Week 52: Merry Christmas

The last post of 2012! The last week of 2012! I have lots of pictures of Thailand to go through, so it's going to take me a little while, but here's another sneak peek!

Day 352: Our 2nd day on motorbikes in Thailand. We drove the beach rodes, checked out the squid boats, and one of the Buddhist temples.

Day 353: We headed to Monkey Island and boated to the national park. Friendly monkeys and gusty winds made for an interesting trip!

Day 354: The resort celebrated Christmas Eve with a big buffet dinner and a visit from Santa--played by my dad. A secret that he had managed to keep from all of us and was quite a surprise!

Day 355: Cade came down with a bad fever on Christmas Eve and went to bed before dinner. He still wasn't feeling well the next day, but he managed to get up for presents before heading back to bed.

Day 356: My dad, his wife, and brother left to continue their adventures through Thailand. We headed into Hua Hin for the afternoon.

Day 357: We spent our last day lounging around poolside and at the beach. What an amazing vacation!

Day 358: The sun setting over China as we headed back to Seoul.

I figured out a few weeks ago that my numbers are off, and it's been bugging me, but it felt strange just not numbering anymore. So, they're off. Maybe if I hadn't spent the last 10 days relaxing on the beach in Thailand, I would care. But, I did, so I don't.

I hope that everyone had a wonderful Christmas! We missed a lot of family, but we are so thankful to get to spend the holidays with some of our family! Maybe next year, we can see the rest in India? Vietnam?

To see others' photo projects, check out the links:

 www.styleberryblog.com

Week 51: Anticipation

What a great week we had! Anticipation was a bit of an understatement for this week. We were so very excited for our trip!

Day 345: We got the Christmas Classics collection from a friend, so the kids were able to watch all of those televised Christmas movies from our childhood. I love it!

 Day 346: Checking the weather in Hua Hin, Thailand. So excited for warm weather!

Day 347: Opened presents on Skype with Grandma, so that we didn't have to take them with us to Thailand, and so that she could see the kids open them.

Day 348: Packing just gets easier and easier for us. I was pretty sure I'd forgotten important things, but as usual, we had more than we needed!

Day 349: Flying China Southern Airlines--the announcements were made in English after Chinese and Thai. A miserably long day of travel after our long layover was made even longer, but the anticipation was worth it!

Day 350: The kids were so excited to see Grandpa! He started reading them Treasure Island last summer, but Cade didn't make it past the first few words on our first night.

Day 351: We rented motorbikes and drove to the nearby national park to explore the caves and eat some lunch. Cade was pretty sure he needed to wear his goggles for the ride!

The adults would not have missed Christmas one bit this year once we'd made it to Thailand, but the kids still asked every day, "Is it Christmas today?" They were still anticipating the big day!

Hilton Christmas Dinner

Last week our school hosted a Christmas banquet for us at the Seoul Millenium Hilton Hotel. It was a beautiful event, and we felt very blessed to be treated so well for one evening.

The highlight of the night for Cade was the trains that went around the Christmas tree.

One of our staff members offered to take pictures of everyone in front of the very large, beautiful Christmas tree.

But I did hand off my camera to someone (who had no idea how to use it!) to take another picture of us. She did pretty well in spite of the fact that she was shocked she had to back up into a tree to get all of us in the frame with my 50mm lens!

Kennedy's favorite part, of course, was hanging out with her friends and getting dressed up!

We will be laying on the beach enjoying the 90 degree weather by the time you read this. But we're missing all of our friends and family back home and wishing you all a very Merry Christmas from Hua Hin, Thailand!

Sawatdee ka!

Hello from Thailand where it is sunny, warm and beautiful!
So far we've had about 25 trips to our private pool right outside our room, 20 trips to the local shops to pick up fruit, drinks, and snacks, 15 trips to play in the ocean, 12 trips to the breakfast buffet, 8 trips up and down the beach road outside the resort, 6 sunburns, 4 trips to the restaurant here at the resort, 3 motorbikes, 3 trips to caves, 3 pink eyes, 2 trips to the national park, 2 colds, 1 golf trip, 1 trip to Monkey Island, 1 trip to a Buddhist temple, and 1 (minor) motorbike accident.
It's been an adventure! Merry Christmas to us! (And to you!)

Week 50: Christmas Cards

Hallelujah! Week 50 is here and so is the end of the semester!! If I were the type to do Christmas cards--and yes, I know that I should be--I guess now would be the time to do it. This week I even took a few pictures for others' Christmas cards, but my own...not so much.

Day 338: I missed the bus on Friday afternoon while I was on Skype with my brother. So, I had to walk home in the snow again.

Day 339: My goofballs.

Day 340: Baked cookies to give to my students after their exams. Guess I figured after writing for an hour and a half, they were going to need something to keep them going for the rest of the day.

Day 341: Our YISS Faculty Christmas dinner was at the Hilton Hotel. We got one shot of us with our camera, and several shots of other families...whoops.

Day 342: The finished cookies. I can't say that my students truly appreciated how much work it was to make 75 of these, but oh well.

Day 343: Cade and I did some Christmas shopping. While we were in the store, he said, "Mom, this is really fun!" Man, I love this kid!

Day 344: I was able to make it Kennedy's Christmas party for a little while since we were on an exam schedule. She was excited to see me even if I was only able to make it for ten minutes. It was good to see her in class.

I finally finished grading exams tonight and have entered all of my grades. I even started packing this afternoon. Our trip if finally here. Just a few last minute details to work on tomorrow, and then we will be off! We hope that you have a very Merry Christmas!

To see others' photo projects, check out the links:

 www.styleberryblog.com

Snow-Man

Well, we got the first snow of the season last week. It was a lot more exciting last week. Now, it's just brown, dirty snow that reminds us how cold it is outside.

But we had fun in it last week...

actually Cade is still having fun it whenever he gets the chance!

We got one afternoon off from school--the first day it snowed.

Then it snowed smaller amounts for the next two days...students and teachers alike were disappointed with the lack of snow days!

We found this little snow man...Cade was not interested in the effort it takes to make one of his own.

It does make everything look pretty...even the phone booth in our complex...without a phone in it.

I would love to show you the before and after of this shot...the wonders of Lightroom!

This kid was certain that he was traipsing through the forest because I let him run through the flower beds and landscaping in our complex that he doesn't normally get to walk through. He loved every moment of this little jaunt through the snow!

...while I looked for the light and the snow falling from the trees...

The snow is finally going to disappear today--37 degrees and rain today. But, we only have 3 more days until we take off for sunny Thailand, so we can handle it!!

Week 49: Oh, the rush!

Oh, the rush! That's the way I've been feeling lately--and it has nothing to do with Christmas. Grading, exam writing, and more grading. That's what I have on my mind lately. Of course, a little teaching here and there, as well. And some snow this week, too!

Day 331: Cade's constant pastime at this point in our lives: Legos. But he also wanted to go outside, hence the hat.

Day 332: Eric and I went to his baseball banquet. He got a trophy for playoff MVP.

Day 333: Spent the afternoon grading my students' projects. This is one of my favorites.

Day 334: Cade helped Eric with the dishes. I don't think he was very helpful, but he was cute...and very excited to help!

Day 335: Went to Kennedy's Christmas program at school. She and her friends were not too excited to pose for pictures afterward.

Day 336: Kennedy and I had a long walk home in the snow on Wednesday. We got out of school early and they cancelled the staff buses because of the bad roads.

Day 337: Cade was so excited to get out to play in the snow again the next morning!

It was a good week, and we only have one more! Less than ten days until we'll be in Thailand!


To see others' photo projects, check out the links:

 www.styleberryblog.com