Celebrating Christmas and New Year's Day in Penang

This year we celebrated Christmas and brought in the New Year in a special way; we took a family trip to Penang, Malaysia.  In the end, this was a blessed family time of relaxing, re-connecting and enjoying a culture quite different than any other our family has experienced thus far.  

Beautiful Beaches

The first thing we all enjoyed was the beaches and clean air.  Here are the kids standing on a small beach near the National Park.  It was their first time to see the ocean, which Asa declared was "Awesome!".

The second beach we visited was Monkey Beach, which is inside the National Park.  As you can see each of the kids - including little Silas - greatly enjoyed playing on the beach.

Here are the older two kids enjoying a beach-side swing.

The younger two kids enjoyed this "baby pool" type section of the beach.

No beach trip is complete without a sand castle and digging for shells.

Hiking

At the end of the beach was a trail to a light house we heard had a beautiful view of the surrounding area.  Our guide told us it would take 30 minutes to hike (each way), but I guess he didn't calculate hiking with a 14 month Silas and 4 year old Salome.  In the end, the hard work was worth it as the view from the top of the light house was amazing!

Here are Emily and the older three kids while our guide patiently waits at the top of the hill.

This is the light house at the top of the hill, which was built in the late 1800's.

Here is the breath taking vista from atop the light house.

Food

Besides the view another thing that kept us going on the hike was the incredible lunch we ate before hand.  The new types of food we were able to try in Penang was certainly a highlight, especially for Emily and I.

This is our spread from Monkey Beach, which included grilled chicken, fish, shrimp and satay.

Another local treat is shaved ice with flavors and sweet veggies on top.  While the kids didn't go for the sweet canned corn, they loved the shaved ice.

Cool drinks were also a big hit.  Miriam typically stuck with her old standard - Sprite - while Asa discovered milk tea and Salome enjoyed pineapple or mango juice.

We also enjoyed the easy access to Indian food - even if Asa didn't like the Tandoori chicken 

I ordered in the "Little India" section of the historic Georgetown neighborhood.

Local Culture

Penang has a fascinating history that mixes influences from the majority Malay communities as well as ethnic Chinese, Indians and European settlers.  We explored Fort Cornwallis near Georgetown to get a sense of the European influences and also had an opportunity to interact with the local Malay Muslim community near where we stayed.

The kids enjoyed climbing on the old cannons at Fort Cornwallis.

It was also fun to see how much they enjoyed being together - especially the older three kids.

Everyday we were awaken by a call to prayer from this mosque in the neighborhood where we were staying.  The few Malay Muslims we had the opportunity to interact with were very hospitable to outsiders and at the same time earnest about their faith.  We have much to learn about this faith held by many people across the world and here in Asia.

This is a picture of our entire family squeezing with all of our luggage into a single taxi for the last leg of our trip in Penang.  I love seeing the joy on the kids faces - something common throughout the trip.  Not only from the amazing sites and food, but most importantly time together as a family and the opportunity to interact with and learn from many different kinds of people.

Happy Birthday Miriam!

Last year we started a tradition that I would take Miriam out on her birthday for a special "Daddy Date".  This year was extra special because we were on a family vacation in Penang, Malaysia. 

 

I took her to Hard Rock Café Penang where they not only gave her a special birthday cake and had the entire restaurant sing her happy birthday, but they also gave us a commemorative Hard Rock photo.

 

This is Miriam blowing out the candle.  After the server left she quickly noted that she didn't like cake and would much prefer "Monkey Bread" :) !  Oh, Ms. Miriam, always so direct about what she wants!

Our dinner conversation was a delight that covered a wide range of topics.  What a delight to have such a daughter who is incredibly beautiful - inside and out!

After dinner we returned to the apartment we are staying at and a friend of ours took these professional grade photos that are an absolute treasure!

 

 

 

For this beautiful outfit we have both Nei Nei (Emily's Mom) and Christy Grandma (my mom) to thank.  Nei Nei helped Miriam pick out this special dress this summer and Christy Grandma helped pick out the high heels and the necklace.

 

 

Here is a close up of the high heels - this was her first time wearing high heels!

Christmas 2013: First Sunday of Advent

Continuing the holiday theme for the weekend, we kicked off our Christmas celebration on the First Sunday of Advent by setting up our Christmas tree.

The Kids enjoyed setting up the tree and eating popcorn.

Asa showing his University of Nebraska loyalties - a Husker Sweatshirt and Ornament - one of my favorites!

Miriam with of U of M (Minnesota) ornament; when I asked which team it was for she proudly announced - The Minnesota Tigers!  Uh, no....it is actually the gophers, honey.  Much sports education remains in our household!

In the end, everyone played a part in setting up the Christmas tree and had a blast.

Both of our girls have December birthdays, so a few years back Emily started the tradition of a "birthday tree".  The girls have collected their ornaments over the years and have a way to make their birthdays festive and special.

What a gift to have this family tradition of celebrating advent to help our hearts begin to celebrate Christ's birth!

Thanksgiving: Shanghai Style 2013

We had a blast celebrating Thanksgiving with friends here in Shanghai on Saturday.

The day started with our annual trip to Bubbah's Texas BBQ to pick up our smoked turkey.  The kids loved playing the golf video game while we waited.  Note the Nebraska Cornhusker's pennant flying proudly over their heads.  We love our Huskers - even if their regular season ended with a thud earlier today :(

The kids and I enjoyed cutting the turkey; Asa was so excited he decided to turn the green cutting board into a gong to announce the cutting of the turkey!

Once again Emily did an amazing job in preparing the side dishes and pies.  She managed to stuff her little "easy bake" oven to keep these dishes warm.

Once the dishes were laid out we had the beans, sweet potatoes and turkey all laid out over the cover of our stove top in the kitchen.

She also kept the mashed potatoes warm in the crock pot.  They had cream cheese in them and were amazing!

Emily and Miriam also did an amazing job of making pies - apple, peach and pumpkin; including my favorite pumpkin pie with a gluten free crust!

Before digging into the food Salome and her classmate had a blast playing.

They also had fun at their "little girls" table on the deck.

The older kids enjoyed eating with their tutors and friends at the big table in the middle of the living room.

The party ended with games and everyone putting a leaf on the "Thankful Tree" to list something they were thankful for.

Saturday Food and Fun

Today was not only beautiful weather wise, but a day filled with family fun and delicious food!

Our morning started with Danish Pancake Balls (Aebleskiver), which is a family Christmas tradition that Emily was so kind to make as a treat.  Miriam accidentally called them apple cider!  LOL!

Next Salome and I (Joab) went with one of her preschool classmates, Tong Tong, to a performance of Cinderella.  The girls had a blast!

It was pretty funny to see the "VIP" kids who got to go on stage before the performance.  Talk about organized chaos!

Later in the day we continued the Danish theme by going to "Andersen's Ice Cream after dinner.  It was fun to eat at a place that almost shares one of our family names - my mom's maiden name is Anderson.

Silas got into the ice cream action too.

On the way home we FINALLY found Miriam's favorite Chinese Sweet - Bing Tang Hu Lu.  It is traditionally a Beijing treat, so finding here in Shanghai is a challenge.  It is even harder to find when it is always sold by hawkers who travel throughout town trying to avoid the police.  Now that we found a seller I made sure to get his phone number so that next time we can call him and just go directly to him to get the treat!

As you can see from this "Wanted" Sign Miriam has been desperately looking for this candy for a long time!

What was most fun for me about finding the Bing Tan Hu Lu was the fact that I did it with all three of the big kids on our electric bike! What a fun Shanghai memory!

On a related note, here is a great video summarizing some of the most famous Shanghai Snacks.

ICS 5th Anniversary Celebration

For the second year in a row we were a part of the anniversary celebration for our church - International Church of Shanghai (ICS).  Like last year we continued the with the carnival and talent contest theme.

However, this year our family participated in the talent contest with a puppet show to the Journey song "Faithfully".  Here is the video of our family's puppet show.

Before the performance we took a family picture.

The kids enjoyed the games and candy from the carnival area of the celebration.

Miriam and Asa enjoyed the Angry Bird themed game

Asa loved the cotton candy

Silas had a blast on the bouncy castle

The girls loved getting their faces painted

We were also excited to see local charity organizations had booths at the fair - including a group selling cookies made by children from Huge Grace Orphanages, which cares for about 20 disabled orphans in suburban Shanghai.

Here is a copy of the brochure they handed out.  For those who live in China you can
order cookies and other goods to benefit the children at the orphanage through this website.