back from Singapore

1. view from our hotel room 2. "wet market' 3. Dave and Jessie downtown
4. pink bull taxi 5. view from our hotel room 6. "hawker center" for lunch
7. Dave eating an ice cream sandwich 8. Hindu temple in Little India 9. a street downtown

We're back from our whirlwind. As soon as I touched the ground we had places to be and people to see. No beach, no gardens, no night safari, just business. The taxis whizzed and zig zagged us all over the island. Dave to his interviews, and me to my tours. I toured 7 private international schools. I sure learned a lot about international curriculum and was impressed with the programs. Good schools? Check.

Next we toured several apartment properties with a travel agent, several with a professor from one of the universities, and a few on our own. From a 33rd floor downtown executive suite to a mormon couple with 4 kids in a beautiful multi-leveled apartment. Good housing? Check.

We spent a lot of time meeting people from the universities at fancy dinners. Lantern-lit on the river, fighting jet lag, and filling our bellies with things we can't pronounce but were Oh So Tasty. Good food? Check. Good people? Check.

My brillant David received a job offer from each of the 3 universities, and after a few more trips on the subway to some authentic food places and shopping areas we found ourselves back on the plane for our long flight home.

We're glad to be back and have some big decisions to make. Poor David is still fighting the urge to fall asleep while standing, but our laundry is done and we will spend the next few days figuring our lives out.

Grandma!

Gage called me Grandma the first day I was back.... not sure how to feel about that.

They didn't miss us much. Grandma and Aunt Kate flew in to spend the week with N and G while we were in Singapore. And they loved it. Trips to the children's museum, the indoor playground, to the toy store to pick out a prize and of course happy meals at McDonalds, why would a little boy miss his momma?

Thanks Mom and Kate!

Letters from Daddy

Hi Noah:

Wow, what a neat day I had in Singapore! I took a long walk through the jungle and on my walk I saw lots of monkeys! They jumped from tree to tree. It was lots of fun to watch.


In the afternoon I went to a bird park and saw lots and lots of birds. There were colorful birds--I took some pictures for you. I also saw some owls who lived in a really dark building. They were really neat.

I hope you had a great day and that you are really nice to your mom and little brother.

Sleep well.

Love,

Dad





We've been able to talk to David several times a day. He calls us over the internet using Skype. The kids love it. So do I. And we've also been emailing...a lot.

So far he has interviewed at 1 of 3 universities and it's going well. He is enjoying the people he's meeting and the research they're discussing. He had a lot of free time over the weekend to see the amazing sites of Singapore.

He hiked through the Bukit Timah nature reserve (um...the jungle) and did the tree top walk. I was very jealous. This was something I really wanted to do but knew we wouldn't have time. When he was done he went to a grocery store on the top floor of a mall - the biggest, most beautiful, most air conditioned mall he'd ever seen. What a contrast.






He says the food is amazing (he stops to buy fresh squeezed fruit every time he sees the juice stand), the weather warm, and his favorite has been Little India. A section of town with Indian shops, homes, a beautiful temple and festivities.

He has more interviews tomorrow.

Again, wish him well.

V

A lot of love at our house, even with Daddy overseas.

We've been staying busy. That's the key to surviving without that extra David energy around. We found an amazing indoor playground here, (really incredible!) took our usual grocery, library, museum trips and have had many playdates. For today we've been making heart decorations, valentines and

pretzel treats for friends. Noah is super good at dipping.


The boys woke up to a small gift with these fun candy boxes on top. I learned how to make them here.


Happy Valentine's Day!

PS Update of Dave's days in Singapore coming soon.

He's on his way

(photo courtesy of a great blog Singapore Kids Places)

Dave left Monday morning at a very wee hour to catch his flight to his interviews. He should get there today about 11:30am.

We spent the weekend getting him all suited up. Ironed the blue interview shirts, hung ties, loaded the ipod, checked out his reading material from the library, and of course stuffed the Swedish fish into zippered pockets right next to the sunscreen.

This weekend I'll do it all again (minus the ties and Swedish fish). I'll make sure to throw in my flip flops and my maps for my appointments to tour a few international schools. And I'll meet him next week to see if this place can handle 2 busy American boys.

We are so proud of him. He is going to rock that island.

Wish him well.

If all the snowflakes were lemondrops and gumdrops...

We are still riding the job market roller coaster. Up and down and around and around. It's excruciating. Please pass the dramamine.


It's nice to have moments like this. Catching snowflakes. Keeping us on the ground.

Thank yous

Our afternoon project today was working on these.


Little thank you notes. We are just a tad behind in sending them out for Christmas. Noah is pretty good at using the paper cutter and glue stick. Hopefully we'll get these in the mail tomorrow with just a few glued crooked and over cut.

Here are a few pictures from our Christmas trip to Washington.

Grandma Brown reading the nativity story from Luke while the little ones act it out.

Christmas morning. What is better than sleepy eyes and messy hair in pjs with nonstop delirious excitement? Presents, rice pudding and chocolate for breakfast? 5 sisters, husbands, kids and parents all in one house? I can't think of anything better.


Gage loved it up. Sat on everyone's lap. Gave hugs and kisses. Made sure the dog was fed. In the mornings he would wander the house asking for Papa until he found him.

Noah was busy everyday with Kate's old play dough ice cream shoppe, sledding, making cookies with Grandma and of course visiting the local hobby shop's model train display with Grandpa.


I couldn't get enough of my sisters. Could one of you please come live next door? Please, at least one. That's all I'm asking...