Goodbye...Hello

I started the below post in June.   I just never got around to posting it.  So here is our big news and next adveture....a little late.

We have moved to Singapore!!

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The last week of school is crazy.  You are finishing assessments, wrapping up reports, and cleaning.   Add moving and saying goodbye to the friends you have made makes it a little mind numbing.   I have hardly had a chance to stop and reflect about our time here and the next path we have chosen.  This blog puts it way better then I could have...here. 

Wade and I had to make a decision in November about whether we are going to stay another year in Thailand or move on.  We evaluated ALL options and decided that staying was probably not the best choice for us.  Now this left us two more options we needed to decide between....move back to the US or go somewhere else.

We decided to put our resumes out there and see what starts to evolve the best.   This went on for MONTHS.  It caused many sleepless nights and discussions of the pros and cons of both choices.  Our ultimate goal is to be back in Bellingham, but on the other hand we like this lifestyle and the opportunities being overseas has allowed for. There was times I was 100% sure we were going home.  There were times I was 100% sure we were staying overseas.   Our poor family probably wanted to kill us over the seesaw we were putting them on.

Since we have made our decision, I feel a calm knowing what our next step looks like...Singapore (the most expensive city in the world).  I am sad knowing we are going to miss another two years of growing with family and friends, but I am excited about the school my kids will be going to, the business connections for Wade, and the doors it'll open for me.

Summer

I did it again, back in the States and never post on the blog.  Now that life will start to be more routine being back to work, I am back.  

More to come about our latest transition.  In the meantime...I am calling these past 6 weeks the "Summer of the Cowboy".

Young Author's Celebration

As some people may know, Thailand is now in a coup. 

No big worries because the only real affect is curfews and military on the main roads.   And....that the first day it was called all school had to be cancelled. 

You would think a kid would be happy about this.  Unfortunately, this day was scheduled to be the author's celebration for PreK-1st.  Amelia woke up that morning with no help, was dressed promptly, and ready at a record rate.  She cried when I told her school had been cancelled. 

Thank goodness the celebration was rescheduled and Amelia got to share the book with Wade and me that she had written on her own.  She was so proud of her knowledge of frogs and I have to say I was impressed with the vocabulary she chose.  She is way smarter then I was at the age. 

To this day I am still a horrible writer/speller.  

Frogs by Amelia

Amelia and her teacher Ms. Darcy

Reading her book to daddy

Busy Bees: Prek2. 

Amelia's first cooking class

With us getting ready to leave Thailand, a lot of friends have come recently to be able to experience it while we are still here.  A couple weeks ago Katie got a new job and decided to take the transition time to come see us.  It has been great showing her and Andy around and getting that look of amazement meaning "is that for real!". 

Katie and Amleia waiting to go to the market. 

One of the activities Katie wanted to do was a cooking class.  Being the lover of Thai cuisine she is, it was a good fit so now she can make dishes at home.  Since living in Thailand, I have done a number of cooking classes and have loved them all.  I decided this one I would bring Amelia with me.  

Our basket of good stuff. 

Amelia did awesome during the whole class.  She was a trooper while touring the market, a great assistant on organizing the ingredients, and she tried everything we made.  Her favorite was the mango sticky rice.  She ate two plates full.  While we were leaving the Silom Cooking School, she asked when we can go back for another class.

She is already planing her menu for the dinner parties she is going to throw for Grandma and Grandpa and Mimi and Gaga.

One of her jobs was to wash and put some of the ingredients onto the display. 

Sitting right next to the main chief. 

Her first dish.

She ate all the broth. I got the chunks. 

At the wok. 

Ending it off with her favorite!!!

Phuket

I flew to Phuket to meet Aimee and Jen who were touring Thailand.

I had a wonderful 3 days of relaxing on the beach, cooling off in the pool, lots of girl time, adventures, and SLEEP.   It is so fun to have friends come see where we have been living these past couple of years.  It is only then do they really "get" it (Thailand that is). 

We stayed on Kamala Beach. which is west from the crazy beach/town Patong. The resort was very nice and we got a free upgrade with rooms that opened out to one of the pools.   We also did an island tour of Koh Phi Phi and surroundings.  One of the beaches we visited was the beach the movie The Beach was filmed on. 

It was a great weekend.

Monkey on Monkey Beach.   My dislike of monkeys was reaffirmed.  One tried to crawl up my shirt!

Sunset dinner on the beach. 

One night in Patong,  Ladyboy show.  Doesn't she look like Beyonce?

Yum!

Daily view. 

Saying Goodbye

This week we experienced our first goodbye of us leaving Thailand in June.  Unexpectedly, Goma, our nanny, got a call from Myanmar that her brother was very sick and she needed to come home.  Like that, we bought her a plane ticket and she was gone.

I am comparing the experience to ripping a band aid off FAST.  There is really no time to process and life has to move on.  We all loved Goma so much. From being my "wife" to Liam's "Ma", she really became a part of our family.   She will be working for a new family in the community we currently live in and we are Facebook friends.  We will keep in touch, but I hope she understands how special she is to us.

Ayutthaya

During the break, I wanted to use my time to see and do as much as I could.  Ayautthaya has been on my list of places in Thailand I wanted to see.  Being pretty close to Bangkok, it should be just a day trip.  So we thought.  Seven modes of transportation to get to our bike tour, we learned that there was no easy way back because everything was booked due to Songkran.  Our day trip soon turned into overnight, but we made lemonade out of lemons. 

I found a tour company on TripAdvisor that had great ratings.  After some research, I learned they had a bike-boat tour for families.  It sounded good to me and we booked.  The reviews were not lying...the tour was wonderful.  Pui, our guide, showed us the ruins with a brief history on bikes and then took us to our own private dinner cruise.  

I highly recommend Ayatthaya Bike and Boat.  Also learn more why this place is important here.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayutthaya_Kingdom

The old palace. 

 

Some family we don't know, but they wanted a picture with us. 

Amelia and Liam were out to count all the Buddhas.  Not an easy task. 

Can you see the Buddha?

Our guide.  The kids really liked her.  She was wonderful with them. 

The coolest Buddha in my opinion. 

Dinner cruise.  Of course Wade likes to eat all the food. 

Showing off the key chains the guide gave them.