Christina Unplugged

We were messing around with the camera while we were rolling around on the floor. I held it up and pointed it behind my head and said to Christina,

"I am going to point the camera to where I think you are and take the picture."

Well, who knew it was going to turn out so cute? I think I will take all of my pictures, from now on, with my back to the subject and the camera over my head!

Pretty in Provo

As I have contacted many of my friends during the Holiday Season, so many of them have commented on my abandoned blog. I guess I have missed posting, but I really don't think I have very many interesting things to say. At least when we were living overseas, I had a focus for my posts. I assumed that interest in my blog would die off and eventually be forgotten.

So, here I am happy to report that I will again be starting regular entries, and, I hope some of you will find interest in what I have to offer. I won't try to catch you up on events since my last post, but I will continue with my "happenings" from this point on.

The picture at right is my families most recent shot. We were at church, and we all looked very nice in all of our finery.

The Cat's Hole and Shanghai Bound

Yippee... even the cat is excited to come home. She balked at the cat carrier for about 2 days, then saw that her favorite cushions were inside. Now she never leaves the silly carrier. She gets in there and purrs and purrs, she kneads the cushions and rolls into a ball as much as her fat blubbery body will let her.







Let's see... some other things we are getting done... We have sold all of our 220 volt appliances and electronics. All of my plants are sold. I have sorted through all the goods that are going to charity. I have even cleaned out the extra fridge and sold it to my maids friend Tuna.


We are off to Shanghai this Saturday. We will stay there for 4 days then we fly toXi'An where the Terra'Cotta warriors are being excavated. I hear that is really incredible. Then we will be going to Beijing for several days, I want to ride bikes with all the other Beijinger's, climb the Great Wall and visit the Forbidden City.
One thing we are going to do that is really different is ride the overnite train from Beijing back to Shanghai where we catch the plane back to Singapore. We'll stay in Singapore for the nite then hop up to Penang. I am hoping none of us gets sick. My friend Bonny (who has a 2 month old) will be going with her husband for the Shanghai part of the trip, so we'll be hanging out shopping whilst our menfolk are at business. Sounds like fun to me...

For Malaina

My darling daughter came to Malaysia and fell in love with Indian food. This magnificent feast above here is authentic Penang Tandoori Chicken. It is like none other in the world. I mean that quite literally. In Penang the Indians make it different than Indians in India. In Penang it must be served just like this on a stainless sectioned tray, with red onions, limes and sauces. The green sauce is wonderfully minty, and the red, is dahl. This dish has garlic naan. You can get butter naan, butter-garlic naan, garlic, naan. All is equally good. The chicken is incredibly juicy because it is marinated in yogurt and spices. Real tandooi chicken for us needs to be orange in color. The Asians have a special way of cutting those limes too, for maximum juiciness and no seeds. I promise Malaina, we will get this recipe just right if it takes years!

The rice dish above is usually served on a real banana leaf. The one above is plastic... the cuisine is called Nasi Kandar. Or rice -stick. A hundred years ago the Indian-Muslims would go around and sell their wares balanced from a large stick they carried on their shoulders. Pots of rice on one end and curries on the other. Now we line up to go to their amazing shop houses. This is a typical one above. The patrons circle the food. And you don't leave hungry! Oh my gosh the curries are insanely good. Hot, sweet, chicken, beef, fish. There are wonderful veggies too. The food is Halal the Muslim equivalent of Jewish Kosher. The price is right too. We can eat stuffed to the brim for under 8 USD. Most Nasi Kandar stalls also have various other Indian foods to order like Butter Chicken, Palak Paneer, uuummmm!!

I must confess, these photos come from another blogger, but I am going to go out this week to Little India and take my own photos and eat some chicken. I will also be buying some trays like these above too. I have to stop this blog now because I am getting hungry just thinking about the food, and it's bed time, but that is not usually an issue in Penang because the Nasi Kandar stalls are open 24/7. Agghh

A Strangely Delightful Movie

Stranger Than Fiction with Will Farrell, Dustin Hoffman, Emma Thompson, and the adorable Maggie Gylennhal was filed in the huge collection of DVD's we have amassed so far here in Asia. I hadn't watched it yet because I wasn't sure if I cared to see Will Farrell in such an unusual role. But I am a huge Will Farrell fan, and I just finished it while I sat here at the computer working on other things. I have to say this movie has been one of my favorites that I have seen in a very long time. It was romantic, funny, thoughtful, and all of the characters were so likeable. I can't imagine why it didn't get a bigger response in the theaters.

It is about Harold Krick and his mundane life, and how it all begins to change as Harold becomes the main character in a "blocked" authors latest big book comeback. Harold starts to hear the author as she writes about his life, and he begins to realize that he needs to start living life to the fullest. It was absolutely charming and I love Will Farrell even more after this role. Also, the character that Maggie Gylennhal (the cute Jake Gylennhal's older sister) plays is so totally darling in this as Harolds Love interest. If you happen to be at a video store or you see this on sale at Walmart, it might be something your whole family will like. I will warn you there is one scene where Will Farrell and Dustin Hoffman walk through a YMCA locker room and you see about 4 bare butts of some hairy old farts taking a shower. Other than that there is nothing else that I found questionable.

Cow's milk is for Calves

Other than a bit of hard Cheddar and Parmesean in salads I have pretty much given up on dairy. Cow's milk is very mucus forming and my body is working just fine without it. So far I haven't missed it. We have been using oat milk, and eating this yummy yogurt.
Cashew Yogurt
Makes 2 cups or more
Ingredients
1 cup water
1 cup raw cashews, unsalted
2 capsules of Pro-biotic acidophilous (easily available at a pharmacy)
Preparation
1) There is really no need to soak cashews because they loose a lot of their flavor if you do. Place cashews in a coffe ginder and process them into a powder.
2)Pour the cup of water into a blender and add the cashew powder. Blend until creamy. Open the capsules and stir them in.
3)Place cashew mixture into a glass jar, and cover mouth of jar with a towel of napkin.
4)Place the jar in a warm area
5) Check yogurt after 36 hrs. If a thick layer of curd has formed on top and a layer of whey at the bottom, then transfer it to the fridge. You may eat eat after it has been in the fridge for at least an hour. To eat just simply stir until the whey and curd have mixed.

Then for a special treat make:
Bircher Muesli (a famous Swiss recipe)
to the above yogurt add :
1 cup of rolled old fashioned oats
juice from 1 lemon
1 Granny Smith apple grated
1 guava grated
3 Tablespoons raw unfiltered honey
Mix and let sit in fridge over night. I could eat this everyday!
Your tummy will thank you. Bloating and discomfort will become a thing of your past.

Happy Birthday to the Worlds Sleepiest Girl!!

Malaina turns 19 today. Where has the time gone? At 7 lbs. 11 Oz. she was my smallest baby, but her vocal chords where the strongest! She could scream the house down. Until she was 3 I thought she was insane. The problem was, was that she was a late talker, and her brain was a fast thinker. She couldn't communicate.Times changed, Malaina is the quietest woman now. She is happy to let others lead the discussions, and never wants the limelight. Malaina loves to cuddle and when she cuddles she sleeps. We have a cute collection of photographs of the sleepy Malaina. She has missed lots of good sights because she can't stay awake! The one above was in India! You would not believe the road conditions. You have never seen such potholes! We swerved for cows, people, trash vomit spewing from bus passengers up ahead, you name it we saw it. She slept through it all.This is a picture of Malaina asleep while riding the subway in Tokyo. I don't know how she does it! Granted, Tokyo was so orderly and tame, it was a rather peaceful subway ride. This is one where we are on the way to Hong Kong. I love that she has the same look when she sleeps. She typically sleeps spread eagle on her bed. She wears ear plugs, and an eye mask. We Gaddis' are serious about our sleep!

Happy birthday Malaina. I wish you a peaceful night's sleep. Enjoy it now before school starts in the fall!

I've Gone Coconuts!

Last week when in Ko Samui, Thailand, I learned how valuable the coconut is. We drank several coconuts each, and it is amazing how good we felt afterward. I wanted to share this info with you.
I believe it helped me kick my salt addiction!

Here is some information about Coconut Water:
"It's a natural isotonic beverage, with the same level of electrolytic balance as we have in our blood. It's the fluid of life, so to speak." In fact, during the Pacific War of 1941-45, both sides in the conflict regularly used coconut water - siphoned directly from the nut - to give emergency plasma trasfusions to wounded soldiers.
Most coconut water is still consumed fresh in tropical coastal areas - once exposed to air, the liquid rapidly loses most of its organoleptic and nutritional characteristics, and begins to ferment.
Coconut Water is More Nutritious than whole milk - Less fat and NO cholesterol!
Coconut Water is More Healthy than Orange Juice - Much lower calories
Coconut Water is Better than processed baby milk- It contains lauric acid, which is present in human mother's milk
Coconut water is naturally sterile -- Water permeates though the filtering husk!
Coconut water is a universal donor-- Its identical to human blook plasma
Coconut Water is a Natural Isotonic Beverage - The same level we have in our blood.
Coconut water has saved lives in 3rd world countries thru Coconut IV.
"Coconut water is the very stuff of Nature, biologically Pure, full of Natural Sugars, Salts, and Vitamins to ward off fatigue... and is the next wave of energy drinks BUT natural!", according to Mortin Satin, Chielf of the United Nation's Food & Agriculture Organization.
Coconut water contains more potassium (at about 294 mg) than most sports drinks (117 mg) and most energy drinks.
Coconut water has less sodium (25mg) where sports drinks have around 41mg and energy drinks have about 200 mg!
Coconut water has 5mg of Natural Sugars where sports and energy drinks range from 10-25mg of Altered Sugars.
Coconut water is very high in Chloride at 118mg, compared to sports drinks at about 39mg.
Data is based on a 100ml drink.

Two Trips for the Road

Right below is Pulau Tioman. We had not really ventured to the East Coast of Malaysia before. My good friend Karen found a delightful place that slept her family of 6 and the 3 of us. So we drove about 8 hours each way. We all liked road trips and it was good highway the entire stretch. Pulau Tioman is the setting of Bali Hai from the musical South Pacific! You can see a picture here of the high jagged peak. It really was lovely. The water surrounding it was so clean and blue. Not Caribbean blue but a lovely rich deep blue. Kind of like swimming pool with dark blue tiles instead of sky blue ones. We did some snorkeling, hiking, spa wraps, yum.


Then a week after we got back from the beautiful island of Tioman, Christina and I went to Koh Samui, Thailand for 7 days. I was told by a friend of the great new direct flight to Koh Samui originating in Penang. I checked it out and I decided to look for a fun "backpacker" style of trip, since Koh Samui is a really big backpacker stop. As I was surfing I hit upon an interesting website for "internal cleansing". I was facinated, it was like I had found the door to Narnia! I knew this was the answer to my eternal yeast problems! http://dharmahealingintl.com is the coolest thing since the Red Sox won the Series! Let's just say I have one CLEAN colon!

Great Friends/Happy Children

I just got back here to Penang after a 2 week visit to Utah. My primary travel purpose was to see my girls Jordan and Malaina who are BYU students there. Also, Malaina is in the BYU Guitar Ensemble and she had a performance. WOW!! We had a wonderful visit. I was able to spend every day with Jordan, and only missed seeing Malaina 3 or 4 days of the entire trip. All and all, as a mother who was starved for the company of her kids, I was emotionally fed. They are so independant and well off. I really don't have anything to worry about except the normal Mom worries like, safety, nutrition, boys etc.. Heavenly Father has blessed our family in ways we cannot comprehend. I also enjoyed the peak bloom time. Spring was busting out all over. I saw countless lilacs, tulips and daffodils. And in typical Utah fashion it snowed several inches at my parents house. I scraped off snow for the first time in years!


While I was there I came to one very important conclusion. I hope I can put it in words here. My good friend Sherri offered to organize a lunch date for me and a few friends from my neighborhood/Ward church group who weren't working etc. She had a list of about ten invitees. Many of them couldn't attend and I was sad not to see them, but I know they love me. There...that sums it up. They love me. They will continue to love me even through my faults , nasty temper, impatience and sometimes unlikeable behavior. I don't have to pretend to be something I'm not around them. We can have disagreements, (many of us have) get over it ,carry on and just love each other. My friends who were able to meet for lunch were happy to see me, happy to hear about some of my adventures and once those stories were out of the way it was just so fun to talk about school issues, family issues, proms, making ends meet, getting ready for a new baby, dealing with husbands and kids etc. There was absolutely no awkwardness around them. I have been gone along time, but I felt like I hadn't been gone at all. I don't have to worry if they are going to judge me because I'm fat, or my clothes aren't trendy, or if they get offended will they dump me as their friend or who's husband has the most important job. They just included me. There is an old saying..."you can never go home again." Well I can promise you that these women have proven that saying WRONG. I did go home, I will go home, and we will pick where we left off. I miss them so much and I love them dearly. All of them.

Ghost in the Toilet

The title of this is real, and true. Okay, there are huge superstions here among the locals. Several of them believe in ghosts! A few of the women at Dave's office began to complain and become frightented of the Woman's bathroom. They swore it was haunted. So, they all got together and requested that Intel rid the toilet of the ghost. So believe it or not Intel has in it's budget to provide for these circumstances. They have brought in a Bomoh (Malaysian medium) to preform a ritual to rid the bathroom of the ghost. So, the ladies were talking with Dave at his cubicle expressing their fear... Dave told them "Clear that bathroom, and I'll go in there and take a big massive shit, and you won't ever hear from that ghost again!" He said only one of the women understood the significance of that statement, and laughed her head off. The rest of them just stared at him with questioning looks on their faces.

There are many other instances where our crude American humor/slang goes "whoosh" over the heads of the locals here. Dave and Christina have a date night every Saturday where they walk next door to the mall and see a movie. Well, all the movies here are censured for nudity, and violence here, as well as profanity, so they can see any movie they like . But even the Malaysian censors cannot begin to understand what to edit in a African/American humor movie like Eddie Murphy's Norbit, so tons of funny stuff gets by. Anyway they were at the movie and it was packed. They were the only Americans, in the theatre. When Eddie would pop out a joke, Dave and Christina were rolling in the isle screaming with laughter at the toilet humor. The rest of the auditorium was dead quiet. They came home with side aches. Granted, Eddie Murphy is really raunchy and falls right in line with Gaddis style humor, but I thought it was funnier hearing about the audience's lack of reaction.

Why no Posts

Okay, I haven't posted in a month! I have good reasons. I had Lasik about 5 weeks ago. I am reasonably happy with it,---but.... I still have some astigmatism in both eyes that needs taking care of. I don't understand why they blundered on the first try, and just thinking about doing it again makes my eyes water. I was miserable the first 5 hours. It felt like all my eyelashes were poking me in the eyes at the same time. For some reason the Malaysians don't like to use pain medication either. They sent me home with Ponstan... how stupid is that? Then I had some other surgery 3 weeks ago that was gruesome and horrifically painful. The road to recovery is slow and I won't post online the reasons for that. Some things have to remain secret.. So those two things combined have kept me from sitting at the computer. I do get to my email about 2 times a week.
'
Okay that said, I want to share with you an incredible article I found on-line. Some background. Malaysia is notorious for pirating DVD's. I think this country ranks 3rd worldwide behind Russia and China for pirating. Well, this article was such a bad show for Malaysia, that they wouldn't even print it in the paper. Read it and see http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2007/03/22/1174153233642.html

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.