4 Thornes in Malaysia

FINALLY!!! Chris and Sarah arrived on the night of December 27. We stood and waited for them while they waited..and waited...and waited for their luggage. Agony when you can SEE each other but the pesky security rules keep you apart!! You can imagine the joy - hugs - tears - when they finally made it through the gate!! We stayed up for a few hours together and they emptied out some of their suitcases with some of the things we'd asked them to bring. Then the exhaustion hit and they had to get some sleep. The coffee table filled to overflowing...chocolate chips, Epicure spices, Craisins, Grandpa's homemade jelly, medicines, International Coffee, Stampin' Up! supplies...and enough chocolate to supply a small country!! We opened our stockings and Christmas gifts in the morning - seeing as it was December 28, Josh should be commended for his patient waiting! New shirt from Rachel. Rachel reading letters from her friends from Calgary...Josh reading something! Josh loves his p...

Josh was on the Varsity Basketball Team for the fall term of school. In the fall tournament hosted at their school, they won first place! Lots of fun for all the boys - and the parents too! Rachel continues with her piano lessons focusing on learning improvisational piano skills right now. Her recital piece was "My Only Hope" and she was the piano player for the band. It sounded great! All dressed up and ready to go to the Christmas Banquet at the school. Pictures down by the pool before and during the community Christmas party. We were involved in putting together the party and one of the big hits was the gingerbread house session we led - none of the kids had ever made one before! As a family, we delayed our 'Christmas morning' celebrations until Chris and Sarah arrived on December 27. So on the 25th we ate breakfast together, played a new game we bought especially for the day (Perodua - the game of Liar's Dice - actually a pretty fun game!) and then headed t...