October pics

I love the fall. Apple picking, sweater wearing, trick or treating, soup making..ahhh...it's all so homey and cozy and nice. Here are pics of October with more to come.

Cambodia part II

Sorry for the big delay between Cambodia blogs. We had a crazy couple weeks with some swine flu business and visitors and Halloween. I want to post about Halloween but can't until I catch up on our last leg of the trip.
So we left Angkor Wat by boat and headed down south back to the capital and then down south to see how the beaches in Cambodia are. Keep in mind this was the same week that there was major flooding in the Philippines and an earth quake in Hawaii and a Tsunami in Samoa and Tonga. So we get down south and the usually glass like ocean is nothing but rough waves and lots of wind. I don't think we got the best representation of Cambodia beaches but it was fun to see none the less.

Family of five on one motor bike. This was at a market and he just pulled in like this and Ty and I just jumped back and laughed and they laughed at us for our reaction and it was just a fun little moment.

Boat ride down south. We were able to sit on top of the boat and watch the cities built on the water go by. Every time we passed anyone they would wave from their boats or houses. Such friendly people.

Here we are down south in Sihaunikville. Beaches here we come.
oops, the water wasn't inviting but we sat and enjoyed a day on the beach anyways. We were the only people on this entire beach....so we thought!

This nice lady came out and asked if we wanted a massage as we were sitting there. Sure why not! One lady was all we saw for about two minutes but she sent out her signal that there were americans on the beach and suddenly we were surrounded by kids selling bracelets and women who wanted to do a special hair removal technique on my legs. Our relaxing massage quickly turned very busy and not so relaxing. We finally appeased the kids by buying a couple things and then something happened. The lady finished my massage and pulled out this long string and twisted it around her fingers and started plucking my hairs on my legs one at a time and showed me how they shave their legs in Cambodia. She did about a dime shape and showed me how smooth it was. hmmmm...for 8 bucks she would do both of my legs. Sure, why not!? Suddenly, two ladies sit down and each grab a leg and just start going to town on my legs. One by one they plucked and pulled and two hours later and many screams later my legs were bright red and bumpy and hairless. Worse than giving birth in my opinion. It was terrible, terrible pain. It's been a month and a half and my legs are still healing from this little cultural experience.

We rented a moped and saw the coast on this little guy. They filled it up with just enough gas to get us in to town and then it died. Thankfully, a man saw us break down and went on his moped and grabbed us some gas and filled us up and has us on our way again shortly. It was fun to see the beaches this way. Reminded us of our days in Hawaii.

So this was our beach bungalow that we thought was so charming. Right on the water, mosquito nets and all. We spent one night sleeping and listening to the waves crashing...so nice. The next night we were watching a movie on our laptop and cuddling and listening to the waves crash and suddenly we heard a rustling sound in the corner. I made Ty go check it out and sure enough there was a RAT going through our trash!!! ahhhh....I couldn't sleep all night because of that movie "Other side of Heaven" where the missionary gets his feet chewed off by rats. A huge storm also blew through that night and all I could think of was the floods in the Philippines, the Tsunami in Samoa and getting my feet chewed off. I couldn't wait for morning to come and as soon as the sun came up I packed us up and got us out of there.

We then drove up north back to the capital and stayed in a very fancy place (same place that Ty's work had put him.) They greeted us at the door with cold guava juice with sugar cane sticks and pulmarias in them. Just what I needed after my night in the rat infested bungalow.


Phonm Penh the capital city. We went up and saw the temple that the city is named after and while we were up there a huge monsoon hit and we were stuck there for an hour waiting for it to pass.

We walked home in a foot and a half of water just an hour after this storm hit. This is why these countries flood I'm guessing...there's absolutely no drainage system. It was gross but fascinating
to just walk the couple blocks to our hotel. We were sad sights when we finally got home.

Our nice hotel. It's the same hotel in the movie "The Killing Fields."

Anywho, so that was our trip. It was an adventure, a learning and bonding experience for both of us.

Cambodia and Angkor Wat

Here's Preston on his way to the airport. I got one of Ty's tiny mission bags and stuffed it with a pillow and blankets for him to carry on. He was so proud.
So we started our adventure in Cambodia with a 6 hour bumpy and loud bus ride (they use their horns to tell people they are passing) from Phnom Penh, the capital, to Siem Reap. Siem Reap is home to Angkor Wat which was one of the main excitements of this trip. On our long bus ride up north we excitedly watched the scenery go by and was quite entertained by all the sights to see. First impressions of Cambodia: it's lovely and green and wet (monsoon season), it's very very poor, by far the poorest country I have visited, lot's of scooters and motorcycles, hardly any cars and all of the cars are Lexus (if you are rich enough to own a car you buy a Lexus) the people are beyond friendly and helpful, and there's lots of strange things to see. For example a family of six on one motor bike, old woman carrying big bowls of something on their heads, men selling gas in recycled pop containers on the side of the road, water buffalo grazing the side of the highway, and naked children playing in the rice paddy fields...etc.) Our first stop was three hours in to the trip where we stopped to get food. As the doors opened up and before we had even realized it was time to get off, the bottom of the bus was filled with little, beautiful faces of kids selling all kinds of fruits and goodies. "Pretty lady, you buy from me. You promise you buy from me." This was being yelled at us from below and they were talking to me and I didn't even know that I had already made promises to buy bananas from 10 different kids. We ended up buying all kinds of different weird fruit, made a couple of kids cry and ended up just giving money to the kids that had fruit that we didn't want to buy.
Anywho, we got to Siem Reap and got two whole days to explore the ruins of Angkor Wat. Just in case you've never heard of it, I googled it for you.
"Many people, when they hear the name Angkor in a conversation, they ask: "Angkor What?". Angkor Wat is one of the most beautiful and fascinating places on the planet. Made by the Khmer kings in a process that lasts almost 4 centuries, this magnificent area has been abandoned and hidden by the forest. Re-discovered by a french man about 150 years ago, Angkor Wat is ready to become one of the most visited archaeological and artistic site on the planet."
On our way in our tuk tuk (a trailor hitched on to a moped. It's the only way to see Angkor Wat.)

Do you see the monkey?

They left some of the ruins over run with jungle to show what it looked like when it was discovered 150 years ago. The hugest plants growing right out of these ruins. It was amazing to see how nature can just take over.

Lot's of intricate carvings all over the temples. So amazing.

Peek a boo Tyler.

I'll have to do the rest of the trip later because this is official picture overload. Here's my plug though...Cambodia was an amazing place to see and learn about. Cambodia has one of the saddest histories in this world...and sadly I knew very little about it before I went. Here's a link for just a snip it of info on the recent genocide in Cambodia. http://www.historyplace.com/worldhistory/genocide/pol-pot.htm

Momo and Pop's house

O.k. we are back from our month away from reality and we are unpacked, unjetlagged, summer clothes are away and fall clothes are out, and Halloween family costume idea has been picked...I can officially blog. We had a great time in Oregon with my fam. We picked tons and tons of blackberries. With the first berry in my mouth I had all these childhood memories come back to me of summers and cousins and my grandma and blackberry pancakes and cobbler and those darn pokey bushes. I was a maniac and wouldn't let any berry go unpicked. We then made many jars of jam and had lot's of berry desserts and baked tons of home made bread to put the jam on. It was great fun. My boys loved picking but not as much as eating the berries.

We also spent time at the lake and playground and went to Waldo lake which is suppose to be the purest lake in the world. My Aunt Kathy and cousin Anjie came to see me and that just was the cherry on top of this great vacation. We had a few days with them to just laugh, shop at goodwill and farmer's market, do make overs on Aunt Kathy and Aunt Toni (they looked great and I wish I had photos,) and just sit around talking and laughing our cans off.

And now we are back and lo and behold we missed the rest of summer and it is darn chilly out there. I had lot's of unpacking to do and then the dreaded season change of clothes switch as well. I've been scrambling to get the house decorated, pumpkins picked out, new fall plants put in the ground, and Halloween costume picking out. I love this whole month and I want to savor it. Better stop blogging so I can do some savoring. What are ya'll being for Halloween?

Travel...to do or not to do?

So right now I'm in Taipei, Taiwan waiting long long time to get on a flight to L.A. Tyler and I just had a rocking good time in Cambodia and are now heading home. I'm sure when I get home I will have many posts on the last month. Two blessed weeks in Oregon with my parents, the lake, blackberries and my aunt and cousin visit. Ten days of travel with out my sweet babies all over the beautiful and tragic country of Cambodia. Tyler and I traveled to Thailand right after college and had an unbelievable and unforgettable time. Gorgeous temples, hand made clothes, jungle trekking, staying with village people, elephant rides through the jungle, bamboo rafting, and the most beautiful beaches (and this from a major Hawaii fan.) But it wasn't until this trip to Cambodia where I developed a love and desire to see all of South East Asia. Vietnam, Laos, Malaysia....these are next on my list.
There's a lot of hard things about traveling. It takes you out of your comfort zone, you spend a lot of time trying to figure out where you are going and where the heck you are, long lay overs, jet lag....but it's so worth it!
Where would you go if you could go anywhere in the world?

Ode to Summer

Oh the end of summer. I don't know if you all have heard that global warming took a summer off this year. The east coast has only endured two to three days above 90 this summer...well I believe the mid-west has had the same luck. It's been beautiful for weeks and we keep waiting for it to be summer and now oops...it's almost fall. Bad news was our pool pass that we paid good money for to help get us through a miserable summer in Missouri...barely got used and did not get our money out of it. Good news is we've been enjoying lot's of activities as a fam besides the pool. Zoos, farms, backyard fires and marshmallow roasting, watching some cool storms, and skinny dipping in the backyard pool.

Feeding the camels at President Grant's farm. Preston wanted to take it home.

Feeding the goats at Grant's farm. Preston loved this and at points had 10 baby goats on him.

Lincoln hated feeding the goats. He was so excited when he saw the bottles and very upset when we wouldn't let him drink the nasty goat formula. We had to remove him from the baby goats.

This was an awesome storm that the boys wanted to play in. I got out the umbrella but that only last for a couple seconds.

Many a time I will be busy with something and find the boys getting naked outside and turning on the hose. They love the pool or just water fights with the hose.

I love that these boys are becoming best friends. Lincoln can really keep up with Preston now and doesn't know that he's not three himself. He's an advanced talker because he copies everything Preston. He runs around with all of Preston's friends and has no idea that he is half their age.

Just a couple of examples on how much multi-tasking goes on around here. Tyler reading the boys a book while I am getting their teeth brushed. Lincoln taking a bath in the sink while I make breakfast...so that I can get to the gym in time for my aerobics dance class.

The summer is so busy and we are actually looking forward to fall and winter and maybe things slowing down. I'm not sure how much we slow down though. This week I'm taking the kids to Oregon to see my parents while Tyler takes another business trip to Korea, Thailand and Cambodia. I will be with my parents for two weeks (picking blackberries, making jam and playing the lake) and then my parents are going to watch the boys so I can meet Tyler in Cambodia. What!?!? I can't believe I'm doing this but it should be an adventure. I just haven't done much traveling with out my travel buddy, Tyler. We've back packed Europe, traveled all over Russia and Scandinavia, a trip to Thailand...but always together. This will be me traveling alone and seeing him and then returning alone again. Yikes! Wish me luck!

7 stinking years!!!

Last week we celebrated 7 stinking years of marriage!!! I don't mean that they were stinking just that I can't believe it's been 7 years. Wow and wow! We usually take a trip or do something fun and crazy for our anniversary and yet it's getting a little harder each year. So this year we kept it simple and just went on a good ol fashion date. He let me get ready while he took care of the kids, got them fed and dropped them off at the babysitters (Tyler's sister and brother in law that was also celebrating their anniversary...we babysat for them a week later.) He gave me a long time to get really dolled up and then he picked me up at the door with flowers and a card. So sweet and fun to feel like I was being courted all night. Sunday was our actual anniversary and he made me breakfast in bed and I made him his favorite berry pies for dessert. I won't get too mushy for the blog (that's for our secret love letters to each other.) I just wanted to say let's hear it for 7 years of marital bliss!!! Love ya T-farm!

D.C. trip

So we left our friends the Katzoffs camping and started our two day journey to Washington, D.C. Tyler had a conference there so we decided to tag along. It had been 2 years since we had seen our wonderful friends the Witters and it was high time for a visit. And oh what a visit we had!!! It's been weeks and I'm still chuckling about the conversations we had and the things we did. Man I miss these guys and wish we could live by them...or have them live by us. We picked things up just like it hadn't been two and a half years and a two babies since we'd hung out. I'm sure they are still recovering from having us stay the night one night but it was worth the craziness just to be able to have another late night of Joe's stories. We love you guys! Thanks for the memories and all the beautiful pics.

Here are our great friends the Witters. Aren't they a good looking family? Preston who wouldn't dare pose for our family pictures jumped in and posed like a pro for theirs.

At a park near Reagan airport where you can watch the planes landing. Erin took lots of pics of our fam and theirs with her great camera and artistic eye.

Ate dinner at the Lincoln memorial. Such a beautiful night...until it started pouring and pouring on us. We ran for cover and hung out for awhile with good ol' Abe. The kids loved playing in the puddles almost exactly where Martin Luther King stood while giving his "I have a dream" speech.

I think one Lincoln is better looking than the other. It was fun to run after my son yelling "Lincoln!" and have everyone wonder why I kept yelling the President's name.
How could you just not love the Witters?

White trash lovin' friend Ben

So for our best friends/neighbor's birthday we planned an epic white trash camping trip. Ben Katoff loves cars and racing and mud...so put them all together and you've got a demoliton derby. So what better way to celebrate our friends slow but sure step towards the big 30 than by driving three hours to the middle of no where to camp and go to a carnival and watch a sweet demolition derby. I can tell you that our good friends the Katzoffs never fail to deliver excitment and a bit of white trash love when the time calls for it. We had a great weekend camping by a lake and partying up with the elite of the small town Illinois. YeeHaaaa! When can we go again?!

Basement and the 4th

Thought I should have our 4th of July blog done before July was over. We spent the weekend painting our newly finished basement and picking out carpet for the whole house. I'm not the best at taking pics of progress on the house which is too bad because we have put so much work in to our home. It's been a wild ride but we are pretty much satisfied for now. For those of you who don't know our basement was a crazy movie room with blacked out windows and dark green paint and carpet so that you had the since you were in a dungeon down there. The bachelor that owned our home before us worked for a t.v. station and edited film down there. There was stadium seating, a huge t.v. built in to a fake wall to give the illusion of a movie screen, movie theater sconces and a railing that lit up. It was unique to say the least and we loved it when we looked at the house. We were so young and stupid then. Now with this house getting smaller and smaller as our family grows we wanted a more usable space. So with some of Tyler's Iraq money be decided to finish it. We had already put a bathroom down there when my dad came to visit to see Preston be born. That bathroom was the product of Preston being very late and my dad needing a project besides starring at my belly and wondering if I was ever going to have that kid.

Anywho, we did clean up long enough to go to a couple firework shows and have a family bbq. The town fire work show was a blast with bands playing, funnel cakes frying, and bounce houses bouncin'. It was our first holiday with Tyler's sister Tawny and her family who just moved to St. Louis!!! Yeah! Food, family and fun and working like dogs...sounds like the perfect holiday weekend.

p.s. Preston is learning the Pledge of Allegiance because he was fascinated with all the flags hanging up everywhere.