New Year's Ham

Here's another of Chloe on a test drive...

Facebook Photos

We posted some recent photos from our travels in Facebook. We used to upload everything to yahoo photos but then they closed up shop, and we were guided toward Flicker, but we never got into it, so it looks like Facebook will be our destination of choice for photos. We threw the videos in my last post out there as well, as well as the video we have of Chloe walking for the first time.

Sega!

Here's Chloe, getting the hang of things:



And here's Julia, a bit more cautious, but also bustin' a move:



Sega is the national cultural music and dance of Mauritius. Historically, it is the event for which slaves in Mauritius (ancestors of today's Creoles, such as Isabelle and her family) would gather during the night. Men were chained to a ball on their right ankle and so danced accordingly, while the women were unencumbered, and also danced accordingly. The men's steps have been carried forward until the present time.

It was hard to believe the changes that take place over nine weeks for a three-year-old and a one-year-old. Now I'm trying to find my rhythm and some discipline with my time again after languishing in my bachelor shoes those nine weeks. Too much play and work with the girls now that their jetlag doesn't knock them out by 7 pm.

Dubai Girl, China Boy

I survived Christmas and New Year's apart from my girls. Dad came by from December 24-29 and we had a North Dakotan bachelor Christmas. It was fun. We watched movies Benjamin Button (bleah) and Crash (wow!) and played cribbage and darts.

Today at 5, I will be leaving for the airport to fly to Guangzhou, China, via LA, and Seoul, Korea. Isabelle arrived yesterday in Dubai, UAE, and she will be leaving there and meeting me in Guangzhou on Monday. She is staying with her cousin Sarah Jane who has been living in Dubai for a couple of years. Tonight they are on a safari and they are apparently having a wonderful time. Isabelle told me she wishes I was there, as do I.

After Guangzhou, we will make our way to Hong Kong. It's a second honeymoon for us. And it's a chance to visit friends who are living in or visiting Hong Kong. That's right, the kids are staying with tante Medge and ton-ton Jacque in Mauritius. In Hong Kong, our good friends Peter and Anita Leung will be there. Peter went to the University of Texas, lived in the US for 20 years, and became a US citizen, but soon after they got married they decided to move back to Hong Kong. Also, a friend I met in St. Louis whom I've visited in New Zealand will be visiting in Hong Kong while we're there. Richard and Brenda (Smith) Leota and their kids Amber and Jonathan will be visiting family.

On January 19, I will be heading back to St. Louis, and Isabelle will be heading back to Dubai. Then she makes her way back to Mauritius to pick up the kids, and her mother. They will leave Mauritius on January 22 and arrive back in St. Louis on January 23. We hope.

The Trip!

Well, whatever could be next but some details around our upcoming trip back to Mauritius. We're looking at leaving at the end of October, and I'll return in mid-November, probably visiting our missionaries in Marseille, France on the way back. Isabelle, Julia and Chloe will be staying in Mauritius without me until they return in January.

Ticket prices have gotten really expensive, but we discovered some tricks that are easing the pain. Frequent flyer tickets have become more valuable than ever. We have found that it works out to be better to buy miles for a frequent flyer account even if you have no miles, in order to redeem for a ticket, than to try to buy tickets directly. But you do have to get them early.

So, who's with us? Springtime in Mauritius! And a visit in the south of France!