Asia Bound!

After two weeks of shopping & strategically packing 3 very stuffed suitcases full of goodies for Renee & the family, we flew out to LA on Wed evening for the trip to Thailand on Thursday. Jim had come out for business on Monday, so we met at LAX that night. We collected our luggage & caught the shuttle to our hotel. The Hilton was very nice but shuttle seemed to take forever to pick us up, then to get us there, The traffic at LAX was incredible and it took us about 30 minutes just to get off the airport grounds.

It was quite embarrassing at every airport, hotel, and taxi to have so much luggage! The staff at each place prob thought we were just crazy Americans bringing all that stuff. Three of them were full of food & Christmas presents for Renee & Damien & the kids. :)





I found myself wishing this was a "real" UFO that would take us to Bangkok in 30 minutes instead of 22 hrs. :D



The Trip to Bangkok

Other than some long, anxious waiting for the shuttle to take us back to LAX on Thursday morning our trip to Bangkok went really smoothly. We went through the same International Terminal where we had flown out to Tahiti 6 years ago. The staff at Korean Airlines were really great. Thankfully all 4 pieces of the luggage were within the weight limit! Security only took about 15 minutes and we arrived at the gate with about 20 minutes to spare before boarding.





The plane was a huge Airbus with 2 aisles & 10 seats across. They have 2 levels, with 1st Class & Prestige Class being upstairs, Economy Class down. The very front section contained those really cool totally-reclining seats that basically turn into beds. We were surprised no one was in there. The plane was very clean & comfortable and seemed almost brand new. The ride was very smooth - the smoothest take off I've ever experienced. You could hardly tell we were moving. Every seat had it's own entertainment center. I watched Thor and some news on the way to Seoul but there were no English captions so I mostly listened to music, read or slept. I loved watching views from the mounted cameras for front, below, and tail views. Jim slept a lot more than I did & watched a lot of TV.

The flight attendants were just fabulous. So courteous, and always smiling. I was totally struck by the difference though, in Korean Air and the American airlines we often fly on. Their attendants are ALL very young, pretty, slim, females wearing smart uniforms consisting of slim teal skirts, white blouse with hair in a bun with a pretty Asian "bow." They worked really hard serving us all snacks & drinks and THREE full meals during the 13 hr flight.

It was kind of strange that we left around 1:00 in the afternoon but it never got dark until just after we reached Incheon Airport.There was a really nice view of the sunset and the small, dark mountainous islands near the airport as we landed. Incheon is a HUGE airport! We arrived about the time our next fight (Seoul to Bangkok) was starting to board. I was concerned pulling into the gate seeing how big the airport was, and we needed to get from gate 11 to 31 pronto. Fortunately, Korean Air was on the ball and had personnel there to meet us all (about 20 passengers) and escort us to the next gate. We had to go through another security check point, which I found odd but also comforting that they were being that careful.

This flight was another 5 hrs, and it seems like a blur now. LOL I did sleep a bit more, maybe 2 hrs of it total, and tried to watch the movie Super 8 but fell asleep about half way through it. They fed us yet another meal which Jim declined & I only ate part of. By now we were feeling rather zombie-ish. We arrived in Bangkok around 10 local time. Customs was a breeze - they did not do any inspection of the luggage at all, and immigration was basically just having them stamp our passports. We were pleasantly surprised our luggage was there seeing how little time we had between flight in Seoul! I'm so thankful Renee came back to the airport to meet us and escort us to our apartments! They had arrived from Chiang Mai about 2 in the afternoon. She knows some basic Thai & could work out the Taxi ride, which was about 40 minutes. It's quite odd driving on the left side of the road.

We are not at a hotel. It is a high rise condo bldg about a block from the Chao Phraya River. We have a small studio apartment which connects by very scary balcony to Renee & Damien's apartment, which is much more spacious with 2 bedrooms and a large open living area. We both have kitchens but won't really be using ours at all. It was about midnight before we got there, and the kids were all asleep. We did "have" to give them a big kiss anyway. Two very sleepy little boys woke up and came out and laid on the couch by us for a while. Our windows & common balcony face the river and the night view is just beautiful.






Photos from Day 1: http://nolamarimages.smugmug.com/Vacation/Thailand/Grand-Palace/19726959_CJsvXL

Lexi in the gym

While visiting my sister in New Braunfels TX last November I went to San Antonio one day to see my niece Jenny at the gym where she works. Jenny's daughter, my 6 year old grand-niece Lexi, has competed in level 2 & 3 gymnastics already, and is going into level 4. (She is actually technically ready for level 5 but missed the birthday cut-off date by one day!) There are some videos on U-tube of Lexi at Level 2 & 3 meets. Here are a few videos I took of her showing me her Level 3 floor routine, and doing some general tumbling that she can do but is not done in the level she is allowed to compete in due to her age. (This is just casual, and not before judges or even her coaches, so she's not being as "perfect" as she would try to be in competition.)

I just remembered that I videoed her at her her Aunt Kara's wedding in May, so I'm putting those up too. They were before she could do the back handsprings without momma's help. She's 5 in those.

She can now do either cartwheels or walkovers on the beam too. Her mom says she is fearless! I'm just amazed at her ability already.

Joel's Promotion

Renee and I were able to attend Wpns Battalion formation at Quantico on December 3rd and witness Joel getting promoted to Staff Sergeant! Joel and the two men on the left of him were promoted to that rank, and another 8 or so men to Sergeant. The Colonel (the battalion commander) who performed the promotions had nothing but GOOD things to say about Joel and the terrific job he does for the Marines! Great job and congratulations Joel! (And thank you for your service!)

(This first one is a video. Click on the arrow to watch it.)

Here are some other pictures from that morning. You can click on the photos to see them larger, then click the "back arrow" to return to this page.


Renee and Joel on the way to formation.

Marines begin gathering on the shooting range for formation.


The Colonel giving the men instructions.

Starting the ceremony.


Joel getting his new rank insignia pinned on.


The battalion congratulating the promotees.

Reveille

Here is an interesting article about the USMC enlisted rank and insignia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Marine_Corps_enlisted_rank_insignia

and another about how the Marine Corp awards promotions:
http://usmilitary.about.com/cs/marinepromotions/a/marineprom.htm

It's much more difficult to get promoted in the Marines than I ever imagined!

Orientation and College Life

I guess we are officially "Tiger" fans now in addition to Bulldogs. (It has been a long time coming and Jim - an Aggie - will still resist. LOL) Andrew and I spent Thursday and Friday in Baton Rouge at Freshman Orientation. I find orientations to be boring and tiring, yet I enjoyed this as much as when I took Ryan to LATECH for his 3 years ago. I always find it nice to be on a college campus. And I especially like getting a feel for the place where our son will be spending the next 4 or more years of his life. Walking around campus also made me feel that I wished I had experienced college life, and appreciate even more that my children have been able to have that experience.

LSU, like TECH, is beautiful but very different than Tech. Tech is more of a pretty country setting while LSU is like the south with many large old Live Oak trees around the campus. I was able to take some tours of dorms but we are still in suspense of where Andrew will be assigned. He is 16th the waiting list for Broussard Hall, which is an Information Technology Residential College for freshman only. If he can't get in Broussard, he is hoping for the Pentagon area. We are really hoping for the IT College though - it would be a great experience and and asset to his major - Mass Communications with a focus on Advertising. He decided to minor in photography, which is actually fine arts.

Friday afternoon we went to the Manship School of Mass Communication where he registered for his classes and they talked to the parents about the MC program. The historic Journalism Building is just beautiful! He is excited and happy about his choice and acceptance to LSU.

Ryan is moving out of Neilson this coming year -yea! It took a year on the wait list, but he and his current roommate Keith, and two other friends from Tech, are moving into the campus apartments into a 4-room suite. I'm trying to encourage him to learn how to cook a little this summer, but he's not very interested. LOL He will have a smaller (and thankfully cheaper) meal plan so he'd better learn how to make at least a few things for himself. :)

"Sweet" Surprises

Yesterday was June 25th. I was sitting at the computer and suddenly my friend Madolyn was standing next to me with 1/2 of a cake and wishing me a "Happy Half-Birthday!" What a huge surprise, and what a sweetheart for giving me such a treat! She had even called Jim to ask what kind of cake I liked, so I got a chocolate with chocolate mint icing. Yum!

It all came about because a few days earlier I was working at her house hanging wallpaper, and it was their daughter's "Half-Birthday." We talked about it and I found out they celebrate hers becuase she was born very close to Christmas. I mentioned that I really should celebrate my half-birthday becuase I was born on Christmas Day, and my anniversary is only 5 days before. Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that Madolyn would surprise me with my own 1/2- birthday cake just a few days later. I didn't even realize it WAS my 1/2 birthday. Thank you Lord for dear, sweet friends who bring you sweet surprises when you least expect it. What a day-brightener! :)

Andrew's Day to Shine

Today was one of those special days when a parent feels a great pride in their child's accomplishments. We have had those days with each one of our kids! Today was Andrew's turn.

His AP Government class at Grace King HS won the Louisiana State Championship of the "We The People" competition, and represented the state at the national finals in April Washington DC. Today the class and the LA leaders in the "We The People" program were recognized by the LA State Legislature in Baton Rouge. Only two other kids from the class were able to make it so it was them and the three moms. We were met in the rotunda by a "Program Coordinator." There was a lot of waiting around, but then we were brought into the State Senate Chamber where we waited some more. The afternoon session started and they were eventually brought out and recognized. Then we left the Senate went across to the House of Representatives Chamber where they were again recognized.

Andrew shook hands with a lot of "important" LA politicians and I think the whole experience made him feel proud. They were supposed to take photos with the Speaker of the House and then go on a tour of the Governor's mansion, but it was already 4:00 and no one wanted to stay any longer, including Andrew. We took a quick ride up to the tower for the view and headed home. He almost immediately took off for Shreveport with a friend to visit their friend Noah, who moved up there after school ended. (In fact, Noah was on Andrew's team that won the National Unit Award. So was the one girl that showed up today.)

We are always thankful to the Lord for His blessing us with of our six children, but on days like this we are especially thankful that they are kids being recognized by the State Legislature, missionaries, doctors, or Marines, and NOT kids in jail, or on drug, or bums, or criminals. :)
(Sorry, I don't really have the knack yet for laying out these photos. I can't seem to get them to go where I want them, or figured out how to label them. LOL)

Here We Go Again!

I think I'll need a JUG of Xanax to get me through the next few months! I'm teaching yet another teen to drive - Emily, the youngest. Wow, it's hard. I let her drive 3 times today and I about put a hole in the floor of the passenger side. She's not bad but just totally inexperienced so I can't let up my diligent monitoring for even one second, and that's VERY stressful. No kid of mine ever put his/her foot on the break fast enough for me. LOL Well, everybody pray for me to get through this one more time! Thanks.