Are you still here???

...


The hot question right now... "are you still here"... Yes we have about 20 days left in Singapore and people are starting to come back from early summer vacations and this is what I get "you are still here"... then that is followed with are you staying... and I say we have plans to leave at the end of the month and then they say "we have heard that before"... well yes they are right... we still do not have tickets but we are pretty sure we will be out of here by the 20th of July.

We are still in the midst of saying alot of goodbye's... I think we will for the next 20 days... we are having alot of last with people that we are adore... The pics below are all of me with my friends but Blake has also been having some guy nights but they never take the camera... so this is all I got for you...

These 2 girls have quickly become dear to my heart... Gillian and Jessica and I were made for each other... We have laughed together, we have cried together, we have also gotten on each others nerves (but that is what good friends do...) and I definitely see Christ in them... they each have shown me little pieces of heaven and the light we are to show the world. I love you girls and will miss you so much.

Blake was invited to a Gala last week by some c0-workers (yes that is Ron Lee)... we had to scrounge some clothes together to look presentable... but I think we turned out pretty nice.

Jamie (jackson, issac and miles' mom) have alot of common traits and it took us a while to become friends... bc we both looked up to each other so much... it came out later that we share with each other... at first I thought oh I want to be like her... she is so cute and so happy and such a great mom and she felt the exact same way (or that is what she said :-0)... we went to Disney Land together and Pierce loves her boys... wish we had more time... some people say we even look like sisters... what do you think?

My first experience at a proper tea... wow was it good... I had the best white tea with scones with jam and whip... yum yum... Jessica was leaving for the states the next day but I we will have a tea again... I know.

I owe Stephanie a lot... I got to say goodbye to Stephanie last week (with some tea) and I was able to thank her for getting me involved at IBC. I had been in Singapore for 6 weeks when she signed me up to teach at VBS and go to MOPS... When I think of God's army... I see Stephanie's face for sure...

House Guest turns into Best Buddy!

...



For the past week we have had a house guest (our new pastor's son)... IBC is getting a new pastor that is coming from Houston and on their last trip here they left their eldest son here to enjoy Singapore and do some traveling... Austin has stayed with many families while here and we finally got our turn.... He has turned out to be a huge blessing to us and a great buddy for Pierce... they are best pals and Pierce loves having him around.

Our last outing... the Jurong Bird Park...look how happy this boy is...

We are going to be sad to see him go... it will be so quiet in the house, Pierce will be bored but the refrigerator will have food in it :-)...

Watching the world cup tournament...

...


The World Cup is huge here... I can not ever remember a time being more involved in what is going on in the world cup tournament... every where you go that has a TV, they have it set up with the game and it is packed... the games come on at night time here and most of them are played at 2:30 am... Our neighbor is from England and he loves "football"... so we decided to get together and watch last nights game with him... Since he was routing for England and we were for USA and we were not playing each other.. we had to set up 2 TV's... now this was tricky... one TV was running on the cable box and the other (not as clear) was running from a sling box in the states hook up from the computer... it was awesome... and the best part was that everyone was happy... England won and USA won... I guess we will have to plan another night like this one..

We just need a bigger couch or more sitting room (you think someone could talk to our land lord)... ???

Heaven... must be heaven... Go USA!

I never want to see another one of these again...

...


I never want to see another one of these again...
A note from daddy to family after he left Pierce and I at the hospital.. for a night stay:

"Just after a great Father's Day though I get the Bad Daddy award as Pierce slipped out of my arms from about 2-3 ft off the floor while playing this evening and hit his head hard on the granite floor. He screamed at first and then he went quiet for about 10-15 seconds in my arms where Camille saw his arms stiffen and wrists go backwards like he was going to have a seizure. We are not sure he had one and he could of just been quiet for a couple of seconds (there was no cut, no blood, no wound, no knot, etc.), but scared us nonetheless. We took him to the emergency room where he acts like nothing happened running around and playing, but they had him stay overnight as a precautionary measure (all of the doctors say he shows absolutely no symptoms of internal head trauma and should be discharged tomorrow with a clean bill of health) Camille is with him as we couldn't all fit in the room. We'll keep you guys posted, but again there doesn't appear to be anything to it."

Blake did a great job explaining what happened but he left out (probably on purpose) that I totally freaked out... When I came around the corner and saw my son with his eyes shut and stiff that I lost it... soon this orange/brown stuff started coming out of his mouth which I thought was vomit (later to find out it was a piece of chewed up caramel candy)... I scooped him up and off we went to the hospital.

As soon as we arrived at the hospital he had calmed down and was walking and talking... I do have to say that I was very thankful at this point... still worried but thankful that it could have been way worse and thankful as I saw all these other children with breaks, scratches and blood on them... God answered our prayers in healing whatever was wrong with him.

The protocol at the hospital we went to was for all head traumas for them to be admitted and watched over night... which we did... and Pierce did ok.. but by noon the next day he was begging to go home and that we did... discharged with a clean bill or health we headed home for some rest... which was much needed since Pierce was up until 12:30am the night before and I was awake from all the emotions until 3:45 am... we came home and crashed...

The next night we grabbed the camera to see if we could do a little reenactment for you... Blake started out with a blanket... put Pierce inside (this is usually an after bath game with the bath towel) and that is when the swinging began (with a piece of candy in his mouth)... Pierce slipped out and fell on his head...

Pierce looks happy in the pics below to show me what happened..

After some thought about the situation we now believe he had choked on the candy... and when he was crying he inhaled it and then I saw him and he was trying to get it out himself when he got stiff... and then when we put him on the bed it came out... later the candy was found on the floor by daddy when he got home... as you can tell we are still trying to process what happened but we both believe that God answered our prayers to fix whatever was happening, to heal Pierce, to have the cab hurry up and get there, for us to pick the right hospital and the doctors/nurses to make the right decisions... He did all of that... Praise Him.

Boys being boys...

...


We have not been able to hang out with our friends from the Disney Land trip since we have returned and they were due out of town for the summer... so got together for a quick playgroup to say farewell... The Hoffnagle's have 3 boys and boy was Pierce in heaven... boys just being boys.... when we got there they immediately all ran to the playroom.. it was so quiet we had to check on them and this is what we found... all 4 of them playing by themselves so nicely... wow.

They had lots of guns and toys that made one feel like a super hero... Pierce was in heaven.
They had this cool wall with hats from Vietnam... I had to get the kids to smile for the camera... Miles was too little to be interested in a photo shoot.

Here Pierce is saying "that is enough mom"...

Then the light saber's came out... oh no...

Another fun afternoon with friends... we will miss you... SO MUCH.

Happy Dad's Day!

...


Happy Dad's Day Daddy.... we love you so much and thank you for all that you give and do for Pierce and I... I could not have asked for a better husband and daddy for Pierce... and what a blessing it is to be your wife and the mother of your child...

This year was probably the first year that Pierce really understood what this day is all about... the day for daddy... to thank him for everything he does for us... to show him our love for him... and to let him pick out everything... what we do... where we eat... how we eat... etc...

Pierce woke up this morning and grabbed the card (the dinosaur below) and went and ran into daddy's room, woke him up and said Happy Father's Day... I love you... Pierce made this window decal at one of the malls here for his daddy... and then we wrote Happy Father's Day on it...

Blake got an early present a couple of weeks ago... the foot massager... bc all the walking and climbing stairs he does all day... how nice is it to come home and get a foot massage or back massage... right... I think Pierce likes it better than Daddy... but today we got him a guitar case for this guitar... kind of essential to have since we will need to bring it back home with us soon...


These pics were taken a couple of weeks ago when we got Daddy his early present... Pierce just could not wait to give it to him... and Pierce actually picked it out at the store.

Pierce showing him how to use it... you can also put it on your back daddy..

Daddy went to change bc he had just gotten home from work and I turn around to find Pierce had moved it to his chair and was sitting their enjoying a good massage.

And back to the big chair for a back massage.

Happy Dad's Day to all the Dads in our lives... Grandad, Grandpa, KW, PawPaw and Grandpa Burnette...we love you and wish we were there to hug your necks...

Friends... pinatas... and goodbyes...

...





Our neighbors here have not only been a common face we see by the pool, or someone we borrow eggs from when we are out, or call in case of emergency... but they have made this place home and are now friends forever where ever we go...



We have many memories with these friends and hanging by the pool, or sitting on the bus or passing in the car park will be something we miss... they are really proof that it does not matter where you come from it matters where you end up (and we all ended up at Monterey Park Condos). America meets England... meets Thailand... meets Denmark.... America will never be the same.



This picture was made by Anne Sofie, one of the sweet girls next door that has been such a blessing to us... she posted this on facebook a couple of days ago and I had to save it...


During the summer alot of people travel and our neighbors are all about to (or already have) go see some family in their neck of the woods... so we had a little farewell party by the pool last week. I had the boot pinata left over from VBS and my in-laws had shipped us these lovely Texas plates... so i thought it only fitting that we have a Texas themed party with salad and pizza... it was such a great time... it was a bit sad at the end but we all know we will see each other again... hopefully sooner than later...

Some of these kids had never gotten to give a good whack at a pinata... so we had fun giving everyone a turn... the first round was blind folded but we soon learned this pinata was made for a double hitter...

Even the big boys got a turn (daddy could not be at the party bc he is working really hard on the rig these days.. but don't worry we saved him some candy).

This video shows all the little people taking a swing at the boot... and how they were all making sure the candy went in the middle for later... oh how I love these kids.

The boys patiently waiting... Lesley and I were so shocked they were so well behaved with candy flying all over the place...

Another turn... if you notice that there is candy on the floor... we had made a rule early on that all the candy had to fall out before we could eat any (to eliminate random runs for the candy and then get nailed in the head with the bat (made out of the broom handle)). They were all so patient.

Last hit...

OK... go for it.. make sure you share with the little ones :-).

Saved the best picture for the last... look at these cute boys... best friends...