Chinese New Year Penang Style

This picture was in the Malaysia Star Newspaper last Tuesday. My friend Jill next to me loves everything Chinese. As you can see her home is beautifully decorated with bamboo, and various pictures. Well she had a friend at the paper who wanted to do a photo op with her. The Title of the article was "American Twist to CNY" (Chinese New Year). They needed some extra bodies to toss the "Yee Sam" , a traditional raw fish salad served at CNY. We are all tossing with chopsticks in our very traditional Chinese clothes. Jill has lived in Penang for 5 years and 5 years in Singapore before that. She takes Mandarin, and she practices Feng Shui and Qigong (a mental practice). The lady in the pink with the boy is my friend Karen from Florida. She is LDS too and a great sounding board for me. I like this picture because it makes me look really skinny. I got tons of calls from friends saying I looked so thin.

Chinese New Year in Penang is celebrated the full 15 days. They start out by cleaning and sweeping everysingle corner of the house. Then the broom won't be touched for fear of sweeping out the good luck! In America we are used to eating Manarin oranges from the can. Here in Penang they are in great abundance in the fresh variety. They are given to hosts as good luck gifts in 2's or 4's. Also all unmarried children, guards, drivers etc. are given an Ang Pow. An Ang Pow or Hong Bow is a little red envelope filled with money. Red is Luck, Gold Prosperity. The Chinese are very superstitious and love the word Auspicious adj: encouraging, favorable, luck prosperous etc.. There are dozens of Chinese superstitions around this time of year, and we are having a blast getting in on the fun. We will probably always celebrate Chinese New Year as a major holiday now for the rest of our lives. Gong Xi Fa Cai !

Thipusam in Penang

Thipusam is a Hindu holy day devoted to Lord Murgha. It is widely celebrated in Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Penang. Most Indians in India have no clue about this celebration that is such a big part of the Indian Community here. Malaysian Hindus who feel their prayers and wishes have been answered offer sacrifice or Ponggal to Lord Murgha for his blessings on them. They show their gratitude in the form of physical piercings and offerings of milk and flowers. In the following pictures you can see the various hooks holding little metal orbs of milk that are hooked through the sacrifants skin. You can also see some of the piercings go through the cheeks, nose, lips and tounge. I believe there are other cultures who do this as well.

Then the devotee will walk several miles to the temple of Lord Murgha here in Penang to offer Ponggal. Sometimes they pull great weights from the hooks on their backs as Christina is showing here in frot of a cute statue of the Elephant God Ganesha. During this Holiday that lasts for 3 days there is a very festive atmosphere and all Hindus are dressed to kill and enjoy dancing and feasting the night away.

This lovely picture of the Indian family is of our favorite taxi driver Danieel and his wife. It is great to go to festivals, the mall, a restaurant and run into friends! Danieel has become a good friend of Dave's. They have had the funniest conversations! When Dave asked if his marriage was arranged by his parents, he said "No sir! ...love match!" I think he got the good end of the stick if you ask me because she is beautiful!

Dave is standing next to a darling set of sisters whose dress is typical of the festive nature of the day. We truly have fallen in love with the Indian culture. We love the food, dress, music, movies, festivals, but most of all the people. We feel very blessed to know them well. We never ever would have had the chance to understand them if we hadn't come to Malaysia.

I think I can speak for all of my family when I say...."India?
I can live there."

College Minx Update

Please note the coats. Yes, Daddy was unable to resist forking out the bucks once he saw this picture. What father could? I am happy to report that said coats are keeping warm the backsides of the two Minxes. One of the reasons we are overseas is so that we can help out the girls with school, even if it is only for a couple of years.

Jordan just celebrated her 20th birthday last weekend. She was born at the peak of winter in one of the snowiest days on record in West Michigan. However she is the sunshine of our lives. From the time she was able to smile, she did so constantly. She only cried when she was hurt and she never whined. Malaina was born in the Spring of the following year, and all she did for 3 months was cry. In fact all she did for 3 years was cry. I thought she was insane. I would lay in bed at night and cry to Dave that our daughter was crazy. Thank heaven it was just that her brain was too advanced for her speech skills. Once both were in sinc, she was and still is a DREAM CHILD.

Where did the years go? From the crib to the dorm...

from the baby to the college minx... life is good.

Cambodian Christmas

My goodness, it seems like ages since this was updated. Let me first start by saying I was in Motherhood heaven having my two oldest babies with me for two weeks. I missed them from the depths of my soul. However, they are on the right track in their lives pursuing their educations and I know they are in the right place! It has been a beautiful thing watching my children fly into adulthood. They have had the opportunity to face decisions and trials without Mom and Dad right next to them. It has been wonderful to see them grow.

We know we are living a surreal sort of existence for a time. It has its ups and downs, but, for the most part we are truly grateful for being here in this mysterious part of the world. Wow.. Cambodia! Who would have ever thought we Gaddis' from good ole' Provo would have ever set foot in this land? It is a beautiful place too. It is heartbreakingly poor. But the people of Cambodia are fiercely proud of their county. When ever I visit a new place I try to do my geography and history homework so I can better appreciate my stay. Cambodia has overcome huge obstacles and they still do as there are more that 3 million live landmines still in this country! As you can tell from some of these photos they have a very rich history as well. Many of these ruins were built in the 10th century. Many archaeologists are agog at the magnitude of such an undertaking. These ruins are the largest religious ruins in the world! They span miles and miles of countryside. Some of the stones quarried from these ruins are from quarries many km. away. How did they accomplish such a thing?

These photos are from Kampung Ppluck. A village built on 15 foot high stilts way out on the verge of the largest lake in Southeast Asia. Why the stilts? Well to accomodate the rise and fall of the lake! It looked like scene from a movie set. This was the highlight of my Cambodia trip. We were the only tourists here. It took 2 hours by boat to reach this village. I am throwing the pants away! I can't believe the girls let me leave the hotel looking like I did.

My kids have former schoolmates from all over the world now. One cute story they tell is of a friend and her sister from Phenom Penn, Cambodia. These sisters are children of Christian missionaries and have lived in Cambodia all their lives. One summer when they were home (they are boarding at Dalat Intl. School where the girls went)and they were driving and saw Angelina Jolie in the car next to them! The one sister started shouting... "Angelina, Angelina!!" Angelina rolled down her window and beckoned for them to come closer to talk to her. The girls were so startled that they sped off giggling on their motorcycle, leaving Angelina in the dust.

You can see the ruins that were made famous from the Tomb Raider movie here with us in front of them. We feel really fortunate to have visited Cambodia. It was very inspiring.

We did come home extremely sick with Traveler's tribulation. I was so sick I wanted to crawl into a hole and die. I spent a good 5 days recuperating and 2 more weeks getting over the main troubling symptom that makes a person need her bathroom!

We ran into a set of Senior Missionaries at AngkorWat! Small world:)

Woman on the Verge

Okay, I don't have a picture, but I want you to imagine this... A woman hasn't had a sub sandwich in months. She found out a Subway Sandwich store was coming to her neighborhood/state/country. It was going to be 8 blocks away from her home. She drove past the construction site weekly, slowly, carefully and plotted her downfall into carbohydrate prison. She knew exactly what she was going to order. A footlong tuna on harvest wheat, chips, and to make herself feel better about her caloric intake, a Diet Coke. She was going to valiantly fore go the cookies because she had to maintain some hint of a waistline, she was in control.

Next image... the woman finally fulfills her craving, she is in Submarine Sandwich bliss. Her mouth is slightly oily from the mayo, her stomach distended from the sandwich, chips and coke, all is right in her sorry little mind, her pathetic little world where food is king. Her fixation is fixed, just like a junkie after shooting up. No sooner did she wipe clean her mouth, the woman learns there is a TGI Fridays that was just built in her town only about 5 miles from her home.......

Tales of a Traveler I

This is a great little picture I found while I was organizing some of my photos. Last June we stole off to Bali,Indonesia. We are outside of a fabulous city called UBUD. This grouping is a holy Hindu site that was quite recently unearthed. The Hindu priests guideing the tour insisted we have our knees covered. I at least had long pants on. and we were all asked if we were menstruating. If we had been, we would not have been allowed to enter. (At least 20% of our family was, but we lied). The others had to wear robes provided by the temple. We all had to wear sashes even me. This black and white gingham fabric was found draped all over the island on holy grounds.

90% of Indonesia is Muslim, however 90% of Bali is Hindu. They practice a really weird form of Hinudism that doesn't really resemble the practices of the Indian Hindu.

The picture of the baskets in this building are actually cocks that have been raised most carefully for fighting. These cock fights are carried out at the numerous Hindu temples found on every little back street of the towns and cities. It is some sort of rite. Hinduism is really very open to interpretation and literally any action or activity can be called a rite or belief.

One interesting thing about Bali...the humidity was quite low, and the weather closer to the ocean was more arid. The weather was in the 70' or low 80's and was a delightful change from Penang's constant heat and humidity.

Most Excellent YW in Excellence

We had our Young Women in Excellence today after church. I was particularly fond of these two displays:) Christina did some excellent work this year. She is nearly done with Personal Progress! She just has to work on the Value Projects of 5 of the Values. Most of the Experiences are done. As you can kind of tell from the picture below, her Value Project for Knowledge was to learn a new skill that can be used in the home. She is learning to sew. Good Work Christina.
Can you tell one of my favorite colors is orange! I love Choice and Accountability. I was especially thrilled that all of the Young Women are working on Personal Progress at some level. When we first came here most of them didn't even know about the program. I am signing off lots of Experiences monthly now from all of the girls.

Minx One and Minx 2

Jordan and Malaina, college coed's .... BYU coed's no less. Sorry but those lame dumb jokes about "how can you tell a BYU coed is walking behind you ...because you can hear her knuckles dragging" don't apply to these girls. Dave also said "Why are there no swimming pools at BYU?" Answer: "Too many harpoonings". (Isn't he bad?) Aren't relevant here either.

I love the way my girls depend on each other for moral support and friendship. I truly believe they are best friends.

Blogged by Blogger

Okay here is the Clove picture I was trying to upload on the last blog I published. I don't want to dwell too much on this subject, because I just did a few days ago. But I liked this picture and I wanted to share it.

I am about 9/10 of the way to moving this blog to a new location. I have had a really hard time with the photo upload tool. I am not terribly computer challenged either. So I just think it should be more reliable. Before I do move, I would like to get any opinions of the Blogger Beta with the Google enhancements. Also, if anyone has suggestions as to improving my luck with uploading, I'd like to hear about it.

I don't care about formating, of even really with the looks or asthetics of the blog page. I just expect it to be dependable.

Christmas List

Penang has a great Little India. A friend and I were there yesterday, and I couldn't resist loading up on spices. It is a cooks Nirvana. I wish I could send the smell through the computer. I couldn't resist a picture in front of a huge barrel of whole cloves. I will let you all know of our return date and I hope you send me spice requests. FYI-- a small box of Saffron is only $3.00. Cardamom pods are pennies, those whole cloves were maybe a dollar for 50 grams. Nutmeg grows on trees here in Penang and they sell the fruits all over the island, so the seeds (our ground nutmeg) are very plentiful and cheap.

This is a cute getting to know you list that a friend sent. I think it will be perfect to use here.
1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? Hot Chocolate

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? Our Santa just complains about the cost. When the kids were little we rarely wrapped.

3. Colored lights on tree/house or white? Colored tree, white house. Only if Dave puts them up.

4. Do you hang mistletoe? no. We just kiss everyone at random.

5. When do you put your decorations up? first week of December. Take em down the 26th.

6. What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)? Homemade Tamales

7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child? Traveling home via Federal Ave. in Denver and listening to the radio updates of Santa sightings. I was so excited to get home and go to sleep.

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? I think my brother told me when I was about 10

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? Yes, when I have bought presents, my kids like money.

10. How do you decorate your Christmas Tree? I have about 5 different tree decoration sets. A homespun crafty, chili pepper, blue, cranberry and brass , and a kids decorations set. I rotate, Just like Marie Osmond.

11. Snow! Love it or Dread it? Snow IS CHRISTMAS!!!

12. Can you ice skate? I used to be able to, not sure if I could any more

13. Do you remember your favorite gift? 50$ my brother gave Dave and I when we were starving students. That was so touching!

14. What's the most important thing about the Holidays for you? God sent his Son to save the world.

15. What is your favorite Holiday dessert? Pumpkin pie, hands down, no discussion.

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? Making hundreds of Tamales as a family, then eating them until we burst. Then feeling that satisfaction of passing on a tradition to my kids.

17.What tops your tree? An angel or star depending on the year.

18. Which do you prefer giving or receiving? Giving

19. What is your favorite Christmas Song? O Come All Ye Faithful. I always get the warm fuzzies and a burst of Christmas joy.

20. Candy Canes yuk or yum? yum! Only if they are peppermint!

Cockroach Hysteria

Okay, we got two new fish. When Christina and I lifted off the aquarium top, we saw a dark red cockroach scatter into the filter/pump area. We were astounded with the size of this monster. I think it has been living in the aquarium top, living off the moisture and slime for 2 years. It had to be at least 2 years old!! It was just a smidgen smaller than the one at left.

since our man Dave is in India for the week, we called Willis Stebbins our 10th grade neighbor on the 13th floor to come up and help us kill it . He came and took one look at it and was floored by its size. He was not going near that thing. So we called Danny Sullivan, the buildings resident bug afficionado up to kill this thing. This is a 12 year old boy who collects scorpions, centipedes, and even had a small cockroach friend. Even he said, "Too big." So here we were; no one wanted to deal with it, but there is no way I could sleep knowing it was there. The fate of this bad boy fell in my hands. This insect was in a location where it was impossible to smash with a shoe or newspaper, the only way to get it was to manually kill it.

As we were all screaming and freaking out; I took a pair of scissors and bravely manuvered it into a position where I could wack off its head. Do you know what kind of courage this took? That cockroach could have easily run up the blade of the scissors and scattered up my arm and into my open screaming mouth!! I closed my eyes, guessed as to the location of the insect and quick as a cat, snipped that head right off.

Mercifully the body and head fell into the water where it continued to jiggle and squiggle for an obscene amount of time. Even its guts where leaching out into the water. It was so insanely gross that the fish wouldn't go near it. So Christina and Willis fished it out with the skimmer and Willis disposed of it for us. I have yet to work up the nerve to pick up the scissors and sterilize them with rubbing alchohol. I would rather deal with a rat than a cockroach. We live on the 27th floor! Our aquarium is in the office! That cockroach came with the stupid aquarium over 2 years ago from the dealer!!! AGGH!!!

Planes, Trains and Automobiles

We went on an incredible trip to Simply Sensational Singapore. It was a lovely trip. We were however quite unprepared for the cost. The plane fare from Penang was expensive and we, ever the penny pinchers, were looking for a good way to save money. Instead of going directly
to Singapore. We elected to fly into Johor Baru. A state in Malaysia just over the border and across a narrow strait of water. Our trip into Singapore was a success! We saved tons of money and we just had a bit of inconvience at the border. We had a taxi take us straight to the hotel. Our hotel was located right on Orchard Drive just above the MRT subway system. We gorged ourselves on Burger King burgers, and visited one of the worlds best zoos. We shopped at amazing stores, like Zara, Tang's, Chanel, Dolce and Gabbana, Cartier. We stocked up on books at Borders, and even made a trip into Little India. We had the chance to watch General Conference with other Singapore residents too. We went to the Mandarin Hotel and sat in the Grand Ballroom that the stake rented for that very purpose.


When the time came to go back home to Penang little did we know what was in store for us. We awoke at 6:00 am to get ready for our 9:30 flight. Keep in mind the Johor Baru airport is only about 45 minutes away. We asked the good folks at the Marriott to arrange a taxi for us to drop us at the airport. The average person would assume that since we arrived by taxi we could leave by taxi. However, our first mistake was to assume. I mean, ASSUME Malaysia would keep things as simple as Singapore did. Ha!

1. Marriott folks kept us waiting for taxi arrangements for 30 minutes. We finally went out and caught our own.
2. The driver was a Chinese Joe Pesci-like character who couldn't stop talking and laughing and making fun of everything Malaysian. Very irritating at 7:30 am.
3. We got to the Checkpoint and had to walk about 1/2 a mile 8:00.
4. Then we had to wait in line at the checkpoint. Go through the border, and try to find the correct bus to drive us to the Malaysian border checkpoint.
5. We waited for the correct bus and lucky for us it arrived about 15 minutes after we arrived, and we still had our EZ-Link bus passes with us left over from the MRT subway.
6. We got off the bus and walked the wrong way because we followed the sign that said "imbarcation cards this way". Next time we will ignore the info. signs and just follow the crowd. By now it is 8:30. Our plane leaves at 9:20.
7. We found a taxi driver and followed him to his car about 100 yards away. Traffic around the checkpoint was quite heavy.
8. He drove very fast, and we began to relax a bit realizing we just might make our plane. Then we hit a traffic jam that went on for miles and miles. Parking lot slow.
9. We then realized that it would be a miracle if we didnt' miss our plane. We got to the airport at 9:10. They would not let us board the plane. The next plane with AirAsia wouldn't leave until the next day. Dave went to buy tickets from Malaysia Air but that flight didn't leave until 3:50. We decided to get tickets for Tiny and I to Penang, leaving at 10:30 with AirAsia and Dave would wait til 3:50 to fly to Kuala Lumpur to pick up our car that was waiting for us at the Hotel we stayed at the day before we flew into Singapore.
10. Only AirAsia could not process our credit cards of which we tried 3 before giving up. Dave said he was ready to start swearing like Steve Martin did in the "Planes, Trains and Automobiles" when he wanted to rent a car to get home. He gave up trying AirAsia, and just went over to Malaysia Air and bought 3 tickets to KL.
11. We made ourselves a fixture at the "Coffee Bean" we were the guests who would not leave. We plugged in our lap tops and palm pilots and sat there for 6 hours, occasionally buying things to keep them from kicking us out.
12. We got on the plane and went uneventfully to KL and took the train in to our hotel. Got lost at the huge train station, but painfully made it back alive to the car. We had the hotel give us very detailed instructions on how to get back to the North-South Expressway.
13. Sadly we got lost the minute we left the driveway. We ended up in downtown Kuala Lumpur at the height of rush hour. Luckily it was still daylight and it only took us an hour to navigate ourselves out of the hole we dug.
14. We drove up to Ipoh and had terrific Nasi Kandar for dinner about 9:00 and then drove into our parking space at home about 10:45.

All and all Singapore was great fun. A beautiful big city that will be fun to return to again and again. Next time around though, I think I'll save some money and take the expensive flight directly to Singapore.

The Funtastic Night Market

We took Elders Delaney and Giles to the night market in Batu Ferringhi last night. Elder Delany is going home to Australia in a week and he had not been to Penang's greatest night market. The market is situated along the street of a mile long stretch of "hotel" row about 4 miles north of where we live. The market has oodles and oodles of colorful, brashy, tacky, beautiful, noisy, cheap, counterfit and wonderful touristy treasures. You can get any cd, dvd, designer purse, imaginable. There are wonderful batiks, pewter containers, and other local goodies as well just for the bargaining. I came home with 6 new cds and the second season of Numbers. I purchased everything for under 10 dollars. Yes I am a thief. But to my own defense, there are no places to purchase dvd's let alone rent them. So we have to buy them from the bad guys. (how is that for rationalizing??) We met this cute Auntie last night. (in the photo with Dave. ) She had blue eyes like Dave, she spoke very good English and we fell in love with her. Her name is Madam Lim, and she was born and raised here on the Island of Penang. She is part of the reason Penang is the Pearl of the Orient. The rich culture and friendliness of the local people is beyond compare. The Chinese have kept their lovely traditions as is evident in the food, clothing, and celebrations here.

Doughnuts Make You Fat

We cannot get doughnuts in Malaysia. A real cake donut is something we Gaddis' not only crave, but need with every fiber of our bodies. I have been doing some research online to find a do-able recipe, one that will satisfy and put a gut bomb in the tummy with the greatest of ease. Last July, I even bought 2 doughnut gizmos to help me acheive perfection. While these didn't taste like I had hoped, they sure look pretty. I will keep trying cake doughnut recipes until I am satisfied. Until then, I will probably gain lots of weight, testing and testing.

My Life Surrounded by Girls

Christina turned 14 last Saturday. She invited every single girl in her class to come to have birthday cake and sing Karaoke. Seventeen out of eighteen girls came. It was a bit touchy at first because a handful of these girls are not friends of Christina, in fact they have made her life miserable at times. But, being a kind and thoughtful person, she was adamant that all the girls would get invited. They all came and hatchets were buried. We went over to "Redbox". Redbox is a huge Karaoke club. They have over 60 rooms of all different sizes with excellent equipment in them. Redbox feeds you and waits on you and you sit in the room (ours had a dance floor and huge wall sized screen) and sing your heart out. Thanks girls for the great time!

I would be remiss if I didn't mention the delightful Young Women at church. Can I tell you that the Lord has prepared the most magnificent future leaders possible here in Malaysia! All of these girls speak at least 3 languages, and can write in them as well. They attend early morning seminary and are all working on Personal Progress, and progessing!! I love them so much. The leadership in our branch is wonderful as well. This photo was taken last Sunday the 10 of Sept.

Christina is basically an only child now. Her older sisters are adults living 10,000 miles away. Our life is so full and complete with her. Dave and I love and adore here and we appreciate her desire to make good choices and live righteously. We look at Christina and wonder where the last 14 years went? We savor these last few years with her at home more than you can ever know.

Comfort Food ..Thanks Grandma

4 cups flour
4 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. salt
2 T. Crisco
1 1/2 to 1 3/4 cup warm water

Incorporate well the shortening into the dry ingredients with your hands.
Slowly add the warm water until a nice dough forms, not too wet, not too dry.
Knead for 5 minutes.
Divide into nice round golfball sized pieces.
Roll them out nice and thin and round.
Cook them on a medium hot griddle and you have Flour Tortillas.

This is my ultimate idea of comfort food. I don't think I ever was at my grandmother Lucero's house when she didn't have homemade tortillas on hand. Now I make them so seldom it is a shame. I guess other things take my time and I forget the simple things that make me happy. Yesterday I made Chorizo, from my Grandmother's secret recipe that my Mother gave me years ago. I cannot tell you how happy I was today at dinner, scambled eggs with Chorizo and fried potatoes and fresh tortillas! Poor people food that I grew up taking for granted. Eating this simple meal took me back to humble yet sturdy kitchen tables laden with food made with love by strong women who knew how to feed not only the body, but the soul as well. Wow! Now that is comfort.

Sugar is the "Gellical" cat of Malaysia

Here is a wonderful comparison of a fat American and a fat Chinese.....cat. The cat above weighs 15 kilos or 31 pounds to westerners. Our cat on the left, Sugar, weighs 11 kilos or 23pounds. People come into our home and they are caught totally off guard by the freakishly fat and very big boned cat. Once the scare factor is over, they are totally enthralled and cannot belive what they are seeing. We had a big party last Christmas and Sugar was the "freak" at the show. We should have charged one dollar a peek, it would have paid for the party. There was a constant stream of people lined up to see her laying on Jordan's bed.

Sugar is totally unlike a Malaysian cat. Malaysian cats are 99% scrawny , short haired and stubby tailed. The gene pool likely has not had very much influx for centuries. Any pure bred cats are kept indoors and well guarded and strays are shooed away . The street cats are on their own to face the harsh realites of life here. Dogs, huge rats, disease , abandonment and humans and all that that entails.

(the clipping of the fat cat from China comes from APpic , taken from the Star Newspaper one year ago)

From Mullet to Magical

Malaina got a wild hair literally a week ago or so. She impulsively got it cut at a really bad place by a really bad hair stylist. She went home nearly in tears and totally disgusted. Long story short, she called my niece Toni and went up to Sandy to get it fixed. It is probably the best haircut she ever had. Not only is it cute as can be, it is easy for her to fix. Shown here is my beautiful 18 year old BYU freshman.
Malaina says "Hat's off to Toni". I agree.

AWAS (caution) Cindy on crutches

Okay, I was getting up from a nap to answer the phone tripped on some slippers, WHAM went down, and I conciously made an effort to avoid a twisted ankle so I fell on the hardwood floor on the side of my foot and snaped a bone. I was laying on the floor, and I called to my maid Kanit, to get me some ice. She comes in with a big bag of ice and plops it on my painfully sore foot. Then she tries to rub the pain out of my foot. I ask her as nicely as I can to "please take her hands off my broken foot and stop rubbing it!' She just walks away shaking her head saying "Aye-yah!" Thinking that I must be a namby-pamby to whine about a tiny little bruise.

Really, I am doing as well as can be expected. I have good neighbors and friends buying groceries and bringing me cookies. Next week I will trying swimming some laps to maintain some sort of cardio health. Speaking of health. The doctor I go to is excellent. They have excellent digital x-rays, and state of the art phyisotherapy as well. As soon as I figure out how to post pictures here on this site I will do so. Any one out there have any ideas? When I am creating a message, I click on the add image button, but nothing happens.

Pioneer Day in Malaysia

Last night we had the greatest Pioneer Day Celebration as a branch. We had a great pot luck. Oh my gosh... the variety of food we get is fantastic. Curries, salads, desserts, noodles, rice dishes. My favorite new Malaysian hybrid is the curry puff. A tender piece of deep fried pastry folded around succulent curried potatoes and chicken. The only "pioneer"food we had was the potato salad (boring) that I brought.
We had fun games, the primary sang a pioneer song, and one of the Elders gave a presentation on Pioneers. We may not be in Utah, but the Saints here know all about faith in every footstep. What a great bunch of people, pioneering together right here in Penang.