Selamat Hari Raya!! Well the month of Ramadan is over, and we had a great time celebrating Hari Raya which is the celebration feast at the end of the fasting month. Our muslim friends had open houses and served us some amazing food. As you can see, we all wore the traditional Malay clothes . . . we even found one for Eli this year. The outfit for girls is called the Baju Kurung and the clothing that the guys wear is the Baju Melayu. Hope you enjoy the pictures! Here is Gabby in her adorable purple baju kurung. (Hey Kayla, look at her flip-flops . . . they are one of the pairs you sent, they matched perfectly, thanks!!)

Gabby and Daddy, what a cute pair they make!

Eli, the little man . . . his pants were a bit long =+) Cute smile though!

Gabs is really growing up way too fast! Daddy's little girl.

And . . . the always great looking couple, my brother and his wife =+)

A family photo . . . we took this before we went out for three open houses in a row, the first was at noon to 2, then we went to a second one from 3 to 6, then the third on from 7 to 9. It was a long day and the kids didn't have any naps . . . but hey; I didn't have to cook, the food was amazing, Gabs and Eli were really great all day, and we had so much fun spending time with our friends.

Little man is becoming quite the thumb sucker, he still only sucks it when nervous or tired . . . but it is quite the habbit.

My little man and little lady . . . I am so glad that they are mine, what a joy they bring into my life!!

Just the ladies =+)

These pics were a few days ago, we had some fun with popsicles after dinner one night . . . here is Gabby, she is such a perfectionist, making sure not to drip. What a doll!

Thinking hard about this bite.

Eli on the other hand just dives in face first . . . the messier the better!

It that cold little man? Oh ya, Eli just cut his 8th tooth.

Andy decided that he wanted to steal the camera from me and take some pictures of the "picture taker" . . . so here I am =+)

Gabs and I, enjoying each other, she's my little buddy.

Thanks for checking out the blog, it means so much . . . love you all.

Hey all . . . hope your week is going well. We had a fun weekend, we went to the zoo . . . it was the first time we had gone to the zoo here in KL. We had a really great time . . . Eli is getting so big, he really loved the zoo, Gabs had a blast too. We hope you enjoy the pics. The first three are of Eli and Daddy, they are starting to be the best of buddies.

This is the mall that is bellow the Petronas Towers. The first 5 floors of the towers is a mall, we frequent there. A cool place.

We realized that we are always taking pictures of us and of our friends in front of the towers but never the kids. So here is Gabs and Eli in front of the towers . . . too cute!

Here are the pictures of us at the zoo we all had a great time.

Feeding the pigeons in the kiddie area of the park, Gabby thought it was too cool.

This has a funny story behind it. Eli was having such a great time seeing the animals, so daddy wanted him to see the camel up close and personal. He was doing fine with it for a while, but then the camel got a little too close for comfort . . . Eli was not pleased and the laugh turned slowly to a cry. Andy backed off with Eli and so did the camel, too funny!

What a cool dude in his Dad's sunglasses.

Eli just thought these capybaras were the coolest . . . they really kept him giggling.

Eli can say turtle in Malay instead of english, it is too funny. The word for turtle is kurakura, so when he saw these he just started pointing and saying "kurakura" . . . he'll be fluent before we are. =+)

A little family photo with the turtles =+).

Gabby and Daddy with the a barking deer, they didn't bark at us though. =+)

Eli checking out this huge bird . . . I think that it was a stork.

Have a good rest of the week, thanks for checking out the blog. Love to all!

Hey from this side of the world. It's been a while since the last time I posted. Andy decided that it was time to redue the computer, so all my pictures were put onto the external hard drive. But now I have them on the computer again and we are back in business. =+) This is a picture out our living room window, on a very clear and beautiful day. We really love our view! Eli and Mommy being buddies . . . he is getting to be quite the character, a real jokester like his Dad.

I went out to a performance of the Malaysian Orchestra the other night with my brother and his wife, it was really great . . . while I was gone, Daddy and the kids had a "whip-cream-and-oreo-party" . . . this is one of pics I got to see when I got home.

Andy just bought and installed a swing from Ikea . . . he put some heavy duty bolts in it and hung it from the cieling in Gabs room. They both really love it. What an amazing Daddy they have!

Swinging in your undies is the most fun . . . not that I have personal experience with it . . .I just go off of what Gabs tells me. =+)

Our Gabby has become quite the little artist as of late ... . she drew this whole picture by herself. She is getting better and better at drawing people, every time she draws a person it has more detail . . . the newest detail is the tounge.

Eli enjoying a oreo during the party while mom was away =+).

Gabby posing by her white board, she really loves to draw.

Eli boy in the tub, he is growing up so fast. I like his bubble beard. =+)

We came home from working out the other morning and Gabby was dressed like this, she said that it was snowing so she needed to keep warm. Too cute!

Andy and Gabs went on a date the other night . . . I let her use my bag to put her swim suit and towel in, because they were going to go to the water park at the Petronas Towers.

A pre-date photo =+)

Eli is learning early about video games, from his Dad . . . he'll be a pro at a young age I am sure. Have a great week everyone, thanks for checking out the blog.

Just wanted to post a couple more pics of Kevin and Meredith . . . this is when they were saying goodbye to Eli, because he didn't come to the airport with us (he wanted to nap instead) =+),This is a favorite picture of mine . . . Eli is waving and saying "hi" it is one of his new words . . . he says it to everyone as they pass by him. It is toooo cute!!

Gabby being an absolute nut as she is most of the time. Silly faces are her specialty =+).
Eli is learning how to feed himself with a fork . . . he is very into sharing. He also has 7 teeth now . . . just pushed another one through last night. So he has gotten 5 teeth in the last month!! He has been a trooper for most of the time though. Other Eli developments: he says "hi", "buh-bye", "ball" and "no, no, no" to mock me when I tell him no about something. He even tells himself "no, no, no" without my help. The other day he hit Gabby and then said "no, no, no" . . . before I even had a chance to say anything. Such a character!!


Car seats here are very expensive because only the rich use them . . . cuz they are not required by law and most cars don't even have seat belts in the back seat. Our Volvo has them though and we decided that it would be a good idea to keep our little ones as safe as possible. We found Gabby's seat on sale for a good price, and Grandma and Papa Jackson sent Eli his snazzy new seat.
He is about to fall asleep because his seat is so comfy =+). Thanks for checking out the blog. Love to all!!

Well . . . sorry that it has been nearly a month since the last time I posted. We had some visitors from the States . . . our close friends, Kevin and Meredith Carter. They kept us rather busy and now we are trying to play catch up on our tasks. So sorry that we have been out of the loop, . . . but as you will see from the following pictures we had a great time showing them around Malaysia . . . Our New Home! This first one is Gabby with the Malaysian flag, this month (August 31st) Malaysia celebrates 50 years of freedom . . . needless to say, everyone here is very excited and patriotic!!Here is a picture of Kevin and Andy, such manly men in the Butterfly park . . . I like the poses guys!
Gabs immediately remembered and connected with Uncle Kevin and Aunt Meredith . . . she had an awesome time being with them and being loved by them.
Here is Eli and I playing in the water at the Petronas Towers . . . he looks so stylish in his new swim suit from his Grandma Jackson =+)!!
Kevin and Andy in front of the Petronas Towers . . . such an amazing sight, especially at night!
All four of us . . . we set the timer on the camera . . . we miss you guys!
Here they are, this pic is definitly a keepsake!
We have never shown you all a picture of our apartment building. Well here it is. It is the one on the left. We live about half way up it.

This is the view from in front of our building, in the parking lot.
Bedtime stories with Kevin and Meredith. Gabs loved it!!
Here's the girls at the butterfly park . . . such a fun place.
This is the restaurant on the fifth floor of our building, one of our favorite places to eat.
Some cool pictures in front of the Menara KL (Kuala Lumpur Tower).

Here we are arriving in Langkawi . . . a vacation island in the north of Malaysia.
We took some cable cars to the top of a mountain there . . . some amazing views.

Eli got an eye infection while we were there . . . this was his attitude the whole time we were there. Poor kid!
This is another picture on the top of mountain.
This is Andy's favorite picture of Kevin and Meredith's time with us . . . Kev and Gabs were best buddies.
While we were on the island, Kevin wanted a chance to drive on the "wrong" side of the road. Look at the crazed look in his eyes. =+)
More and more cute pictures=+) It was so nice to get away from the city and have some time to vacation!!

Here is Kev and Mer at the Seven Wells . . . such a beautiful view and a fun place to play too.
Dinner on the beach . . . Yum! And a great view!
Another pic from the top of the mountain. These pictures are a bit out of order, sorry.
Kevin looking at the view on the way up in the cable car. It was so high!!
Ahhh, on the beach chillin'!!!


Meredith and I . . . dinner on the beach, while the sun sets . . . need I say more?!

Thanks for coming guys!! It was amazing, can't wait till the next time. SO sorry about the rash!! Love you both! Thanks everyone for checking out the blog, we miss you all.