Merry Christmas & Happy New Year

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year friends!

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Photos #74, 75--Christmas (Eve Eve) Lunch: Bread of Life had a Christmas lunch on Dec 23rd, since Christmas was on Sunday, and they are closed on Sundays. We went and had a great meal! You can see in the background also, they had old Christmas movies playing :)

When we walked out of the restaurant after lunch, this is what we saw. Some friends had told us there was a fire nearby, and we'd seen the people looking down the street at something, so we finally saw it when we left. It was about 4 shops down from the restaurant. We haven't heard of anyone being harmed, but the fire was very bad.

Photos #76, 77--Superkids Christmas Gala: Superkids English Center is the school I first came to Vietnam to teach at, and I taught there for over a year. We're good friends with the owners and some teachers there, and they invited our "choir" from the international fellowship to sing during their Christmas program on Christmas Eve Eve.

Photo #78--Christmas Eve Service: On Christmas Eve we went to the Vietnamese chrch. We got to see many wonderful performances of songs and readings. We also sang a medley as the DIF Choir, but I'm still waiting to get photos of that from a friend. Here are some of the children who performed. Click here for the video, they are adorable.

Photos #79, 80--Christmas Night: On Christmas night we spent the night in Hoi An. We found a decent, inexpensive hotel online, and when we arrived, they upgraded us! Merry Christmas to us :) We ate Cao Lau on the river (literally, the table was about an inch from dropping into the water). Cao Lau is a food special to Hoi An. It was yummy, and such a great atmosphere.
A few weeks ago we had noticed a tiny chrch tucked into a wall in an alley in Hoi An. When we passed it on Christmas, it was all lit up, just glorious.
Photo #81--Baking: I taught our Korean friends how to make pumpkin bread. Sally here, wanted to do everything, and she poured and stirred very well. She has grown up so much recently!
Photo #82--Neighbor Girls: Bi Do (Pumpkin) and her older sister Tam, often come by to chat or play. This week the were inspecting the Christmas tree again, and wanting me to take photos of them/with them. Bi Do had her hood on like that all day long.

Photo #83--Happy New Year!: Pedro has been teaching English to the staff at a local resort, Sandy Beach. We went there for dinner this week using some birthday money I was instructed to use ONLY for a date with my husband :) It was lots of fun, and some of Pedro's students we were working so we got to see them in action. There were some fun decorations around the property also...

Happy New Year! May 2012 bring you more faith, love, peace and joy from our Heavenly Father.

Christmas Parties & Fun!

This week, Pedro and I celebrated my birthday, helped out with three Christmas parties at 3 orphanages, one Christmas party at UCSI, and did some other fun Christmas traditions! :)

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Photo #60--Phu Ninh Party: On Thursday we went to the therapy center in Phu Ninh for the Christmas party there. Phu Ninh is the district I've been working with this past year. There are 60+ children with disabilities we serve there, so planning a Christmas party was a little different. We had to make it more like entertainment rather than activity, like we planned for the orphanages. It was great, and the kids had fun! Here's a group shot, after Santa delivered some gifts.

Photos #61, 62--Birthday Date: For my birthday on Thursday, Pedro took me to Hoi An for Mexican food!! :) Well, I ordered the Mexican option, and he got a burger. It was delicious! After dinner we went to our favorite dessert shop for chocolate mousse cake (Audrey) and passion fruit mousse cake (Pedro), American latte (Pedro), and mint tea (Audrey). It was a very special night, I am thankful for Pedro making me feel so special!

Photos #63, 64, 65--Promise House Party: On Saturday we had a party at the local orphanage. Pedro also helped us at this party last year, so the kids remembered him and were surprised he was my husband this year :) The kids had fun running around playing games, making tree ornaments, receiving gifts...and playing with the gift boxes!

Photos #66, 67, 68--UCSI Party: After the Promise House party, we went on over to Pedro's work Christmas party at UCSI. They organized a party for the students, staff, and other guests. There were performances by students and staff, and some Truth centered stories and Christmas songs presented. It was very nice! Pedro prepared some Coconut Kisses for the party, which he made from fresh coconut! One of our neighbors saw him cracking the coconut on our front porch and came over to assist.

Here's a photo from the skit Pedro did with some of his co-workers. If you want to see the video (which is quite funny) click here to watch.

Photos #69, 70--Visiting Santa: After the Promise House party, and the UCSI party, we decided to go see a movie. Oddly enough, we also went to a movie last year after the Promise House party, and ended up going alone because none of our friends wanted to go...! We were just friends still :) Last year, we took this picture at the movie theater with Santa.

So we took one again this year (showing our wedding rings for dramatic time-elapse effect)!

Photos #71, 72, 73--Dai Loc Party: Sunday after chrch, we went to an orphanage outside of Danang for the Christmas party there. We had the kids make ornaments for the Christmas tree, then we led them through some "Minute to Win It" games, which was great! After that we had dinner, told the Christmas story, and gave them gifts.

We hope you have a very joyful and merry Christmas! We are thankful for each of you and are prying you will experience a renewing of your faith this season, as you experience the Love, Peace, Hope and Joy of our Savior.

Celebrations!

We had a week full of celebrations, and there's still more yet to come!

December is a great (and busy) month :)

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Photos #53, 54--Bridal Shower: Our Australian friend from chrch, Derrick, had a wedding this weekend! A couple days before the wedding, the women at chrch had a bridal shower for the bride, Hien. It was a lot of fun to bless her and welcome her to the international community. She got a lot of wonderful things to start building her new home!

Photos #55, 56--Rainy Wedding: Saturday was Derrick & Hien's special day. It was a beautiful ceremony, focused on the Lrd. They did a great job of integrating both cultures into the ceremony. Pedro's boss Charlie, is half Vietnamese and half Canadian. He performed the ceremony in both Vietnamese and English!
Photo #57--Seafood Dinner: This is Peter and his wife Sunny. They both have been Pedro's students this year, but currently just Sunny is studying in his class. We met them for dinner on the beach this week. We had a nice, spicy, seafood meal, and a great time talking and getting to know them better. They are very sweet, genuine people.
Photos #58, 59--Birthday Party: Last night we celebrated my birthday with some friends. I made some fudge, Pedro made Coconut Kisses (from a fresh coconut he cracked and grated!), one friend made a delicious, rich, dark chocolate cake (see picture), and some other friends brought varying delicious treats. We had tea & coffee, at desserts, and played Articulate! It was a wonderful, memorable evening and I am so thankful to have such great friends to celebrate with. AND an incredible husband to organize it all :)
We hope you're having a great week and finding much to celebrate!

Merry Christmas!

Monkey & Snakes

Hi friends! We've been busy this week, but are enjoying everything that comes with Christmas time and the end of the year. Thanks for checking in on us, we love sharing with you!

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Photo #43--Monkeys: I was at the orphanage this week, and the kids were climbing all over the place (and me)! They love having their pictures taken and looking at them right away. It's cute to see them judge the photo, and then decide a better pose to try :)

Photos #44, 45, 46--Tree Building: This was my first time building a Christmas tree. It was funny putting each little branch in its place, but overall it was quick & easy! The tree looks quite real, and we don't have to worry about it getting moldy (like many indoor plants get here) or drying up.

Photos #47, 48--Our First Christmas: We received a beautiful tree ornament as a gift from a couple we love and look up to. It's a white dove, with "Love" written on it. On the back, they wrote "1st Christmas, 2011" :) It was the first ornament we hung on our tree.

Photos #49, 50--Date Fright: Ok, not really fright. We went to this awesome (looking) restaurant for date night. It was beautifully lit and very jungly. We sat down, and looked at the menu, and we noticed a big cage down below the area we were sitting. In it we saw a huge snake! We carried on looking at the menu, and finally decided what we wanted, and ordered. We realized we were the ONLY customers, so we figured we would get our food quickly. We had seen many people at the restaurant before, so we thought it was popular. Less than five minutes after ordering, the waitress came back and told us they didn't have any food, except one soup dish (which we didn't want because we have it often). No food?? No wonder we were the only ones!

Photos #51, 52--Sandy Beach Party: One of the English classes Pedro teaches is for a group of staff from a local resort called Sandy Beach. They invited him to their year-end staff appreciation party. It was a nice event, with a 7 course meal, awards, prizes and great performances put on by different individuals and groups of staff members. One of Pedro's students won "Employee of the Year"!!

We hope you're getting to enjoy time with family and are able to remember the importance of the Christmas season. :)

Lots of love!

Fun & Games

Hey everyone! We hope you had a great Thanksgiving weekend. Here's a little of what we've been up to this week!

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Photo #32--Human Skeleton: Last year, I lived with a Korean family that goes to the international fellowship here. A few times a week, I would teach the two children English, science, math and Bble. The mom asked me to still teach some after I got married, but I haven't had a lot of free time. Recently we worked out our schedules so I can come to their house once a week for dinner and teaching, while Pedro is teaching late. The mom always sends dinner home with me for Pedro :)

This is John. Right now we're studying the body systems.

Photos #33, 34--Our first Thanksgiving!: Though Pedro & I also spent Thanksgiving together last year, this was our first Thanksgiving as a family :) We had a great time celebrating with our friends and family in Vietnam.

Photo #35--Turkey Pot Pie: The day after Thanksgiving we went to the Western restaurant, Bread of Life, for their Thanksgiving leftover special, Turkey Pot Pie. It was delicious!

Photo #36--Bananagrams!: Friday night Pedro got home from work and was telling me that he played Bananagrams with some students at work. He didn't know we had the game at home (we'd never played it together before), so I told him, and we played a game after dinner. It came down to 1 tile each at the end, and Pedro won.

Photo #37--Dentist: Saturday morning we went to the dentist for check-ups/cleanings. It's $5-$10 for a cleaning!! My sensitive little teeth had a few cavities (yuck), but I got them filled then & there, and we walked away paying a total of $40! A great investment if you ask me.

Photos #38, 39, 40--UCSI Picnic: On Saturday afternoon, UCSI (the English center where Pedro works) had a picnic to celebrate the end of the term. There were games, snacks and cake! We had a fun time seeing Pedro's students and the UCSI staff. Yummy cake too!

Photo #41--Amazing Art: One of Pedro's students is in university, studying interior design. We knew she was a good artist by the drawing assignments we've seen her post on Facebook. We were surprised and very touched this week when she presented us with this drawing she made for us. She is a sweet girl, and we are very blessed by this thoughtful gift.

Photo #42--Home for Christmas: Though we're not "home" where our families are for Christmas this year, we're making our home here feel Christmassy nonetheless. (Use your imagination with the TV in the photo...we had the movie Elf playing!)

Have a wonderful week! Please let us know how you're doing and what you've been up to!

theborgeses@gmail.com