HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL FROM VIETNAM

Dalat Sights

Off To Dalat We Go !!!

On Saturday we left HCMC at 8 AM by a limo bus, now you might wonder what a limo bus is. Well it is a bus that stops along its destination to pick up those who have reserved a seat. It has extra wide seats, which we like and they recline so you can sleep away the long 7 hour trip. The only problem is the horn. I was at several points ready to tare it out. You see in Vietnam they honk at everyone just to make sure they know you are coming and don't get in their way. Imagine you are all comfy, ready to fall asleep, with the music playing in the background when all of a sudden that blasted horn goes off not just once but it keeps going until everyone is out of the way. This goes on for the the entire 7 hour trip. If my ears could take the ear plugs I would keep them in but mine are very senstive. On the trip we made two stops, the first was a 10 minute bathroom, snack break and the second a 30 minute lunch break. We decided to fast during the lunch break as nothing really appealed to us at this truckstop type place. As we began climbing the mountains the view was awesome. So many trees and waterfalls and narrow roads that only one vehical at a time could pass through, they were still working on the roads. We were seated about 5 rows back so much of the oncoming view was blocked. Thank goodness. We finally arrived in the town of Dalat. It has a beautiful lake in the middle and a tower that was made to look like the Eifel tower since the French were the ones to build it. The first thing I noticed when we got off the bus was the cold, windy weather. Such a difference from HCMC. Since we had taken the limo bus part of the package was a van ride to our four star hotel. We had stayed there last year on our trip to Dalat and it was so nice we thought we would stay there again and then to help things out Mark found a great online deal. The first evening we met our friends who had come up at a different time, for dinner. They recommended a local eatery and it was very good. On Sunday we went to visit a home of some friends of our friends and Mark got to share about the meaning of Christmas. We were invited to stay for lunch and we had a meal of local food. Our hostess called it a fish steamboat. It reminded us of tomato soup with steamed fish. They also added noodles and veggies. It was wonderful and warming. Sunday night was a special event, for Christmas at a local coffee shop. They sang Christmas music and again Mark shared and then they had a drama of the Christmas story. The place was packed with local university students. We also were treated to some yummy drinks and ice cream. They asked five of us to sing in English so we sang O Come All Ye Faithful. It made me homesick. Monday was a tour day for us. We took a cable car, sky ride type thing which was about 12 minutes long through the mountains and into an area with a lake and temple. It had a beautiful view. We then went back, acutally we could not find a cab so we started to walk and after about a mile, as the street was starting uphill, a taxi stopped and asked if we wanted a ride. By that time my face was sunburned and I felt like I was back in HCMC. We then visited the local market where the farmers bring their goods to sell. We bought, avacados, they grow them really big and potatoes, which I have a hard time finding in the city and some of the yummiest strawberries ever. They also grow the most beautiful roses and other flowers. On Jan 1-4th they have an actual flower festival. Then as a Christmas present I went and got a body massage at our hotel. The cost for a one hour body massage was only $7.00. This tiny slip of a girl came in and she actually got up on the table and cracked my back and gave me a great massage. I enjoyed every minute of it. Our final night in Dalat Mark was hungary for what else, Pizza. We found a place and for $6.00 we got Pizza, two drinks and bread. You can't beat that. On Tuesday we again took the limo bus back to HCMC and arrived just in time for rush hour traffic. Oh to live outside the city would be great but not practical.

It is Christmas eve here and we want to wish you all a very Happy Christmas and blessings for the year 2010. We love and miss you all and wish we could celebrate our Lord's birth with you our family!

So This Is Christmas.....

So this is Christmas !!

Last Friday night we had a Christmas party for our English students. I baked all day on Thursday. Since I do not have an oven I had to use my toaster oven. It took me forever to bake my sugar cookies and then my Russian tea cookies. I could only get about 7 on a pan at one time. I then decided since my friend Mary likes my brownies I would make them and also banana bread. I served fruit punch and hot chocolate with marshmellows that I had found in the store. They were all impressed with these treats but they do not indulge like we Americans do. Some even thought they were too sweet. We decided to play charades and it was great fun watching them try to act out some bible stories. One young man even tried to use my Christmas tree to describe Moses and the burning bush, he actually went to the gas stove and lit it to show the fire and then he wanted to bring the fire to the tree but I just shook my head!! I could see my little tree blazing away. We then sang some carols and I must say they did extremly well. They love to sing and have great voices. I love our little group. They seem to enjoy their time with us and we love teaching them.

Pictures from The Sunday Party

2 Christmas Events

On Friday night the people here in Vietnam were able to come together for a Christmas celebration. We arrived early which turned out to be late, there were already thousands of people seated. They had invited the various embassy staffs and it seems like most excepted. There were many foreigners there. They say around 30,000 people attended. The location was changed several times and the last being two days before the event. They were finally allowed to have this event in an open field, at the end of a runway by the airport. On our way in we had to walk down this little slope. Well it was dark even with all the lighting and Mark did not see this huge hole that was covered with bushes. He fell in and this thing was up to his knees. All these tiny Vietnamese men were looking on at this big American guy trying to get himself out of this hole. We always draw a crowd. Well back to the event. As we entered we were shown up to the front, a privilege of being a foreigner. They had 4 huge screens set up and a stage that at the end held around several thousand people who came forward to accept Christ. An American family from Ohio, the Jackson's, all six of them, had been invited to sing. They sang many songs about family and are going to be allowed into China to sing and share there also. They even sang Silent Night in Vietnamese which thrilled the crowd. We had the honor of meeting them and having lunch before the concert. They were great fellowship for me as I am really missing my family this Christmas season. The event also had many Vietnamese singers and even one Vietnamese gentleman who sang Feliz Navidad in both English and Vietnamese. Then about a 1,000 youth got on stage to sing and dance. They were awesome and their love for Jesus really shined through. It was an amazing night, even with all of the airplanes flying so low above our heads. I could actually read their names. A little scary but hey this is Vietnam !! It was even streamed live on the Internet. If you care to view it you can go to hoithanh.com.

The second Christmas party was on Sunday afternoon at a restaurant that was rented by our friends and the Jackson's again performed. There were about 130 people at this and again the spirit of the season was there. We have been blessed to be able to celebrate the reason for this season even though most in this country do not have a clue as to the real reason behind the decorations and giving. But that my friends is one reason we are here and the results are more than we could ever have hoped for.

Mark and I want to wish all of our family and friends a very Blessed Christmas and may the New Year bring you into a closer love relationship with the one who created you and sustains your life. There is a plan for your lives and a purpose to be accomplished through you that no one else can do. Don't believe the lie that you are not important, because you are more important to the one who created you than you can ever imagine. Blessings to you all.

CHRIS AND JEANETTE

 

********MAJOR NEWSFLASH ***********

We are pleased to announce to you our family and friends that our son Chris is now engaged to Ms. Jeanette Gonzales. We introduced these two 1 1/2 years ago when we lead a team to Thailand. They were both on the team and it was exciting to watch them experience Thailand with us. Jeanette is a graduate of USC and is an engineer. She lives in Pasadena, Ca. In the last year plus that they have been dating we have seen not only her outer beauty but also the inner beauty that God has so gifted her with. I am also very excited because without knowing it they have chosen our 34th wedding anniversary to get married. The wedding will be on June 19,2010. Our prayer is that the two of them will be as happy and blessed as Mark and I have been. We love you guys and can't wait for June.

Boys and Santa at Disneyland

 

The Green's at Disneyland for Christmas

 

It's That Time Of Year Again

I was in the market this week and all of a sudden I heard playing over the loud speaker, Jingle Bell Rock !! Yes even in Vietnam they are playing Christmas music. It got me in the mood so I wondered over to the aisle that had a few and I mean very few Christmas decorations. I have never seen a real live tree here but I thought I would at least find something green. My choices were purple or silver. I almost went for the purple one but just could not. They are just small table top trees. I think I will wait and see what they put out next week. I continued my shopping and as I was looking in the veggy section I could not find any onions. I looked in all six bins but no onions. I went over to inquire hoping that the girl would understand. I said onions and she smiled and said no !! Well what else do you make salsa with?? I went back three days later and still no onions. I guess the boat with the onions is stuck in some port somewhere along with those paper towels that I can never find.

I was able to skype my grandsons this week and they were so excited about what they had done for Thanksgiving and Ethan's sixth birthday party but best of all was the trip to Disneyland, they have season passes and they were able to see Santa. I am posting a picture, thanks Jen I miss them so much especially this time of year. They even have their Christmas lights up and have a firetruck with a dog in a Santa hat, where can I get one of those? It might look good with a purple tree?

Ken's visit

Another Mekong trip

This week our pastor Ken Hart came to visit us. We spent the week at a convention and then on Saturday we took him on a trip down the Mekong River. It was a five hour drive down there and then a 40 minute boat ride one way. We landed at the home of a family we had visited before and were able to show him the bridge project we are working on. They are also in need of a new water purification system. It is always an experience taking a long boat down the river. You see people washing, peeing and fishing in the river. We then traveled back the same day. It was a long day but we all enjoyed the great weather and sights. We ended our day at a pizza place in the city. Our young friends here love pizza.

It was a week of going back in time to the dark ages, literally. Our electricity went off for a day on Sunday, our internet went out at the same time and did not come back on so we had to contact the company and have them come out to check it out. We are reconnected again but face book is not to be had here. Our TV cable went out on Friday and the man cannot come to repair it until Wednesday. Then we were going to have our English students over for dinner on Friday night, it was teacher appreciation day here. I was preparing to make a batch of brownies but I noticed that my toaster oven, which is the only oven I have, was not heating up. I guess appliances around here don't last long either. I did make a batch of Chili, in my crock pot, something they have never had before. They seemed to like it. Our friend Sam and his girlfriend Mary brought Mark a new chair for his desk, he loves it. It is so much more comfortable than the hard wood chair he was using.

It was great to be able to hear about all that is going on back home and to be able to share our adventures here with our friend from Calif. We have an extra room for anyone that wants to visit but I must warn you the lights can go out at any time !!!

Thanksgiving Sunday Celebration

Thanksgiving Celebration

Yesterday, Sunday, we were invited to a Thanksgiving celebration by our friends. It was at their home. We did not even think they knew about the holiday. I guess they have enough family in the US and so they knew it was a time for thankfulness. Mark shared a message about the first Thanksgiving in the US and how it all came about. They were interested and then I shared about developing an attitude of Thanksgiving in our daily lives. We were then treated to a special meal. It began with spring rolls, our favorite and some fried pork rolls and something that looked vaguely like potato chips but thicker. The second round was beef that they cooked at each table in a pan filled with hot oil, greasy but good served with rice paper and veggies that you wrap up like tiny burritos and dip in sauce. Then came the huge chicken, their replacement for a turkey, neck, head and all. Then they served up a seafood soup with noodles and by the time dessert came, jellied candy looking items, we were stuffed and they just kept eating. We get full just looking at it all but they don't stop until it is all gone. They were even collecting the bones to take home to the pets. I was going to bring a sweet potato casserole dish but I could not find any sweet potatoes at the store. That happens frequently, I have learned that if I see it and want it even if it is not now I had better buy it. I am again looking for paper towels. See my previous article about my hunt for them. After this great meal we were in for a treat, they had some visitors there from different hill tribes and they sang some beautiful songs from their villages. Then some of the young kids did some singing and dancing to some of the more popular worship music. There were also many testimonies of what God has been doing in their lives. One 30 something year old man shared about how he was a gangster. He stole and used drugs and even physically hurt many people. He has now turned his life around and is studying to be a minister. He has a beautiful story and voice and was leading much of the singing. We had arrived around 7:30 AM and we arrived back home around 2:00 PM. A long day but so grateful for all that we are being allowed to experience in this wonderful country. God is moving everywhere and we are seeing the results. Happy Thanksgiving and Jen save me some turkey !!!

Cooking Lesson #2 Spring rolls

Yesterday I got my second lesson in Vietnamese cooking. Mark and I love their spring rolls, and as we have found out they are made in many different ways with many different items. Whenever we are invited to our friends for a meal they try to have them for us. I did not realize until yesterday how time consuming making these things are. It took us over two hours and then we had to finish preparing the rest of the meal. You can make the spring rolls with whatever meats you like and even combine them. Our friend Hannah brought over the ingredients and we had pork, shrimp, and some other red meat that looked like liver, felt like liver but was not and these little guppie like fish. I am glad they puree these so it all just looks like, well I won't go there. You chop up all the meats and add some taro and other veggie the name she did not know in English and season to taste then you wrap them up in rice paper and deep fry. They do not believe in using canola or olive oil so after dinner we paid the price with some heartburn but oh they tasted so good going down. You can also make many different types of dipping sauce, ours was fish sauce, sugar, lime and garlic. As we were coking the rolls the doorbell rang and in comes our guests from Australia and our other friends who were driving them around. I thought I was just being taught how to make them but I guess I missed the part about serving dinner for 8 people. Fortunately Hannah knew they were coming so she had brought the makings for a carrot salad and the famous french bread and the usual dessert, fruit. It was a great evening of fellowship and I am glad that I now know how to make these babies but buying the ingredients in the store will be a challenge as a lot of the veggies especially the root ones look alike until you peel them. Oh well that's part of the fun of living here !!

Dinner with Friends

Our New Pad

Our Move

This week we moved one floor up in the same apt building we moved to last Oct. It is hard to believe that it has already been over a year since our coming to Vietnam. We were very content in our old apt but our friend came to us in Sept and said that he had looked at an apt in the same building one floor above us and it was the same size as ours but the rent was $100.00 cheaper. Well cheaper sounded good so we went up and had a look. It was in the opposite corner of the building from our current apt so the view was a little different but.... it had a balcony that we could actually walk out on, the current one had four huge plants on it and was a bit smaller. Now all we need is a barbecue, do they even have them here? The layout of the kitchen was also different, more open, they also had a big fish tank with one gigantic fish in it which I am sure was probably going to be dinner. Some extra benefits were air conditioning in both bedrooms and the kitchen. The living room had a couch, to sit on, we have been fighting over the one chair that we had bought last year and company usually sat on the cushions on the floor, better them than me. The walls in the living room were painted pink with a sort of glitter in it but for cheaper, we can live with it. Before we decided to take the new apt we went to the owner of our old apt and asked her if she would consider lowering the rent. This went on for several weeks without her believing that we would move. After we signed the new lease we gave our notice and she begged us to reconsider and lowered the rent a bit but not the amount we were going to pay. We felt bad but we did give her a chance and any savings would help with our living costs. Since being here the food and electricity and water rates have all increased and they say they will go up again next year. Back to the move, I had been told that some of the English students we teach would come and help. We were to move Monday. We arrived back from a conference in Singapore on Sunday afternoon and began the preparations for the move. We really did not have much but we have managed to accumulate stuff in our time here. Our friend called Monday AM and said he had a meeting and would be over in the afternoon to help us move, he had the key so we could not even begin ourselves. Finally at 5 PM he comes and says we probably need to clean the new apt before taking our stuff up. I wondered where our help was but did not say anything. We went up and I began dusting and mopping while the men started bringing things up. By 8 PM we were finished and I was exhausted, still no help had arrived but our friend kept saying it was good exercise. I guess he does not know that I hate exercise !! And I still had to clean the old apt so we could get our deposit back. Our lease was up on Tuesday so at 7:30 Am I went down to begin the cleaning process. I made it to the second bathroom when the nozzle broke off the hose by the toilet and water began spraying everywhere. I stuck it in the toilet, so as not to flood the apt again and the nozzle came off completely and went to toilet heaven. After several attempts to get the hose to stay in the toilet so I could get to the kitchen to shut off the water, I finally succeeded by closing the toilet lid and putting something on it to keep it down. All I could think of was another mess to clean up and forgetting that tile gets very slippery I proceeded to fall and slide through the dining area to the kitchen. I don't recommend it. Now my dilemma, how was I going to finish cleaning without water? No problem there is a spicket in the hallway of each floor where the cleaning people get water to mop the floors each day. After multiple trips to the spicket I had almost made it to the finish line when Mark came in, STOP, I shouted, I am just finishing the floors. Then for some reason the security guard and another workman were at the door. Then some other friends were there to take the bed down, we were giving the frame to them. Each of them took their shoes off at the door but they still managed to track in a mess. Oh well what can you do? Finally when I was alone again, I mopped one more time and locked the door on my way out, it was time for lunch. We had to pay these workmen somehow and we wanted to find out what the new restaurant was serving for lunch. They only had a menu in Vietnamese. They had been advertising this lunch special for only $2.00 US. It turned out to be a lot of food and good and they even presented us with a menu in English. I guess they were getting more non Vietnamese speaking people so they had one English menu printed up. We bought 9 people lunch for $20.00. I still am not sure who they all were but I do know one was the driver of the truck that took the bed away. He just needed the sign that says, will work for food !!!

Feeding the Poor

On Wednesday Oct 7th we flew to DaNang. We were headed there to help give out some food to the people affected by the recent typhoon. On our way from DaNang to a smaller city we saw quite a bit of damage. Roofs blown off, signs broken in half and trees blown down. The area had also flooded so there was lots of mud and muddy roads. Our first night in the small city we were introduced to a gentlemen and his wife who were in their late eighties and he had been instrumental in starting many of the home groups in different villages and was also a teacher and he spoke English. He went with us to several of the villages and had stories to tell about many of the people that came for support. We were able to go to three villages, the fourth we only got so far and then they had to send the motor bike brigade to us to take the food back as the road was too muddy to make it in with our van. With the supplies we had we were able to feed seventy families for a week. One lady we met was blind in one eye and only had two fingers on one of her hands. The elderly gentlemen told us that her son was rich but left her in a small hut to fend for herself. It broke our hearts. Another story we heard from our new neighbor, was about her village, one of the ladies who owned a duck farm was drown trying to save her ducks. That was her livelihood and she needed them to survive. In each village we took the bags of food into a home and the people came there to pick it up, we did not have enough to feed whole villages and we did not want to start any trouble. Our last stop we took the bags into a couple's shoe store. We ended up waiting there for our friends who had gone to see someone further out. While waiting I decided to try on some shoes, what do you know they fit. I ended up with three pairs. The owner gave me one pair as a gift and as I paid for the other two you would have thought she had won the lottery. She gave me a big hug. I only paid $18.00 for the two pairs, what a deal. I felt so blessed to be able to help them out. The reward so out weighs the little things we go through to help. We are privileged.

Typhoon Damage

The wedding of Thinh Ky Ngo and Quyen Thanh Le

We were invited by our friend to attend a Vietnamese wedding in the province of Dinh Quan. We left HCMC on Monday at 1 Pm on a deluxe bus, the difference being the larger seats that recline and a movie is shown and water and wipes given. We even had a 10 minute stop in which to eat, drink or go to the WC, water closet. The trip was 3 hours and we were dropped off by the natural rock formation on the road, no bus stop, you just have to know where they drop off and pick up. Our friend wanted to know why I had a large suitcase? It was only a carry on size but larger than their back packs. I just have many things to take I replied, I am a woman !! Besides I had not been to a wedding here yet so I was not sure if there was a dinner the night before or how fancy their weddings were, besides I was also a girl scout and taught to always be prepared. We were picked up in a small truck that they use in their business, they were only expecting two people not four and not two foreigners. It was a short ride to the home of the groom where we would be staying. The father of the groom is in his late sixties and he and his wife have 9 children and 16 grand children. He owns a cashew business and also they sell pigs. He is quite well off and a very humble man and has just built a new spacious home. He greeted us in the traditional pajamas that older men where, I assume for comfort, it was only 4 PM. He still had them on the next morning so we wondered if he would wear them to the wedding. I told Mark I would buy him a pair. We were all shown to the only spare room left, especially since I do not think we were expected. So.... I bunked with two other men besides my hubby. Never done that before. That evening they had a dinner party with a live DJ and band. It went until around 11:30, we only stayed until 10:00 but because it was in a tent in their front yard we did not fall asleep for awhile. We were told that the wedding celebration goes on for several days. This was only the beginning. The next day we got in line to shower and dress, the wedding was set for 9 AM. A bit early but since we and the rest of the house were up by 4 AM, I guess 9 is good. People started arriving early from different places. The bride arrived around 9: 15 and was greeted by a loud pop and confetti announcing her arrival. She did not look very happy. She only smiled once twice during the ceremony and that is when Mark made some funny comments. Hopefully it was nerves and not because she did not want to be married. She did seem to enjoy the reception. Some observations about the ceremony, besides the confetti the bride and groom kneel and lay their hands on the bible and say their pledges. The fathers also raise their hands to give the bride and groom permission to wed. Then after the ceremony before they leave there is a gift giving time. People come up and give them things, it starts with the parents and then who ever has gifts, they both were given several rings, not sure the meaning of this. After the ceremony we were taken out to the tent and shown inside. The bride and groom stood out front and greeted people as they came through. All of a sudden a bus load of people came and then others by car, motor bike and vans. I guess it was a good thing they came just for the reception because all those people would not have fit into the church, the houses main room. In the space of two hours the bride changed into several other different colored gowns, I asked the meaning and all I got was tradition. She went from white to gold to green. We were served an 8 course meal, they also had a toast and cake. There was a family that we had previously met their six girls and one son sang in the ceremony and did a dance at the reception. Just before we had to leave to catch our bus back to HCMC a group of young guys did a break dance performance. That is a new one at a wedding for me. Our bus picked us up on the side of the road and our trip came to an end as pleasantly as it began. New experiences all the time. We love it.

The Vietnamese Wedding

English Students

I wanted you to see the English students. These students are really serious about learning English. They read and practice and it shows. We are reading through the book of Mark so we have two purposes. They can read well and we are working on the comprehension and of course Mark is sharing the word as we go along. We meet weekly and about four members of the group were missing from the photo. Starting on the left, this guy is our computer expert, he has an IT degree and is also being mentored by the brother of our friend. The second gentlemen is Samuel, our friend, helper, translator and you name it he does it guy. His fiancee is Mary, next to him in the picture. They have been dating for almost four years and plan to marry on 10-10-10. They are on the five year plan. She has many jobs and is very good at making money. She works in the furniture business and banking. She is also helping some ladies sell embroidered purses that they make. I have already bought some to bring home. She sells them in Europe and the US. The last gentleman on the right is a new "friend" and has gone through some rough times at home but is so hungry. He loves learning and we are trying to help him with that. I could share so many stories but for now I will just tell you that we are blessed to be able to help them out. By the way you might notice on the table a box of Ritz crackers that Mary brought for snack but they remained unopened as I had made brownies and they all have found a new favorite American desert. I got a thumbs up from each of them. They should thank Mark, it was his idea for me to make them but he does get upset when there is only one left over for him.

English Students

Paper Towels

It has been four weeks since any of the stores I frequent have had paper towels. Now you must understand that in Asian countries most of the time you will find a roll of toilet paper on the food tables even in most restaurants. They use this to wipe their hands after eating. I have observed that they don't need a whole lot of it either, and they don't even need to put them in their laps, what a clean culture. Now me on the other hand, I take a few and then the stuff just falls apart on me. So I try another few. After I am finally semi cleaned up I have a whole stack of TP in front of me. Now me being the economical person that I am, I think to myself I could have used one napkin for all this and been saving money. Napkins are sold in the stores and are plentiful. Most are decent size and strong but some of the brands are as bad as the TP. Now back to my paper towel story. I am not sure if they just had a shortage in the countries where they import them from or if they just missed the boat from wherever they come from. Paper heaven I guess. But today I was truly excited to find 3 rolls in the store. I bought two of them thinking that I should leave one for the other foreigner who shops there. These even have a pretty print on them. They are shorter than the ones in the states but the thickness is good. Have you ever tried to drain meat on TP or napkins, well I can tell you from experience that it takes about a quarter of a roll and is not a pretty site when you are done. It took me 5 minutes to get all the TP out of the meat. O thank you Lord for sending me those paper towels.

Trip to Canada

Chris and Jeanette took a road trip to Canada last week. Chris's best friend from High School was getting married and he was asked to be in the wedding. They took several days to travel up to Crescent City, Ca to visit a friend from Life Pacific and then onto Seattle and then on to Vancouver BC, where the wedding was. They saw some great sights and reconnected with some friends and family.

Chris and Jeanette's trip to Canada

To Market, To Market

Yesterday, Sunday I got a phone call telling me that I would be picked up to go to the Metro Membership Market in 30 minutes. I had asked that next time someone went I would like to join them as my meats were running out. I buy enough for about 6 weeks or so when I go. The meats at the market next door to us are not great. They still have not gotten the word that gloves help stop the spread of germs, they usually just pick up the meat with their hands and use a chopping block that seems to rarely get cleaned. Now back to my Metro trip. Joseph, one of the brothers that speaks English and takes us places, picked me up on his motor bike. The Metro is about a 20 minute ride from our apt. We started out ok, traffic was not to bad and only had a few close calls when we started down a street that was blocked off due to construction. Instead of going back and finding a different street we all proceeded up on the sidewalk, the logical thing to do, if you are walking. Now this sidewalk was very narrow and there were telephone poles we had to go around and then there was the old lady who even though we honked, as they all did she just kept walking on the sidewalk at her own pace. What in the world was wrong with her, did not see that the motor bikes were piling up behind her and wanted to pass but had no room? We finally reached a place where we could pass her. She was one brave old lady who knew her sidewalk rights. As we proceeded on down the sidewalk we came to a curb where we had to go up and of course the motor bike did not want to do this with two people on it. I had to climb off and he had to lift the bike up and then I got back on. We were holding up traffic but at this point we had no options. It was another mile or so before the street opened up again and we could get back on the road. My friend commented that this use to be a really good street and now they had it all torn up to add pipes for better drainage. What an inconvenience.
We made it to the Metro without further complications and I got my meats etc and to my great relief we did not take that road home but as we were at the light on that corner a young girl turned right into us from the lane next to us. I guess she thought we were going to turn and all I can say is that it is a good thing my friend is young and has good reflexes. He hit the breaks and we stopped just in time to miss hitting her and guess who, her grandma !!! I was holding my bread, those long french baguette's and I almost dropped them as we came to an abrupt stop. Joseph just shook his head and gave her a look that said, women drivers. At this point I agreed with him. Just another fun ride with the boys !!!

Philippines Trip

Manila

Our plane to the Philippines left on Tuesday morning at 1 AM, the only good thing about leaving then was that we got to the airport in 10 minutes. I have never been out that late here and it was great not having to battle the traffic. The flight was only 2 hours and 15 minutes and actually left early. We took a taxi to a hotel that a friend had booked for us. It was run by Christians. There were verses posted on the walls and christian music playing and they even gave you a verse for the day. The workers were so friendly. It made for a wonderful stay. We went to check out the bible college that the Foursquare Church has there and we were even able to attend a retreat in a mountain city. The grounds were beautiful and they had three swimming pools. It reminded me of our college retreat days, games, competitions etc. We had to take the MRT from our hotel to the church and other areas and they all seem to be connected to malls. There were four malls within a 5 mile radius of our hotel. We actually saw at least 10 different malls as we rode the MRT. I got to go into several and one was a woman's paradise. They had one whole floor devoted to women's shoes and purses, it had to be at least a 1/2 mile long. I could only walk through it as we had to get back to our hotel to catch our flight home. Maybe next time. We also got to ride in their version of taxi's called jitney's, they remind me of large hummers and they put all kinds of advertising on them. Some even said, God Bless or Jesus saves. They were very cheap to ride in but the fumes and pollution were bad, even worse than Thailand. They also had every kind of restaurant that you see in the US, Outback, Tony Roma's even a new Spaghetti Factory. We did try some Philippino food which is similar to but different than the Vietnamese. Our friend likes to say, same, same but different. The best part of the trip for me was to reconnect with some friends that we had been through training with in the US and catch up on their lives. We also attended a cell group. I really miss these things in Vietnam.

Vung Tau

Vung Tau Province

On Sat we left our home for a 3 hour van ride to the beach. I should have known that 3 hours is never really three hours. We arrived 9 hours later. In order to have the van paid for our friends, girlfriend did some business on the way. These people love to save money. We did not mind as we got to see some very beautiful towns. It was not like HCMC at all. It was country and very well kept up roads and beautiful flowers and landscaping. Our friend kept saying I sure wish HCMC looked like this. We did too!! We arrived and checked into a very quaint and rustic cabin type hotel near the beach. Rooms were only $35.00 a night and we had TV and Air con. Mark and I took a walk along the beach. It reminded us of Cambria. Many rocks and tide pools. The beaches here have a ton of shells and they are all different colors and most are in tact. I have a good collection going from our two beach trips. We were able to watch the youth group, college age, play a tug of war game and later in the evening they had a bon fire and skits and music. We left around 9 as company arrived !!! Mark did not get his chance to speak. Oh well we go with the flow. On Sunday we had a great western breakfast, omelet and bread. Then we were entertained by a parrot that was speaking Vietnamese. That was too much fun. Then as we were waiting to check out I saw a family of four also leaving. It was the typical way to travel for Vietnamese. The father had one motor bike with a large Styrofoam container, probably of fish on the back and then he put a suitcase in the front. He then proceeded to plop his 3 yr old daughter on top of the suitcase. See my picture. Mom had her motor bike with their son on in back of her. No car, no problem !! After leaving the hotel we headed to another beach area and had a great seafood lunch. They had all kinds of live seafood that you choose and they take it in the back and cook. I wanted lobster but at $40.00 a kilo I opted for salmon. It was good. This city reminded me of Catalina Island. Again all landscaped and modern hotels and shopping areas. The tour buses came in by the groves. Oh, did I mention that on the way up and back we stopped at a place that Mark and I call dairy land. This area has tons of dairy cows. They sold everything having to do with milk, low fat, skim, whole, yogurt, ice cream, pancakes made with their milk, candy and then on course there were the miniature cows that when you pull there sting there utters move like you are milking them. That gave us a good laugh. We arrived home around six pm and today I am trying to get the kinks out of my back and get my legs circulating again. Tonight we head for the Philippines. Will write more about that later.

Grand Opening

Celebration Day

They closed a restaurant in our building last Nov, I don't think it did much business. They began working in that room two weeks ago and on Sat they had a grand opening. We only know this because we were leaving for our beach trip at 8 AM and the driveway was packed. We were told that it is a Chinese restaurant. They had dragons and drums and all kinds of activity going on, also beautiful flowers. I got some pictures. They began beating the drums at 8 AM, not sure how long this went on. I am glad we were headed out of town. Now we will see if they have a menu in English and how the food is.

The North

Halong, HaiPhong, Hanoi

We had planned on being able to come home from the south and do some laundry and then leave the next day for the north. Since we flew back from the south, and the only plane available was Tuesday, we only had 3 hours to unpack and repack, no time for laundry to dry, and return to the airport to catch our plane to Haiphong. We got back to the airport only to find out that our plane was delayed due to a storm. We waited another two hours and were finally able to take off. I have found that it is always good to have something to read since you never know when delays will occur. We arrived in Haiphone and took a van to Halong bay and arrived around 8 PM. There was a youth camp going on in the hotel and the worship could be heard in our room on the floor above the meeting room. We enjoyed it. That night we were taken to dinner late. We found a sidewalk cafe, not quite like you would imagine, those here are small tables set up on the sidewalks with even small plastic chairs, think kindergarten size. Then you have several fish tanks to choose your fish from. Our friend choose a large fish, they took it from the tank and put it in a plastic bag and try to weight it there in front of you, you pay by the kilo. They then took it somewhere in the back to cook. Twenty minutes later we were brought the fish, head and all to enjoy. It was good along with the rice and lemon, (really lime) juice that we love.

Did I mention that the bay was across the street from our hotel and there was a walkway that we took into town along the water. It was beautiful. The bay is known for its rock formations. They even filmed one of the James Bond movies here. The next day we took a boat tour out to the rocks and got to go through one of the three caves out there. The area has been nominated for being one of the natural wonders of the world. Our boat ride continued out to an area where they store the fish they catch to sell at the market and finally we just stopped in the middle of the bay and people started jumping off the boat and into the water. Only the crew and a few younger kids jumped in, the water, even though it was hot, was not that appealing, knowing what all goes into the bay.

The next few days we spent touring the town and the night bazaar, they had some beautiful embroidered pictures. I bought a colorful one to frame. We even found a restaurant that sold some European foods and pizza. We indulged.

On Friday we checked out of our hotel and took a van ride back to Haiphong where we spent the night and were able to attend a study. We were blessed.

On Saturday we took a local bus to Hanoi. The ride was two hours, could have made it in one if we did not have to make so many stops at the oddest street corners to pick up folks headed to Hanoi, I am not sure how they know when to be there or where, no terminal or bus stop that I could see. They showed a movie in French and of course the seats were made for short people.

Sunday we were able to meet some folks and share and then they took us out for what else, pizza, I think that the word is out that we like pizza. It was great to be able to talk to this one couple who had been to Russia to study and Australia. They speak several languages. They had an eight month old daughter who was adorable.

Monday night I got sick and was down for a couple of days, by the end of the week we were able to see some sights, visited a prison and a nearby lake. We were staying in the back packer area so there were many vendors selling their wares. We even found a non profit organization helping the community sell these beautiful quilts. I really wanted one but had no room to get it back home. They do have a store in HCMC so the hunt is on to find it. They do, after all, help the community !!!

We flew back on Friday to find our monthly bills either taped to the front door or under the door. Our electric bill is due and since we missed the bill collector we have to go to the electric office to pay it. Thank goodness for our friend, he is a life saver. The water was also off for several hours on Friday, I thought Mark had not paid that bill but later learned that they are cleaning the pipes. It will also be off some today and tomorrow. Only in Vietnam !!!

Phu Quoc Trip

The Island of Phu Quoc

Our second journey with out friends began at 5 AM on Thursday morning. We had decided that one van would not do for the five day trip, the seats were made for Asian people not us large Americans, so we were now riding with some extra space in two vans. Our guide thought is was best to get out of town before the traffic jams began. It was a breeze even over the pot holed road and one lane of traffic. At 9 we stopped for breakfast and at noon for lunch at a very exotic restaurant. This first day we were headed to a place on the Mekong that our friend had told us about that needed help building a new bridge. The bridge was wooden and was rotting and the government wanted the home owners to build another one. These people live in homes much the same as the bridge. We had to take a ferry ride to get to the town where we were met by the home owner who then took us on his small boat. It was a 30 minute ride and on the way we stopped to buy some coconut and other fruits. The people make their living by going up and down the river and selling their wares. We were met at his home by many children from neighboring homes and the man's friends and family were there to greet us also. We shared coconut milk, straight from the coconut and wonderful, sweet watermelon with them and took pictures of the bridge and their home that had a big gaping hole right over their bed, which happened to be in the living room. The family had a granny who was serving us, her husband who drove the boat and the husband and wife and I am not sure how many kids. They all lived in the one story room which was divided by a small wall. The group and this family had something in common, their faith. It was a blessing getting to spend some time with them and share some food. The grandpa headed us back down the Mekong to town and as we passed all the families that were doing their laundry in the river or bathing in it or washing their dished in it we were all reflecting on the many blessings we have in our lives. Our journey continued in the vans for the next three hours to the coast, where we were to stay overnight to take a 3 hour boat ride to the island of Phu Quoc. It had been raining most of the day and we were told that instead of the boat leaving at 8 Am it would leave at 1 PM. We knew that there was a typhoon off the coast but thought that if the boat was still going it was ok. Well the ride started out very smooth, then we hit the open seas. They had passed out plastic bags which I thought was for garbage but turned out to be for all the sea sick people, which was over half the boat. Mark, our guide and another lady from our group were deathly ill. I was getting sick just hearing the sounds coming from all the people throwing up. It was worse than any roller coaster ride any of us had ever taken. The waves were crashing over the boat and then we would hit the water hard coming down. That was the longest three hours for all of us. At the dock we were met by a vans to take us to the hotel where we were staying. Not to many of us were hungry for dinner that night. On Saturday we visited some places that sold pearls, they dive for them off the coast and had a beautiful selection then we hiked up to a water fall. Muddy but beautiful. On Sunday after everyone had recovered we spent the day on the beach. We had lunch and rented kayaks and a wave runner. The day was beautiful and fun was had by all. We were to leave the next day but Mark and the lady who were so sick and I decided to fly back instead of chance the boat again. We had to spend an extra day on the island as the plane on Monday was full. It turns out that the boat ride back was not as bad but we had no way of knowing this and no one wanted to take an 8 hour van ride back to HCMC after the boat ride, if they were going to be sick. Better safe than sorry.

The Beach Resort

Friends

Friends, Food, and Fun

A group of nine friends arrived in Vietnam last Friday to visit. Mark and I ventured to the airport around 10:00, we are 20 minutes from the airport and they were due in around 10:20. We knew they would have to go through customs and get their luggage so we figured we would be fine. Well Friday was an exceptionally busy day at the airport and it took us almost an hour to arrive. We have never seen so many people at that airport at one time. They had six international flights all arriving within minutes of each other and you have to wait in front of the building for the passengers to come out. It was a beautiful, sunny, hot day so we were melting while waiting. Even though we were late they were longer so after another hour of waiting they emerged from the terminal. It took three taxi vans to get us to their hotel with all of their luggage. That evening we all went to dinner at one of Mark's favorite places, Pepperoni's. They have a buffet with lasagna, pizza, all kinds of salads and even some taco looking items. The lime juice drinks are a favorite with everyone. Limes are called lemons here.

The weekend was spent seeing some sights and shopping and getting foot massages and nails done. It is dirt cheap over here. They even treated me to a manicure and pedicure. I am loved. Thank you ladies. We ended the evening at our apt where I served them all spaghetti. They had to sit Asian style on the floor as we did not have enough chairs. They were real champs about it all. Our friend brought over several different types of fruit for dessert, mangosteen, watermelon, hairy strawberries, not sure their real name,and something that looks like an apple but has to be dipped in salt and chili. It was fun to experiment.

On Monday we headed out in a 16 passenger van, of course, since the Asian people are much smaller than Americans we were all doing our best not to fall onto the person next to us. There were three to a seat. We arrived at an orphanage after several hours and spent some time there doing a puppet show and playing with the kids. They sang to us and we were blessed. One of our friends is a professional photographer. He brought several camera's and was able to take pictures of all the kids and print them out while we were there. The kids loved it. We left them with some goodie bags and much love and hugs. We then traveled another two hours in the pouring rain to a beach resort. We arrived after dark so we could not see the ocean but the next AM it was sunny and we were able to walk down the beach to where these small round basket looking boats were bringing in fish and all kinds of seafood to sell, from larger boats. They had carts pulled by oxen to transport the fish to market. One of our ladies got to close to the oxen and it tried to gore her, gently of course. Her uncle is the photographer and he was trying to take her picture at the time. The beach was full of beautiful shells, so I collected as many as I could carry. We left the hotel around noon and stopped for lunch at one of the only places that they feel the food is safe enough for us foreigners to eat. It was yummy. Mark and I shared fried rice and a hot pot with pork. Then as we headed back to the van Mark spotted a lady selling ice cream so everyone finished there Vietnamese meals with an American favorite. We hit rush hour traffic on our way back into HCMC and even saw a hugh truck that had flipped over in the rain. What a mess.
Today was a rest day and tomorrow we head to the south and eventually end up on an island. I will continue our travelogue after we return from the south.

Are we CRAZY ????

Are we crazy ? The Vietnamese people in our apt building seem to think so. Whenever we go out anywhere we always get stares mainly because we live in an area that is just about all Vietnamese. I think the people at the market next door have gotten use to me by now so I am not pointed at as much. Well back to my story, the last two nights for some reason or actually they really do not need a reason here they just do it, they have closed our fitness center. Now you have to realize that this is a very important time that we have committed each day to sweating our bodies to death. I expect my skin and body to look at least 30 maybe 40 years younger due to this commitment. Anyway since they locked the doors tight on us we decided to do laps around the outside of our apt building. Since the center of the building is where the people gather to socialize and feed their children each day it is usually quit crowded. Well here we are doing our laps and the people keep staring at us. I know we are whiter than they are and taller but are we really that different looking to them, oh did I forget to mention that it was raining while we were doing these laps, both nights?? We might be crazy to walk in the rain but not as crazy as they are to ride those motor bikes like they do or chase their kids around to feed them lunch or sit on these hard tile floors for hours at a time. Maybe tonight I will use an umbrella and give them even more to talk about !!! Those odd Americans....

The gas man cometh

Here in Vietnam we have two burners on our counter to cook on. They are fueled by a propane tank of gas, like our barbecues in the US. Well I decided to try making potato salad, side note the potatoes here are about the size of golf balls, so I bought ten tiny potatoes and was cooking them on one burner and I had the eggs to hard boil on the other. All of a sudden both burners went out, now you have to see my kitchen and know that there is a door to the laundry room that is always open and the wind blows through there so I just thought the wind had blown the fire out. This happens a lot since many of our storms happen in the late afternoon. I relit them and several minutes later I realized they were out again. I tried to check the gas tank but there was no indicator to tell me how much gas was left in it. Mark tried lifting it and said it felt empty. Great, half cooked potatoes and raw eggs. The owners had left us a number to call the gas man, thank goodness they come to you, can you see us riding a motor bike and trying to hold a propane tank of gas, not in your dreams. We were sure that no one at the gas company spoke English so we had to wait. This happened Friday afternoon. Dinner that night was from a crock pot, which by the way cooks very rapidly here so the name slow cooker is not appropriate. At least the meal is all in one pot. Any way back to my story, on Sat our friend was suppose to come visit, so around three he came and I told him about the gas. He said no problem they will be here five minutes after you call. Well we got to talking and I am looking at the clock thinking this is a long five minutes, it was after four and no gas man, hope he gave them the right address. Well at four thirty there was a knock on the door and the gas man was here with a new tank and a gift, he handed me a bag of sugar. He also attached the tank and gave me a bill. It cost me $15.00 for a tank that will probably last us almost a year. You can't beat the service and a bag of sugar !! What a country !! Some old ways of doing things are just more convenient for the customers. Customer service is still important over here, sometimes !!

A Thank You Dinner

After the long week of training we gathered with the trainers and leaders and had dinner at a restaurant that is built around a swimming pool. It was a beautiful place and the food was good. Being Vietnam you could get a wide choice of foods like duck, goat, ostrich etc. I opted for the shrimp with cashew nuts, it was good and so was the strawberry drink we had.

It took us almost one hour to arrive, usually a ten minute drive but it was rush hour and many of the roads are being repaired to help the flooding issue. Just as we entered the building the skies opened up and it poured for most of the night. The kids in the pool just kept swimming. It was a great time of meeting new friends and fellowshipping.

Dinner with Friends

From Dinner with Friends

Kids Quest

This week Kids Quest came to town. Kids Quest is an organization that was started by a professional clown who wanted to make the gospel fun for the kids. They use games, drama, an object lesson and clowns to teach the message of God's love. It is a great tool and the leaders were very excited to learn and take it to the kids. They all came for the week of training and I was amazed at how attentive they all were. They even took notes. The leaders made it a fun time and stressed that you have to make it fun to reach the kids. The kids are the future and if they get the message of the gospel they can change a nation.

Training Days

Dinner at Amiego's

Yesterday we had some friends arrive from Thailand. Gary and Paual Hays and their friend Simon. We have been looking forward to their visit and since it was Pauls's birthday and last Friday was our 33rd wedding anniversary we decided to celebrate by going to a restaurant that we had found in District 1 called Amiego's. It is a very nice place and they serve a variety of good food. I had a nice Australian steak and Mark, Gary and Simon had a burrito, which Mark thought tasted more like an enchilda. Paula had a wonderful onion soup. Then we decided to splurge on dessert, Paul and I tried the apple pie, which was like an apple tart warmed with vanilla ice cream, my favorite and Mark had cheesecake and Gary some type of kiwi peach flan. Simon was too full from the hugh salad bar, rolls, and burrito dish to have dessert. After dinner the manager came by and we asked him to if he would mind taking our picture. Then he proceeded to get out his own camera and had his staff stand by us and he took another picture. So maybe if you come to Vietnam and we go to Amiego's we might have our picture on the wall or on the menu. You never know here !!

After dinner, we were full, so we decided to walk a few blocks to the statue of Ho Chi Minh, who has a child on his lap and he is reading to a her. The books all say he like to be called Uncle Ho and loved the children. Gary and Paula are involved with a children's ministry in Thailand called Kid's Quest. They have no children of their own but they have so much love for these little ones that they minister to. As we were doing the tourist thing two young, maybe five and seven year old girls came up to me and shook my hand and asked my name. Then I asked theirs and tried to pronounce it. Not very well I must say. We asked if we could take their picture and after that they wondered off to some more tourist. Never did see any parent or anyone with them. Children do seem to have a lot of freedom here to roam around. The mother in me wanted to say where are your parents !! I just prayed instead for their safety.

Birthday and Anniversary Dinner

With Hannah life is always an adventure !!

I love this lady dearly, she is the mother of our friends and she only speaks a little English but she tries hard. I think the boys have designated her as the one to take me to the Metro, which is the Costco of Vietnam. Every time she comes to take me I have a new adventure. This time her son dropped her off at our apt and we were going to take a taxi. The only problem was there were none to be had, where they usually park in front of our building. Hannah does not like to wait so she asked me if it was ok to take the bus. Sure, I am up for that. The problem was the bus stop in front of our building was going the wrong way so we walked about a mile down past the KFC that we frequent. Now you have to picture the non existent sidewalks here. The bit of pavement in front of the stores and residences are where the motor bikes park or where they set up there carts to sell things, or where the people sit and eat. It is quite the obstacle course to walk these streets and you dare not walk in the streets because even if there is no one coming at the moment they creep up on you quickly. Back to my story, as we walked past an International English School she asked if I could teach English at the school, not sure what she was getting at, I said I was not sure what they required to do that. Then she changed the subject and told me that she thought that when I get to heaven I will be very blessed because I have come to her country and given up so much. I replied that I love her country and the adventure we are on, all the while trying to watch out for the potholes on the walkway and the traffic and the people who push by you because you are going to slow. I can multitask like any other good woman !! Finally we turned down a street and she showed me these lines drawn on the road, this was the bus stop. Ok so how do I know which bus to take? She started with the number 33, no 32, no 144. Well it turns out that the bus we took, number 32 did not go near the Metro so we got off after many miles with her talking to the driver the whole time. She grabbed my hand to cross the busy street and we then proceeded to walk another mile or so and after she asked someone we found the lines on the street again and caught another bus that took us one block. We had just passed the street that the Metro was on. We still were not at the store so we walked another six blocks and there up ahead our destination was finally in sight. By this time we had been on the road 1 1/2 hours. She hit the rest room and I the cafe to get a diet soda. We had made it. When we go to the Metro I try to stock up on the meats, they are from Australia, because I know I will not get back there for at least another month or so. I can usually look at an item and tell what I am getting but when I hit the laundry detergent aisle I had trouble choosing which bag of Omo, there brand of detergent, to get. I could tell some had different scents, by the picture of the fruit that it smells like on the front but then I turned the bag around and saw a picture of a washing machine, so I figured I had the right one, asking her was no good because she could not explain the difference to me. I will let you know how the next batch of laundry turns out. We proceeded to the fruits and veggie aisle. She was showing me all kinds of stuff I knew Mark would never try. She was trying to say the English word and I think I finally got ginger root. I did get some great looking apples from Washington State. They were about $2.00 a pound. My splurge for the month. By now we had been in the store for over an hour and it was way past time to get home and have dinner, 7:30. We paid for our purchases and as we exited to the parking lot we found only one taxi left. She talked and talked and talked to the driver and as we stood there I asked if we should get in, she said to wait. WAIT, I was tired and hungry and I don't care what it cost get me home !! All of the taxi's have a meter and they all use them so I am not sure what the issue was but finally he opened the trunk of the car, we put our items in and within 20 minutes we were at the apt. I unloaded my bags and paid the driver and she decided that her son was not around to pick her up so she took the taxi to her home. I was finally able to call Mark from the front of the building, cell phones or at least mine does not work inside the store. He came down, asked what took so long and I just said it was another Hannah adventure !!

What is that noise?? Which one??

I was awakened at 3 AM this morning by Mark asking me what that beeping sound was. I listened and finally said that I did not hear anything except the man singing Karaoke. At this point I had not checked the clock and thought it must be early because usually they stop the singing around 10:30 or so. We have the air conditioner on at night so we don't hear all the noise and can rest comfortably. Mark insisted that every minute or so he was hearing a beeping sound. I finally heard it and said that it sounds like my cell phone is dying, but it was very faint. I rolled over to go back to sleep but he got up and said he could not sleep with that sound, and asked where my phone was. I finally remembered that I had left it on the table in the kitchen and thought, he has trouble hearing small sounds how on earth does he hear that, way out there when the air is on and the door to our room is closed? Then I saw the clock and it read 3 AM. What fool is out there singing their lungs out at this time of night? Then the church bells started ringing and then the cats started fighting. By now I was on my way to being fully awake. My next look at the clock showed it was 3:30 and no bells, no singing and no cat fights. Peace at last, now what do I do to get back to sleep? You just have to love this country !!

Home in Vietnam

We arrived home on Friday June 5th. It was a long two flights but since we left at 1:20 AM on Thursday June 4th we slept through most of the first flight. The first flight was 14 hours and the second from Taipei was only 3 1/2 hours. I must say they feed you a lot on these flights, I did not say good but a lot. I actually watched three movies, girl movies since Mark does not like these. We arrived in our apt around 1 pm on Friday and found everything in order. It sure was dusty even though it had been closed up for 6 weeks. On our front door we found all the bills from the previous months that they had come to collect. What an amazing system they have. After unpacking and reorganizing and marketing I think we are about ready to resume our routine here. Mark is still having trouble getting his software back on the crashed computer. It does not help that our Internet comes and goes. I am sitting here being blown about by the high winds that we have had since we arrived. It helps to cool things down but the heat is still hard to handle. I guess the readjusting is getting to me. I promise not to complain any further. I do miss the kids and grand kids but it was not as hard this second time around. Well thanks to all our friends and family who made our trip home so special. We love and miss you all and hope that if you are ever in the neighborhood you would drop by !!!!

Another Birthday Dinner at the Orbeck's

On my actual birthday, Jen and the boys came up to help me celebrate one more time. I actually forgot it was my birthday until Mark wished me a happy day. To much celebration and reminder that I am getting older. We were staying with our friends the Orbeck's in Lancaster for the last four weeks and I would like to say a special thank you to Julie for all the great meals she prepared for us and for putting up with all our odd hours. You both made us feel so welcome. We miss you guys. Well Jen and the boys came up and Jen and I got to do the one thing we had been talking about for months, shopping. Mark watched the older boys and we took Justin to the mall. It was just like old times. I watched Justin while Jen tried on clothes. I love shopping with you kid !!! After our time out we went back and Mark barbecued and Jen brought out a delicious ice cream cake. It was the hit of the evening. Now I will return to the fitness center and try to take off the extra pounds from all of the fantastic foods I indulged in.

Another Birthday Dinner

A Walk in O'Neil Park

On our last Sunday in the US we went to Jen's for the day for dinner. She prepared a great feast of stuffed pasta shells and afterwards we all headed to a park not far away. We had not been there before so we decided to explore it some. It is part of the National Forest. A sign at the entrance warned of cougars and snakes. The boys were excited but did not like the idea of wild animals. They love bugs though and every few feet we had to stop and look for them. Jen wanted to get some pictures with the beautiful mountains in the background. The pose love to make silly faces so that helped in the picture taking. Thanks Jen for a great dinner, I wish you could come and cook for me over here !!!

A Walk in the Park

Disneylnd Again

The tickets to Disneyland that our son in law purchased for us were a twofer, so on Friday after the Convention which happened to be right next door to Disneyland, we met Jen and Sam and the boys for another round at the park. The first time we went it was pretty crowded and this day was about the same. I guess even with the economy people will still pay for fun. We arrived around 12:30 and left after the fireworks, about 10:00 PM. We tried to hit the rides that we did not go on the first time and still we missed a lot. We let Jen and Sam go on Thunder Mountain while we took the boys to Tom Sawyer Island. At first they were afraid of the raft ride across but after the raft started it turned into a lot of fun. We explored for a while and then hit, the Jungle ride, the Tree House, the Animal Farm and after those and many more, Sam treated us to dinner at a great Italian Restaurant in the California Adventure Park. We found a place around 8:30 to stand and watch the fireworks which did not start until 9:25. We were scrunched in like sardines but it was well worth it. They were fantastic. We left the park at 10 and arrived back in Lancaster around midnight. A long, long day. So worth it to watch the boys experience it all.

Disneyland, The Second Time Around

My 55th Birthday Dinner

Many of us gathered on the last night of convention to celebrate my 55th birthday. We went to the Cheesecake Factory in Anaheim. We even invited Pastor John from Thailand. We have known him for over 10 years and have worked with him in the Hill tribes of Thailand. Chris and Jeanette brought her mom, Alice. It was great to meet her and have her participate in my special night. She has four children, Jeanette being the oldest and a 19 year old son who just left for the Marine Corp. We are all in prayer for that. We look forward to getting better acquainted with her. Anglus brought a wonderful Oreo Cookie Cake and afterwards we all headed back to the Convention Center for our final night. It was a wonderful tribute to Jack Hayford the Foursquare president who will end his term in August. Thank you all for helping me feel so special and to celebrate my special day.

My Birthday Dinner at Cheesecake Factory

Disneyland, Dodger game and Strep throat ???

Sorry it has been so long since I last wrote but I was just having so much fun, visiting, playing with my boys and seeing the sights. We have had a day at Disneyland, quite crowded for a weekday in April and the Dodger game with Chris and Jeanette was great, especially since they won. I love those Dodger dogs but the price of food, they now offer seats and all you can eat for one price, but they were all sold out. On May 4th we moved up to Lancaster to stay with our friends. They have been soo... good to us. Thanks Julie for all your great meals. On Mother's day we drove to Palm Desert for a visit with Mark's parents, in a 1986 Red Corvette, loaned to us by our friends. It is very low to the ground and you feel like those big trucks could just run right over you, but you sure get lots of looks. I had not been feeling well, sore throat, temp and vomiting for a couple of days, while visiting I decided to visit urgent care and found out I had strep throat. Once I got the antibiotic I started feeling better but now I have this really ugly rash all over. I am not contagious but I sure look like I should be quarantined. The week after Mother's day, Jennifer, Jeanette (Chris's girlfriend), and I went to a women's retreat at Jen's church and had a great time. The next week Jen and Sam went to Yosemite for four days and Mark and I got to watch the boys. We took them to the park and the zoo and had a blast. On Tuesday night, I had to head to the store for some goodies, in the red corvette and wouldn't you know it, the thing refused to start. We had to have it towed back to Lancaster, 120 miles, fortunately our friend had one free 200 mile tow with the Auto Club. Then on Thursday Mark had to have a squamous cell cancerous spot removed from his head, so now I have this ugly rash and he has a big hole in his head, Oh did I mention that his computer crashed and he lost everything, we have a back up back in Vietnam, but that does not help us now. We are still waiting for HP to return it, fortunately it is still under warranty. Well so far the good times are still outweighing the bad. We are resting this Memorial Day weekend and then on Monday we go to Anaheim for our yearly church convention. We look forward to visiting with many of our friends on the mission field. I will close for now and try to add pictures at some point. Hope you all are well and blessed.

Los Angeles

We arrived in LA one week ago today. We had a conference in Pasadena most of the week and then we reconnected with some friends from Alabama who were also here. We have spent two days with Jen and the boys, Gavin broke my heart by telling me that he did not want us to leave again because we had been gone to long and he missed us ! Yesterday they came to the apt we are staying in in Echo Park and we walked around the lake and saw fish people had caught and some brand new baby ducks. It has been very, very hot here. At least no humidity. We are looking forward to Disneyland next week and a Dodger game with Chris in May. Chris just celebrated his 26th birthday on Sat. I feel old. I have a feeling that this next month will fly by. I have decided to enjoy every minute of it. I actually got Mark down to the garment district today but it got way to hot to do much shopping.

Birthdays and Nemo's

Last night we celebrated everyone's April birthdays. They had a wonderful strawberry cake and I thought I was asking for the April birthday people to pose with the cake but I think everyone wanted to be in the picture. It was a fun time of sharing and prayer. After the cake I was invited to pray for a gentleman who had a tumor in his stomach. It was a powerful time and afterwards several of us were invited to go to Nemo's cafe. We asked the owner about the name and he said he got it from the movie, which my grandsons love, and that in the movie Nemo had a lot to overcome as did this man. It was a good story and we were treated to a wonderful strawberry smoothie type drink. This was my first time in a Karaoke cafe and thankfully no one was trying out their talent or lack of it. The streets were almost empty as I was driven back to our apt, I think I could handle driving like that, of course, I would have to become a night owl, which I am not !!!!

Only six more days until we return to see our family and friends, let the packing begin.

April Birthdays and Nemo's

Week in Thailand

On Sunday we flew to Bangkok for a week long seminar.  It was great to reconnect with friends we have made over the years there.  There were 83 people from over 25 different countries in attendance.  There were five of us from Vietnam.  We were lodged in a really nice hotel in town. Bangkok is an hour and 15 minute flight from Vietnam.  We were tired after the trip and taxi rides so Mark surprised me and ordered room service.  I think that is a first for us.  The seminar went from 9 AM to 6 PM each day.  We went to the Mall down the street from the hotel twice for dinner, once to a Sizzler, yes, even in Bangkok and then Mark wanted his pizza fix so the second night we ate at a Pizza Hut.  I really wanted to shop but was too tired, can you believe that, me at a mall and no shopping?  The conference ended after lunch on Friday and we arrived back in Vietnam around 6:30 PM, right in the middle of rush hour traffic.  That was not fun.  We again saw a motor bike accident that was right in our path.  This time the gentleman did not look happy but the other guy helped him pick up his bike and off they went.  I am now on countdown, only 15 days until we leave for the US.  I talked to my grandson Gavin on the phone this morning and he said, Grammy you are coming home on my birthday.  I said yes we would be home on his birthday, the 13 of April and how old will you be, he said three, then stopped and said no I will be four when you come home!!  Then he proceeded to tell me all about the flower he planted and it really is not a flower yet just a leaf but will grow to be a flower.  We are going to have so... much fun with them.  

Graduation Day

This was the third graduating class from the College.  We were invited to attend the graduation and enjoyed it very much.  The youngest girl was 25 yrs old and the oldest was 67 yrs old.  Mark was able to spend some time with them and enjoyed that very much.  Everyone was dressed up and then put on their gowns and caps.  Asian custom requires that you leave your shoes at the door even on graduation day.  Notice the striped socks on many of the women.  After the ceremony they were all presented with flowers from friends and family.  Then they all wanted pictures with us, individually and with their families.   I felt like I did on our wedding day after having to paste that smile on for all of the photos.  Last night my jaw actually ached.  We then were invited to have lunch at a Singaporean restaurant.  The only difference I found was the way they cooked the rice in chicken broth rather than water.   The fish, pork and chicken were all tasty.  

Graduation Day

The Traffic

When we were in town last week I noticed that the traffic police, who use to stand on the corner of the street and just point at people to pull them over and never attempted to direct traffic are now standing on a white box type object trying to direct traffic.  Fascinated, I watched for awhile to see if people were actually going to obey them.  Some did and most did not.  They are quite brave to stand in the middle of the street like that.  People here are in a great hurry to get where they are going and don't seem to care about people in there way.  I saw one lady yesterday trying to fight with a guy twice her size and a younger man, probably her brother was holding her back, by the neck.   I did not see what happened but she was MAD.  

They need to do something drastic about the traffic here !!

Traffic Police

Happy Women's Day

On Saturday I was invited to attend a Women's day celebration.  I thought it was just something that this group of ladies was doing but I guess it is a special day here in Vietnam and other countries.  My ride arrived with a beautiful rose and wished me a Happy Women's Day.  It turned out to be a great day of celebration and sharing.  In my picture is a group of ladies performing a dance in their traditional outfits.  I love the hats.  You will see them daily on women on the streets, they really do help keep the sun off of you if you can find a way to keep them from falling off.  My tie was just not tight enough.  They also had a few games they played, one was putting a puzzle together and finding the verse and sharing what they thought it meant.  I think the lunch was in my honor because I have never seen spaghetti served here.  Some of the women were not sure about it.  Many ended up putting some type of Soy or Fish sauce on the noodles.  I enjoyed it and ate the whole thing with my chopsticks, they did provide a spoon but I managed just fine, a little messy but easily taken care of with the toilet paper they use as napkins.  Mark joined us at the end of the day for a special word and we were able to give each a special blessing before the time was over.  It had rained hard during our stay and on the way home we had a beautiful opening of blue between the clouds.  A perfect ending to a blessed day.