Nodding Off

After trying to get him down for a nap... then as soon as dinner was served.

Bryce was so exhausted by the time dinner came he could hardly hold his head up. It was hard not to laugh and catch him in the act. It seems that in order to catch him on V.D.O. (a Thai-English word) It is best when he is in the high chair, otherwise he just wants to watch the video of himself, he chases the camera until he can look.

Wai Kisses

Here is a video of Bryce doing two of my favorite things, he started to do them this past week. The Thai wai and blowing kisses.

At Play

Having a snack.

Slide again!!

Peek a boo!!

U. S. Election Overseas

I voted!!
The United States Embassy in Bangkok hosted an election watch. Originally I had volunteered for the event in hopes of watching the results as they rolled in. After attending a briefing on how the event was planned I felt a little overwhelmed. There were thousands of Thai's invited to attend. The majority of the people in attendance were students. I had a great time interacting with the students helping them find out about democracy and American History. The students seemed eager to learn, or at least get the right answers, as they received a prize after completing a scavenger hunt.
Special events included Voice of America live interaction with the United States, Voting in a mock election, live interviews, CNN/ CNBC broadcast live.
Special aperances were made by Prime Minister Somchai Wongswat he spoke shortly after CNN declared Obama our new President. Later the Mayor of Bangkok attended. Here he is with Ambasador John and his wife Sofia.
Obama and Mc Cain also showed up, they were both a bit stiff, especially since they were made of cardboard.

Marine Corps Ball

On November first Ramiro and I attended the 233rd United States Marine Corps Ball. The ball celbrates the founding of the corps. The event is quite the birthday bash. The ball is a formal affair, so Ramiro "had" to get a tux made (of course he wanted to get this done anyway so why pass up the opportunity). Many marines, embassy employees and guests of honor attended this birthday bash.

There is a cocktail hour starting at about 6pm (during which you can get your photos taken). We had ours done and then met up with some friends and had a group photo-op as well.

Kelly, Pat, Sam, Ben, Bonnie and Ramiro
(from left to right)

After the cocktail hour, the ceremony began: the Marines paid tribute to the honored guests (a.k.a. the US Ambassador to The Kingdom of Thailand and a guest speaker - some former marine who joined the corps in like 1940 something), the corps and of course marines around the globe. After the pomp and circumstance, the food began to come out.

There was a salmon pate' followed by soup (clam chowder) and then the main (we had beef) and then a dessert of cake and coffee. The food was quite good, but very small portions (i.e. the vegetarian dish was four small ravioli separated by a couple of sprigs of asparagus.

Of course since this is a ball there was dancing and who can dance without a live Thai band; but there were even sightings of Elvis and Tom Jones among others. They did quite a good job and when we left at midnight the party was still going strong.

We were trying to figure out a clever ending, but in order to simplify things - Happy Birthday and Semper Fidelis.

The Rubbles

Happy Halloween

At the US Embassy Trick or Treat Parade
(Photo by: Kelly Anderson)
Meet the Flinstones, your modern stone age family. From the town of Bangkok...
Barney, Betty and Bamm BammI vant to lick your face!!!

Climb High

These are a few pictures of Bryce at the park across the Chao Phraya River. It is fun taking the ferry across, there is a great playground on the other side.