Bandos Island, Maldives

Something about the string of islands off the southwest coast of India seemed so dreamy and far away. They definitely are dreamy... white sand beaches, individual resorts sitting on an island. However, from Vietnam, we discovered that the Maldives were not that far away. After a quick two hour flight to Kuala Lumpur and another 4 hours to Male, the Maldivian capital city, we were in paradise! What made the trip even more incredible was that our friends from Vietnam, the Haase family, as well as the Cairo crew, the Reinprecht family, were all able to join us! It was a great week. Highlights included diving with mantas, watching Katie and Caleb eat sand for the first time, swimming in the 31 degrees Celsius ocean water, snorkeling with black tip reef sharks, sunset drinks at the Sundowner bar, and our fish dinner caught by the boys. It really was a perfect week!

See our Maldives Album for more photos.

Holidays

We are off on a week long holiday to the Maldives where we are staying at the Bandos Island Resort. I am so excited! We are leaving the computer behind so look for photos when we return.

Before we take off I wanted to send hugs to all our family members celebrating their birthdays this week and next. Bryce, Vanessa and Shawn - enjoy your birthdays! May the coming year be full of continued success, happiness and health! We miss you guys!

10 Months

Guess who is only a couple months away from their first birthday!?! Where does the time go! We celebrated Caleb's tenth month and Kevin's many months (34 x 12) while in Singapore over the weekend. Here are some pictures of our time in the big city!

Caleb at the check-in counter in his cute little outfit. I thought he should have shoes on to go to the big city. He was not so sure about them and threw them into the aisle once we were on the plane.

Dad and Caleb enjoying a snack at the apartment.

The new Ion shopping centre that was under construction while lived in Singapore last year - a very cool building.

Look where Kevin and Caleb are headed... to the Dairy Queen!

Enjoying dinner out at Lau Pau Sat.

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

Playing with Dad after bath time.

My very special boys!

Happy Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is probably the holiday I miss most. We would always get together with family. On my side, we would have a huge meal and our grandparents would always come out to the farm and then we would watch football and play cards. On Kevin’s side, we would get to have his Mom’s traditional turkey dinner which always included our favourite side – cheesy beans and stuffing. The thought of this stuffing makes my mouth water as I write this. We would always finish the meal with pumpkin pie and birthday cake for Kevin.

Thanks to Peggy and Gary Thompson, we got to enjoy our second Canadian Thanksgiving in Vietnam (we celebrated one weekend early). Peggy’s Ukrainian roots mean that we savoured borsht as well as all the traditional Thanksgiving fixings. The stuffing was terrific too – Peggy adds rice to her stuffing, reminding me we are in Vietnam and how thankful we are to be able to share in a Canadian Thanksgiving dinner here with wonderful friends. Thanksgiving meant that Caleb got to have his first turkey dinner. He devoured a bowl of borshe with corn that I took off the cob for him and then had turkey, mashed potatoes and carrots. He finished his helping and then wanted more from my plate (or at least that is my excuse for needing seconds).

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone back home and Happy 34th Birthday to Kevin!

Caleb and Dad.

Caleb devouring turkey, mashed potatoes, and carrots.

Moving Day

My blog posts have been rather slow lately but life has become a bit more hectic. Last week I started working with ExxonMobil Vietnam which means I have come off my leave of absence and maternity leave with Imperial Oil. Since my technical supervisor is located in Melbourne, I spent four days last week in Melbourne. After returning to Ho Chi Minh City on Friday, we moved house on Saturday. We are pretty much settled in and unpacked now. Kevin is off to Jakarta today until the end of the week when Caleb and I will meet him in Singapore for the weekend. Then another week of work and a week holiday in the Maldives where we are meeting up with Jeff, Andrea and Katie (yippee). Here are some shots from the big move.

All packed up and ready for the truck to arrive. Where's Caleb?

Caleb loved all the wrapped up furniture. It was like a jungle gym!

Caleb watching the team of movers.

And unpacking the truck about five blocks away at the new house.

Mr. Mohawk

I love how the shadows in these photos highlight Caleb’s mohawk hair style. The good news is that his hair is actually growing… the bad news is that it is all growing in one spot.

Van Thanh

Our friends, Maria and Elliot, introduced us to a little oasis in busy Saigon, the quiet Van Thanh Park, located just minutes from our neighborhood. Maria and I took the boys for a walk and then enjoyed a café sua da on the little lake.

Caleb looking out over the lake.

Maria with our boys.