December 2010

I keep checking our blog to see what's new with us but Tobi hasn't written anything. I guess it's my turn.........again.........

We had a fantastic trip home in November. We left Kuala Lumpur just after midnight on my birthday, November 10th. It was probably my most memorable (and longest) birthday ever. Between midnight November 9-10, until midnight November 10-11 I spent time in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; Paris, France; and Salt Lake City, Utah. How many people can say that they spent their birthday on three continents? Or that it lasted 39 hours.

We were greeted at the airport by Dane, Annie and their 3 girls, Leah (6), Bella (4) and Giada (2), and that evening we had a mini-reunion of all of our kids.

On Friday, the 12th we drove down to St. George to visit with Nolan and Treo and little Jaylee (2) and we were introduced to our newest grandson, Kash Christian Sanders, who was born in July. Jennie and Brock and their boys, Jace (5) and Nixon (2) and little Leila (who I also met for the first time) joined us for the trip, as did Julia and my sister, Robyn and her husband Craig. We had a great 3 days in St. George, saw Nolan with his primary class in his ward's Primary program, found the grave of my Great Great Grandfather, Moses Martin Sanders in the St. George cemetery, and climbed around on some of the red hills behind St. George with my grandsons Jace and Nixon and their dad Brock.

For the past several years (say 10 to 15) I have been wanting to rebuild the wooden steps that go down from our back deck to the ground. They weren't built very well originally and have deteriorated over the years to where someone was eventually going to get hurt (most likely me). So when I got back from St. George, I went right out back and tore them out. Being thusly committed to rebuilding them I made several trips to Home Depot to buy materials. (I'm not a one-trip-to-the-hardware-store kind of guy. After I cut the first 2x12 board too short I needed another one, etc.) Anyway, the result before I left the U.S., was a brand new staircase out back that is firm and solid, with perfectly even steps and rails that don't wobble. I invite all of you to go try them out. Dane will finish the job by painting them in the spring when the weather warms up sufficiently.

We had a Sanders Family Thanksgiving Reunion that was very memorable thanks to the hard work and planning of my Sister Robyn. We all met at Aspen Grove, which is located up Provo Canyon near the Sundance Ski Resort. We had an entire floor of a lodge to ourselves with rooms for each family/couple and a great room and kitchen centrally located. When we arrived at around 5pm on November 24th the temperature was already below 0 degrees Fahrenheit and by the time the late arrivals got there it was about 10 below. The next morning was Thanksgiving and my son Justin had planned a traditional Turkey Bowl football game. It had snowed about a foot during the night and so that was a very cold affair.

Thanksgiving dinner was fabulous. We had three turkeys and all the stuffing, potatoes and gravy, cranberry sauce, and umpteen kinds of pies to eat. We could have lasted through Saturday just on leftovers, but we didn't.

Robyn and Ron had planned some really fun games and activities for us, including a game in which you had to try to pick up a paper grocery bag with your teeth while standing on one foot. Nearly everyone made a valiant effort, and quite a few succeeded. They were rewarded with the same challenge after cutting 2 inches off the top of the bag. The game proceeded like that until there was literally one centimeter left, and three people actually managed to pick up the bag, thus shortened. Abby Cates (my nephew Brian Cates's wife), my daughter Jennie, and my son Dane. Abby and Jennie are understandable, they being young and lithe, but Dane, although young, is somewhat shy of lithe.

My dad was there overseeing the whole shootin' match. I think he especially enjoyed seeing all the little great-grandkids running around and getting to know one another. I know my granddaughters, Leah and Bella found a soulmate in Whitney Cates.

On the Saturday after Thanksgiving, Robyn's son, Joshua and his fiance Kira were married in the Draper Temple. Many of us left Aspen Grove on Friday night so that we could make it to the ceremony and it was well worth it. They make a very happy and beautiful couple.

Tobi departed on Sunday the 28th of November to fly to Houston to see her sister Candy, who is undergoing chemo treatments for ovarian cancer. She reported back that Candy is doing remarkably well and is very upbeat and lifts everyone's spirits. In other words, Candy is just being Candy, minus the hair. Tobi makes sure that we never miss mentioning her in our prayers.

On December 3rd we got on the plane to head back to Malaysia, our second home. We have people here that we have come to love very deeply. The fact that we only have about another 15 months here causes us to think about how much we will miss it when we leave.

I must have good friends in a lot of countries that I have never been to. Maybe I'll meet them one day.

That's all for now. I'll try to load some pictures later.

Love from the other side of the world,

Scott

October

It seems it's been awhile since we posted a blog. It's actually Tobi's turn, but I'll take another one. As I write, it's only a month until we get to go home for nearly a month. We leave here on November 9th and arrive home on November 10th. That's my birthday and I couldn't think of a better birthday present. Family at home, please don't get me anything, it will be a great day just to see all of you and hug you and have a family get-together. I haven't seen anyone in my family for a year this month. I can't wait to meet Leila for the first time (Jennie's new baby girl), and a couple of days after we arrive, we're heading down to St. George to spend some time with Nolan, Treo, Jaylee and new little boy, Kash. By the way, we've booked a 2 bedroom unit at the Worldmark in St. George, and if anyone would like to go down with us, we'd love the company.

We were really knocked for a loop a couple of months ago when we found out that Tobi's sister, Candy, who is only 13 months younger than Tobi and with whom she is very close, was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. When they did the tests it was determined to be Stage IIIC, which, if you read the material online, you get a very dismal prognosis report. She had about 6 hours of surgery during which they removed nearly all of the cancer, which had spread to other locations in her abdomen. She is now undergoing chemotherapy and the trials that that procedure entails.

Tobi went to spend a week with Candy in September just after her return from the hospital after surgery and had a great time talking to Candy and two other sisters, Tami and Vicki who were there during Tobi's stay. Candy, as we who know her have come to expect, was very upbeat and almost seemed like her old self, but with a tendency to get tired which is very uncommon to her.

It's hard to express how much this has affected us. Tobi, as you would expect, has been affected the most, and has been in tears a number of times, but it has hit me pretty hard too. Candy and Craig have been such good friends of mine and Tobi's since before any of us were married. After they were married and Tobi and I were dating, we used to go on double dates and Craig would torment us at the end of the night as we would leave them at their door. Craig would put his arms around Candy and say something like, "Good night you two, guess we'll go to bed now." (with a big smile on his face) Candy would say, "Craig, don't be mean."

Later, when Tobi and I were getting serious, Craig called me to meet him at his little office on campus and when I came in and sat down, Craig said, "So tell me Scott, what are your intentions with Tobi?" I started to hem and haw and stutter, and at that very moment, Candy walked in and said, "Craig, leave Scott alone." I will always be grateful for Candy saving me in that troublesome moment.

The week before we got married we spent on Tobi's family's houseboat on Lake McClure in California. At night we all slept in sleeping bags on the roof, under the stars and, of course, as the protectors of our virtue, Craig and Candy laid their sleeping bags in between mine and Tobi's.

We have had 35 years of memories since then, and through them all, Candy and Craig have been not only family, but among our very best friends as well. I just can't stand the thought of Candy being sick or suffering in any way. It hurts me very deeply and I have shed my share of tears about it as well.

We had thought that we would be here for another 2 and 1/2 years. Tobi had requested a one year extension which would have kept us here until April of 2013, but the wonderful Salt Lake City FBI office denied Tobi's extension request. Seems they need her back, probably to fill the #1 secretary role in the office when the incumbent retires in about a year or so. So, in order to fill that position for one year (Tobi retires in June 2013), they are denying Tobi's wishes to stay here. The only way to foil their plans would be for Tobi to put in for another Legat position in another country, but she would have to choose a country that is a lower tier than Malaysia. So we are thinking that we'll just come home, have Tobi serve out her year and I'll try to find another job in SLC.

We can't wait to see you all. And if we don't get to see you all this time, then we'll be home in April of 2012.

Love from the far side of the world,

Scott

What in the Dickens?

Inspired by my brother Dave's foray into The Old Curiosity Shop I decided to read some Dickens for the first time in probably 30 years or more. Although my high school reading of David Copperfield and Great Expectations were half-hearted efforts at best I decided to read one that I hadn't read before, and finding in Wikipedia that his first novel was The Pickwick Papers (the full title is "The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club"), I decided to read that one. At the risk of making you feel less than accomplished like it did me, I found that he wrote it in 1836 when he was 24 years old. It, like Oliver Twist and a few other of his early novels, originally came out serialized in a monthly magazine.

I think that one of the reasons I like Dickens so much is that there is never any doubt about his characters. Their names often give a hint as to their basic character. Think of Ebenezer Scrooge, Tiny Tim, Fagin, and Pip. In Pickwick you have characters such as Joe "the fat boy," who can fall asleep anytime, anywhere, the beautiful Arabella Allen, the unscrupulous lawyer, Serjeant Buzfuz.

As in many of his works, in the Pickwick Papers, Dickens weaves some very entertaining story lines and plots with an obvious condemnation of aspects of life in England, and especially in London. You can tell by reading just about any of his books that he held a healthy disrespect for lawyers (sorry Dave). His detailed description of the English debtors prison system in this book made me wonder if he had ever spent any time at "The Fleet" himself. In early 19th century London, if you couldn't pay your bills, they threw you into prison until you could pay them, or until someone else paid them for you. If your family had nowhere else to go, they went to prison with you, kids and all. And, after I finished the book, I looked up Dicken's biography in Google and found that, indeed, his father had spent time in debtor's prison.

Samuel Pickwick is a very likeable character. He is a well-off, past-middle-age, Englishman who has never married and who decides to travel throughout England and write about his adventures with the other members of the Pickwick Club. Along the way he hires Sam Weller as his manservant and the bond of loyalty and friendship that develop between the the naive, gentlemanly and innocent Pickwick and the down-to-earth, streetwise (and very funny) cockney, Weller, is reminiscent of Don Quixote and Sancho Panza.

I highly recommend the Pickwick Papers, and Dickens in general. If you ever wondered what life was like in pre-Victorian and Victorian England, good and bad, delightful and ugly, sublime and despicable, you'll get a good taste of both sides by reading Charles Dickens.

Thanks for the nudge Dave.

Scott

Kash Christian Sanders

We are happy to announce the arrival of our new grandson, Kash Christian Sanders. He wasn't due for 3 more weeks but the Dr. was concerned that he wasn't getting enough nutrients because he wasn't growing like he should have been. He was born on July 30 around 8:00pm, Utah time, and weighed in at all of 5 lbs. 3 oz. and 17 inches long. Just a little tyke but sure to make it up quickly now that he's on the outside. He's in good hands. Nolan and Treo are wonderful parents and Jaylee will be a terrific big sister. He's a lucky little boy.

Dad, I know you will be proud to know that you have once again been honored with a namesake. I think, unless I've missed one somewhere, that you now have a son, two grandsons, a granddaughter, and now two great grandsons who carry your name as part of their own. I don't know when Nolan and Treo plan to bless their son but I sure hope you can make it. I am very sad that I wasn't able to be at Leila's blessing and now I'll miss this one too. If you could be there it would ease the sorrow a bit. Maybe one of my other kids could make sure that that happens.

One of the things I have thought about a lot and is very meaningful to me is that this is my first grandchild that will carry the Sanders name into the next generation. Not only that, but he is my dad's first great-grandchild that will do so as well. I don't know why that means so much to me, but it does. I am very proud of my ancestry. That a man named Sanders had the courage and adventurous spirit to leave England nearly 400 years ago and come to America, to a new and unknown world. I am proud that a few generations later, my great great great great grandfather fought in the Revolution to cut our ties with England, and that his grandson, my great great grandfather had the courage and strength of conviction to join himself and his family with a fledgling church that was going through a very difficult time in Kirtland, Ohio; to move his growing family at the behest of the young prophet to a place called Far West, Missouri, and from there to Nauvoo, Illinois. That he remained faithful when the prophet was killed and followed a new leader across the prairie to Council Bluffs and from there to the Salt Lake Valley, losing 3 or 4 small children along the way. I am just as proud of my own father and mother who carried the message of the restored gospel with them to Kansas City and was a pioneer in the growth of the church there. I'm sure there will be other Sanders boys, but forgive my pride that Kash is the first.

This in no way diminishes my love for all of my grandchildren. They are the light of my life and each one means the world to me. They all carry an equal portion of "Sanders blood" in their veins and no man could be more proud of his kids and grandkids than I am. My other grandsons, Jace and Nixon, are exactly as much Sanders as Kash is and are equal parts Sanders and Keddington; my granddaughters are every bit as much Sanders as Kash is, but their kids will have another name. I am just as much Haycock as Sanders and am proud of that too, but Sanders is my name. So it's just the name. And knowing that the name Sanders at least has the potential to be passed to yet another in a long line of generations just makes me feel good. I think it's important.

I hope that each one of you feels the same pride in your family name that I do in mine.

Love to you all,

Walking along the paths by the bat caves. I just loved the look of the Mangrove groves. Lots of monkeys were around.

Into the bat caves. We couldn't use a flash inside so couldn't take pictures but there were some spectacular rock formations and lots and lots of bats.

The last thing of the day was to see the Eagles. We turned this corner on the waterway and there were all these eagles just flying. It was amazing. I finally just pointed my camera in the air and got some pretty great pictures.

These eagles would dip into the waterway and get fish to eat.

More eagles just flying around. They would rest in the tops of the trees before flying out some more.

Langkawi One of Our Favorites

Scott took a walk along the sky bridge. He really enjoyed the trek. It gave incredible views.

We took this cable car, the Langkawi Cable Car, located on the south-west coast of Langkawi. It was thrilling. I told Scott that if we survived it, it would be the highlight of the trip. And that turned out to be true.

You could hear the girls in the cable car in front of us scream as they went down. I have to admit that it took everything I had not to do the same thing.

We had lunch at this seafood restaurant. We got to pick out our lobster. The people brought out lobster to him so that we could get up close and personal.

The fresh lobster was yummy.

It was fun to swim with all these fish. They would swim up and brush you. It was a fantastic experience. We were here about 4 hours and I spent most of the time snorkeling

The fish were incredible. I took this picture from the side of the jetty. It look like this from all sides.

We were about a 100 yards to the island. Scott enjoyed swimming to the island. I only went as far as the shoreline where I searched for shells. I got a bunch or really cool ones. I love collecting shells.

This is the boat that took us out to the jetty just off Payar Island. It was really comfortable and I managed a little nap time. It took about an hour to get to the island.

The boat that we took dropped us off at this jetting. It was covered and had tables for us to sit at. There was a wonderful breeze making it so comfortable. Scott enjoying his book after hours of snorkeling.

Langkawi: May 2010

New Baby Girl

This is such a crazy program, that the last photos you enter are added at the top of the post. I am just too tired to fix it. I posted a bunch of pictures and at the end is my post. Enjoy!

Nixon and Brock. What a smile Nixon has, it just lights up the room

So cute, I don't know how Jennie painted such tiny toenails.

Great Aunt Robyn holding Leila. She really is GREAT!!!

Great Grandpa Sanders with Jennie's family, Jace, Nixon and Leila

Great Grandpa Bingham. What a sweet picture

Jennie showing off her new baby girl to her Grandpa

Melanie helping Alison hold Leila. It is funny that no matter how old or young you are we all just love babies

I just love those little feet

Nixon adores his baby sister

Leila Jade Keddington

Birthday April 14, 2010

One of the incredible things about my conference is that it took place at exactly the same time that little Miss Leila was born and because of that I added another week to my trip and went home and took care of Jennie. Oh I had a ball. I got to sleep on the bottom bunk bed with Jace on the top. We read stories each night before bed. Each morning as I woke up I tried not to wake Jace but never succeeded. He would sit up in bed when he would see me and then climb down his ladder. I wanted Jennie to be able to sleep so I would get out a book and start reading to Jace. In a little while I would hear Nixon and go in and get him so he could hear the stories too. Unfortunately, I left the door open and it managed to wake Jennie anyway. The next morning as soon as the boys were up, I took them downstairs to read to, but it is a little house and it still managed to wake Jennie up. On the third morning, I closed Jennie's door and took the boys downstairs to read to them I also fed them breakfast and would get them dressed for the day. Still woke up Jennie. I anxiously waited each day for Leila to wake up so I could go and get her and give her all the loves that I could. She was such a good baby.

We had a very busy time. We visited both Great Grandpas and showed our little angel off. While I was home I also had a chance to visit a few of my sweetest friends, Robyn, her daughter Melanie and family, Terri and Tab and Pam.

My sweet children all got together on the Saturday that I flew in and we had pizza at Jennie's house. Nolan and Treo and cute little Jaylee came all the way from St. George just to see me. They left early the next morning to get back. I so appreciated them making the effort.

My highlights of the trip of course was to be with all my kids and grandkids. I got to visit Leah and Bella at their gymnastics class. Oh how cute they were in their little leotards. They are pretty good if I do say so myself. I also attended Stake Conference at my home Stake Center and got to see so many of my friends. It just felt good to be in their presence again even if only for a moment. Meeting dear friends for lunch and taking care of Jennie and her family. I just wished I could have had more time.

It was sad to leave but I missed Scott so much that I was glad to be going back home to be with him. Next time I am not leaving him home I will make him come with me.

My LOA/LOS Conference

A Week in Beautiful Plantation, Miami

Every year the Legat program puts on a mandatory conference that I have to go to. This year it was held in Plantation, Miami. Last year it was in New York and the year before it was held in Clarksburg, WV. My title is LOA or Legat Office Assistant. What I really am is a jack of all trades. Whatever needs to be done I do. It has been a wonderful job and I have met so many incredible people. On the left is Bob Jones the guy who organizes all of our trainings. Since I was given permission to come a day early because of the long trip, Pat SiJohn (another LOA from Pretoria) and I offered to help him get the room ready for the conference. It was fun. He drove us around showing us a little bit of Plantation, Florida. It is close to Ft. Lauderdale. Next to him is Garnet from Bangkok. She has been in the Legat program for about 17 years and boy does she have some incredible experiences. Next to her is Matt. He is the LOA in Singapore and my "go to guy". Everytime I have a question I call him. He has been wonderful to me. We got to know each other when I went to my first conference at Clarksburg, WV. He and I were supposed to get into the Pittsburgh airport at about the same time. He was coming from Nairobi, Kenya and I was coming from SLC. He got there a bit early and I was delayed about 5 hours. I was so freaked out that he would leave me, but he waited all that time. He really is just the nicest guy. I am so glad that we are in the same time zone so that I can call him for advice.

Pat SiJohn and I got to be good friends when we went through training in Washington, DC. We just hit it off. She is originally from the Salt Lake City office and works in the Coeur d'Alene, ID Resident Agency. I have known her through the years and always liked her. We have managed our schedules so far to attend the same conference the last two years. We had so much fun together. We shopped and ate and shopped some more. She is one of those people who has an easy laugh, and I find myself laughing with her all the time. We are really enjoying our experience as first-time LOAs and love to talk about our experiences. Below we are doing one of our favorite pasttimes eating at a fun restaurant, The Red Lobster. Don't have any of those in KL or Pretoria.

One of the places that we got to visit was Miami Beach. We walked for over an hour down the beach collecting shells, talking and just enjoying the beautiful sunny day. We met up with Garnet at the end of our beach walk and walked together down the street until we found a seafood restaurant that looked pretty good. The food was wonderful and that is where we heard the stories of the Mumbai masacre. Garnet had been working in India at the time and her office handled that incident. She is a wonderful storyteller, and Pat and I were just spellbound listening to her. One of the fun things that she said, is when she was giving encouragement to her Legat she told him, "Dan, lock and load, lock and load. This is why we are here, this is what it is all about." How lucky we were to meet up with her.

I took over from Beverly Pawlik in the KL office. She transferred to a new assignment in Rabat, Morocco. She was a great trainer and had the KL office organized which made it much easier on me than what Pat was faced with in her office. I really have been fortunate in many ways in my Legat assignment. I trained with Beverly for about a month and she was so fun to be with and talk to. She has a talent of lifting one of her eyebrows when she is making statements that just cracked me up. I wished that she didn't have go I enjoyed being around her so much.

Sandy Sands on the left and Cheryl Ray on the right are gals that I have known for many years. They worked out of the Salt Lake City Office. Sandy Sands has been in and out of the Legat program for many years. She is serving in London at the moment. It took her four days to get to the conference because of the volcano erruption in Iceland that had completely stopped planes from flying to the states from Europe. She had a very important meeting with our AD over the International Operations Division on Friday so she persevered until she finally made it. She took trains and planes and spent many hours in the airports. Four other LOAs were told to turn back after they couldn't make it after two days, but because Sandy had to be at that meeting she just kept making alternate plans until she finally made it. Cheryl has been one of my dearest friends from the day I started at the Salt Lake office. Poor thing, she was really sick almost the entire time. She was just stretched too thin with all the trainings that she had to go to in such a short period of time. She is now the LOS (Legal Operations Specialist, they make more money) in Afghanistan. She has been to Baghdad, Australia, Lagos, Nigeria, and Rome, Italy. She had been home for a few years before she decided to do one last tour in Afghanistan. What a trooper. The Bigwigs love her in the Legat Program because she is so good, hence that is why she is an LOS.

I just had the best time at this conference. It is enjoyable meeting up with dear friends and meeting LOAs/LOSs that you only talked to but never met. Wonder where they will send us next year.

Relief Society Activity

Boy am I far behind in blogging. Below is the Relief Society Birthday Party at our little Branch. One of my sweet friends here, Karen McKinley, is the Counselor over Enrichment (yes I know the name has changed but what the hey, I almost said homemaking) and spearheaded this event. Because I was always helping her anyway she put me on the Enrichment/homemaking/whatever committee. We just love working together. One time she asked me if I would be able to drive to an activity and I said, "sure". After I hung up the phone, Scott reminded me that I didn't drive. I seemed to forget that little detail. Called her right back and said I couldn't drive but would be happy to loan her my car and she could drive us both. The sisters below are angels. I just love associating with them.

As always, the cute Elders seem to come to our Relief Society Parties. It is fun to have them there and we make sure that they get something to eat. Elder Mattox, but we called him Elder Madu, has since finished his mission and gone home to Florida. Elder Pulver replaced Elder Wall. He is also a great Missionary. We manage to have the Elders over for dinner several times during the month. In fact, as each Elder gets a transfer we do a special dinner for them and they get to choose whatever they want for dinner. Elder Madu was so funny. I asked him what he wanted for the main dish and he said pork, I asked him what he wanted for a side dish and he said pork, then I asked him what he wanted for dessert and he said pork. Well for the main we did Scott's famous pork tenderloins, for a side dish we did squash sauted in onions and bacon and for the dessert we had brownies and icecream. I just couldn't quite grant all his desires. He seemed okay with the choice.

May Day!

What ever happened to May Day? We don't celebrate it in America anymore. In many countries of the world it is celebrated as International Workers Day, but in my mind that has always seemed to be associated with Communism and the militaristic pageantry of the May Day Parade on Red Square in Moscow.

This is what Wikipedia says about May Day: "May Day was also celebrated by some early European settlers of the American continent. In some parts of the United States, May Baskets are made. These baskets are small and usually filled with flowers or treats and left at someone's doorstep. The basket giver would ring the bell and run away. The person receiving the basket would try to catch the fleeing giver. If they caught the person, a kiss was to be exchanged." I can imagine that there were lots of slow runners back in those days.

I remember celebrating May Day at Santa Fe Trail Elementary School in Overland Park, Kansas. The teachers would erect a Maypole and about 10 or 12 kids would take the end of a colorful streamer attached to the top of the maypole and, half going one direction and the other half the other, weave the streamers around the pole and then undo them again by reversing the pattern.

Mostly, I just remember it being kind of a rite of spring. Winter's over and Summer's coming. Anyway, we don't do that anymore.

Tobi's been gone for 2 weeks now, and from all reports, has really enjoyed her visit home. She has officially approved our new family addition, Leila Jade Keddington, who made her appearance on April 14th. (Welcome to your first May little one.) She has seen all the kids and grandkids (7 now, with one more on the way).

She'll be back home again in about 44 hours. Yes, I've missed her. When we were younger, I used to have to leave home for weeks at a time for assignments with the FBI and that was hard, but I think it's gotten harder to be apart, the older we've gotten. Anyway, it seems that way.

Happy May Day Everyone! Go dance around a Maypole!

Scott

Easter Service Project

We have challenged all of our children to do a family service project each month for this year. Scott and I have been working hard at this project and it has been so wonderful.

In March this year I asked Scott if he wanted to help with the Embassy Easter Egg Hunt and Breakfast. I told him I wanted it to be a true service project. So I called the lady in charge and told her that Scott and I wanted to do this. That we would bring a dish to eat and come early to set up, serve, hide the eggs, play with the kids and then clean up. Well she didn't say no. In fact she was very grateful.

We started at 8:00 a.m. for the set up

Then Scott hid the eggs, if you can call throwing them on the lawn in perfect view, hiding.

Then Tobi helped to serve the food, it was very yummy.

It was so much fun watching the little ones pick up an egg then run across the lawn passing 10 or more eggs to get the next one.

The Easter Bunny was one of our tough Marines. He was an absolute doll to wear that outfit in all the heat.

It was a very fun great day. Scott and I had so much fun doing this service project.

Malaysia - Year One

Wow, I can't believe it. One year ago today Scott and I flew into Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to start a new adventure. We were met at the airport by TDY Agent Richard Brake and an Embassy Employee who helped us get through customs, got our luggage and drove us to our temporary new home at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel. On the way to KL about an hour drive we excitedly looked out the windows to see what our new home looked like. It was green. Green everywhere with lots of palm trees. The cityscape came into view and it was breathtaking. So hard to believe that we would actually be living here for at least the next three years.

The Ritz-Carlton was really living in luxury. It has beautiful pools with waterfalls and lush green landscaping. On my Saturdays, I spent many an hour down by the pool with the waterfall reading and relaxing with an occasional dip in the cool refreshing pool. I even stayed under the protection of an umbrella during the rain storms. We had a suite, which made it so nice since I had to start work in just a few short days. This way, Scott could stay up late and I could get up early in the morning and not bother each other very much. Every night we had a treat put on our pillow and houskeeping every day. The hotel staff would call us by name, Mrs. Tobi and Mr. Tobi. I still chuckle over that. Except for work we felt like we were on an extended vacation. Actually, Scott was. Every day I would get a taxi to and from the Hotel to get to work. Sometimes I had to wait a bit to get a Taxi from the Embassy, but the most I ever waited was 15 minutes and that was only one time. It was actually a very convenient way to commute.

We stayed in the hotel for a month before our apartment was ready for our occupation. We had their wonderful buffet breakfasts almost every morning and then many times we would just have an appetizer and soda at night. We also loved walking over to the Pavilion Mall and get dinner there. It would have been such a carefree time if it hadn't been for the stress of learning a new job.

We moved into our new apartment in May. It was so beautiful. Scott and I had to keep telling ourselves that this was our home and not just some wonderful vacation villa. Our furniture had not yet arrived but the Embassy furniture was actually very beautiful and we were very comfortable. It was good about a month later when our kingsize bed with the rest of our boat shipment finally arrived and I finally got my apartment all fixed up. It is truely an oasis. It is hard to leave it to go anywhere we love it that much. Scott has loved the BIG pool. He got on quite a workout regimen. Unfortunately with work that has suffered.

The Church has been such a highpoint of living here. We are so involved, which is good and bad. Sometimes it can be a stress but we feel that so much of the reason why we are here in Kuala Lumpur is to help with the Building up of the Kingdom of God in this part of the world. It is very exciting.

Work, what can I say about it. I can hardly stand to look back on how stressed out I was the first few months. I was incredibly blessed to have two wonderful bosses who have been so kind to work for. My ALAT Chuck O'Neal took so much time to explain so many things to me. He never ever got the least upset with me (and boy he sure could have). I will ALWAYS be grateful to both of them. It was hard at first but I feel that I can hold my own now and have become a big asset to our office. I would do anything for them and I know they would do the same for me. My Legat actually came about 2 months after me. We have kind of learned the Legat work together.

Scott and I are empty nesters for the first time. We had to leave home to accomplish this. I wasn't sure how this would be. I have actually very much enjoyed our children and various nieces and nephews that have come to make their homes with us. But having Scott all to myself has been wonderful. We have had so much fun together. Life is easy here and we are having the time of our lives. It is fun!!!

We haven't traveled that much but hope to do a lot more in the coming years. We have visited Phuket, Thailand; and Penang, Bukit Fraser, Ipoh, Seremban; all in Malaysia. There are so many other places we want to see.

I wonder what the next year will bring?

Tobi

The Year of the Tiger

Happy Chinese New year!

Last Monday (2/8) Tobi and I traveled with some of our friends up to Fraser's Hill and Ipoh and returned on Wednesday. We have written previously about our friend Yap Miow Lin, who we met here in KL on our first Sunday here back in March of 2009. Well, she recently got married to a man named James Willis, a dermatologist from Idaho Falls, Idaho. They were married in the temple in the states and then came here for a traditional Chinese wedding for her family and friends.

James, brought one of his daughters with him, 10 year old Micah (he has seven children); and a couple of good friends from his home in Idaho Falls, David and Linda Jamison. So on Monday, the seven of us got in our cars, (James, Miow Lin and Micah in Miow Lin's car, and David, Linda, Tobi and I in our car) and drove up to Fraser's Hill. You may remember me talking about Fraser's Hill from last June's Youth Conference which was held there (when I returned home with at least 100 mosquito bites). Well this time it was much different. It was nice and cool up in the hills (I just can't call them mountains) and we had a very peaceful and relaxing time. On our way to Fraser's Hill we stopped in the little town of Kuala Kubu Bahru because we had to wait for our turn to go up the hill. During the daytime hours, traffic is only allowed one way at a time on alternating hours, so if you miss your cut off time, you have to wait an hour. Well, we missed our cut off time, so we stopped in KKB (as it's called) and went to one of the little mom and pop stores and got some fresh watermelon and pineapple and some sweet corn ice cream.

When we finally made it up the hill we found our little bungalow, unloaded our luggage and went to dinner at a little Chinese open-air restaurant near the resort. This was the first time I had actually felt cool air since I've been in Malaysia and it was quite nice. This time we were armed with mosquito repellent but I don't remember seeing many mosquitos at all. At least not compared to June.

The next day we had a nice breakfast of Roti (Indian flat bread) with various dipping sauces, Nasi Lemak (coconut rice with shallots, dried anchovies, egg, and sambal chili, and Milo, which is the local type of hot chocolate.

After breakfast we kind of broke up and went and did our own thing. Tobi went back to the bungalow and I went on a hike through the jungle. I saw some enormous tree-sized ferns, hanging vines (some covered with thorns. It caused me to wonder if the occasional thorny vine was the origin of Tarzan's yell.) I also saw a family of monkeys, but since I didn't have any food with me, they weren't interested and made a hasty retreat into the canopy. Coming out the other end of the trail I realized that I wasn't exactly sure where I was, but after an hour or so of walking I made it back to the bungalow, none the worse for wear.

After a quick shower we loaded up again and headed back down the hill (after once again missing our departure time and having to wait nearly an hour) and were on our way to Ipoh. On our way to Ipoh we stopped once again at KKB and visited with the Dass family. Paul Dass is in our District Presidency and what a wonderful family he has. He and his beautiful wife are of Indian descent and they have four handsome sons. The eldest is serving a mission in Colorado and Wyoming, the second is set to start his mission in Singapore (the home mission). They told us their conversion story and it was very inspiring.

Ipoh is a city in the northern part of Malaysia and, in contrast to Kuala Lumpur, is about 70% ethnic Chinese. On Tuesday evening we went to visit some of Miow Lin's friends from when she was serving as a missionary there. We were treated to the absolute best Chinese meal I have ever had. Soups, and salads, a dish with ostrich, savory fish and chicken dishes, prawns, ....... It was wonderful. We ate way too much, but enjoyed everything.

On Wednesday it was back to KL for Tobi and me, while the others packed into Miow Lin's little car and drove on to Penang.

One of the highlights for us was getting to know the Jamisons. We had ample opportunity since they were staying with us in KL and then we drove in the same car for two solid days. David and Linda had never traveled outside the U.S. before. It was fun to see their enthusiasm about seeing new things and places, and trying new foods, etc. As we talked and got to know each other they related to us the tragedy that their family experienced several years ago when their two youngest, a three year old girl, Aisha, and her five year old brother, Vaughn, died in a fire inside an old camper shell in their back yard. Several years later (and after having two more children) the Jamisons wrote a book about their experience as a family. It's called "The Crown Without the Conflict." (If you are interested in reading their story search for ISBN 1-59971-073-0 on this website: http://www.isbn4authors.com/database/index.php)

Meanwhile, back at home, I am in the process (finally) of getting a job at the Embassy. My security clearance finally came through and I am in the 2nd interview stage. We'll see what happens.

spent the afternoon and evening at the Renners house in Seremban. Great food and great company. We have grown close to this family since we got here. Tennyson is a big guy with a big heart to match and is a gifted writer and what I would call a philosopher. Anne is a beautiful Philippina with a heart of pure gold and the most beautiful alto singing voice. They have 3 little kids, Janella, who is the image of her mother, Zach and Jezreel (aka Baby Deuce, aka Booger), who are cute little boys who are interested in anything to do with guns. They are also raising Tennyson's three teenage boys from his previous marriage. They are handsome young men and have great personalities. Tennyson (age 17) Garrett (age 14) and Ethan (age 13).

Life is good here in Malaysia. We are enjoying our experience immensely. We realize that we have been greatly blessed. We thank you all for being part of those blessings

Road Trip to Penang

We decided to take advantage of the American holiday to travel to Penang for the weekend. (Tobi gets all American and Malaysian holidays off) We plan to do things on American holidays because on Malaysian holidays travel and accommodations are sometimes difficult. So, on Saturday morning we cranked up our GPS, loaded the CRV, and headed up the E1 highway. It's about a 4 hour drive, so similar to driving from SLC to St. George. The scenery is a little different however. Lots of green. Oil Palm plantations and rubber trees and just plain jungle, north through Ipoh and then west to the coast. Across the causeway and bridge to beautiful Penang. You may remember that we traveled to Phuket, Thailand back in September and I think we both liked Penang better.

We stayed at the old, historic Eastern and Oriental Hotel, established in 1885 by the Sarkies brothers. It has hosted such luminaries as Douglas Fairbanks, Mary Pickford, Noel Coward and Somerset Maugham. It started out as two separate hotels, hence the unusual double name. We had a very nice suite with top level service.

We went on several long walks, visited the Cheong Fatt Tse Mansion, had some superb outdoor meals while watching the evening darken, spent some relaxing time by the pool, and met some interesting people. The E&O has been a destination for Brits on "holiday" for over a hundred years and it still is. We met a couple from England who come to the E&O every year in January and spend 3 months there. As you may not recall from your history lessons, Malaya was administered by the British for about 150 years until 1958, when it was granted its independence.

The weekend was over before we knew it but we had a very nice drive back home on Monday and we are back into our regular routine.

Scott and Tobi