For 12 great days in March, 2011, we had our daughters Jennie and Julia with us. This has been in planning for about 9 months and the anticipation just built as the time got closer.
They arrived on Friday, March 4th and we took the day off to go pick them up at the airport which is about an hour drive from our home in downtown Kuala Lumpur. After getting them settled we went and did some grocery shopping to get ready for the weekend.
Saturday was Julia's birthday and it started out with a trip to the Elephant Sanctuary about an hour and a half drive north of KL. We made some sandwiches and took along a lot of water and soda to drink because it was to be a hot day. We watched a strange documentary video about how Malaysia is trying to save elephants from other countries etc. but ended up making you feel sorry for the elephants. The girls got to feed elephants, ride elephants, and get dumped in the river by an elephant. I don't know if this was Julia's best birthday ever, but it may be the most unique.
That night we continued the celebration with some of our best friends, Graham Doxey and Kim and Trip Baker (Kim is Graham's daughter and is about the same age as our daughters). We played Mexican Train and had brownies and ice cream for dessert and sang Happy Birthday to Julia over the brownies.
On Sunday we took the girls to church at our little branch, although that day we were bursting at the seams with about 140 -150 in attendance. Word is that we may be splitting our branch soon, we are at pretty much max capacity for our little building. Everyone was so nice to the girls. Jennie had colored her hair a very light blonde color while Julia's is her natural blonde (she has never colored her hair, her mother would kill her). Anyway everyone wanted to know if Jennie's hair was "real." She said it was real but not the real color. She was sure to mention that Julia's hair was its natural color.
Early Monday morning we took a taxi to the Subang Airport to catch a one-hour flight to Redang Island off the east coast of peninsular Malaysia. It's a long time since any of us has flown in a propeller airplane but it was a short flight. Upon arrival we were driven in a van to the jetty where we got on a boat for a 20-minute ride to our resort, Laguna Redang. It's a beautiful place with a nice white-sand beach and a perfect surf for playing in and occasionally getting knocked down by waves.
We had an all-inclusive package which included 3 meals per day. Breakfast was upstairs at a buffet where we could get a variety of Asian and Western dishes (I use the term Western loosely here; beef bacon will do in a pinch but you can't compare it with good old pig bacon). Lunch and Dinner were in the restaurant. We had the same server for every meal, Hafiz, and he took good care of us. The meals were really good and we tried a variety of different things from steaks to pizza to sandwiches, caesar salads, desserts which included lemon cheesecake, chocolate pudding (cake), etc. Very nice.
We had very good weather for the most part. It was usually overcast but there was plenty of sunshine as well. Tuesday it rained nearly all day, but the rest of the time, with the exception of a few occasional showers, it was very nice. One day we took another boat ride to the "marine park" where Tobi and I went snorkeling and the girls spent their time worshipping the sun. There was a sunken ship about 100 yards off shore that Tobi and I swam out to and explored a little bit. Kind of eerie.
In our family we play Rook. It's a legacy from Tobi's side of the family and we all enjoy it. We must have played a dozen Rook games. We switched up the partners each game. Humility won't allow me to tell you who the overall winner was. Also, at least once each day we practiced our songs for the upcoming Sunday fireside at church. Tobi had requested the girls do a musical fireside while here and Julia put together about 10 songs for us to do.
Our trip to Redang was over too quickly and on Saturday the 12th we returned to KL. On the taxi ride home from the airport I had a chance for about an hour to practice my fledgling Malay with the taxi driver. He was very patient with me.
Sunday was Fast Sunday and we had a very nice meeting. Our fireside was scheduled to take place one hour after the meeting and our friend Karen McKinley, unbeknownst to us, had made food for everyone in the branch as an extra enticement to stay for the fireside. I told you we have some amazing friends here. As it turned out we had about 100 people stay and some came from other branches in the district. We all spoke a little bit and introduced the numbers and bore our testimonies. Julia, Jennie and I sang "Nearer My God to Thee," Jennie and I sang "Lord, Are you There?", Julia sang a couple of the songs that she and her music partner wrote, "She Doesn't Know" and "If You Knew Better." ("She Doesn't Know" was a song that Julia wrote for her mom but it had several moms in the audience in tears.) Tobi and I sang "How Great Thou Art," Julia and I sang "Be Still My Soul," Tobi and Julia sang "My Heavenly Father Loves Me," and the program was closed with Jennie and Julia's rendition of "Come Thou Fount." That one brought a few tears to old dad's eyes, as it always does. If you want to listen to some of these songs performed by Julia see her website, juliasandersmusic.com.
We got some very nice compliments from those in attendance. Julia received some attention from a young man in our branch who was very sad to find out that she was leaving in a few days. Tobi and I really enjoyed singing with our girls. It was its own reward. Sunday night we went over to our friends the Curtises and played "Time's Up." Special moment: "Dude, Kangaroo." (Ask Jennie)
On Monday Tobi took the girls shopping at Chinatown. They came home with some great bargains on Rolex watches, Valentino and Marc Jacobs bags, and Tiffany jewelry. Really great bargains indeed. That evening we had dinner at the McKinleys home and the girls had the chance to meet Scott and Karen, our close friends, and their children, Daniel, Joseph and Rachel.
Tuesday it was back to Chinatown for some last minute items. Tobi and the girls walked over to the embassy in the afternoon and we had fun showing them off to all our co-workers. I must admit a little wicked pride in seeing people's eyes go wide and jaws drop when they see my beautiful girls. And I also enjoyed having them meet some of my close friends at the embassy. That night we went to one of our favorite Chinese restaurants, the very aptly named "Mae Keng Fatt," where we enjoyed the evening with Tobi's co-workers in the Legal Attache Office, Greg and Karyn Gilmartin, Jack and Miranda Liao and their 3 cute kids, and Grace and Adam Everleigh. These are all great people and great friends.
Wednesday morning we were off to the airport to start them off on their long trip home. We miss them so much. I think part of it is that we don't have any more plans to see my side of the family until we go home for good next March. We are so glad they came and experienced the far side of the world with us for a few days, and had the chance to meet some of the best people in the world over here.
Tobi and I are planning to travel to China the first week of April. We'll see the Terracotta Warriors, the Great Wall, the Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square, etc. etc. etc. Expect another post following that trip.
Love you all,
Scott and Tobi
