house has lots of built ins. Note the desk.

I like how the family room is open to the kitchen area. The entertainment center is built in, although I don't want a tv in view of the dinning table so we'll see how this turns out. At least if there is a TV we can close the doors. Also lots of windows so we can see the backyard from kitchen, dinning and family rooms.

More built ins. This is downstairs where I would prefer the kids to watch TV and play Wii.

More built ins. These are also down stairs. I like the cute little bench to the right. I think it would be fun to find an old table cut off the legs and the kids could use this corner for games, puzzles etc.

This is the most exciting part for Ashton. A built in fort under the stairs. There is a doorway and a little window.

Look very closely in the bottom right hand corner of the closet. It is a secret entrance into the fort. This will be Ashton's room.

A closer look to the secret entrance. Notice it has a little light switch.

Deeper inside the fort. I'm hoping this fort will cut down on his fort building. It bugs me when I don't have anywhere to sit because every pillow and blankets in the house (including all of the couch pillows) has been used to make one of his amazing forts.

This will be Hayden rooms. He get his own little nook, not to mention amazing views of the mountains.

A closer look at Hayden's nook. He is growing so fast and he definitely is ready to have his own space.

This is the mud room, again I love all the built ins. I think it is weird that they have a drinking faucet, but Tyson said he saw a couple homes with this. With Collin and his love for playing with water, we will be turning it off first thing till he get a little older.

So we close on the house June 15th and will probably start really moving in come August since we probably won't get our stuff from Singapore till then. I am really excited for the move especially after my recent trip back. We have enjoyed our life and adventures here in Singapore but we are ready to move on to our next adventures in life.

Chinese New year Block Party

2011-02-15T20:24:00.001+08:00

This is our block party we started off with a Posperity salad.

This the prosperity Salad which is a Singaporean tradition. It is mostly shredded vegetables with some crackers and sometimes some meat (salmon was in the one I actually ate). I really like the one I tried somewhere else.

You all toss it and the higher it is tossed the better luck you have. We didn't get to eat this salad since most of it ended up on the ground.

We went in together to pay for a lion dance for the party. Ours costs around $500. Our neighbor I posted earlier had 2 lion dances and a dragon dance so they really wanted to have good luck. Hayden is in the back in the blue shirt and red shorts. The plate has oranges and lettuce for the lion.

Chinese New Year

2011-02-12T14:02:00.000+08:00

These guys are doing a lion dance and dragon dance for our local neighbors. You are supposed to have good luck if you have a dance done during Chinese New Year (CNY). Most stores, places of business will pay to have them done.

These pole were used to dance on. Tyson said they jumped (there are 2 people in the lion costume) from the poles to the ground. I missed it since I was cleaning up after Ashton b-day.

This is the same house these people are doing the dragon dance. That is Ashton with his helmet on roller blading.

Here they are going into the house.

Here we are watching.

This is the dragon dance.

Forgot to flip this one. It is the year of the rabbit so this pore kid had to walk around in the outfit. Remember we are always around 90 degrees +/- 5 year round plus major humidity.

Happy Birthday Song

2011-02-12T07:34:00.000+08:00

I tried posting this earlier but had problems. I figured out that I was trying to load it in the picture mode vs the video. Duuhhh. So this was Ashton's class singing to him.

Ashton's Birthday, he turned 7

2011-02-11T22:22:00.000+08:00

Feburary 1st

Note the date on the board, 1st day of the 2nd month, then year. Remember most everyone else does the dates that way.

Ashton turned seven this year and we ended up have his birthday party on a very busy day. He wanted to have it at home this year even with my encouragement of doing it else where. So I tried to entertain ten 7 year olds for over 3 hours. We survived!!!

The original plan was to cut this cake and create a large broom. It cracked into at least 5 pieces so we switched to an alternative plan. Ashton got some harry potter legos so he built those and I created a grass field to place them on.

This reminded me of the days that I had to try to keep Ashton out of my cakes. Such a sweet look, just waiting for me to turn my back.

Activity 1, was making door hangers as they showed up.

We then ate lunch (pizza rolls) then had cake. Here are all of the kids with Ashton's face in the bottom of the picture under the cake. Look closely.

What to wish for????

They played a spin off of Fuse-ball in our spacious front yard. Collin got right in there.

Collin was that extra "Challenge" variable in the game.

This is what we took to school.

Sweet Ashton and his Mommy

This is Mrs. Clark, his 1st grade teacher who is from Australia.

Here he is the B-day hat they get to where all day. I got on video the class singing to him in English and Mandarin but I guess my video isn't compatible with blogger (it ends with .avi instead of .jpg or what ever video needs to be, if anyone knows how to help me please let me know)

We had Tacos for dinner and leftover cupcakes for his actually b-day. "He always tries to out eat dad when we have tacos. How many tacos have you had Dad?" He can't wait to get back to the US for Taco Bell, that's my boy. Gotta love taco bell.

Raising flags at the US Embassy in Singapore

2009-12-06T22:08:00.000+08:00

The boys had a really cool experience this weekend with Hayden's cub scout troop. They got to go to the embassy and learn about flags with the marines. Hayden's den leader is the Officer over Security at the Ebassy. The boys learning the proper way to fold a flag.Ashton very interested and right in there.All the boys got to raise and lower a flag they got to keep all long with an official certificate declaring it had been flown on the embassy grounds.

The boys with their own flags.

Ho Chi Minh, more pics 3

2009-09-23T15:59:00.001+08:00

This was a boat you could have dinner and a cruz (I think, annyway).
Here is the view from our hotel, also the siagon river.

This is a post office there, very pretty.

A catholic Cathedral.

Lots of french archetecture.

Ho Chi Minh more pictures, 2

2009-09-23T15:35:00.000+08:00

We didn't eat here but we thought it was funny to see in the middle of Vietnam.

There was a couple taking wedding pictures, there are some things that seem to be the same around the world.

Motorcycles were everywhere like most of asia. We saw people carring all there goods including large screen tvs, check out the load of tires on this guys bike.

More fast food, she even includes seat for dinning if you choose to "dine-in".

Ho chi minh City (Siagon), Vietnam

2009-09-22T09:59:00.001+08:00

We returned from the US and it was a long 2 months of travel and seeing our family but it was still very stressful at times. When we got back I saw some good travel deals and we had 1 weekend before the kids started school. Our Anniversary and my birthday was in August so I figured this would be a good stress reliever and opportunity for us to celebrate our anniversary. So a week after we arrived back in Singapore we flew out, Just me and Tyson to Vietnam.

Check out the wiring on this pole, pretty scary.

This is one of the earlier fast foods that stills exists. Any one for pig ears.

You could get just about any body part you want.

This was a special liquor that had cobras and other snakes in the bottle, it was pretty interesting.

How do they get them in there???

San Fran --

2009-07-15T23:12:00.000+08:00

So we flew into San Fran from Utah -- below are some photos:

The whole fam at peir 39

Ashton and Hayden at the curvy lombard street

The boys with a sliver street performer

Ashton at the GG bridge

GG (Golden Gate) bridge

This cracked me up -- they both wanted to look at the same time, we need to work on sharing

Cabin - Brian Head

2009-07-12T02:54:00.000+08:00

So we are in the US for the summer and we went to the cabin in brian head . it was nice to be there below are some pictures while we were there.

The Cabin

Collin helping to drive the boat

Ashton Driving the boat with possum that he got from his school teacher last year

Hayden driving the boat

Collin on the move

The boys at cedar breaks

3 Eyed boys at the ski shop trying on hats

The view before fireworks on the 4th of july

The fireworks spot up on the ski resort hill looking down into the valley for the fireworks

Fireworks

Snowball fight with some left over snow that has not melted yet

The peak 11,307 feet -- yes the air is thin coming from singapore with elevation of about 10 feet

Bali the ressort

2009-04-22T13:13:00.000+08:00

Classic, if you run out of bread just start spitting, the kids at the front lobby area of the ressort. We have such class. Luckily we weren't the only ones that had less than perfect children. I always like to see other children throwing fits or misbehaving. Somehow it makes me feel better as a parent that I'm not the only one.

This was at the beach.

The local would come and sell their goods. Their work was amazing and so cheap for the quality and detail. I wish I had more lougage space!!!

My peacefull kids again at the front lobby, a little better behaved this time at least for the picture. I am pretty proud to say no one ever fell in the ponds.

They had 2 life size chess sets the kids loved it. Ashton doesn't quite understand the rules yet but still loves to play he just makes it up as he goes along.

Bali:The Pool

2009-04-20T13:32:00.001+08:00

They had a couple liitle waterfalls into the pool, here is Hayden at one of them, this one was close to the slide I didn't get any pictures of.
Here is Hayden and Collin in the toddler pool. Collin was very confident to just crawl right in by himself so we had to keep a sharp eye on him. There were flowers every where so we also had make he didn't eat those.

The pools at the ressort we stayed in bali were really neeat some were connected and you could cross over them by bridges. You can see the boys going under one bridge here.

Here is Collin and I at one of the pools. He is a water baby through and through he loved it.

It was to bad that it was our last day there that the boys met a friend from Egypt (also an Expat). They had a lot of fun together. As you can see Ashton clung to him.

Bali cooking class posting order

2009-03-31T08:02:00.000+08:00

I always forget that your posts are last post is the going to be the top post so my Bali cooking class is in the wrong order. You can scroll down and read to the top.

..and finally The Fish Market

2009-03-30T15:02:00.000+08:00

After the local market we went the fish market on the beach.I just liked this lady. You can see some of the boats but they where mostly already done for the day, it was about 7:00 a.m.This little boy is helping his mom clean the boat. I kind of thought these fish were to pretty to eat.
This guy is cutting up tuna steaks.

This guy is just cutting up his fish it was pretty big. I probably don't have to tell you but this place had a very strong smell. If I hadn't been in Asia for a while it could have been offensive but there are lot of things that smell around here even the kids are getting to the point were the don't have to hold their noses anymore.

The Market

2009-03-30T14:28:00.000+08:00

After we picked out our chicken and got over the fate we just gave it we moved on to a spice table Heinz (It is a long story but our Instructor was original from Switzerland) had set up. It was another one of my favorite parts. He showed us what everything looked liked, cut it open so we could smell, touch and taste everything. There was so much to absorb and learn but I was in heaven. He also had fruits to try and there were things I had previously tried but obviously they had not been fresh because everything there was so much better. Due to lack of refrigeration many local have, most produce had been picked and on the the table in less the 48 hours. How long ago do you think the banana you had for breakfast was picked off the tree.
I just think their handcrafted items were amazing there the carvings and other art work were abundant and so cheap.

I love how this guy is just hanging out with the hacked up chicken while talking on the phone.

This guy is reading his paper while he is waiting for customers to buy some rice.

A nice large basket of chillies.

Cooking class, Our chicken and Mama Bali

2009-03-30T14:11:00.000+08:00

The first place we went was the local market. This is where we found "Mama Bali" (A woman to represent the women of local Bali) selling chicken. There feet were tied together so they could fly away or escape.This is when we were asked to pick out our chicken for lunch.Mama Bali is cuting free "Charlie", the chicken we chose.Here Mama Bali is showing us how she make the container and filling it with rice, for the rice cakes. They basically make this little package from leaves fill it with a little rice close it up by tieing the ends and throw it into water and out comes a nice little rice patty once you peel away the leaves.

I just thought this was cute she made a bird out of the same leaves that she made the little pouch for the rice.

Cooking Class in Bali

2009-03-30T13:14:00.000+08:00

Here is a picture of the Bumbu Bali Resturant where I took a class but this is where we actually ate breakfast and then later lunch which we prepared. It was very beautiful. They actually had rooms and villas you could stay in on the grounds also.

Here is a portion of the kitchen where we cooked. We cooked a total of 22 items including satay chicken (You'll see charlie later) and pork with a peanut sauce. We learned how to make a comple of spice paste and rices both sweet and savory. I also learned how to cook a couple of things in banana leaf. The whole process was very interesting.
This is what the finished product looked like. Some veggies tossed in a peanut sauce, some satay, and pork in a sweet soya sauce.

Here is dessert some fried bananas, and glutenous rice with shredded coconut.
I took the cooking class the first full day we had in Bali, my ride picked me up around 6:00 a.m. It was probably my favorite thing I did. I got to see and do things that I wouldn't have done with the family in tow.

Bali Lock Down - Nyedi Day "The Silence of Bali"

2009-03-26T09:04:00.000+08:00

So we have been in Bali 4 days now and today we are on lock down and can not leave the hotel. We had no idea when we made our bookings that their was a Hindu religious day called a "Day of Silence" and they are totally serious, the airport is not open and no one is allowed to leave their home or housing compound. It's called Nyepi Day it's spent in quiet meditation and fasting, reflecting on the past's year's events, according to the Balinese Caka Calender. We will spend the day hanging out at the pool trying to keep the kids from killing each other. Unfortunately the spiritual nature of Bali has no affect on the kids and they are still as "loud" and normal as ever.

So far we have done some activities and will hopefully have more time to blog about them in detail once we return to singapore. On Monday Natalie took a Balainse cooking class where she went out to the local market a 6am and picked out "charlie" the chicken for lunch, she also bought fish straight off the boats that come in every morning. On Tuesday we all went out as a family and visited the sacred monkey forest, some temples and just some general shopping and eating out. Yesterday, Wednesday, the two older boys and I went white water rafting.

Collin taking a nap on the beach. He was lovin life.

The boys after rafting down river in Bali.

Hayden and Ashton 'underwater', trying out the new camera we bought for our scuba trips.
Tyson with the monkey god Hanoman and another dancer in the Kecak Ceremonial Temple Dance. Last night Natalie and I went out to dinner and watched this dance during dinner.
Natt with some of the dancers of the Kecak Dance.

Hayden's b-day celebrations

2009-03-20T17:02:00.000+08:00

We don't have any pictures of his friends celebration party, that is the day I dropped and broke the camera while trying to pack up everything for the party. He had Tuesday off for parent teacher conferences so we took advantage and had a few friends go to a local water park called the Jurong East water park. It is basically a government subsidised pool so it is supper cheap but it is really cool. It has a wave pool, lazy river, kiddie play structure in the water, lap pools and even 3 water slides and 2 of them require a tube. It is one of the few cheap things here in Singapore, it cost just over 50 cents for kids and just over $1 for adults (that US$).

School celebration

Recently we made cinnamon rolls and they were a hit so Hayden requested them instead of cupcakes for his b-day at school. Here is Hayden blowing out the candles on his cinnamon rolls that looked like and 8. Fe is handing Hayden his rolls, while holding Collin so I could take the picture. Mr. Williams is also in the picture, he is Hayden's teacher and he is way awesome.

This is a picture of the cinnamon rolls that we had for breakfast, then we took 2 other pans to school. If you are interested here is the link to the recipe from http://www.allrecipes.com/ my favorite recipe website the Clone of the Cinnabon. You can make this recipe in a bread machine and then through them in the fridge overnight, through them in the oven first thing in the morning and fresh hot cinnamon rolls without haveing to get up at the break of dawn.

Tired boy

2009-03-20T16:38:00.000+08:00

Ashton rides the bus (it is actually a van) to and from school everyday for about 45 minutes so it is a long ride which he doesn't like. I beleive most days he naps on the way home and sometimes it makes him very grumpy. Today I was testing out a camera we got on wednesday. (I dropped our old camera Tuesday a broke it but we have a trip to Bali this Sunday so we needed a new camera fast.) So I happened to be outside taking pictures of Collin and playing around with setting and such when Ashton got off the bus barely.

The Bus Auntie (a lot of local people call a person who is older than you Auntie or Uncle so that is what Ashton calls the bus driver helper) helped a tired and very grumpy Ashton off the bus.

This is as far as he got, he put his bag down and fell right back a sleep. I thought he was laying there being grumpy until I got closer and realized he was trully asleep.

Here is Collin with Ashton. I ended up caring him inside and he has now been asleep for over an hour. It is going to be a long night.

Here is one of my favorite photos from today, I call it "hello, my name is Chubby". Did any of you do this face when you were younger?

Dinner and a Mouse

2009-03-16T20:52:00.000+08:00

So Friday night is usually date night for Natt and I. Normally I am at work and she will ride train into the city from the house and I will drive the car into the city from work. This friday night was different since I got home early, we both took the train into the city for dinner. While we traveling we were making arrangements for the pest guy to come and set traps for the mouse we had in the house. We saw him earlier in the day scoot from behind the fridge and into the pantry. So Natt and I went out to dinner -- we hit little india, and ate some excellent food straight off a banana leaf, which was also the name of the restaurant. The place was way good and we have now found a new favorite for indian food. So after dinner we still had not caught our mouse. We woke up saturday morning and still no mouse. Then after taking the kids to get their haircut from the Malay barber, where they got their necks shaved with a raw straight edge razor -- man the guy was brave, and yes they held very still for that portion -- we got home and found we had caught our mouse. So we called the pest guy 'eric' to come take away our mouse, all the boys were super excited that we caught it, and kinda bummed that eric took him away -- i think they wanted to keep him as a pet.

Our Performers

2009-03-14T13:19:00.000+08:00

So last weekend we went to the Night Safari at the Zoo here in Singapore. We have gone many times but never had a chance to attend one of the shows called "creatures of the night" . So we went early and got front row seats. They bring out all kinds of animals and then call people and kids up from the audience to feed them etc... They called Ashton up to feed one of the animals, he really enjoyed it and then got a coupon for a free ice cream cone from the ben and jerry's shop in the zoo. So normally we don't get ice cream because it's so expense so it was a real nice treat.

Yesterday Hayden was part of a readers theater where he was also able to perform some -- he was really excited to be in this and wanted myself and Colling to attend. Once again it involved ice cream, every once and a while we let him get a treat on the walk home from school from the ice cream motorcycle. (Yes this is just like the ice cream truck/van in the US, however it a motorcycle with a outfitted freezer as a side car to the motorcycle). But it was raining on the way home from school yesterday so the ice cream guy wasa not around, so we had to walk to the 7-11 to get our ice cream cone after the performance.

Baby - C

2009-03-10T17:32:00.000+08:00

Hey - quick post with some recent pictures of Baby - C, aka Collin.

Big Blue eyes

Crawling on the floor -- it's now his favorite place to be

Driving his BMW Z3 in one of the local malls

Standing up on dad's hands

Eating dragon fruit -- all the seeds get stuck on his face -- along with his battle wound from being mobile now

Happy Breakfast

2009-03-05T08:59:00.000+08:00

So I woke up this morning and Ashton was all ready for school. This is unusual and typically we have to fight him to get dressed and on the bus. He was up quite early and in a very good mood which is also unusual. So Natt and I go down stairs expecting the fight to try get food in his belly and he starts to ask very nicely for eggs and ham to eat. Typically we say no, on a school day, since we are usually running late and fighting just get clothes on him so he can goto school, but this morning we said yes since all that was already done. So he loves to help with breakfast, which is also only done on the weekends as this is the only time we have to have him "help?" with breakfast. So he and our helper Fe, started to make him his eggs and ham, and guess what -- he actually helped and did a very good job of cracking the eggs? So I am now completely dazed wondering what happened to my 5 year old son? Have we turned a new page and this "new" Ashton will continue on? We will have to see?

S'pore pool party

2009-03-02T20:38:00.000+08:00

Last weekend the kidos did not have school on friday and we got invited to a pool party/going away party for some friends leaving singapore and going back to the US. Collin really wanted in the pool but only watched from the fence. This is a pretty small pool so the kid to pool ratio is highest i have ever seen. all the kids liked to jump off the wall but the "dad/owner" of the home with the pool was allowed (by his wife) to jump off the roof in the pool. When he made his appearance on the roof, i have never seen a mass of kids jump out of a pool and patiently wait this fast before in my life . well he made his jump, then all the kids jumped in after him -- it was one chaotic pool!!

Singapore "western" food

2009-03-01T17:49:00.000+08:00

Tyson post -- it looks like I have now taken the role in posting -- well we were at the grocery store the other day here in singapore and I had the camera with me -- so I took some photos of the food prices -- western food -- western food is very expensive and only a special treat when we get it -- local food is very cheap but I can only handle so much of it. Here are some photos of the singapore dollar prices so I converted each one into US dollars.

$5.60 SDG = $3.73 USD

$13.55 SGD = $9.03 USD

$17.75 SGD = $11.83 USD

$10.65 SGD = $7.10 USD

$13.60 SGD = $9.06 USD

Ashton Soccer - White Tigers

2009-02-28T22:58:00.000+08:00

quick post from tyson again-- Ashton finished his soccer season today. he was good little player and scored a goal or two most games. his team is called the white tigers so that is the reason for the face paint. Collin was enjoying him self with the watermelon half time snack. as loser parents that we are, i only had the camera i had on my phone to take photos. All the other parents brought their real cameras, however we are just lucky to have all the kids once we arrive.

2009-02-16T20:09:00.000+08:00

Hey so it's been a while -- this is tyson -- Natt and i had a weekend away without the kidos. We headed up to KL (kuala lumpur) malaysia. It is about a one hour flight from here (singapore) and we left the kids at home with our newly employed helper. she is awesome and does so much for our family. we felt kinda like rock stars because everything was about 1/2 the price of what it is here in singapore. we stayed at a nice hotel in the city center right next to the main attraction of the city which are the petronas twin towers. the towers are the tallest twin towers in the world and were the tallest building(s) in the world until taipei 101 was built a few years ago. petronas is the national oil company in malaysia and the twin towers are their corporate headquarters. we visited the skybridge which connects the two towers at floor 44. we had some nice meals. we ate at a lebonise restaurant along with a tapas restaurant. we also had some time to get foot massages and fish aromatherapy baths, where fish nibbled all the dead skin off your toes.

natt and tys in front of petronas twin towers

natt and tys on train

tys and natt - aromatherpay foot fish bath

Fish having lunch on my foot

On skybridge tour

Phuket the JW Marriot Resort

2008-12-15T10:33:00.000+08:00

It was so beautiful there. So much of the scenery was amazing. I never wanted to leave. This was beautiful during the day but at night it was even better. They had flames above the water but we never got pictures of it.
There attention to detail was everywhere. This was for putting out your cigarettes. They had a turtle design which was kind of there logo. Every morning there would be a fresh imprint of this turtle and flowers in the ashtrays.

This is where we ate breakfast ever morning. It was delicious. Many, many fresh juices and great food including food Hayden would eat so we were stoked.

This was a lounging area close to the breakfast we would go to. Something I loved was the colors. I discovered I really like many of the Thai style of decorating, I want to go back just to get furniture and decorations before we go back to the States.

This was just a decorative pond but if you look out you can see the ocean beyond the trees, again everything was so beautiful.

Slacker Post!!!

2008-12-04T21:10:00.000+08:00

We just went on the most amazing vacation to Phuket while Tyson's mom Joyce was here visiting. I feel like we have sat still since she has been here, she goes back home this Saturday. Some how she has gotten more blogging in than I have. When ever I blog it seems to take me a few hours. Sooooo, until I get to it if you realy want to see some previews of what may come on my blog you can check out hers. I guess this is showing my ultimate laziness. Lets just say Asia time is still kicking my butt. As Tyson always says time is a lot faster here in Asia. Anyway for those interested here is her blog. http://theemptynestlife.blogspot.com/

Halloween Madness

2008-11-03T12:02:00.000+08:00

This is what our street looked like at about 6:00 it wasn't even dark yet. They don't really celebrate Halloween here in Singapore but if you want to celebrate and go trick or treating our neighborhood is where you go here in Singapore. We had an estimated 3,000 trick or treaters this year, and that is not an exaggeration. They actually block off the street and we noticed they had a first aid and lost and found station. I spent over $60 on candy and was out is in less than 45 minutes. I bought things like individually wrapped mentos (the cheapest thing I could find) and only gave 1 to each person. It is insane. You just sit outside your gate and hand out to the masses. When you are out of candy you have to move the crowd out of the way so you close your gate. A closed gate indicates not participating or out of candy. Many people buy their candy in the states and bring it home with them at the end of the summer.Here are the boys. I think we have used this Darth Vader costume for at least 3 years. Ashton was going to use a costumes from last year but found some face paint as we were digging out the costumes about 15 minutes before we were trying to get out the door. Here wanted to have 2 round red dots on his cheeks and the rest of his body painted yellow (note he was wearing underwear at the time). We talked him into a yellow shirt instead and he decided on wearing a red cape. He was trying to be Pikachu (a Pokemon character). This is Hayden with his Teacher Mr. Williams. Here is the link to Hayden's class pictures. http://pseagle.sas.edu.sg/twilliams/ They are in the 2nd quarter now. If you look at the Halloween party you will see a picture of Collin in his pumpkin costume. My battery was dead when I went to take pictures. You gotta love that.
These are our German friends Larine and Marvin they are the same age as the boys and they have a little brother named Valentine who is less than 2 weeks younger the Collin. The only barrier we have is the older boys don't speak the same language. The seem to be able to play still though.

Chinese SUV -- Enough room for the whole family

2008-10-28T17:13:00.000+08:00

Tyson Again -- See my blog below on China -- Here is a interesting photo on how different things are in terms of personal safety. The whole family fits on one 49cc motorbike --- I guess car seats are for whimps?? -- Try this in the US and you will for sure be arrested.

Middle of China

2008-10-28T14:51:00.000+08:00

This is Tyson – I went to China about a week ago for work, I went in the middle nowhere and had to take a car about 2 hours from the airport to a small (by china standards) industrial town. There were only 3.7 million people that lived in the town and it was not even big enough to have their own airport, thus the reason for 2 hour ride by car from the nearest airport. I only stayed for a couple of days. I will post a few pictures of things with some comments.

In by the area that Mao started the Cultural Revolution in China.

Typical Scene from by the side of a River

Dinner anybody -- this was some kind of catfish with feet -- good for me that he cost to much to actually have on my plate -- however I probably ate his cousin or something??

This was the dinner room we ate at one evening -- it was pretty fancy and on the menu were some new items that I tried such as tripe (cow intestines) and picked pig ear, yes it is real a pickled pig ear, not just some made up name.

So after dinner, I was booked for a massage -- this is the way most of the trip went -- I did not have clue what was going on until it actually happened -- so I just went with the flow -- I was booked so I went and got a 1 hour foot bath/massage then a 1 hour full body massage. Massages are very big deal in Asia as it promotes well being and good health, the massage place in the hotel was open until 1 am and I got done about 11:00 pm, then I had to pay -- so someone else booked the time, but I still had to pay -- I figured the rate was not going to be very cheap -- so I got to the cashier and it was $120 RMB -- which equals about $17 USD -- It was crazy, a 2 hour massage for 17 bucks!!!

Disneyland hotel resort

2008-10-17T16:42:00.001+08:00

Here is the back view of the hotel we stayed at. you could either walk to Disneyland or take a shuttle bus. We mostly took the shuttle but walked a few times. Behind Hayden is the green bushes that made up the Mickey maze (see pic below).
The hotel had a Victorian feel to it. Something that is funny is there were hardly any children. There was only a handful of kids and most of them seemed to be from Australia. I think I got one of the token Asian kids head in this picture. There would be one kid and his parents, grandparents and maybe an Auntie.
Even though Halloween is a predominately American Holiday it was a theme there in Disneyland and the hotel. Mostly characters from The Nightmare Before Christmas which you'll see in some later posts.

They had a big maze in the back if you look real close you can see the boys in the front also Mickey is in the light green color bushes.

The BIG buddha, or Tian Tan Buddha (in Hong Kong)

2008-10-15T22:10:00.000+08:00

Here we are with the boys in the taxi Asian style, no car seats. Note the passy on the lanyard, we have at least 1 passy MIA lost during a Babybjorn outing so this was Tyson's idea which worked great.

Here we are riding on the gondola, the ride alone was 20-25 min. We opted for the return trip. The picture below if you look real close you can see the stairs that are part of the trek. with kids, no thank you.The start of the 300 or so steps to the top of the Buddha. This Buddha was the largest in the world until just recently in 2007. At 34 meters and 250 tons and made of bronze this is quite amazing.

The Singapore Airport and traveling

2008-10-15T21:46:00.000+08:00

These aren't way exciting pics but they are something. The airport here is pretty cool. I just found out there is actually a swimming pool, movie theatre and of course places to eat and shop (duty free) if you have an longer layover. You can also take a tour bus, there are 2 different tours depending on the length of you layover that are actually free. The inside of the airport is nice and so smooth getting in and out of you hardly even notice when you actually go through security and you rarely have to wait in line (or the Que as they saw around here). The airport has plenty of plants (I like the orchids) you can see the boys posing in one of the "gardens". My favorite thing was the foot massager, kind of like the chairs you can sit in but it only does your feet, it felt so good and it was free.
We have been pretty lucky so far with our airplane since being here they spoil the kids. They actually got little bags (literally mini backpacks) with different little goodies like stickers and other little activities on the plane. 2 of the 3 flights have had there own screens with a choice of games to play and vids to watch. Our return flight was the hardest because we thought we would have the vids and video but it was an older plane so no games the kids movie wasn't working. Ugh, we did bring any of our own entertainment so the flight was kind of long. Having Collin has also been nice because we have had good seats so we could put him in a bassinet on the wall in front of us which means lots of leg room and nobody for the kids to hit or through things at in front of us. I wanted to get a picture of it but they have a mini seat belt that you put on the baby that attaches to the adults seat belt for take off, landing and anytime the seat belt sign comes on (which was annoying when he was sleeping in the bassinet and we would have to take him out so we could buckle him up.) The best thing about Asia is everyone is so nice and accomidating all the time especially with children, which really helps. Everyone always comments on us and our 3 boys. There is 2 ways to look at it here, boys are very busy and a handful or in some cultures the boys grow up and take care of their parents so we will be well taken care of.

Singapore F1 (Formula One) Night Race

2008-10-06T14:27:00.000+08:00

This is Tyson again. -- so the much anticipated F1 race was last weekend here in singapore. I got tickets for the two older boys and myself to go on Saturday for qualifying and some other races like the Asia Porsche Carrera Cup. This F1 race is the fist time that they had a circuit in Singapore and also the worlds first night race -- they spent about 50 million USD on lighting along to light the track. We spent a good part of the day kicking around the track on Saturday. then on Sunday we got an invite to go view the race from a friends office building. We went down to the race track, with no tickets and watched the race from the 29th floor of the Shaw Building. The crazy part was that we got on the 29th floor then crawled out of a window and sat on a ledge to watch the race -- the boys were with me and there was no railing so is was a bit scary but it was a great view of the race. We could oversee about 1/3 of the total track.

Here are the boys on the side of the track -- we are only about 10 feet away from the cars as they go by. They are of course wearing earplugs because of the noise and got the tickets around their neck.
The boys got these fans for free and they automatically turned into weapons. they are using them as swords.
Here is some of the singapore skyline -- the Merlion is behind the boys (kinda small) but he is spitting water out of his mouth to protect the harbor. The bridge behind was part of the race track that the F1 cars went over. Plus the sword/fans.
This is the view from the 29th floor of the Shaw Building where we got see the F1 race. The real bright parts are the actual race track and the singapore skyline is behind.

Singapore Zoo Bathrooms

2008-10-06T14:20:00.000+08:00

This is Tyson -- we were at the zoo the other day, is was a public holiday here Hari Raya Puasa, so we took the kids to the zoo. Natt may post more later, however I snapped a photo inside of the bath room of hayden washing his hands this is the inside of the bathroom as Natt talked about in a previous blog.

Outings with Tammy

2008-09-29T10:31:00.000+08:00

While Tammy was here we took turns with the adults going out since we discovered it wasn't so pleasant with the kids unless we were at McDonalds or Burger King. Who wants to come all the way to Singapore where they are well known for their food and go to MD or BK. Tammy and I went to a conveyor belt Sushi bar. They are constantly making fresh sushi and putting it on colored plates which are priced according to their color. So you watch as they go by and decide what you want. It was fun and we tried quite a bit. We actually went there the first day that both boys were in school(that's why we have Collin). This was nice because we were there early enough that the lunch crowd hadn't gotten there yet so we felt comfortable calling over the waiter and asking him what everything was whenever we had questions. I like sushi but I am actually a little shy as to what I have. I am actually not big on the raw fish kind (contrary to what many believe sushi doesn't have to be raw fish). It is fun going out with Tam because we are very similar in our taste and adventure.
On our evening out we went to this Moroccan restaurant(the weird looking things are hanging lights). We forgot our camera so we took pictures during another outing during the day time. I was sad because the ambiance was awesome. It would have been an awesome place for a romantic date, Tammy was the perfect date and well behaved.The food was also great. They also had something that looked similar to what you see the Caterpillar from Alice in Wonderland smoking. It smelt really good, kind of fruity but we didn't try it, we weren't that adventurous. The one thing we were disappointed about was you didn't sit on the floor and eat with your hands like we had seen in the movies (Sabrina and Along came Polly were the specific movies we remembered, both meals were dates). I had always envisioned my first Moroccan meal without silverware or chairs but it was a great experience anyway.
While Tam was here we wanted her to experience things besides the temporary housing. Tys took her to Little China and I took her to Little India. While in little India we did go to a wet market. This is where locals buy and sell things usually a little cheaper. This is also where you can buy very fresh food, both produce and meat. We felt uncomfortable taking pictures. It was very raw, as you walked through very narrow walk ways you could easily get sprayed with who knows what (pig, poultry, beef or fish blood and guts) as they hacked away at the meats. It was disgusting, it smelled bad and overall something I'll never forget. We both loved it!! This is another reason I could really travel with Tammy. We just felt like we got to experience Real things not just the tourist scene (note:even though it is very fresh I don't know if I could ever buy meat in this fashion). We also happened to find what we felt was similar to almost a huge garage sale. Some people were selling goods like purses, wallet, jewelry and electronics. But then some were selling used shoes, clothes, appliances. We found it funny the graveyard of random remotes, how many does he really sale? there is a picture in the upper left corner of the collage. The Indians are very into their gods and can create some very detailed buildings for worship which are quite amazing. I also have a few pictures of those. I just like the stair case on a building so that is just a random picture in my collage. Basically I just really enjoyed touring with Tam. I hope she comes back before we leave so we can do more traveling together. We all love her.

The Night Safari

2008-09-29T09:28:00.000+08:00

So I think this is the only family pictures we have right now. I wish we were still living close to my friend Jessica because she has such a good way with the boys when she was taking our pictures. Anyway Tammy was still here when we went to the Night Safari so she took this picture for us.
We ate at Bongo Burgers while entertained by fire dancing. It was awesome and you didn't even have to pay to get to that point so you could just come for dinner and entertainment (I have a video clip later in this post). We ended up getting a family annual membership to the night safari, zoo, and a bird park.
The boys had fun posing with the alligator. We were able to see the animals in there more natural nocturnal state. We went in the bat area and they where flying all around you and they were eating fruit and fight each other for it. We also say many other animals. We will probably go again so might might post more about it later. They don't let you take any flash photography for the animals sake so no pics of real animals. Something else I remember is that they had really cool bathrooms. I didn't get pictures but I'll try to remember for next time. They had normal bathroom stalls and sinks but at the same time it was "outside" with cool plants and water falling. That is something that is so cool here is the foliage. You drive down the free way and there are all kinds of green tropical plants and trees everywhere.

Here are the fire dancing I was talking about, the boys really loved it. Hopefully they won't get any crazy ideas from it.

One of the cool things about the zoo and night safari (they are located at the same place) is that they are both less than 10 minutes from our house.

Just Stuff

2008-09-23T12:14:00.000+08:00

Well in my attempts the first week in the house I was trying to figure out what to make for dinner. I roasted a chicken. I bought this and it was prepackaged. I saw the head but the feet were a surprise. I used a Pampered chef fluted stone pan which I had done in the states to roast this chicken. I did have to cut off the head and feet which wasn't to bad. It was cleaned out in the inside so I was able to slide the empty cavity over the post that creates the hole in the center of the cake. Roasted the chicken and all the fat drain to the bottom of the pan. We had a salad, green beans and backed potatoes finally my first good "normal" meal. It is hard not to eat out when you can get a good meal from the locals for less than (us dollars) 2.50 for their chicken and rice dish to about $6 at the most for more complex dishes (these are at the local food courts, not full on restaurants where you sit and get served). My favorites at my local mall are the pad thai or the green coconut curry with chicken both cost about 2.45 US$ each but a soda cost almost a dollar and they don't have free refills.

Here is a gecko on the celling in the kitchen. The first time I saw one I was doing dishes late at night and it was a black one. It raced out from under a towel and crawled up the wall it just startled me so bad. You see them quite ofter in the house probably at least once a week. They are good to have around because they eat bugs, especially mosquitos which can carry Dun gee Fever. Most cases around here it is the kind were you have extreme flu like symptoms. I here it is extremely painful to, all the way to the bones.
This is the only picture I have of Anna our helper. One of the boys took it so it isn't the best. She comes and helps me clean once a week. She is awesome!!! She is fast and very efficient. She can't understand why I don't have a live in helper. Since I have 3 kids and a whole house to run and take care of. I told it is very common in the states. Here you can't "cheat" on cleaning though. You really have to clean your house good because of bugs, mildew and other things. That means mopping at least once a week (the whole house, thats 3500 sqare feet and 3 flights of stairs, I was doing good to get the kitchen and entry done once a month) and deep cleaning bathrooms at least once a week (remember I have 5 now). So I do really need help. I posted earlier about this but here are some pictures. You have to switch on every outlet you use.
Here is the light switch and the switch to turn of on the hot water for the kitchen and the dishwasher. The dishwasher is outside the kitchen door which is a pain. I ended up buying a basket to keep in the kitchen and fill then carry the basket to the dishwasher once it gets full.
This is the front of our house the tree is in the middle of our "plot" (we have a green awning and our neighbors have a glass or plastic awning over our doorstep). we have very small garbage cans but they pick up the trash everyday. Our neighbors are Chinese you can kind of see their "worshiping thing" (it is horrible but I don't know what it is called). They burn ensense and leave offerings of stacks of oranges almost every day. They have so many potted plants that they have their garbage cans on our land. It's a little annoying when you have such little land. It was dirt but we just had someone put down sod for us and thats when we really noticed how much junk they had on our side. The guy that did our sod just drives around with a truck full of plants to see if anyone wants to buy anything. We bought a bunch of plants including orchids (purple and white), a lime tree and few other plants. He planted the plants we wanted planted for free and came back the next day with sod that we had asked about and some other "filler plants" like Mexican heather. They are very happy tho please you here, customer service is awesome. Something they always say is "can, can, can" as the shake their head yes.

Groceries

Here they have what they call provisioners, ours is named Richard (almost everyone has an english and native name and they usually use their english name). He calls me every morning to see if I need any groceries and then will deliver them to me later that afternoon. If it is on the island they usually can find it. This is a good resource because who wants to spend all day looking for tortillas or tartar sauce. I try to do most of my shopping myself still so I still get the benefits of walking to the grocery store, seeing what is available and getting a little more exercise. Surprisingly things don't cost much more through Richard, maybe 20-80 cents which is nothing if you take into account gas and time. They do import Dr. Pepper so we still have that bad habit in the house. But this is one of the things I keep stocked by Richard so I'm not carrying 12 packs home from the grocery store. It is funny because they open the box and put an imported sticker on each can put them back in the box and then tape it back up. I guess that is what you call job security.

THE HOUSE

I will post pictures of the house a little later we are still unpacking boxes and we don't even want to discuss what the guest bedroom looks like. I think I need someone to plan a trip out here soon to get me moving on that one. Any takers?

Staying Busy

Besides trying to adjust to cooking, cleaning and getting around and finding things there is a lot to do around here. There is a lot of groups through church and schools. I have found it it fulfilling enough to just do stuff with people from church so far. I have done exciercise (they meet for weight training on Mondays and ultimate frisbee on thursdays), Scripture study on Tuesdays, which usually includes some outing afterwards like lunch or to checking out a place of interest. Playgroup is on Wed (I currently have Anna come clean on Wed since Collin is a little young for play group still). Thursday I am taking a quilting class (I'm not actually sewing right now I decided to just watch and gain the knowlegde for right now). Here is the blog she has for the class if you want to check it out. http://kellyslearntoquilt.blogspot.com/ She is teaching us how to draft and do things I didn't know quilter did, Hello geometry. It always changes but there is usually something going on Fridays. We have soccer pratice and a game following practice on Saturday and try to do anything else that needs to be done (things like buy a vacumm). Sunday is Church and then we start the week all over again. Tyson doesn't usually get home till after 5:30 at the earliest and last night was a late night of around 9 so we don't do a ton in the evenings. Tyson thinks time goes by faster in Asia I'm starting to agree.

My birthday/our annivesarry

2008-09-23T11:13:00.000+08:00

For our anniversary (12 years ago Aug 30th who would of thought I would be sitting in my p.j.s in Singapore blogging) we ended up go to dinner the night before with a coworker of Tyson in town from the states kid-free. For my birthday a few girls from church took me to lunch at a Subway that is located at the high school campus. In the US it may sound cheezy and cheap but here it was really nice to have such a normal American meal once in a while. The sandwiches taste exactly the same and they had the same cookies also which were really good. I also got a pedicure and someone watched Collin while the other boys were in school. A friend also brought me a bunch of orchids which were really pretty. The boys bought it a cake at the mall, I guess when you spend that much on a cake they give you candles also. I turned 32 so they had 3 large candles and 2 small. It was a chocolate mouse cake. Not only did it look good but it tasted good. Their pastries always look really nice or fancy around here but sometimes they are dry or somewhat disappointing. They also bought me a necklace from a nice jewelry store where they give you water just from walking in, it might have been that they could tell the boys were ex pact and expected they to drop down a lot lot of cash. All in all it was a good day but like all of our holiday and celebrations have been this past year, almost an after thought. I hope we can enjoy our future celebrations better, ie getting ready for the holidays and not just celebrating the day of in stress and caous. Note Hayden is wearing his Soccer jearsy. It cost $110 for soccer here but it included short, shorts, socks and soccerball.

The kids settling in

2008-09-16T12:42:00.000+08:00

Collin is almost 4 months now and grabbing things including his toes. I think this is so cute. I don't think he truly knows what he is doing yet or can really control himself either. He is really fun right now, smiling all the time and giggling and giving a few belly laugh with a little extra work on our part.
We got him a bumbo chair (through craiglist, they have craiglist here also but the pickings are slim). He likes it and get exciting but most of the time he is in it, it results in major spit up. I don't know if he is using his stomach muscles, or he get overly excited. Does anyone else have this problem? I also wanted to share some of the sleeping positions I have caught Collin in. Babies are so cute when they are sleeping.

Hayden is playing soccer now. I haven't gotten the camera there yet maybe this week. He has really gotten into it this year. Last week he even blocked a goal really well one handed and made it bounce off the back of the goal. I was a bad mom and talking rather than paying attention. I did have many of the other parents comment and tell me about it though so it must have been impressive. Maybe our couch potato has hope. He does walk to and from school each day so that is good to. His eating hasn't changed to much like I was hoping they would. Unfortunately we have a McDonalds to close and convenient. They only have 2 drive throughs here in singapore but they do deliver. At this point I refuse to go that far and hope my children never find out about this option. We are usually there about once a week at the locatin in our nearest mall (about 5 minutes). He is doing great in school and loving it. He has an awesome teacher. Here is a link that his teacher post pictures from school and I think the kids will create some type of web page later this year. http://pseagle.sas.edu.sg/twilliams/

Ashton still has his issues. If he were to just go to bed I think that would help out everyone in the household. I did get a sleeping book to help us out (I'll try to post more about that later). We have started speech therapy someone comes to the house every Monday he has had only 2 sessions but he has done pretty well. He does really well at school also and loves it. His teacher is smitten by him. He gives her "cuddles" all day long (I love listening to her Australian accent). She is a great personality match for him it is awesome because she is a good balance of tolerating his activity and roughness (running into her for a tackle hug) and yet she is good at telling him when it is too rough or inappropriate to do things. We are still trying to work on his aggressiveness with Collin, although sometimes he can be so sweet. They really enjoy doing pick-a-boo with him right now. Ashton doesn't start soccer until November but he will probably be great at it and love it, he can't wait.

Vacation

We have planned our first vacation to Hong Kong Disneyland for Oct 7th. There is a holiday here so the kids have over a week off at school. We will fly home on the 12th. I hope it is fun and the kids appreciate it. I think my generation was the start of a really spoiled generation and our kids' generation is much worse. When we went to Sea world a while ago all the kids wanted was treats and stuff from the gift shop. Who cares about the huge whale jumping out of the water. We could have gone to the mall for so much cheaper.

Ashton's first day of school and the National Orchid Garden

2008-08-19T22:35:00.001+08:00

Ashton's first day of school. He is going to the Canadian International school so he will be learning both Madrian and French in Pre-K, crazy. He didn't get into the American school. His teacher is from Alstralia, her name is Mrs. Barnard and it is fun to listen to her talk. She was reading a book about dinosaurs and there was a big one and she said "He is quite tubby isn't he". She also says Mum or Mummy just like everyone else around here. It is how they refer to moms here, it is funny to see it on advertisements and newspapers. I don't know why it sticks out to me so much I just think it is cute. Ashton is also in front of the Singapore flag. They just had their Singapore National day, 43 years of being there own contry, (like our 4th of July) so there were flags everywhere. I will post a seperate post on that later.
You would think that we were famous. After we dropped Ashton off at school we went to the Orchid gardens we had several people actually stop us and ask if they could get Collin's picture or have their picture taken with him. Tammy took a couple pictures with her camera to. We just thought it was funny. I don't know if it just because he was a baby or white. The girls Tammy is with wanted to get there picture taken with Hayden (I was breast feeding Collin so I wasn't with Tammy and Hayden). He was OK with it the first couple but got a little shy or weired out by it so Tammy had him take her picture with the girls. I think they were visiting from Korea. People here just LOVE babies. Every where we go we get so much attention because of Collin. No matter what race, gender or age, everyone looks touches, and asks boy or girl and how old. They used to campain to keep families to 2 or less kids now they are trying to change that since the population has dropped so much. Tammy observed that if you want to be treated well you need to carry a baby around.
So here we are at the garden, the variety was amazing and so colorful and beautiful.
The orchids in the bottom left hand corner are a stem of tiny multiple orchids. My hand is there to give you a perspective to how small ther are. Sometimes it was hard to see the orchids so I put my hand behind them so they didn't all blend together. The upper left hand picture is of one of the water falls they had there. I also like the pink Cali Lilies they were pretty. The bottom right hand is something we see a lot around here I need to figure out wwhat it is called. I like the orchids that have patterns and designs in them. They just don't seem natural. Something I am looking forward to once we get settled in is to gets some cool plants for our "back yard" kind off. I'll post pictures of our house later.

Monkeys

2008-08-19T22:21:00.000+08:00

Monkeys, monkeys, everywhere.

The night that Tammy left we took her to a park we had heard about that day that has monkeys that hang out. There is a play groung that they come out of the trees and play on. The right hand column is a bunch of monkeys, Hayden the monkey then Ashton running away from the monkeys.
I just thought this sign was funny. Even if you don't feed the monkeys, as you can see they help themselves. While we were there we did see some Indian guy feeding the monkey despite the signs telling you not to. In the car Tammy teased Ashton that the monkeys eat little boys so it took a while to get him out of the car and once we did we realized we only had one shoe. You fill the car with everything you think you would need but can we remember a shoe? No.

More updates..

2008-08-19T21:52:00.000+08:00

First of all we have gotten word that our stuff should be delivered tomorrow, yeah!!! I just have to say I love how our church works. I called someone I met at church and figured I would be able to borrow a few things before we went out to buy duplicate of things we don't need. That afternoon I had 4 people show up to deliver everything we could use and had several others call and offer and ask what we would need. We got futons to sleep on, camping chairs folding chairs, a copule of tables and our saving grace was that we had bought the old owners Tvs, iron ironing board, and a few kitchen items. We did a quick trip to IKEA and we were set. We also got invited to someones house for dinner Sunday night. The funny thing is her got sick so she called and made arrangements for someone else to feed us. It was awesome chicken, green beans, baked potatoes, a green salad, homemade rolls and to finish it off homemade brownies that were really good(I have been trying to find a recipe that compares to a brownie mix since they are $7 here). Nothing like a good "western meal". Then monday some else brought us some chicken noodle soup, chips (Tostitos Tysons favorite, which probably cost at least $7 also) and a salsa made similar to a black bean and corn salsa I used to make. For desert she had made pumpkin chocolate chip cookies she make with a spice cake that she had hand delivered from the states from her trip home this summer. I love a lot of the local food but it was nice to have some things that are more like home.

Hot Dogs!!
Something that is really popular here but they are chicken. When we were at the Apartment they had them at the breakfast and chilli sauce to serve with them. I hadn't seen any beef hot dogs, the chicken ones just don't look right. Anyway we have this guy that just calls you every morning to see if you want any groceries and he will go where ever he needs to and get it for you, if it is on the island. He doesn't charge for his service but he marks up his prices, but not to much to take into consideration what you would have to go through to find the item yourself. He came by yesterday to introduce himself and someone was here dropping something off and said "I heard you can get beef hot dogs" I said get me 2 packs and some mustard (we already had ketchup to go with the nuggets I had found). So today he dropped off hot dogs (2 packs of 8) and a bottle of French's mustard (he know the brands that most Americans like so he will get them unless you tell him to get you more local which is cheaper) which cost me just over $20. He keeps a tab and you pay him at the end of the month. I want to try to keep shopping on my own most of the time because I want the excercise. Another weird thing, the hotdog buns come in a pack of 4 and aren't pre-sliced, I bought some lunch meat for Ashton which was pre-cut either which I didn't relize until I opened it to make his sandwhich.

Jet lag, etc.

2008-08-14T22:26:00.000+08:00

So I am way behind on my blogging but I want this to double for a journal someday so I will be posting as much as I can just slow and a little at a time. Anyway this is what the boys looked like dealing with the jet lag. We were trying to go somewhere safe (something Hayden would eat) for dinner like McDonalds but Ashton crashed out before we could get there but we kept going. At least it was Ashton and not Hayden. Hayden has put on a lot of weight these past couple of months. We have bought him some clothes lately that he has grown out of in less than a month. We no longer carry him to bed if he falls a sleep we wake him up and make him walk. Our little boys are all growing up.

Things that are different here in Singapore:

*There is a switch to turn on almost everything, electrical outlets, your stove, hot water (you have to turn on the "water switch" about 10 minutes before you want to take a shower) and press the switches down instead of up to turn things on. I think it is to conserve the electrity.

*Thousand Island is the standard salad dressing here if you get a salad sometimes they will have a oil and vinegar type of dressing. One place had a mustard dressing but it was just a really seedy mustard not really a dressing, just a slab of mustard.

*There are drains about 3-4 inches in diameter in the floors anywhere there is running water and you here the water going down the drain no matter where it comes from in that room. For example you flush the toilet and you can here the water going down the drain, the sink and the shower water going down the drain also so it is just weird hearing it.

*They also have little drops or steps about 2 inches into bathrooms and kitchens so when we were looking at housing (back in march) I would always stumble into the rooms.

*They drive on the left side of the road here and their parking spots are tiny, this is why I am petrified to drive. The motorcycles dodge in and out of trafic and drive in between the lanes of cars at full speed it is trully scary.

*If you get in a accident and hit someone from behind it is automatically your fault. If it is a side to side collision then it is a shared fault.

*It will all of a sudden sprikle or dump rain and then be full sun just as suddenly so you always should always carry an umbrella.

*You can usually tell were people are from by the way they dress. For example American guys are usually the only ones to wear baseball caps. American tourist also tend to where tennis shoes with socks where Australians usually wear taterred flip flops.

Funny things that have happened:

*Four days in, Hayden came out of the bathroom and announced that he figured out how to flush the toilet. There is a silver button on top of the tank that you push. I beleive there are toilets in the US like that but I guess Hayden hadn't seen them before. I just figured someone was being lazy and not flushing.

*One night Ashton, Tyson and I went for a walk to get something from the store. We hadn't gotten to far when Ashton stated that he was tired of walking. I came back with, "That is what people do here in Singapore". We are downtown so there are a lot of cars and taxi's. He looks around says, "but they have cars", like I was lying to him.

Where's our stuff?

Our Blue container started its jurney about the 27th of June and we still don't have our stuff. Our last update was it was supposed to get here tomorrow so we have been living in temporary housing. We got the latest update that it MAY be here next week. We have had to make the decision to start camping out at the house for financial reasons (the company only pays for so much and we have capped out). The logistics of things have been pretty crazy trying to get everyone where they need to be. Hayden has to be up north where his school is by 8:00 and Ashton has to be at his school which is more west at 9:00 and then Tyson has to get to work. Then both boys get out at 3:00. Today Tammy (Tyson's Sister, since some have asked, we do not have a maid but Tammy has been more helpful than any maid could be plus she speaks really good english) and I had to take seperate taxis to pick the boys because today was the first day they both were in school. Once we get into the house Hayden will walk to and from school and Ashton will catch a bus infront of our house. So we have bought floor futons and a couple of chairs and will see what we can borrow form other people who have been insimilar situations and totally understand where we are coming from. Isn't it crazy that this is normal life around here. There is someone that we go to church with and there stuff got sent to Isreal instead of Singapore. So then it took twice as long to get there stuff. They were camping out in their house for months. Say a little prayer for the blue container that is out there somewhere that it will find our home. At least the boys are in school!!!

The Pool

2008-08-08T19:18:00.000+08:00

Here is a far view of the pool at our apartment. We will be here a total of about 3 weeks. The pool is pretty and very clean. Everyday we were out there someone was sweeping up the flowers and leaves that had fallen on the ground. This place (Singapore) lives up to its reputation, very clean.

The rocks here on right are to be walked on barefoot for a massage I think. I tried it, it was ok but I wouldn't do it again.

Here is another view of the pool.

This is where the boys spend most of there time. Tammy is awesome she is usually out there with them at least 3 hours a day.I personally have been to the pool only a couple of times. I am usually feeding Collin or doing other glamorous things like grocery shopping, laundry or trying to do stuff on the computer.These boys have never been this tan before in there lives.I hope we haven't given them skin cancer.We have been using sunscreen.

They have had to get creative with new things to do. Hayden has on 3 pairs of goggles here. They play best when we they have friends at the pool that they have made here.

Collin gets blessed and more

2008-08-03T15:37:00.001+08:00

I am trying to go through my pictures and catch up so I can move on in our journey so here we go, bare with me.

We have had 3 boys and I bought this outfit for the first one over seven years ago. Collin is the first one that actually fit into it when we went to bless him. I vividly remember going to walmart at something like 11:00 p.m. the Saturday before the blessing of Hayden looking for a new outfit. When we tried this none on him that night just for fun it was too small. Both boys were blessed closer to 2 months Collin was closer to 1 1/2 months and fit. We blessed him in the ward I was raised in. My dad was able to participate so that was really neat.

Grandpa R taught them how to play croquet, hitting things with a stick is always a hit with the boys.

Ashton is really into his hair. Often asking for gel in his hair and doing it himself or asking for help to make a mohawk,etc. We took a picture of a triple mohawk he requested.

Grandma R with Collin. My mom had just had one of her breast removed due to cancer less than a month before we arrived and was worried she wouldn't be able to enjoy our stay and play with kids like she normally does. She had a great recovery and enjoyed her naps with Collin, so did I.It was a great help to me to have her holding him. I think she was able to do a lot more than she thought she would. Mom, thanks for letting us invade your house. Just so I don't seem so horrible I talked to her before we came and she would have been very sad if we would have changed our plans. (Her cancer was found after we had booked flights).My grandmother is a 25 year survivor so this help everyone deal with mom's diagnosis well.

Sacramento River

2008-08-03T14:55:00.000+08:00

Outdoor pictures are all kind of foggy looking because of the smoke, it got really bad by the end of the trip. Any time you went outside it smelt like a campfire was close by. Here is a shot of Tyson with all of his new fishing gear practicing.

Tyson decided to try his hand at fly fishing since he can't take his guns to Singapore. He took a couple lessons and we went out as a family so he could practice what he learned and the boys could get rid of energy.

Here are the boys playing and posing for pictures.There is a In and Out Burger in Redding and we definately took advantage of it. They are a well known hamburger place and all they serve are burgers, fries and drinks. Everything is fresh as you order your food you can watch them cut the potatoes up for the french fries. In this picture you can see the hats the boys were given. I think they are normally only for employees because out of the 3 times (horrible, I know) we ate there we only got them once.

Tyson was also able to take a day trip with a guide. It was only catch and release but he talked his guide into holding one of his fish up long enough to get a picture to prove he actually caught something.

A day in L.A.

2008-08-02T16:50:00.000+08:00

We fly from Sacremento (the closest major airport to my parents house) to L.A. but we were meeting up with Tyson's sister Tammy in L.A. so we felt it would best to stay the night and fly out to Singapore the next day to leave room for any small glitches they might happen (they lost our car seat on our trip to sacramento, it was fedex to us a few days later so we do have it again). So we got in about lunch time on Saturday and got back to the airport about dinner time Sunday. We spent some time at the beach and at the hotel pool. L.A. has awesome weather, it was hard to leave. At the end of the day on the beach we stopped and got cookies at a cute little bakery and ate them at lunch poolside at the hotel. Hayden picked out Cookie monster and Ashton picked out Nemo.

Hayden enjoyed playing in the waves and Ashton was more comfortable on the sand which is a switch of their normal personalities but I think it is because Hayden can swim a lot better than Ashton. But I think everyone had fun.

More in Redding

2008-08-02T16:00:00.000+08:00

While in Redding I visited a good friend of mine. Ryan has a little boy Mason who is a year younger than Ashton and 9 month girl named Molly. They are both cuties and Ryan is the best dad. One of the things he shared with us was a bottle rocket he had made out of pvc pipe and 2 litre soda bottles which was set up to launch 3 different bottles. He also had a potato canon that shot potatoes in the air. They would also stick glow sticks in with the potato at night and watch them fly in the air. If anyone is interested in building either of these or other projects like it he got these out of a book called Backyard Ballistics, I think most dads would like these. When we were done shooting the potatoes in the air they shot the potato remains against a wall in his backyard and watched them explode.What dad does not want to bond with his kids that way?

Hayden was really cute with Molly. Collin hung out in the grass while the boys would pump up the rocket bottles.

Ryan wrestled all 3 boys. Tyson was gone for a week so my boys were missing their wrestle time. They ended up piling on top of Ryan with the help of his wife.They also wrestled with the animals. Which were almost like little tables that are supposed to hold up to 120lbs.

The Sundial Bridge

2008-07-19T08:00:00.000+08:00

Where I grew up in Redding CA their new claim to fame is the Sundial Bridge.

Grandpa and the older boys walking across the bridge.

My older monkeys climbing on a portion of the bridge.Another view of the bridge. It has been pretty smoky do to the fires here in California so the sun and moon have looked pretty intersting.

If you look closly you can see the smoke in the mountains, this was the view from the bridge. We could see a airplane and helicoptor that were working on the fires we saw a lot of fire trucks at certain hotels so you could tell were the out of town firefighters were staying.

It has been really hot here up in the 100's but it is dry rather than the humidity that we have gotten used to. But when we got underneath the bridge by the Sacramento River it was very cool and the boys enjoyed the water.

In our dinning room we had some pictures of this sculpture only they were up close so you really could tell exactly what it was. People often asked what it was so for those of you who were wondering this is what it looks like with the entire picture. This was also at the Sundial Bridge, we had a nice evening and boys got to run a lot which is always good.

Collin update

2008-07-19T03:04:00.000+08:00

We didn't have a 1 month visit with a doctor because Our Dr said it wasn't nessecary (since we aren't going to be close to our normal insured Dr,but we will be going to the Dr at his 2 month and get his shots right before we fly out). We were curious as to what he weighed so we tried to weigh him on a food scale and a plastic bowl with which was hard to do and keep him balanced so here is a picture of Tys and his mom attempting to weigh him. After everything, we think he was about 10lbs 6oz but I don't know how acurate it really is but is was quite humerous trying to get him weighed.

Transition/Vacation

2008-07-19T02:35:00.000+08:00

So we are officially homeless, carless and stuffless, we have sold our house and cars and all our stuff is on a boat headed to Singapore. We had a total of 8 check in bags 8 carry on bags (that is16 bags total) and 3 car seats and a stroller, remeber we are living out of our suitcases for 2 months. As I would sit and wait for Tyson to check on things or get a rental car I felt like I was sitting by the lost and found lugauge or something similar. You can image the stares we got when we were lugging around our 2 push carts of lugauge,a stroller and 2 boys pulling their own bags. All this at a time when most people are trying to cut down on lugauge do to the new charge for baggage on most airlines (thank goodness Southwest hasn't gone there yet).

We had a good time in Houston when the boys weren't fighting,this was most of the time unfurtunatly. Since Hayden had been there a whole week before we got there with Ashton we feel they were trying to make up for lost fighting time. We got to swim a lot, everyday at least once. We played card games and found out they really enjoy them. Hayden learned how to use Photoscape (the same program I use to make my collages) and enjoyed taking pictures and changing their appearences with the program.

Here is some of his work.

Unfortunately we did get many pictures while we were there. At least not very flatering pictures. Hayden got some pictures of us but most of them are blackmail worthy.

Fire?

2008-07-06T21:32:00.000+08:00

So to add to the excitement in our lives there was a fire scare the last day at our hotel in Bartlesville. Tyson had taken the boys to the pool and I was trying to get some rest. The fire alarm kept going on and off. I finally just grabbed our "Life Bag" (the bag that had every important document we need in our life right now, our passports, the title to our last car to be sold, and all other financial and transfer documents) and headed to the pool to be with my family just incase something was really happening. When I got to the elevator I noticed smoke in the laundry room on our floor of the hotel. Once I got to the front desk I told the receptionist and not much later we had 3 firetrucks show up at the hotel. The small town feelof Bartlesville is so cool, after they found it wasn't a big deal they invited Ashton to come inside of the truck and even sit in the drivers seat. That is why Ashton is in his swim suit with his swim floaty, inside of the fire truck. Boy are we going to miss our little Bartlesville.

Tape and boxes

2008-06-29T08:58:00.000+08:00

This was our temporary set up in the house. The crate that will transport our stuff all the way to Singapore. Ashton thinking about going with our stuff in the crate, we thought that would be a lot easier on us. Finally a picture of Ashton and his LONG worm that doesn't seem as long as it did in person.

Here is Ashton and all the fun he had with the boxes, including his speed ramp/tube used for his small toys that dad helped he set up.

We had Ashton in scool most of the days the packers were at the house but on friday he was there all day. Bikes, skateboards, balls and pretty much all of our toys were already packed. It was raining in the morning so some poor worm lost him life to the cause of entertaining Ashton. It was a pretty long worm, all stretched out it was probaqbly almost a foot. Ashton kept wanting a container for it, but those were all packed to. Luckily he had an fruit loop box from the breakfast at the hotel. He finally got the idea that everything was packed (they were just loading the crate friday) so we started making forts and other things with boxes and tape. He got the hang of ripping the packing tape with his teeth and everything.

I haven't left Hayden out he isn't here. He has been with Tyson's mom in Houston. Joyce flew out Fathers Day and stayed a whole week then flew out Monday with Hayden. We hadn't planned on any family coming out for the baby/move but do to a few things, plans changed and we got much needed help. First my sister was able to come out for a week and was able to be at the birth and help a ton with boys and showing the house (we had 3 showings the day we got out of the hospital, one which has turned into a contract on the house). We had a week on our own and then Joyce came out which was also a tremendous help. Several times Tyson and I had the conversation trying to figure out how we could have ever thought we could have done this all without help. We are nuts!!! To top it all off we have Tammy (Tyson's sister) flying out with us to Singapore and she will be staying with us for a few weeks. Can I say AWSOME!!!! There have also been many local friends that have helped out a ton. I hope I have thanked you in person if you have helped me out but just in case, Thank You!! I feel I have dropped the ball on several things so if this has effected you I apologize. Thanks for your patience and friendships.

Kansas City Trip

2008-06-29T06:07:00.000+08:00

This is the trip we took the first of May. This is the T-Rex Cafe we ate at. It is similar to the Rainforest Cafe. The boys liked it and were more interested in the surounding than eating of course. They also have a Build-a-Dino by Build-a-Bear in the gift shop.

The highlight of dinner as usual was dessert. They have a large rice crispy dinasaur that you can paint and decorate with M&M's. It actually wasn't priced to bad for what you got and the boys actually shared well with both painting and eating.
Here some pictures from the Great Wolf Lodge. I think I have already expressed how much we like this place but her are some pics to prove it.

Photo session

2008-06-28T01:50:00.000+08:00

Collin at 1 week old.
Hayden 7, Ashton 4, and Collin 1 week

Thanks to a very good friend, that has done more for me than I could ever repay her for, I have some really great pictures. She does pictures if anyone local wants to use her, here is a link to her sight Southern Sentiments. She takes your pictures then spends hours going through them then burns them to a CD for you and you can go get as many pictures printed anywhere you want. She doesn't charge enough for all the time she puts into to it but you can take advantage of it.

It was hard getting a lot of good ones with all 3 boys but that is how it goes wiyh kids. Collin was pretty fussy most of the time but we got some cool ones once he was sleeping. Jessica got a ton of neet ones of Collin by himself. I might post some more later.

Just to give a picture of our current situation, I am doing this whole post one handed while trying to feed Collin. I am in a lawn chair in our office with my laptop on a box that we have turned into a table. Everything is all wrapped in bubble tape and boxed up, they are loading our lives into a crate that will be driven to Houston, put on a train to California, placed on a boat and hopefully show up at our house in Singapore 6-8 weeks from now.

Our new addtions

2008-06-07T21:15:00.000+08:00

So we have a new member in our family which is exciting and fun. I also got my computer this week which I was also very excited about. I am playing with new things so here is my first collage and hopefully there will be more to come.

Tys did his first blog entry which I was impressed he did, without me even asking. Thanks Tys! I am afraid to say this out loud, or rather type out, but Collin has been absolutely wonderful. He came out and first thing he nursed great and hardly cries at all. The delivery went pretty well once it "started". We went in at midnight on Tuesday night and finally got checked in about 3:3o am. We had some crazy weather which caused a lot of activity in labor and delivery, sounds funny but you can ask any nurse (that works in labor and delivery, anyway)and they will tell you weather definitely effects labors. So being that we were being induced we were a lower priority, which I understand but was frustrating since we had to sit out in the uncomfortable chairs in the waiting room for such a long time in the middle of the night. The craziness continued, we were able to get into our room and start resting at about 4:30 am and just waited around till about 11:00 am before they even started a little pittosin. I did get an epidural pretty quickly and after a frustrating process and 4 pokes later I was hooked up. Once they had time to give me a little more attention and more pittosin things moved more quickly.

Kung Fu Mama

So Here is my funny story. When things started moving and the nurse was getting the stirrups out I thought I would "help" the nurse and gently lift my own leg into the stirrup. Remember I have the epidural at this point and no real control over my legs. So what my brain was telling my leg was gently lift. What really happened was kung fu kick to the nurses face. I got her right in the eye and pretty good. I was apologizing like crazy and she had to leave the room. I guess in over 20 years it has never happened before, go figure. She recovered and came back quickly to help me finish. I feel really bad but I still get the giggles when I remember it and replay it in my mind. For Tys b-day he took the boys to Kung fu Panda, maybe I should have gone to pick up some new moves.

Our New Baby -- Collin Tyler

2008-06-05T21:12:00.001+08:00

This is Tyson -- I'm just making a quick post to get some pictures distributed. Natt had the baby yesterday (6/4) at 4:39 pm, Of course we had a boy (Collin Tyler) - stats - 8 lbs, 9 oz - 21 3/4" long. We will be here in the hospital (Jane Phillips) till Friday morning sometime. Baby and mom are doing great -- This was probably Natt's easiest labor, after we got started. It took a long time for us to get in. We got the hospital a little after midnight on Wednesday evening, we got admitted around 3:30 AM and then waited around most of the day yesterday until all the induction meds kicked in.

Natt and Collin doing good

Collin Tyler @ about 30 min old

Collin Tyler @ about 15 min old

Collin and Aunt Tura

Baby postponed

2008-06-03T20:48:00.000+08:00

Just a quick note, my doctor called me and postponed my date by one day. Another women was having difficulties and needed extra care and she was scheduled to go in late Tuesday night (tonight) so we basically swapped spots (I was supposed to go in late monday night). For some reason I was at my witts end and had no patience right before doctor called and that about put me over the edge. I was very greatful that my sister was here and offered to watched the kids. We went to dinner and a movie and I came home renewed. I think I can make it one more day.

Getting Home

2008-05-27T21:24:00.000+08:00

So we drove home Sunday and not 30 minutes in I threw up in the car, not a good way to start. I think this just pushed us to drive all the way through (I remeber throwing up in the morning before I had Hayden so I got a little freaked out). We did really good time even with multiple potty breaks. We ate food we had packed in the car and bought the ocational snack/treat when we bought gas but never stopped for a real meal. We made it home in about 10 hours it was amazing. I did leave my keys at a walgreens during a pit stop but I have found them and will try to get them back. If it comes down to it I can drive to get them because it is just over 2 hours from here. Yesturday Tys created a document of stuff we will be trying to sell (most things are things we need to hold on to for a while like our big fridge and washer/dryer). He actually posted 3 items on Craigs list for the Tulsa area, my treadmill, our extra fridge and his gun safe. We sold both the the treadmill and fridge yesturday. I guess he priced them right. Tyson finally had a chance to order my laptop today from Dell but it will probably be almost 2 weeks before I actually get it so it may be a while before I get pictures up sorry. I also have gotten excited about being able to make my blog into a book so I might be writting things that aren't as exciting to some of you but now I can print my blog and use it as a journal. I haven't figured it all out yet, I just know you can. I will let you know details once I get to that point incase anyone else is interested.

Veldon, Tyson's dad

2008-05-27T20:54:00.000+08:00

After his fight of over 4 years with cancer Veldon passed away Sunday morning May 18th. Tyson had a trip to Belfast the week before he passed away and was able to spend a couple of days with him in the hospital. Veldon was coherent enough that Tyson was able to say good byes and feel like he had spent time with him. Tyson had to then make a decision whether or not to go on his trip as he had planned. This trip was pretty vital to his moving forward with his job in Singapore and he had already coordinated with others from around the world to meet him there. After talking to the Dr. and realizing the time that Veldon would would be with us couldn't be determined he went ahead to Belfast. Tyson's other siblings flew out and were able to spend time and see Veldon during that week. Tyson flew home Saturday night and Sunday morning we got the news. We packed up and left to Houston on Monday. The funeral was wonderful and made everyone leave wanting to be a better person because Veldon was such a great example. The kids did great at keeping it light hearted,upbeat and spiritual I laughed a lot through my tears. I'm sure Veldon was very proud. We also had a great time together as a family. The grand kids played better than they ever had since they are getting older (Hayden is the oldest grandchild). Just being there in Joyce's (Ty's mom) house and having all the busy, fun interaction as a family made me feel that Veldon was probably there with us loving every minute of it. For those who knew Veldon and are interested they will update the Veldon blog and there is more details there and possibly some of the talks from the funeral.

One week to go...

2008-05-27T20:43:00.000+08:00

I can't believe how time has flown by. We have a week before I am induced, I think I will go in Monday night or Tuesday morning (June 2 or 3) depending on how things look at my Dr. appt this Wednesday. My sister Natura is flying out this Saturday night which is a complete surprise I wasn't expecting. I made the decision to have my parents fly out and take care of the kids while we were in Singapore instead of having them here for the baby. We will be spending some time with them before we leave for Singapore so they will have a chance to see the baby. So much is going on that I am still not really in "baby" mode. I need to think about the smal things, what am I going to use use for a diaper bag, I need to get my stuff together for the hospital. Do we have diapers and wipes, am I really going to have to change diapers again?! Ready or not here he comes!!!

Tyson's Dad

2008-05-12T21:49:00.000+08:00

Tyson's dad has cancer and has been fighting very well for the past 4 years. Unfortunately he has taken a turn for the worse the last few months. He is currently in the hospital and the family has started a blog to keep track of him so we aren't overwhelming Joyce to get updates. For those of you who would like to keep updated here is his blog.
http://veldonsblog.blogspot.com/

The house is on the Market!

2008-05-01T23:21:00.001+08:00

So we have been a little busy and crazy around hear. Our most recent focus has been to get the house on the market. We got a sign out front last friday and were officially up and going on Monday with our MLS#. We have had 3 showing so far and hope for more this weekend. For those of you who have wanted to see pictures of our house I will add the link of the virtual tour. It is sad that it takes a Realtor to come in to actually get pictures done. We have decided it is best for us to just leave town this weekend in hopes that we get some showings. It is so stressful trying to keep the house clean and ready to show. At least the weather is nice because the kids have been banished outside quite a bit.

Here is the virtual tour; http://tours.justsnooping.com/2403450/?p=true

This weekend we are taking a trip to Kansas City and will be staying there a couple of nights. We need some good family time with a lot less stress and craziness we have been having around here. We will be staying 1 night at the Great Wolf Lodge, which is a fun hotel that has a Large water park inside . It is a little more pricey than your average hotel but you can get deals. The water park entrance in included in your room and you can come and go as you please while the it is open. If you are interested here is the link to check it out they have a few locations throughout the states; http://www.greatwolflodge.com/ . We have been there 1 time before and loved it. It is close to shopping and restaurants so that is nice also since we don't have that here in B-ville.

I will probably post pics of this trip later.

Tyson has also gotten his motor cycle liscence so that should be an easier transition if he decides to use that as a transportation option once we are in Singapore.

Ashton is now officially without training wheels on his bike. We took them off when we got back from Singapore. He was just using them as a crutch for starting and stopping. He is a mad man now! He is trying a lot more stunts and tricks that he couldn't do with the training wheels. I've actually thought it maybe be safer for him if we put them back on.

So we have a day that we talked to the Dr. about inducing as long as all is well. June 3rd, which is about 4 1/2 weeks from now. We have a nursery ready because we needed it to look decent for the showing of the house even though we will only be using it here for probably about 3-4 weeks. We also bought a car seat so we can officially bring the baby home. Tyson does have 1 last trip (I hope!!!!) to Belfast which he leaves 5/11 and gets back the 17th. It will be a short trip for international but I a praying the house will be sold before then.

I am having computer problems again and we have been meaning to replace my computer for a while but we are working on resolving that issue, hopefully this weekend. Maybe I will be better at posting once we are up and running again.

Our first week in Singapore...

2008-03-28T10:59:00.000+08:00

First thing I need to say is I'm still figuring all this blogging out so I loaded these pictures in an order different than I wanted so this isn't going to flow well but I am getting it done so I feel like I am still getting something accomplished.

So after looking at different housing options including tiny units in high rises with really nice facilities (pools, workout facilites etc.) and something to simular to town houses with no facilities I think we found a home. We weren't expecting to find and secure a place on this visit but I think we may haveas long as the paper work etc goes through OK. We will be paying some money out of our pocket (we get an allowance that is to cover both housing and transportation but it isn't enough). This is frustrating to us but it is worth it. The plot of land is 2000 sft but the house is actually over 3500sft because it is 3 stories. The apartments we were looking at were 1100-1900 sft there are larger but they weren't availible. If we get this house we will be able to take almost everything with us which will make my life so much easier. This house is walking distance to the American school and close to an open feild that is goverment land so the boys can just go play there. There are many other things we liked including the fact it had a washer/dryer and dishwasher. Most units didn't have dryers (many peolpe just hang there clothes to dry) and no others had a dishwasher.

We ate at a place around the corner from our house(I will be refering to it as our house in hopes it all turns out fine) and here I am drinking coconut juice. They have fresh juice everywhere. One of my favorite juices has been lime juice, it is a lot like fresh sqeezed lemonade, not like the minute maid stuff you usually get at resturaunts in the US.
Here I am eating pineapple rice. It was good, it was actually one of the first times I had "foreign" type of foods since we had arrived (this was Tues night and we arrived early sunday morning). Those who know me well might be suprised but with pregnancy and jet lag I wanted something more familar and bland. Knowing this wouldn't be my last chance to experience all these foods made me feel better about not branching out earlier. Where we were in this picture they had Thai, indian and other ethnic foods including "western food"(something like american foods) there.
We went to Hard Rock with a co-worker of Tysons. His wife collects their shirts. It is neat because this co-worker Wayne was actually my boss when I worked temporarily at Schlumberger when we first moved to Houston while I was pregnant with Hayden. Wayne was actually one of the people that interviewed Tyson when was still in school and has been a good resource ever since. Wayne has opened facilities many times so he is here to help Tyson out and advise the people here in Singapore.

After 32 hours of traveling, this is the first thing we saw at the airport. We left our house Friday about 4:30 am and arrived at the hotel about 2:30 a.m Sunday morning here in Singapore (They're 13 hours ahead over here). They have a lot of american fast food resturuants here including subway (this may be my homesick food depending on the meat, some of their meats are different here).
We did get a couple of hours of sleep in before church at 9:00. We met some people and Tyson introduced me to some people he had met when he was here last. We also met with the bishop who has been very informative. He also talked to us about prevous callings so I think we might have callings when we get here or soon after. It is an Expat ward so 2-5 years is a very common stay time so it seems like they have a fast system down. These pictures are of Easter eggs we saw while taking a wlk after church to stay awake. It was in a garden area of a near by hotel and shopping center.
I liked the eggs hidding in such a tropical atmosphere. After our walk we went to dinner at a families house here in the ward. It was very nice and again very informative. I feel like a sponge trying to absorb as much as possible. I want to figure out and take care of as much as possible without the kids here.
Here I am in China town in front of a Chinese temple. I have gained a lot of weight and recently got a great farmers tan but I let Tyson take this picture because I have very few pics with pregnancy(this is by choice). Even though I am heavy I feel like I am still really big for a pregnant women I still have 2.5 months left.
With Tysons great skills he got a pic of both of us in front of the temple.

Our Medical Experience....

So Wednesday before breakfast we noticed that Tysons eyes were really red. They had been a little red since we arrived but I just figured it was from lack of sleep and other things. Then when he said they were really bothering him and had been a little crusty we made the conection that he probably had pink eye. Ashton had pink eye while Tyson was in Alaska and had recovered before he got back. Neither Hayden or I had gotten it so I don't know how Tys got it. Also we have been washing our hands like crazy while traveling and during our stay here. Anyway here we are in a foreign country with pink eye, what do we do? They have medial clinic in a lot of there malls so we found our answer. We weren't worried about the cost because we would just expense it. We walked in made an appt and 45 minutes later we were done. While we waited we were able to go get a drink in the mall. And the bill which include 3 perscriptions (a cream for night time application, drops for infection, drops for redness and pain) we were given there in the office came to a grand total of $55 (about $42 US). I was completely shocked, I paid more than that for Ashton Dr. apt and his 1 perscription I picked up at wal-mart. So if you come and visit and you have a medical problem come up, no worries it is cheap here.

Boys just having fun...

2008-03-28T10:12:00.000+08:00

They were just building stuff with Legos. Sometimes they actually play good together, although it seems like they fight a lot more often than palying well together.
When Tys come back from Singapore in February he brought back a couple of powere rangers magazines that were in some language that were asian characters (I don't know which). Once we opened it they discovered all kinds of neat things. Tys and the boys spent almost 2 hours putting these costumes together that they had torn out off the magazines. They included a mask , gun and chest sheild. I got a lot of laundry done up in my room, it was awesome.
The boys enjoying a game of twister. They really enjoy playing games. I just need to be better about playing them with them. Sometimes I don't have the patience or I'm trying to get stuff done. It is hard to think about it now but someday I will regreat doing dishes instead of playing Candyland or Memory with the boys.
Here Ashton is showing how "boy" he is. I think it has been a while since he has gotten this dirty. We have had a few really nice days outside so we really took advantage of it. He has been creating his own Ben10 shirt with a plain white shirt and his markers. The funny thing is his markers are washable so it washes out everytime. It is a little anoying because if he gets wet from washing his hands or something it makes the ink run and can make a big mess sometimes. I need to take the time to paint a couple white shirts for him.

St. Patrics Day

2008-03-28T09:49:00.000+08:00

St. Patrics Day was a big day at our house. Hayden had been talking about it all week long. Hayden made sure to layout his green clothes the night before. The boys helped me make some green pancakes which I didn't try but I don't usually eat pancakes anywayand how often do moms get to sit down and eat.

A pondering moment, we are moving.

2008-03-07T20:50:00.000+08:00

So I was thinking yesturday how my upcomming trip has been so low key on my mind. I am flying out to Singapore in less than 2 weeks and I haven't really given it as much thought as I usually do when Tyson and I have gone on our little trips together. Don't get me wrong I have thought about it but when we have done other trips (vermont, florida, etc.) I have researched all the different things we could do. I also had a couple months of excitement and anticipation of having a nice get away from the kids and time alone as a couple (Thanks mom for always sacrificing your spring break). I think this trip is going to be busy and I hope to get a lot done but I just recently came to the realization this is going to be one of our last kid free trips for a while and we should probably actually enjoy it as a get away at the same time. I have been so busy trying to sew curtains for my kitchen (it has a window over the sink along with windows that are are in the breakfast area which are very tall so I did cafe curtains along with a top curtain = a lot of sewing), which I have been meaning to do since we moved in (over 3 years ago) along with curtains for the guest bedroom which I decorated only a few months after we moved in. I am also working on trying to get stuff sewn for the nursery. My sewing machine won't be coming with us so I am in morning and maybe trying to use it before I can't any more, I'll probably just buy a cheap one once we get there. I have also been trying to clean out my house. Our house in Houston was just under 1500 sft and this house is 3000. Our house size has doubled and we have filled it to the rim. I am a pack rat and regretting it right now. All my junk seems to have value to me, I need to have someone come over and tell me to toss, toss, toss. I need to be on one of those tv shows but I would be to embarrased. Both Tyson and I have really been pondering why we are moving. Because we are moving we have come to realize how much we love our lives here in so many ways. We like our house, our yard, our little town, our stuff we have been accumulating since we have been married (all those little things, tools, my kitchen stuff etc.). But we keep reminding our selves this is going to be a neat experience for us and the kids and it is good opportunity for Tyson's career. Over all we are excited but it has really hit and it is a lot to digest and turning out to be a lot of work. This post has just been a time for me to ponder so I hope it hasn't been to painful if you actually took the time to read it. Tyson took the camera with him on his trip to Alaska (he comes home and we will turn around less than a week later to go to Singapore) so no pictures with this post, so extra boring I know.

Our big news!

2008-02-27T21:55:00.000+08:00

Here are the pictures that are on the passports the boys just got, these will be required for our move to Singapore.

Here is Ashton, we had a hard time trying to get a decent smile he kept bitting his lip or making funny faces.

Here is Hayden with all of his teeth missing. We had also been trying to get haircuts for so long that we just shaved them both not knowing they would have these pictures taken soon after. I am OK with the shaved hair now but try not to do it before any kind of pictures because I am not a big fan of the shaved look. So there you go, for the next 5 years they are stuck with these pictures. The baby will have his picture taken of him about at about a week old, this also will last him for the next 5 years, which is funny to me.

So the big news around here is a move for us this summer. We will be packing up some of our stuff and trying to sell off the rest so we can move to Singapore, yes I said Singapore. My mind is definately in overload mode right now. What to take, we can't take anything that plugs in, lamps, vacumm cleaner, my brand new Kitchen aid and our brand new TV (I was honestly not excited to drop that kind of cash on a tv in the first place, now I'm really bummed, oh well). We will also be needing to replace all these items once we get there so we want to try to sell things for decent prices not your $1 garage sale prices. We also want to show the house furnished so we don't want to get rid of a lot of things till the house is sold. That's just "stuff" things to worry about. We will be traveling with a new baby, I want to wait till the baby is at least 3-4 weeks old. Since I am due June 10th and hope to be induced a week early that would put us no earlier than the end of June. Tyson will physically start work in Singapore August 1st but is already taking on responsibilities there, so he is kind of doing multiple jobs right now (day and night since we are 14 hours ahead of Singapore). Tyson and I will fly out at the end of March for 2 weeks to scope things out and try to get the boys in the American school there (Tyson actually started the process in February just in case and we are still crossing our fingers that the boys will get in the August). We will also try to figure out housing, transportation (we will sell our cars here and probably lease 1 there), and just let me see what exactly we are getting into. This will be quite a change from the small town we live in now. I love almost everything here including our house with a yard. There we will probably live in a high rise apartment with pools and other facilities. It is warm year round so no winters with snow, which I think I will actually miss. Right now the biggest stress for me is the fact that there a bazzillion things I need to do and plan for that are dependent on things I have no control of (when the house sells and when the baby actually comes). This is becoming a very long post so for now I will leave it at this. Now if you talk to me and I seem spacy or out of it you know my mind is racing so I have a little better excuse than I normally do.

The creatures in our house.

2008-02-18T12:06:00.000+08:00

Tyson brought back some toy eggs from his last trip. You place the eggs in water and they eventually hatch but it takes 12 to 24 hours to just crack. It took a while and the boys kept checking them none stop. They ended up being a turlte and aligator.

We had the eggs on the window seal in the kitchen. The boys are very independent and climb up on anything and everything they need to get what they want. It used to be the top of the fridge was the only safe place but Ashton is often found on top of the fridge getting something. We no longer have any safe spots. We also installed latches at the top of ours doors to lock the doors and keep the boys from getting outside. We had Ashton escaping a lot a couple years ago. Now he just moves a chair and unlocks the doors. Hayden has never even tried or probably thought about it. I can't wait for Ashton's teenage years, I'm sure he will keep us on our toes.

Ashton's Birthday

2008-02-18T10:56:00.000+08:00

Ashton's birthday party ended up being on a nice day. We were able to spend most of the day outside and since it had been a while since we had nice weather the kids loved it. Note the Ben 10 logo on the toy box, it is what I did for his cake.
Here is Ashton blowing out his candles. I have been pretty lazy lately and honestly seriously considered a Wal-mart cake but they didn't have Ben 10. For those who don't know I have been doing cakes on the side for about a year. The kids tell me what kind of cake they want for their b-day every time I do a cake for anything, even wedding cakes. I did a small cake so he could have a cake but made cupcakes because I didn't want to cut and serve a cake, yes I said I have been really lazy. Below I posted their cakes from last year, which were some of my first cakes I did. The superman cake is what I did for Ashton and Hayden wanted a Halloween b-day for his b-day. His b-day is 3/28 so it was fun to pull out the Halloween decorations and costumes at a random time of the year. Halloween has always been one of his favorite holidays.

Stinky breath

2008-02-06T20:27:00.000+08:00

Ashton has this obsession with Hayden's stinky breath. I don't think it is any worse than any other kids, I think it is just Ashton being weird. It probably started from me saying we needed to brush our teeth so we don't have stinky breath. It comes up a couple times a day. Hayden took a bite of Ashton's cookie and Ashton cried a wouldn't eat it because of Hayden's stinky breath. Does he mean germs, I don't know? But it was a cookie so it surprised me he would eat it. Then we got a slurpee the other day and I brought it home to put it in 2 smaller cups (what kid needs 22 oz of pure sugar?). Hayden had drank out of the straw and Ashton was screaming about Hayden's stinky breath and he did want to share. It might be his way of getting out of sharing. But Ashton will also blow on me and ask if he has stinky breath. Please, I don't know and don't care, just don't blow on me, thanks anyway. This is all new and hopefully a phase. In the past it has never been a problem to share a slurpee or a cookie so hopefully he will grow out of it. I would try to post some interesting picture of stinky breath but Tyson has the camera so no pics, lucky you.

Tyson trip to Singapore

2008-02-06T20:02:00.000+08:00

So for those of you who don't know Tyson has been in Singapore, along with a few days in Aulstralia for 2 weeks. Here is a picture of him celebrating with locals the Chinese New Year, this year is the year of the rat. I think that is my year but it has been a while since I have been to a chinese resturaunt that has those paper placemats with all the years on it (You know what I'm talking about, right). Anyway, I thought it was funny when Tyson told me they have Mickey Mouse every where, he is a mouse not a rat. But it probably has become just as comercial as our Christmas so what do you expect.
Here is a nice self potrait from his room, I think it was snowing here that day.
They have a cool night safari which is basically a night zoo. Except most animals are nocturnal and the feed them at night and you get to experience it.
Here Tyson has a ice cream dessert I guess the ice cream is floating in some green liquid which also contains dry ice to keep it cold and probably a little just for fun to give it that smoking effect. I need to ask but it looks like he has a Dr. Pepper, which I know they have there, but I think it taste different which he doesn't like. Maybe after all his traveling there he has gotten used to it, then again he may have just gotten deperate.
This is Singapores specialty, Pepper Crab. It is pretty big and hot. When you eat it you need to be aware of what you are touching and be careful and not get to much on your lips. I guess it can burn. But Tyson says it is good and worth it, he gets it everytime he goes. He actually had problems getting into a resturaunt that served it because it was so crowded due to the new year.

What to do?

2008-02-04T10:10:00.000+08:00

It rained for a few days while we were in California so what do you do when it is raining outside? Build stuff with blocks, of course. Here is Ashton in his own little fort.
Here are all the boys with a tower they built to the ceiling.

First Skiing Lessons

2008-02-04T09:37:00.000+08:00

During Christmas we also went skiing (the boys went skiing and Tyson snowboarding) at Mt. Shasta which is about an hour from my parents house. My mom and I were support and were supposed to document this wonderful event. We had 2 cameras, you would have thought we would have gotten some better pictures. Oh, well this is it, Hayden and Ashton's first skiing lessons. They both did really well and had fun but were tired and cold by the end of the day. We weren't aware they had to have eye protection so I had to buy some there (without the boys because we had already checked them in when i got this information). So of goes the pregnant woman running to there shop to buy sunglasses, trying not to slip and fall on my butt. I just hoped they would fit so I wouldn't have to buy multiple pairs of over priced sunglasses. This is why they still have tags on and I'm trying them on them.

Another Tooth Gone

2008-02-04T09:14:00.000+08:00

While at the "moonwalk" place Hayden knocked a loose tooth really good. He is quite dramatic when hurt, so several people probably became nervous about their own injuries that might occur. But all went well Tyson pulled out the bloody tooth. Hayden was so excited that the tooth fairy comes to California too.

Bouncing out excess energy

2008-02-04T08:30:00.000+08:00

While in California for Christmas we went to a "moonwalk" facility. It had several different blow up activities. It was the best activity, the boys really needed to run around. It was pretty cheap (I think it was $7 for 2 hours for the kids and adults were free with a paying child) but the hours were very limited. You can rent the place out for parties so thats probably how they make their money. I would highly recomend finding one of these facilities, there is a chain called Pump It Up (http://www.pumpitupparty.com/), the kids loved it.

Ashton loved putting this thing on his head. They also had really big punching gloves and padded poles to hit eachother with. Tyson got in with Ashton and they both had fun. I seriuosly considered investing in some for at home.

Soon to be 3, kids that is.

2008-02-02T03:59:00.000+08:00

We have taken the plung and decided to go for one more. We will have three boys running around with energy I have no chance of trying to keep up with. As Ashton has said "We will have 4 boys and 1 mom", and that pretty much somes it up. My hopes of tossing all of the old and worn baby boy clothes and buying all new really cute girly clothes are gone. But I try to think of all of the money we will save. Our house will be fun and busy and I will always have my free nights during campouts and other father and son outings. I love my boys and honestly I don't know how I would handle having to do hair, etc. Right now I just need to get ready for the new baby who is expected to come June 10th. We have plenty of time but I know how time can fly.