Lil E's 1st Elephant Ride...

Well our 2nd conference began w/ a bang when the conference hosts had a baby elephant brought in. Here our friends Andy & Tyler got to celebrate Andy's bday Thai style.
Here's J handing Jah up to our friend & coworker John.
We thought it was such a great pix to have the youngest & the oldest in our org riding @ the same time :)
This guy drank straight from the guesthouse hose...
By the time it was our turn to ride, this baby elephant was worn out so we got a pix sitting beside him instead of on him - poor guy!
Here Jah's sportin' his 1st "muscle shirt" which shows the Thai way of getting around - "tuk tuk."
During this 2nd week of meetings Elijah also enjoyed some fun time playing with other foreign kids that live in Indo too - we can hardly wait 'til he'll be running around together with 'em!
And here's the video....would love to get your comment on whether you can see this or not? We've had a few folks say some of our videos aren't working...

And finally here's Jah hanging out on a couple chairs during the meetings - a familiar sight day in & day out - he did such a fabulous job just playing by himself thru it all!

24 hours...

Our 1st conference ended on a Fri nite & the next one began Sun nite so Sat morning we hopped in a van with two other couples, Matt & Abbie & Andy & Tyler & headed to Hua Hin for our 24 hour break between meetings...! Since we'd gotten such a great deal during our time w/ M&D D we decided to head back to the same great place we'd been earlier.

Here's Elijah again strapped to the van seat...he slept most of his way to the beach :)

So once we arrived we got settled in...Lij has had a fascination w/ his hands for about 2 months now.

Had fun eating @ a little cafe by the ocean that night...

Abbie on the left & Tyler on the right - great ladies!

Of course there was lots of pool time...



Great kiddie slide + no lifeguards = great time! ;)


Andy & Tyler brought along their underwater camera so we got some good laughs w/ that.



Jah's 1st slide...






Here he is hangin out Jah style...

One final video, our personal fav - the guys all going down the slide screaming like girls ;)

Our 24 hrs ended w/ an Asian specialty...chicken satay @ the poolside cafe.

Thanks you guys -we had a blast, looking forward to next year :)

400th post...

Wow, somehow that feels memorable! Actually there are a couple memorable things in this post like remembering the week when Elijah began "real" food, got his 6 mo shots & us having a good time w/ friends....

So the REAL reason we went to Thailand was for 2 wks of conferences-we just decided to tag on time w/ Mom & Dad D since we were going to be there anyways. Most of our days were sitting @ desks either studying the given text, talking through issues or coffee breaks. However, we had a couple nights off & had a chance to hang out w/ some friends in similar work.

Here's dinner out @ an Arabic cafe...


We had a free afternoon so we spent it getting Jah's 6 mo shots...he didn't cry for the 1st one, what a guy :)


Well after the Dr. visit we took the sky train to meet friends for dinner. Elissa tried to video our ride but the 1st train was too full so we got a clip of our failed efforts to ride;)


So that night we headed to a night market there in Bangkok & found some fun sights along the way...here's J & Jah on a big wooden elephant in honor of Dad D's collection...


J & our friend Andy had fun @ an antique shop w/ swords.

We couldn't find anywhere to change Lij so this cart had to do.

And the video to boot...

This video shows the carts in action...

And the carts weren't the only thing gracing the streets of Bangkok that night...

Here we are heading to the supermarket to find baby cereal for Elijah - we'd planned on starting him once we returned to Aceh but Jah decided otherwise...



J & Jah enjoyed a quick dip on the last afternoon of conference #1. J was done studying but E still had a bit to go & was jealous of that fact(!)esp since Lij had his 1st babysitter this wk & we were excited to spend any spare moments w/ him.


The last night of the 1st conference was a cultural show...here's a dance from the Philippines.

Sister Pool #3

This was the last of the 3 pools we visited, at a golf resort... we felt like celebrities for a few days, so fun :) Here's a little cave we hung out in to keep from getting too much sun.



Here's Elijah hanging out on his ever present Indonesian baby carrier...what a fabulous idea! We use this piece of cloth for so many things like a place for him to lay, shade, seatbelt...if anyone would like to order one, let us know (very economical to boot!)

We enjoyed a nice lunch @ the pool cafe...Elissa especially enjoyed her burger, complete w/ shell-tipped toothpicks...a far cry from life in Aceh, guess that's why it's called vacation ;)






After HH we headed back to the guesthouse in Bangkok, here's 'Lij on the bed lookin all chipper 'n stuff ;)

A farewell pix as Mom & Dad D headed back to Cambodia - what a great time we had together - thanks M & D!!!

Surf's Up!

This was Elijah's 1st time in the ocean...even though we live by the ocean we'd been so busy while home we hadn't taken him yet!