Malaysia!

View from the inside of the cave temple place they climbed to the top of.

Dave feeding the elephants

Dave learning to weave a very fine cloth at a local community center. They worked with lots of disabled adults and families there. (he really really loved that day) Also notice his shoes- no shoes allowed in any of the buildings!)

A little gal showing Dave the ropes.

The Petronas towers from Daves Hotel in Kuala Lumpur ( capital city of Malaysia)

Dave downtown with the towers at dark.

Towers at dusk. ( that middle bridge is actually a suspended walkway that connects the two towers- you can buy tickets just to go thru and see the amazing view, like the space needle- I guess).

Dave cooling off in a waterfall they climbed up.

It was in the low-mid 90's the entire time he was there (with 100% humidity- I imagine this felt amazing!)

this painting is made entirely out of rice. pretty neat. I think he watched them make it too but I'm not really sure :)

Pretty towers from the car as they drove past

They got to see and try tons and tons of new fruit that only is produced over there... this one is called hairy fruit.--Dave said it was good-kind of scary looking but tasty.

This is another new fruit- not sure what its name is.

Lots and lots of people everywhere he said and lots of elephants. They got to ride some too.

This little girl loved Dave! He would have brought both she and her sister home if he could! They were really sweet and they bonded with him. (I dont know for certain about these girls but many of the children he worked with had been rescued from himan trafficking :'( break your heart!

This is called a 'sand tray' it's just a container full of sand that they have lots of little figures/furniture etc for. They used it lots for therapy with the children. Sand tray therapy is very effective and is useful when there is language barriors- as well as to help children "show/describe" their feelings/ situations etc.

funny monkeys were everywhere he said! (like pigeons)

Dave had an awesome time on study abroad it was a very neat experience for him. He got to see amazing places, meet and work with many appreciative people and brought home lots of neat memories and pictures These are only a few. What an awesome overall experience, but we're so glad he's home!

2011 Year-end Recap/ 2012 Update

2012 has been great so far! We are feel super blessed and are doing well. Here is an update that we should have sent out with our Christmas cards but the printer was in rebellion. . .

As for our family we are doing quite well. We've had a busy year! Dave graduated last December with his Bachelors in Psychology and is now enrolled in his Masters of Counseling at ISU. He is a great student but with him working 30+ hours a week plus school we almost never saw him! In October he quit his job so he is now able to spend more time at home and we are all loving it:) In the beginning of December he left to attend a study abroad course in Malaysia. He was gone most of December and the first part of January. We missed him greatly but he is doing good things and we hope he will be able to get some good connections and references from his experiences there. Plus it was an amazing experience!

Jaxson was baptized this spring and is doing great. He just finished two seasons of flag football. He loved every minute of it and had excellent coaches who taught him lots and were very patient as well ;) He is excelling at school and scouts. He was a knight for Halloween because he "wanted a cool sword". Jax loves reading and playing with friends. He has recently discovered a love of LEGOS, 'really long' chapter books, and classic cars. He'll be playing soccer again this spring but he still loves learning and anything that has to to with fish, the ocean and of course, his favorite-SHARKS!

Eva is an aspiring artist and ballerina. She is a princess in every way. She loves reading and writing. This year she won an award for an essay she entered in the school reflections contest. She recently was a 'Cherub' in the city's production of the Nutcracker Ballet and was cast with "the big girls" she's the youngest in her group and loves all the attention they give her. Eva was Rapunzel for Halloween. She fit the part perfectly except her hair isn't "golden blonde". I bought her an inexpensive wig that daddy hated and forbid her to wear in public because it was so ugly compared to her own hair- (funny daddy! he's very protective of her long hair). Luckily, my friend does hair for a living and kindly offered to color Evy's hair for us. (She just got little highlights) She's loves to perform and is preparing to audition for the dance company's production of the Cinderella Ballet next week.

Sharkey is hilarious. Carter is my entertainment and my big helper. He is finally growing too! He had a checkup recently and has grown 3 1/2 inches and put on almost 3 pounds as well. (Hooray he hit the 10th percentile at almost 33 pounds!) He's very talkative and loves to race and crash cars as well as play with balls. He was a Shark for Halloween- which was simply adorable, and very fitting as well. Sharks counted down the days until his birthday this year because he was 'gonna be big-- and four.' He is a peace maker and loves to dote on Elena, they are great friends. He is going to play on a soccer team this spring and that should be pretty fun to watch!

Elena has had a big year as well. Unfortunately for me she's not really a baby anymore- we celebrated her first birthday in November. She's a busy baby with an energetic appetite for exploration. We are baby-proofing like crazy but I'm sure there will ever be such a thing as 'elena-proof'. She loves the kids and all animals. She's very spoiled and she loves it. We are all wrapped around her little fingers. Elle has a cuddly caring spirit and we call her the 'emotional barometer' of our home- if everyone's happy, she's happy- but if anyone's sad, she'll cry too, etc. We really enjoy having her as part of our family and I can't believe it's already been a year!

I've been going to the gym at six a.m. five days a week with my sister in law Mary. It's so fun! We laugh and laugh. I feel great all day and sleep better too. I'm also enjoying the funny things the kids do each day- and I can't believe how quickly they're growing. I'm the cub master of our ward, the Volunteer coordinator on the PTA Board of Directors and still manage the Office employees and accounts payable all of which keeps me plenty busy:) In my spare time I like finding fun projects/ crafts and games to play/do with the kids:)