2010 Christmas & New Years

Merry Christmas ~

Past... 2010

For anyone who knows me, being this far behind in my blog is insane. 2010 was such a crazy year of awesome change but with the commotion of it all a few things have taken the back seat. We are now settled and 2011 will be a much simpler year (i think) haha.

Christmas 2010 we decided to stay in Thailand and the Richard Family came join us. They presently are living in Saudi Arabia so at least they are on this side of the world relatively and the trip was not that far. ~Funny how 10 hours of traveling is not that far anymore ~... haha

The Richards arrived December 17th and we had a fun 3 weeks of showing them around the country we are calling home for now.

(The Richard family. Jaymee is almost 7 and Jordyn is 4)

We did the whole tour around our house again so it was fun to be the tour guide showing the tourist this time :)

The Tour Begins!!!

(Back again to Tiger Kingdom ~ this time itty bitty 4 week old kitties were roaming around. They were soooo cute. It was tempting to sneak one of them in my bag to take home ...haha)

(Em with her little buddy she made. 4 weeks and this little one is getting big)

(Easton had a little guy crawl right up to him and lay in his lap...ahhhh)

(the big boys melting over a little kitty. Trent and Rob have been mates since their first year of University, a long long time ago..haha)

Snake Show...

(off to the snake show, East had two slithering creatures around his neck getting all tangled up)

(Tori has a fear of snakes so she sat as far as possible gathering moral support from the girls)

(why be afraid when a 5 year old plays with live snakes like we would rubber ones)

(East should have a job here. He walks in grabs a snake and shows how harmless they are. The girls were pretty scared at first but then warmed up to the slithering creatures since East was holding them)

Keeping with tradition...

(Gingerbread House decorating in the tropics ~( just does not have the same ring to it). I was fortunate enough to find a lady who put together ginger kits which were fantastic. We had a lot of fun decorating while listening to Christmas music to put us into the spirit of the season)

(Easton's creation ~ love your roof top snowmen)

(Ev's final project, great job all by himself)

(Em's masterpiece. Beautiful)

(2010 Ginger houses!)

The NEST! ~

the out of town retreat

(Rob and Trent getting tortured during their 2 hour Thai massage. These woman were extremely strong and made these grown men squeal like babies :)

(Chiang Dao caves are always interesting and very very dark)

(the boys were trying to represent something here,.,haha

(the cave dwellers)

(did the trek up to the temple over 5o0 steps to reach the top, great exercise and an amazing view. The kids showed the Richards how to approach a Budda and how to enter a temple)

(I need this sign in my house some days lol :)

Christmas Eve...

(we set off lanterns for everyone, this time with sparklers attached to light up the sky. It was magical)

(we are all getting ready for the big fireworks show. Love the that the corner stores sell a huge range of different options to create a spectacle in the sky)

(Christmas Eve we sat around singing Christmas Carols and reading some fun stories. Then off to bed so Santa could come)

(the kids excited about their Christmas jammies they get to open every Christmas Eve ~ Thanks Mom for sending them)

Merry Christmas...

(our annual Christmas morning picture... love it!)

(Santa was so good to the kids this year. All the kids got bikes that they wanted so much. Ev was so cute, he prayed for a bike earlier in the week and said "Please God, I hope Santa brings me a bike, I will even take a pink one if I have to, just really really want a bike." Also true to Santa style, a stuffy was left to escort the bikes in wearing new helmets for Em. East and Ev)

(Everett was a bit excited about his special delivery of Star Wars lego ~ thanks secret Santa)

(isn't technology great? It was like we were experiencing the madness together, my Mom and sister were on the other end watching (when it worked) and listening to the fun at our house. We switched roles when it was Christmas morning in Canada and we were ready to call it a night here)

(ahhh if this moment could just last all the time :)

Turn up your speakers

and enjoy some elephant magic!

(this was such an AWESOME day.

We spent the day learning and discovering with elephants to become Mahouts. Enjoy)

Kho Lak Beach for New Years!

(We packed our suitcases, Richards said goodbye to Chiang Mai and we boarded a plane bound for Phuket. We spend a week at the Emerald Beach and Spa Resort playing in the sand and frolicking in the ocean)

(nothing better than being care free boy and sailing your kite down the beach)

(the stealth hunters searched for hermit crabs who became temperary pets named; Barbie, Hannah Montana, Sport, and Hermie for the afternoon, before releasing them and starting the whole catch and release game again the following days. One little crab lunged out and it was pretty funny to see Trent jump so fast)

(Em and I catching up on some big girl time. Em was so great with Jaymee and Jordyn but needed a few moments to just chill)

!!!Happy New Years!!!

Kho Lak - Phuket, Thailand 2011. New Years was brought in with a big bang. The fireworks display was amazing over the ocean, our hotel building shook from all the BIG BANGS)

(New Years dinner was served at the beach with live entertainment including our kids..haha Here is to another great year!)

(midnight is so late so we had our own little party in our room a bit before the hour hand struck 12. Party on kids :)

(the morning after effects of staying up to late)

(my absolutely incredible family ~ love nothing more than to explore and be together)

After a week of at the beach we loaded back on the plane to Bangkok for a few days. Trent and Rob went fishing while Tori and I took the kids to the aquarium one day while riding the subway. It was a fun few days of shopping and enjoying some great meals.

During our time at the beach and in Bangkok mostly everyone suffered from the stomach flu, it hit hard but was over in 30 hours, everyone was troopers.

(love my kids, they are so animated and can really take some crazy pictures ~ look at Ev's face, right in to the scene..haha)

Said Goodbyes and Hellos...

(A few days after the Richards left Hannah and her boyfriend Braden arrived. A month prior Hannah emailed and said they were making Chiang Mai their second pit stop on their 3 month travel adventure around Asia. It was great having them! We have know Hannah and her Dad for years back in Canada, it is always wonderful to see a familiar face when traveling)

The beginning of 2011 has been great, busy but great. We have moved house once again but this time we are here for at least 2 years which is great. I will get some pictures once all the boxes are unpacked :) I am so thankful for the opportunity to get our memories and thoughts down and thanks for taking a peak. Time to go grab the kids from school.

With all our love

Trent. Jody. Em. East. Ev

Dec 2010 ~ Pre Christmas :)

Still reminiscing about 2010 :)

This was our first Christmas season in Chiang Mai since our move here and there was alot going on. We put up our tree December 4th and like every year went on a hunt for some decorations. We mailed a box of ornaments from Panama but unfortunately they did not all make it, but we had enough to work with, on top of the limited decorations we could find here.

It is a Buddhist country but there is a small Christmas flare here and there, depending where you are. I missed the amazing Christmas options we used to get in Panama, nothing will compare to there I think.

(My Christmas helper giving away kisses)

(East loves putting up his decorations)

(decorating our tree is always so much fun)

(Rudolph is in Chiang Mai early... cutie)

(Hard to not crack up with these munchkins. Here is to another great holiday season)

Chiang Mai's Santa Breakfast

This was a fantastic event that was fun to organize with my girlfriend. We had over 200 people attend and it was a huge success. The premise of the morning was for the children to experience some Christmas traditions like home (our native homes). When you live overseas your community becomes apart of your family and you have to be a bit more creative to bring the feeling of home to you. This day was awesome especially Santa!

(Here is Moe (our helper) at the cookie decorating table. We also had Christmas ornaments to make,, face painting, and card making. Lots to keep all the children busy)

(the breakfast was at the Gymkanna Club and we had over 200 people show up for the event. The weather was perfect and our live singer really created a wonderful holiday spirit)

Here Comes Santa...

(Santa was pretty darn COOL. The kids went crazy seeing Santa arrive on an elephant and they followed him which created a setting like the Jungle Book. Since I co-organized the event can you guess who Santa was? My wonderful husband ~ (no choice)..haha He did an fantastic job.

(there were over 100 kids and what was comical was when I handed Trent the gifts for each child I had to whisper their names to him because he could not pronounce half of them. It was a great morning and all the kids were thrilled ~ it was all about the kids in awe of Santa)

(Santa and his helpers ~ great job family and thank you for helping out in so many ways. Very proud of the kids, they are real troopers in helping out and pulling together to make this event that much better)

(Me and my Santa, I am lucky, I was the one who got to take him home with me :)

(not everyday you see a Santa riding an elephant down a street :)

Carols by Candlelight

(We had a beautiful evening of singing Carols by Candlelight at school to celebrate the season. The sound was magical and it really created the mood for Christmas even though we had no snow. It will be interesting what our kids will do to celebrate and where, with their own families one day)

(Ev came out all dressed up as Santa ~ he looked so adorable. I can't stop kissing this kid, I smoother him so much... my baby is growing up!)

Concert Time

(The kids had an end of the year holiday concert. It was awesome. Sorry I don't have any film footage on the blog, it was to large to put on, I have to shorten it now)

(Ev kept his class in rhythm, singing about honey, honey, honey so good to eat)

(East was front and center leading the surrounding girls :) and did a great job)

(Em did fantastic in her violin performance, her teacher commended her for all her practicing and leadership in class. It is funny, when Em practices at home Essie howls and howls)

This was a short and sweet update. We are moving houses here in Chiang Mai and after many hours of looking we finally found one that fits the bill. It is not a traditional house as we know it, East says "it is like a tree house" More on that soon. Happy February!

With all our love

Trent. Jody. Em. East. Ev