Sunday, December 26, 2010

Christmas Morning


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Originally uploaded by ebvImages
I took some photos of the kids on Christmas morning. The challenge is that they generally are looking down at what they are opening, so I had them pose before they started. It turned out almost exactly how I liked, except for one set of eyes.

Wonderful Christmas

It was great to be home for Christmas this year. The last time that we were in the U.S. for Christmas, Aleena was only 2 years old, and Jacob was the same age that Aleena is now.

Santa was pretty generous to us this year. The kids didn't get to open a lot of presents here, as some of them are still back in Thailand. Nalin did write the old fat man a note telling him that we'd be here for Christmas, so he did deliver at least one of their presents here.

Over the last six months or so, every time that we are in a restaurant or out, the kids want to borrow Tim's iPhone to play games. Santa must have been watching, because they each got their own iTouch's. To say that they are a hit would be an understatement. Nalin had already filled up half of her 8gb (actually closer to 6.5) of space with photos and videos that she made. They love the little free apps available.

Tim and I both received Kindles for Christmas. I had almost ordered one in Thailand about a month ago before we knew that we were coming, but the wait was 7-9 weeks. In addition, Tim received a Canon HG20 video recorder, while I received an iPhone 4. We purchased the iPhone in Thailand, and Tim had told me that it hadn't arrived yet so that I wouldn't receive it until we got back, so I was surprised a bit. It only came in two days before we left, so I almost did wait. Of course, I got my Canon 5D Mark II about a month before Christmas. I don't know if that counts as a Christmas present or not, but overall it was a pretty good holiday season.

But of course, Christmas isn't all about phat loot and electronics. We spent Christmas Eve at mom's and dad's and saw family. Tim hadn't seen some of the family in almost four years.

On Christmas morning, we opened presents at the house from Santa and the immediate family. It was nice celebrating it with Eric, Heather and Ethan. Since the kids got the iTouches, they didn't get a lot of other presents, so they would open one, then wait for Ethan to open three or four. Fortunately, they did a pretty good job of waiting, and Ethan is a much faster gift-opener than he was in the past.

In the afternoon, we went to my Uncle Steve's and Aunt Carolyn's house. Just as dinner was starting, Nalin's allergies started acting up so we had to leave.

This afternoon we are going back to mom's and dad's to exchange gifts with the grandparents, and Laura's and Eric's families. In the past, we would do that after the Christmas Eve party at mom's and dad's, but the kids would be exhausted by the time we started opening presents, so we moved it.

My guess is that shopping will be on the agenda starting tomorrow. The kids have some Christmas money to spend, and there are things that they can get here that are harder to get in Thailand. Tim and I are also not adverse to doing some shopping.

I think Jacob summed it up best when I asked him how he liked Christmas this year. "Dad, this is the best Christmas that I've had in a long time."

Friday, December 24, 2010

Christmas at Home


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Originally uploaded by ebvImages
The kids are enjoying their first Christmas here in the states since 2006. They are all very excited about seeing the snow; in fact they made their first snowballs in the parking lot at the airport upon our arrival. Fortunately for us, there is plenty of the white stuff on the ground for the kids to play with, but its already cleared off the roads.

Today (Christmas Eve), we go to my parents house to celebrate with my dad's family. Tomorrow we will celebrate together with our family and my brother Eric's in the morning, and then go to my Uncle Steve's in the afternoon. On Sunday, we will be back to mom and dad's to exchange presents with the grandparents and cousins.

We are still adjusting our sleep schedule, although at different paces. Jacob and I are pretty close to a normal sleep schedule, while Tim and the girls are slower to adjust. In fairness to Tim, part of the reason that she is adjusting more slowly is because of Aleena.

Definitely glad that we decided to come here.

Christmas at Home


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Originally uploaded by ebvImages
The kids are enjoying their first Christmas here in the states since 2006. They are all very excited about seeing the snow; in fact they made their first snowballs in the parking lot at the airport upon our arrival. Fortunately for us, there is plenty of the white stuff on the ground for the kids to play with, but its already cleared off the roads.

Today (Christmas Eve), we go to my parents house to celebrate with my dad's family. Tomorrow we will celebrate together with our family and my brother Eric's in the morning, and then go to my Uncle Steve's in the afternoon. On Sunday, we will be back to mom and dad's to exchange presents with the grandparents and cousins.

We are still adjusting our sleep schedule, although at different paces. Jacob and I are pretty close to a normal sleep schedule, while Tim and the girls are slower to adjust. In fairness to Tim, part of the reason that she is adjusting more slowly is because of Aleena.

Definitely glad that we decided to come here.

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Funny Travel Moments

The following conversation took place in Seattle while waiting for our flight to Detroit:

Aleena:  I can't wait until we get to America!
Me:  We are in Seattle, so we are already in America.
Aleena:  Oh, I forgot, I mean Cincinnati.

A similar conversation took place in the Detroit airport while awaiting our Cincinnati flight:


Aleena:  I can't wait until we get to America!
Me:  We are in Detroit, so we are already in America.
Aleena:  Oh, I forgot, I mean Cincinnati.

Thursday, December 16, 2010

Another Learning Celebration

Today, Nalin's fourth grade class had their learning celebration.  They showed us what they have been doing in reading, writing and science (you thought I was going to say arithmetic, didn't you).

We didn't know if Tim would be able to make it, as she was trying to get her passport done before our trip next week.  Nalin made it pretty clear that she'd be disappointed if her mom didn't make it.  Since we decided to wait to tell the kids about going to the U.S. for Christmas until we were certain we could get all the paperwork done, we couldn't tell her why mommy might miss it.  Fortunately, Tim made it home in time to go.

We enjoyed it, although Tim and I left before the shared snacks in order to go to the Thai immigration office.

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Saturday, December 11, 2010

Hanging On


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Originally uploaded by ebvImages
Yesterday after Aleena's soccer game, she and McKayla were playing around. They took turns carrying each other around on their backs. They were gracious enough to let me take this photo (and a few others).

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Hua Hinn

We had a great weekend in Hua Hinn.  The water was a little bit chilly, but overall the weather was great.  There was a nice breeze that just made it so nice.

The Hyatt there is just a really nice place to stay.  The kids like the pool, which has a giant slide and a "lazy river"  that winds around.  Whenever we stay there, Tim tries to get a room on the first floor next to the pool so that we can just walk out.  The Hyatt will not guarantee those rooms, so if you get there when one is available, then you are in luck.  We were fortunate this time to get one.

The service staff at the Hyatt is also just top notch.  They go out of there way to help you without being obtrusive.  The one thing that stands out is when we were having dinner at the Father's Day buffet.  They had mushroom pizza on the buffet, and while the kids love pizza, they don't love mushrooms.  Jacob mentioned to his mom that he wished that there was cheese pizza.  Five or ten minutes later a waiter arrived  and placed a cheese pizza on our table.  A staff member had overheard his talking to Tim so they gave him his wish.  They made a ten year old boy and his sisters very happy.

Most of the time we hung around the pool and the beach.  We ventured into town for lunch one day, but for the most part we just relaxed at the hotel.  You can ride a pony on the beach for thirty minutes at a cost of about $13.  Tim managed to bargain them down to about $10 a ride, so we rented three ponies for the kids.  Aleena had a young pony which she had to switch off of by then end of the ride because it was too tired.  I guess eating at the buffet really beefed her up a bit.

Overall it was a really nice trip and we had fun.  By the end, however, the kids were bickering with each other quite a bit.  I think three days together without friends crossed some sort of threshold.

I did get a chance to use my new camera.  There were a few issues with the flash that I couldn't figure out, but so far I'm happy with the results.

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Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Another High Profile Extradition

While the high profile of extradition of alleged arms dealer Victor Bout came to a conclusion last month, Thailand and the U.S. may soon be involved with another extradition case. This one has a lot more significance here in Thailand.

Former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra is scheduled to speak in Washington DC at the U.S. government human rights panel. Mr. Thaksin is a convicted felon in Thailand, and Thailand and the U.S. have an extradition treaty. Thai officials have indicated that they are looking into having the U.S. attempt to extradite the former PM should he travel to the U.S.

Many people find it ironic that Thaksin would speak on human rights, as his critics have accused him of fault in the extra-judicial death of more than two thousand drug suspects. Regardless of his qualifications, it seems quite foolish for him to risk extradition. He has been pretty careful to stay out of the reach of Thai authorities.

Unless he has some type of assurances that he will not be detained, the risk is very real. The Thai government cooperated with the U.S. on the extradition of Bout. While politics may not influence a U.S. court to extradite Thaksin, it certainly could influence the U.S. government to detain him and attempt it.

Of course, Thaksin isn't the only one whose actions I question. Why is the Thai government announcing its intentions? Maybe it was inevitable, but if my intention is to actually get Thaksin, I would have been as coy and quiet about that as I could. Work behind the scenes to avoid scaring him off.

To rebut Thaksin's expected allegations that the treatment of the red shirts involved human rights abuse, Thailand is sending the foreign minister Kasit. Kasit was a yellow shirt supporter who I will not call a complete and utter moron only because of my mom's admonition against not saying anything if I don't have anything nice to say.

Friday, December 3, 2010

Weekend Trip

The kids are off of school on Monday to celebrate the King's birthday, so Tim and I are taking them to Hua Hinn for a long weekend getaway. The plan is to spend a lot of time at the pool and the beach relaxing.

More Dancing

Today was the parent viewing day for Aleena's dance class. Both before and during the class, it is clear that these girls have a lot of fun. Aleena did a really nice job dancing, but sometimes she goofs off a little bit. Her instructor told me that she likes to be silly.

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Thursday, December 2, 2010

Gymnastic Uniforms

Yesterday I took a few photos of Jacob and Aleena in their gymnastic's uniform. More precisely, I took some photos of Jacob, and I took some photos of Aleena and her best friend McKayla.

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Jacob in Uniform


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Originally uploaded by ebvImages
This is a photo of Jacob from his Cub Scout pack meeting yesterday. I'm not quite sure why he always forgets to wear his kerchief.

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

December 1st

Last night I was up late at Tim's work helping out with something. By the time that I went to bed, it was almost 1:00 a.m. My plan at that time was to skip running in the morning.

I've been jogging for the last month or so, but only this week have I started going out at 5:00 a.m. Previously, I was running (usually twice) between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. Now while that might seem like a lovely time in parts of the U.S. this time of the season, here in Bangkok, the heat and humidity can be oppressive. Taking a clue from my wife, I decided to give the morning a try, and I really enjoyed it. Its nice and cool, and I feel like I am running faster and fresher.

Somehow I ended up waking up before 5:00 a.m. and hitting the road. Although I was pretty tired to start with, it was a pretty nice run. Of course, the rest of the day I have been dragging from the lack of sleep.

This afternoon I went over to the camera shop in the basement floor of Central Chaengwattana and bought myself a Canon 5D Mark II camera and a 580EXII Speedlite flash. I wanted to buy a battery pack for the camera, but they are currently "mot" (out of stock).

The 5D is a really nice upgrade from my 40D. Don't get me wrong, the 40D is a respectable piece of equipment, but the 5D is much nicer. In addition to greater resolution, it is full frame (bigger sensor), shoots better in lower light and overall delivers a better photo (or at least offers the possibility). Additionally, it can record video in HD.

I had a little bit of an opportunity to try it out tonight at the cub scout meeting. The lighting in there is never great, so the photos came out less than spectacular. I did manage to get a photo of Jacob's WEBELOS II den. It actually looks pretty nice, but I had the ISO set too high, so there is a bit of noise in the shot.

If you read this blog, look at my Facebook page, or visit my photos at Flickr, you'll no doubt see a lot of photos shot by this new camera.