Christmas morning in Vietnam!

Our Christmas morning this year was a bit different than normal... we woke up, got ready, had breakfast and then went for a walk to see Hoi Chi Minh during the day... the biggest thing I wanted to see was the Notre Dame Cathedral in Vietnam which was right down the road... I wanted to see it bc it looked beautiful from the outside but little did I know that God had other things in store for us. As soon as we got on the same street as the cathedral we could hear the Christmas songs being sung by the choir... as soon as we stepped in I was overwhelmed with God's presence... and to see a sea of people of all different colors singing about the birth of our Savior was amazing... the choir was breath taking... As I heard fellow sisters and brothers worshiping our God I got tears in my eyes... and to find myself this touched by His presence so far from home made me stand in awe of how big He really is... He truly is a God of many nations, alive in all the world and dwells in the hearts of many worldwide... Wow what a special treat... Grandma and I were commenting on how we could have stood there all day. A morning where we did not run to the tree to open presents but a morning where we took a stroll with the family and found God in Vietnam.



After our trip to the cathedral we kept walking...

We had to stop and have some ice cream at the Tutti Frutti Frozen Yogurt place...

We soon had to get in the car and head to the airport... we got back to Singapore on the night of Christmas... ready for a good nights rest in our own beds to wake in the morning to celebrate Christmas with presents...

Back to Hoi Chi Minh... on Christmas Eve!

After we visited the Citadel we grabbed lunch and then loaded the van for a ride from Hue to Danag to catch a plane back to Hoi Chi Minh for Christmas Eve... we wanted to be in the city to see all the people and lights... they celebrate Christmas Eve like it is New Years Eve...
When we finally made it back to the airport they told us that our flight was cancelled (remember we drove for 2.5 hours to get there)... after some batting of the eyes to guy in charge and using the card "we are traveling with a baby (a big baby)"... he put us on the next plane out which left in 20 minutes and we got first class seats... now that is what I call an unexpected blessing... God was in all the details of this trip...

Here we are enjoying our big chairs, lot of leg space, good food, and a foot rest...


Welcome back to Hoi Chi Minh Denton Clan...

I had to take this picture for Grandad... but I thought you would enjoy to see how crazy all the wires are...

That night we got cleaned up and headed to a Tapas restaurant that was recommended to us by an American that had lived in Vietnam for many years... it was a great recommendation our second favorite restaurant in Vietnam... yum yum.

Grandma got Lobster...

If you could get passed all the motorcycles and people and look up... the streets were decorated nicely.

This family wanted their son to take a picture with Pierce... Pierce was happy to oblige but this boy did not want anything to do with it... we were quick and got one picture too.

Look at all the people... amazing

More people that would stop us and ask to take a picture with Pierce... it must be the blonde hair and blue eyes...

More people...

The best time to sell stuff on the street... tons of people.

Grandma and Grandpa bought Pierce this balloon on the street... he loved it so much he had to sleep with it tied to his bed and then he carried it around the next day as well. We thought it was cute too but we were a little confused as to why Micky and Minnie are riding in a military helicopter with missiles on it... ???

3 generations... so cute...

More people... more motorcycles... this was at an intersection... yikes.

More stuff for sale... can you guess what this is... I asked this lady if I could take her picture... she smiled at me and then I took her picture and this was the face I got...go figure.

There was a main strip in the heart of it all that was blocked off from the cars so we decided to venture in... can you see all those people.. wow.

Every now and then I had to stop and take pics of all the motorcycles and people on them... this group was very pleasant and gave me the traditional Asian "howdy" sign...

Grandpa took this picture behind us... thought it was a sweet picture... the love was in the air...

Later that night we got Pierce ready for bed... we told Santa to visit us in Singapore so we had one more night to wait for presents... but we still had to dress in our Christmas pj's... thanks Aunt JuJu and Uncle KW.

Another great night in Vietnam... tomorrow is Christmas (for blogging purposes) and then we are headed back home to Singapore.

Visiting the Cu Chi tunnels...

Our first day in Vietnam we headed to the Cu Chi Tunnels about 45 mins outside of Hoi Chi Minh City...The tunnels are a network of underground passageways that the gorilla's used in the Vietnam war against the Americans... there were many mixed emotions about this tour... Grandpa was with us and active in the military at the time of the Vietnam war, seeing traps and tunnels that were used to fight Americans was a bit interesting and sad at the same time, and then I found myself occasionally thinking about the current war that we find ourselves in and the men and women that die everyday.... but on a happier note enjoy the pictures...

On our drive out to the location we got to see lots of village life and rice fields... a different site from the city.

Rubber trees... and lots of them.

Headed into the tunnels... Grandpa got a picture of me taking pics... the only thing I seem to be doing these days with my new toy...

A entry point for the tunnels... a bit small... do you think we could fit in it?

Blake was the brave one and tried it out...

This working station was under ground at one time but they opened up so we could breath :-).

This section is where the traps start.. this is a common trap that they used... a person would come along and walk on the green patch (obviously it would be surrounded by green not brown).

and this is what they would find on the other side....

Ouch... alot of the traps were meant to mangle not to kill...

Another entry... a bigger one... that has been reinforced due to erosion.

Pierce taking a picture with a lady gorilla.

This was an American tank that was stopped here due to a bomb that killed 4 Americans...
They make shoes out of tires and tubes just like in the old times... the guy that was making them had a pair on his feet that he has had for 7 years... they last for 20.

we got to go inside the tunnels... Pierce fit perfectly the rest of us had to crawl around like the tour guide.

Finally we get to come out... we see light... and fresh air...

On our way out we grabbed some more hats and took some pictures...

A great first day... what will the rest of our days look like... come back for more... please!