December

Hi, everyone.
Just catching up on the blog. During December, we stayed in Singapore for the holidays. It started with my work Christmas party (late Nov actually) which was held at a local restaurant. It was a nice night, but unfortunately the days that followed were not so good. About 15 attendees, including Lauren and Jane suffered for the next week with some kind of food poisoning! It was really quite bad and Jane missed the whole week of school. It was never determined what exactly happened, but we think one of the food handlers spread the problem.

Our good friends Dave and Susan Fedo enjoyed a day out at SAS to watch some softball and baseball. These two educators were very impressed with the SAS campus. It was a typical hot day, but bright and sunny and good for watching a couple of games.

Of course, Lauren had a birthday in December as well. We had a nice celebration at a local pizza restaurant with the Fedos, followed by a delicious and beautiful cake at home-see the pictures. Lauren also enjoyed opening her cards from her family and friends at home.

Lauren took a stroll through Chinatown in December where she worked on her photography. She is enjoying her camera and really has a good eye, don't you think? The most interesting part of this city is the contrast between old and new. You can see in some of her pictures, the old shop houses and temples contrasting against the modernity of the high rise office towers.

Closer to Christmas, Lauren, Jane, and Leah went to the American Club for a gingerbread house making event. You can see a picture of their creation below. While Evan and I did not contribute to the creation of this masterpiece, we did contribute to its destruction and extinction! We also thought you might be interested in seeing the Christmas tree at the American club in the midst of all the tropical plants.

Our December was a new experience for us. It was the first time away from family and that was tough at times. However, we did our best to get in the spirit and enjoy the holiday. We enjoyed receiving Christmas cards from many of you and hope that ours made it to your house in time. It was nice to communicate with many of your via Skype, but certainly not the same as being there. Our next update will be on our trip to Vietnam in the new year. We miss you all.

Jed, Lauren, Evan, Jane & Leah