AFH 4

This year we celebrated our 4th Abodeely Family Holiday. Each year it gets better and better! I absolutely LOVE being with my family and it's so special to be able to make new memories, especially with our babies. Oh man.... I LOVE my babies! They are amazing little people and I am in awe of what great parents my siblings are.

Feeding the fish in the pond.

Porter LOVES Uncle Geoff

Morning play time

They both loved the red wagon!

My sis and her hubby decided to leave baby with grandma and grandpa and aunt and uncle for a few days.  It was soooo much fun and she loved her time away from her parents ~ she is such a party animal.  She especially loved all the ice cream we gave her. :-) 

All this fun meant that we travelled back on the plane with little bunny.... boy, was it fun!  We read Elmo 943 times and for every kiss that Elmo got, I got one too!  I'm amazed by all parents out there, especially those that fly with their children!

While we read Elmo, Geoff enjoyed the view.... must be nice.

 (J/K... he was a great help!)

We loved Bangkok ~ Pics

 The reclining Buddha at Wat Pho ~ forty-six metres long and fifteen metres high, decorated with gold plating on his body and mother of pearl on his eyes and the soles of his feet.  So cool!

Having lunch outside the famous (crazy) weekend market.

The Temple of Dawn from across the river.

Getting ready to JUMP (literally) on the local water taxi - fun and super insane experience!

Well hello!

We made it back safely.... just to pack up and leave the next day for an amazing Abo family vacation up at Whidbey. We're back for a few more days before heading out AGAAAAIN for Family Camp with Geoff's family. For now, I thought the best way to post pictures would be to add on to the posts that I did while we were travelling. So... go back and check 'em out ~ be patient though, our internet is slow and taking awhile to do its thing.

Thailand????

Our original plan starting at Surat Thani prooved to be a bust with horrible weather, no place to rent a scooter and most importantly.... A super dodgy "safe room" to store our bags. So the next day we packed up and took a ferry to Ko Samui. We are pretty sure this is actually the Hawaii for Euros with just the zip code showing Thailand! So we are here but of course making the best of it with somewhat successful scooter adventures to find the true Thailand. It really is a gorgeous island and offers a ton to do, including a McDonalds and plenty of ladies looking for rich white men for long walks on the beach!
We have one more full day here and then we will head to Bangkok, which at first we were so-so about seeing but now we are really excited to go back to the real Thailand!

(Look closely at the picture of me ~ see the creepy guy?! That's a whole separate post....!)

On to Cambodia

After some decision making we decided we couldn't miss Angkor Wat so a 12 hour travel day later(plane ride, taxi, bus AND tuk tuk) we arrived in Phnom Penh. We really like this city- not too big, a river running through it and tons to see including the kings royal palace, which was impressive. After a few days there we took a 6 hour bus trip to Siem Reap, which is the town of Angkor. We spent 2 painfully hot days checking out Angkor's sites which are from the 9-15th centuries during the Khmer Empire, including the most well know site, Angkor Wat. We got up early this morning to watch the sunrise over Angkor Wat which was magnificant. Geoff was in heaven, despite the heat, and prooved to be a great tour guide as well as a great husband to deal with a hot, tired wife! We called it quits around noon today (that's after 7 hours of temples and ruins- not to mention the 8 hours from yesterday) and now we're enjoying our hotels fab pool and for once enjoying the 100 + degree. Pool... Wow, THIS is vacation!

We decided this morning to head to Thailand tomorrow and fly to Surat Thani where we are hoping to stash our bags and take a few day scooter adventure down the coast. Stay tuned!

Worth a whole blog entry

(The first picture is one of the villages that we scooted through. A woman lost control of her scooter when a big truck came by and dropped it, along with all the goods that she was carrying. Geoff got off the scooter to help her with the VERY heavy bags ~ I'm pretty sure the whole village came to watch!)

We had an interesting day in Hue and I figured it deserved an entire post. We set out on motor bike in the early morning hoping we could be at this waterfall for some swimming by the middle of the day (the hottest time - and I'm talkin heat index of 114). Everything was going well with a few stops at an amazing pagoda and also an old arena where they had lions and elephants fight. We were on our way to check out the beach and waterfall when we pulled over so I could jump off and buy some water. I came out to see that Geoff had made a new friend. The Vietnamese guy fell in love with us and begged us to have lunch with him. We were nit hungry ( and also a bit weary of one of those scams that the book tries to freak you out with) so we asked if he'd mind just grabbing a quick drink. So the drink turned into him really wanting to take us to an old war bunker. We couldn't say no - hearing his stories of the war and his experiences really pulled at our hearts. So on we went. Well after we checked out the bunker we jumped on our bike and we had a major flat tire. We happened to figure it out right in front of a repair shop (I'm using that word lightly). Coincidence? You decide. So they fixed our tire and off we went. We parted ways with our sweet new friend, feeling bad for ever questioning his motives. We got to the beach and decided to have some lunch at this little beach side cafe. Of course we had a ton of kids trying to sell us things but we had a certain draw to this sweet 16 year old girl. We bought her a coke and we chatted for a long time. After our chat and lunch we jumped back on our scooter to head to the falls. Oops.... Tire was flat, again. Our new friend fad her friend take us to the nearest "repair shop". We decided that it would not be a great idea to keep riding so we asked some lady if we could use her phone to call the hotel where we got the scooter. The hotel said they would send someone with a new bike. Great. So we waited, and called back, and waited, and called back. Finally someone showed up to look at the bike but on the way to see us they got in a bad scooter accident and we're all cut up and bleeding and also not happy with us. So we decided to just move on and hope for the best, since our help was really no help at this point. We made our way through beautiful hills and villages. We started to realize that it was getting late and we would not have time for the falls, so we started heading back to town which was about 45 km away when, oops, the tire went out. So at this point we had to get help. We had stoppped in front of a house and they let us use their phone. It took about 1 hr of phone calls to work everything out and at the end they told us to hitch hike back to town. Ahhhh. Okay.... So, we did just that. Ended up getting in the air conditioned cat (heaven) of some nice young men who gave us front door service to the hotel.
So it was a challenging day but also one of the best because we were able to meet some lovely locals and our faith in humanity was uplifted. There are some great people in this world (except for the scooter guy, he was a jerk!).

Hoi An,Vietnam

(Check out the stool that the lady is standing on.... SO funny!)


We just left Hoi An and had a fabulous time. We loved the town and really wanted to stay longer, however we knew we needed to get moving so we could make it to Cambodia & Thailand.
Hoi An was a welcome sight after the craziness of Hanoi. We spent our days in town checking out cultural sights, eating white rose and shopping- lots and lots of shopping! We like to look at it as helping the local economy! There are over 400 tailoring shops in town- it's amazing that they can all stay in business! There are also cobblers that make any shoe that you want and make it a perfect fit to you, and of course all the things at a great price (especially after my mad bargaining skills!). Our biggest purchase was a very handsome dark grey suit for Geoff. Of course the sales/fitting ladies LOVED Geoff and were so impressed with his size - he even got a few pats on the behind - hilarious!
This morning we took an interesting bus ride from Hoi An to Hue which was about 4 hours and everyone must take off their shoes and the seats are all beds. How cozy. :)
We spent this afternoon exploring Hue on bicycles which is a hair raising experience to keep up with the motor bikes, but also a ton of fun.
Hope everyone at home is well! We can't wait to share pics and videos - Vietnam is an amazing country!

Halong Bay

We just arrived back in Hanoi after a 3 day trip around Halong Bay. We upgraded to a fancy boat which was really nice and only had 3 other couples on it. We all got along really well and had a great time. Halong Bay was absolutely breathtaking with giant karsts beyond what the eye can see. It was pretty unreal to lay on your bed, sorrounded by windows while watching giant karsts pass by. We have some great pictures and can't wait to share them. The trip didn't end so well... Geoff got sick (the yucky one that most westerners get when coming to SE Asia!)and had to miss some of the fun and I got stung by a jelly fish! Despite our sour belly and aching leg/foot we spent the last few hours exploring the night market back in Hanoi and experiencing the street side food scene! We fly out early tomorrow to Danang and will then go straight to Hoi An where we are looking forward to getting a few outfits tailored!

Ho chi minh and bia hoi

Today has been an eventful, chaotic day here in Hanoi and I am beyond grateful for the air conditioning in our hotel :)
Hanoi is loud, dirty, vibrant and energetic. We spent most of our morning in the Ho Chi Minh (Anne.... Remember our history song??) mausoleum, which geoff loved since he teaches a lot about Vietnam. After a big bowl of Pho ( who wouldn't want soup in 110 degree heat) and some more exploring we cozied up to plastic chairs for some bia hoi, which is the worlds cheapest beer at about $.25 a mug.
It is unbelievably hot here in Hanoi and between the heat, motor bikes and horns we are looking forward to a few days on a beautiful junk around Halong Bay. For now we'll go find another one of those $.25 beers.

Rainy day

A rainy day isn't so bad with beer, playing cards and our new friends Thai and Ti. It'll probably clear up soon to beautiful blue skies and crisp clean air.
Yesterday we had a beautiful morning on a boat and snorkeled over some amazing coral, but the weather turned and it was a bit of a show to get us back to shore, but we live to tell and it cleared for some sun bathing and drinks on land.

Today is our last full day on phu quoc and then we'll be off for some city time in Hanoi. we'll spend the rest of the day enjoying our beers, cards, new friends, $6 hour long massage & $4 mani/pedi on the beach. Not too bad for a rainy day!

Phu quoc, vietnam

Hello from Vietnam!
After a ridiculously long time flying we arrived at the sweetest Vietnam island where we are practically celebrities... Especially geoff! The people are so kind and interested in us. The island seems empty - very few tourists because it's the low season. We've had a few good down pours (it's pretty unreal) but all in all have had awesome weather.
We've spent the last 2 days scooting around the island, stopping when we see something worth a look (like a deserted beach or $.50 beer).
We are already in love with this country.


You'll have to excuse any errors in this message... I'm using my iPod touch!

And we're off

We're up early for a run and some brekkie to prepare for this crazy adventure ahead of us.... San Fran to Hong Kong - 14 hours.  Hong Kong to Bangkok - 3 hours.  4 hours of sleep in a Bangkok hotel then up early for a flight to Phu Quoc, Vietnam (with a layover in HCMC!)..... And then we will rest on the island for a bit.....  (Sigh.... Can't upload pics right now.)
Happy Summer everyone!

Just bein' lazy

Sorry friends, for not being a good blogger these days. I really want to post about our recent trip to Napa, my brother/sis and favorite nephew's visit, my love for my husband, the sun, my students and summer time. Soon. I promise. Meanwhile we prepare for our next big adventure ~ Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand and Laos!

Sending x's & o's until then.....

Dancing queen

My parents came to town last weekend to watch my sister perform an African Dance to a sold out crowd in Santa Cruz. I was SO impressed with her mad skills, hot dance body and enthusiasm. She inspires me.

We also helped dad start off his 70th birthday celebration (it'll be the one of many, as it should be!) with Mexican Food and homemade carrot cake.

And of course celebrated Kaira... for just being Kaira. Precious.

Students say the darndest things, part II

After my student helped me pump gas (a GREAT life skill to learn, of course!) she said as we drove away "okay, we're all set, the car had lunch." 

Love it.

Students say the darndest things

Me: "You look nice today."

Student (with thick Arabic accent): "You are more than me actually."

Soon...

The Red Plate

Growing up getting the "Red You Are Special" plate was the BEST ever. We'd get it for good grades, nice comments from a teacher or sometimes just because! I'll never forget coming into the kitchen for dinner and seeing the Red Plate at MY spot - it was a great feeling! Last Christmas my parents gave Geoff and I a Red Plate to start the tradition with our family and tonight we used it for the first time. Geoff was recently asked to be an Honor Escort for the seniors at Graduation this year! The senior class nominates a handful of teachers that have made an impact on their year and that they want standing up with them at graduation. I'm so proud of my husband for becoming such a great teacher and making a positive impact on so many kids! Good job Mr. Beckstrom!

(It's important to note this delicious meal that I prepared... Broiled Tilapia with Thai Coconut Curry Sauce with rice and steamed broccoli. Yummmmy!)

Spring break

We just got back from our week in Seattle.  We had a great trip and seemed to fit in a ton between family, friends and sightseeing. 

Played with Porter man

Read/kissed books with Sitti (grandma)

Took a boat and bike ride to West Seattle

Visited our friend Patrice and her newborn, Colton.

Stopped at the Tulip Festival in La Connor

Relaxed for a few days at Whidbey with great friends.

 A beautiful place and amazing people... a great way to spend our spring break!

I brought it back old school....