Happy Chinese New Year

Monday and Tuesday were national holidays in Singapore. We are celebrating the beginning of the year of the ox. Many shops and business places were closed to down while the locals celebrate with their families. Apparently it is the equivalent to our Christmas time.
Most kids around here have the entire week off of school, so I have been enjoying some time with another family who is from Texas. Monday we went to the Singapore Zoo and got to ride an elephant and hand feed the kangaroos and giraffes. Today we went to an island off the northeast coast of Singapore called Pulau Ubin. We rented bikes and rode around ALL day! It was fun, but tiring. There are lots of trails and nature, as well as some local homes and restaurants. We got to see monkeys just roaming around in the woods, a giant lizard and a snake! Luckily they all kept their distance, although the monkey got a little feisty when we tried to take too many pictures.
Tomorrow Adam and I are heading off to Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam for the long weekend. I'll post more after our trip. Happy New Year!!

Catchin' Up!

We are back in Singapore where the weather is warm! What an awesome trip home for the holidays :) I can't believe how fast a month went by. But, considering all the places we visited and the number of times we changed family "hotels," there was never a dull moment. We each made the trip to and from the US/Singapore alone, and luckily had no problems/delays/flight cancellations.
I got to spend a weekend with my sisters and Mom down in Nashville, TN at the Opryland Hotel as an early Christmas present for my Mom. Although they overbooked the hotel and we had to stay in HALF of a suite, we still had a great time. Adam celebrated his 30th birthday during the holiday season and was recently promoted at work.
All in all we attended 8 family Christmas parties! Talk about a crazy week! But, it was great since we have never been able to make all of them in one year. Who knows when we will be able to have enough time off work to do that again?
After the holidays we enjoyed catching up with friends and family, butchering at the Tempel's and playing BINGO with Grandma:) I even made a trip to Indy to see Lauren & Chris. Our pugs finally got to meet each other! I'm not sure if Bentley and Blue liked each other, but they seemed to have a good time chasing each other and fighting over toys.
Now that we are back in Singapore and adjusting to the heat & humidity, and driving on the left side of the road again; we are planning a few more trips around Asia. Vietnam is definitely in the plans and we are considering visiting Australia and Indonesia if time and money allow. It looks like I may be moving back to TX in late March/April. Oh how time flies!
Here are some pics of our time in Indiana:

decorating the tree with Kennedy and Ross

Me, Mom, Lish and Jen in Nashville

Christmas @ the Corne's

New Year's Eve w/Ashley and Brooke

Blue and Bentley


visiting with my long lost friend, Lauren ( & Chris)