Santa's Secret

Ever wonder what Santa does when he's not delivering presents?

That's right folks. He runs (along with a few hundred of his Santa friends!) Back in the beginning of December (before good 'ole Saint Nick got too busy with the holiday festivities) I ran in the Provo Santa Run. This was my first year doing this run and considering how much fun we had, I don't think it will be the last. 

I did not force my kids to run this time around.  But I did "volunteer" them to volunteer :) "Santa's Helpers" get to pass out cookies and milk to the runners and help along the route. Kobe and Tehani had fun directing the runners on the course (and since the kids were under age, Norm had to come too--He was the offical volunteer watcher :)

We even got this cute pic with the Grinch. I was tempted to send this out as our family Christmas card this year (ya know, and pretend that the hub is dressed up as the man in green) Anyway, Norm must have been worried that too many people would really think that was him--I got a thumbs down veto from him (What a grinch!)

Light it up

I think I may have made a terrible mistake.  It sounded like a good idea at the time.  I mean, it is Christmas time after all.  Which means you have to go see the Christmas lights, right?

On Christmas Eve we went and drove through the Festival of Lights in Spanish Fork.  I've heard about it for years but this was the first year we bothered to go.  The kids loved it.

Then the other night we made it up to Salt Lake to see the lights on Temple Square (after a quick dinner at the Nauvoo Cafe :)

The kids want lights.
Lots and lots of lights.  

On our house.

They must have our house confused with someone elses (that would be someone that has the time--and desire--to put up strings and strings of lights in the freezing cold :)

I'm going to have to think things through a little better before I go planning any more family outings...

Anyway, here's hoping your Christmas was merry and bright
(just not too bright :)

Jimi Marley

We finally got to the mall to exchange a few Christmas presents (much to Kobe's chagrin, he received a total of FIVE sweaters under the tree :)

Kobe, being the twelve year old boy that he is, was hoping to exchange all of his gifted clothing items for t-shirts.  I told him he could only get ONE tshirt. And this is the one he picked out.

When we were in the car driving home for the store, I mentioned to Kobe that I didn't know he was a Jimi Hendrix fan...
Kobe: Jimi who?
Me: The guy on your shirt...
Kobe: Mom, its a Bob Marley shirt.
Me: No its not...
Kobe: Yes it is.
I actually had to have him take out the shirt and read the lettering before he would admit that I was right. Jimi. Bob. They're both the same, right?

Sharp dressed man

Just in case you need more proof proving that my lil' boy is all growed up...

Yes, that is the Koberoo in a suit--or monkey suit, as Kobe likes to call it!  Thanks again to Grandma (and Grandpa :) for getting Kobe the new threads for his birthday.

So tell the ladies to watch out--Kobe is dressed to impress (or atleast to pass the sacrament on Sunday:)

Because as ZZ Top says...cause every girls crazy 'bout a sharp dressed man!

Let's Party!

In Kobe's own words "It was the best party ever" (which I realize isn't that big of a compliment since he is only 12 years old!)  Anyway, just wanted to post a few of the pics from the Kobester's birthday bash.

First of all, I should point out that it is hard to plan a party around Christmas time.  Kobe did make it easy on me when he said that he wanted his party to be at Jump On It.  I figured anything that involved physical activity (and no planning or preparation on my party) sounded like a great idea to me.  

Kobe (and a dozen or so of his closest friends) got to spend a few hours jumping to their hearts content.  I even put my cooking skills to work and whipped up a multi-colored layered cake--hence the reason why Kobe is posing by the weird looking blue and red dessert (the recipe called for green and red but I try very hard to make everything birthday-ish--no Christmas things allowed :)

Anyway, I still can't believe that my little boy is all growed up.  I'm not sure where the time has gone.  But hopefully you can check back with me 12 years from now to see what amazing things my lil' baby will be up to then.

Happy Birthday Kobe!  You are definitely my favorite son!!

For Your Eyes Only

So for the past month or so Tehani has been sporting these around town. Eyeglasses, spectacles, bifocals...call it what you will. I just call it weird that someone would wear these things when you don't have to.

Yes folks, these are strictly fashion glasses (or unfashionable--you be the judge) No vision correction needed here! And just in case you're wondering, it's harder than you think to find fake eyeglasses (hence the reason why the Hani Bani is wearing promo glasses that say "PBS Teacher Line" on the side:) Maybe we can start charging PBS for all the "free advertising" while my daughter starts her new fashion trend?

Now we're cookin!

Just another day at the office! Now before you all start thinking that I have the coolest job ever (even though I do) I should clarify that I spend most days (OK, every day :) sitting in front of a computer. But today, I got to spend a few hours honing my domestic diva skills for a new television show were doing (I'll let you take a guess at what it is about)

Before my mom gets all excited and thinks that I'm going to the be star of my own TV show, I was just the guest (which means HE was teaching ME how to cook!) We made focaccia in case you 're wondering. And it was delicious--even if I do say so myself. (Though I am not sure how anything could taste bad when you drench it in that much olive oil :) I should also point out that this was the "pilot episode," which means the rest of you won't get to see my fabulous cooking skills on your television screens.

Anyway, it was fun to help with the show. Who knows, I may actually even try baking with yeast on my own now (I've had a yeast phobia for years :) But now that I am done baking dough, I can get back to my REAL job--which is raising the dough!

She's Got A New Atti'do!

Just wanted to share some before and after pics from our recent trip to the hair salon (Ok, I know Great Clips isn't what usually comes to my mind when I think of the word "salon" but Tehani has been dying to get her hair cut so this is where we ended up :)

It's been several years since she's even been in for a cut and she's been asking about chopping of her locks for the last month or so (Apparently, spending over 10 minutes each day to brush all of the knots out of her hair is no longer her idea of fun) Anyway, Tehani got a new super cute bob cut, and someone else is going to end up with 12 inches of her long brown hair since the Hani Bani donated it to Locks of Love. I'm very proud of my lil' philanthropist and her good deed (And no, I am not just saying that since we got her cut for free because of the donation) That's my girl!

Birthday Nunsense

I didn't want today to go by without wishing my favorite "Mother Superior" a Happy Birthday! No, my mom isn't really Sally Field. But I'm pretty sure you can see from the pics that back in the day, Crazy J bore a striking resemblance to a certain Flying Nun.

So although it would have been nice to have a mother that could fly through the air on her magic nun habit, I had to settle for a mother that got unlimited flying benefit on United...

and made me eat my vegetables (peas and all)

and forced me to practice the viola (even when I complained)

and made me do my homework (even when I didn't want to)

and had me write thank you notes (Miss Manners must have taken lessons from my Mom)

and taught me how to cook (though at the time I'm sure she thought I wasn't listening)

and made me the person I am today (idiosyncrasies and all!)

So Happy Birthday Sister Bertrille, err...I mean Mom! Hope you have all the birthday nunsense you can enjoy!!

Doing the can-can

In case any of you have been wondering what I have been up to instead of posting on my blog, I figured its time I let you in on a little secret...I am a canner. Strange hobby, I know. I like to blame it on my mother, the queen canner herself. I grew up eating everything from home-canned peaches to strawberry-peach jam. Now I am sure there are some of you that are saying "My mom canned. It's not THAT uncommon." Well, did any of you eat home-canned ketchup? Or how about home-canned sauerkraut? I think it is safe to say that my mother took canning to a whole new level.

Well, apparently the ready-to-be preserved apple doesn't fall very far from the tree. So far this year I have bottled--listed below in order of production:

Zucchini relish

Strawberry jam

Salsa

Apple butter

Apple pie filling

The kids love, Love, LOVE the jam (I've had to ration their allotment--they were going through a jar every few days!) And I now know that I will never be making pie filling again (the jars overflowed and I had to reprocess the whole thing again) But I am having fun. And that is all that counts, right? Anyway, if you have a good canning recipe you would like to share, just let me know.

Run For Your Life

The kids and I decided to kick off the Halloween festivities early this year by dressing up and running in the Provo Monster Mile & 5K race. (Being the good mom that I am, I figured the least I could do before I let my kids eat 6 months worth of candy in one weekend is to make the make them get a little exercise!!)

Tehani went as a monarch butterfly (not a fairy!) Kobe is a burglar. And for those of you that might be wondering if I dressed up or not, Hello--I am a lifeguard!! Lucky for the rest of the runners--and you readers--I left my Pamela Anderson Baywatch swimsuit at home :) Anyway, the kids had fun (the race did trunk or treating for kids afterwards) And I managed to get a fairly fast time (for me at least) on my 5K--basically because I was worried about the kiddos being alone--they backed out on running the 5K with me and just did the wimpy 1 mile race :)

Both of the kids plan on doing a costume change for the next event on our Halloween agenda (for some reason these two must be under the impression that it is very passe to wear the same costume twice in one season) so be sure to check back to see what we have in store.

Happy Haunting!!

Wanna Swap?

Right now I wouldn't want to swap places with anyone as I am enjoying the final days of our vacation in Hawaii.  After a quick stop at church this morning, we spent the rest of the day driving around to the "other side" of the island. We hit a farmers market along the way and even took the kids to their first swap meet (or Swap n' Save" as Tehani called it :)

It rained a lot today so its the only day so far that we haven't gone to the beach. We finished off the day at a family party. And the kids gave already started asking if we really have to go home tomorrow. They're ready to move over here so if any of you Hawaiians are interested in a nice three bedroom home in Provo, maybe we can arrange a swap?

Friday Night Lights

In addition to taking us to all of his old hangouts, Norm was pretty excited to take the kids and I to our first Kahuku football game on Friday night. I know every town follows their local high school football team, but let's just say that the locals here take school pride to a whole new level.  I guess it doesn't hurt when you have players on your high school team that are larger than some college players (they know how to grow big kids in Hawaii :)

Our kids had fun playing with all the other kids. And Norm had fun chearing his team on to victory.

Final score--Kahuku:20 Waimea:16
Go Red Raiders!

Making our way through Hawaii--one bite at a time!

When in Rome you do as Romans, right? Well on a Hawaiian vacation, that means stopping at EVERY one of Norm's favorite eating joints to stuff our faces--Hikilau Cafe, Rainbow Drive Inn, Tita's Grill, Zippys...(I could keep going on but that will just make it sound like we've been eating non-stop since we landed on this island three days ago :)

All in all, the trip has been delicious...err, I mean, fun.  And the kids have been very impressed with Norm's extensive network of friends--basically we can't stop anywhere without him running into at least a couple of people that he knows (I never knew I married the #1 Mr. Aloha)

On the agenda for today? Beach, beach, and more beach. (After a pit stop for lunch at Laie Chop Suey :)

E Komo Mai

So the fam and I are in Hawaii for the week. And although it isn't the first visit for any of us, we've never actually all been there together. Needless to say, we've been looking forward to this trip for awhile now.

The flight over was just fine (if you don't count the fact that we had to get up at 3am to make it to the airport in time.)  And even after getting our bags, getting our rental car, stopping to eat and checking into our hotel, we even had time to hit the beach before it got dark.

Let the rest and relaxation begin!

An oldie but a goodie

So Kobe's class had a performance this week at a retirement center near their school.  In honor of all the old foggies they'd be performing for, the class learned a bunch of "oldies" for the occasion. There's even a pic of Kobe and his friend Brock doing the classic "Who's On First" bit (Kobe was Abbott :)

Anyway, the performance was a success. And as Kobe said we now know of a very nice retirement home if we ever need one (I'll have to keep that in mind for my favorite old foggies :)

Dirty Dash

I know it is hard to recognize the mud-covered people in this photo but just wanted to post a quick pic from last weekend's insanity--aka The Dirty Dash.


I'm not really a mud kind of person so I am not sure what I was thinking when I signed up to do this with a group from my EMBA class. Luckily, I was able to talk Simone into coming up so we could let the kids do the Piglet Plunge. It also took some explaining to my parents that no actual pigs are involved in the race. (Apparently, back during my dad's childhood they used to grease up pigs and let the kids catch them for fun--so he thought from the "Piglet Plunge" name that we were chasing some lil' porkers around :)

Anyway, the kids had a blast (well, that was up until I tried to get Tehani and Eva to take a cold shower. After tears and lots a shivering, we broke down and paid the $4 a piece to let them wash off in a warm shower--wimps)

And for those of you that want video proof, you have it (thanks to the overachieving guy in my group with a waterproof video camera :) And just remember, anytime you don't see me in the video, its because I'm holding the vidoe camera (Hello, I work at a TV station :)

Fashionista Fun (aka Tehani's B-Day Party)

One of the fun things about having a girl is getting to plan girl birthday parties. Well, I am proud to say that Tehani's 10th party did not disappoint...

Initially, we had a hard time deciding whether to hold her part on Friday night or Saturday (her actual birth day :) I was partial to holding on the actual day (because how often does that happen.) But the b-day girl had other plans, so Friday it was!

Tehani and friends decorated baseball caps with puffy paint, designed and modeled outfits out of toilet paper, decorated cupcakes, opened presents and everything else you would expect at a 10 year old's soiree. Tehani loved all of her presents--and I loved the fact that I can now cross this off of my mental "to-do" list...

Happy Birthday Tehani! I know that they next ten years with be just as entertaining (and fun) as the first :)

You must have my kid confused with someone else

So the kids have been in school for just over a week and we got our first email from one of the teachers the other night...

Dear Mr. and Mrs. Tevaga,
It has been really delightful to get to know Kobe over the past week and a half. He has a natural ability in being a leader and many of the students already look up to him and follow his example. As a teacher, I particularly appreciate this because Kobe is a very respectful student and he treats his classmates well. I am grateful to have his example in class and am looking forward to seeing more of his talents unfold throughout the duration of the year. Miss "Teacher"

Leader? Respectful? Are you sure were talking about the same kid here?? My kid's name is Kobe--you know, the one with the big afro hair. I mean this can't really be the same kid that occasionally likes to sigh and roll his eyes when I ask him to do something? Hmm...
(Well, he has always been a good actor...)

In other unbelievable news, the kids love, Love, LOVE school. They come home every day talking about what they did. It's been nice to get back into somewhat of a routine (and to get the kids out of the house all day) Kobe's taking Chinese so he sang me a song they are learning (though for all I know he could just be saying jibberish--and I'm telling him "That sounds great!)

Anyway, just to be safe I'm posting a pic of my "lil leader." Who knows--maybe I'm raising the future president of the United States?? (I'm going to assume that if we can have a black president, we can also have a half Samoan one too :) But if "Miss Teacher" happens to be surfing the Internet and comes across this pic, can you please confirm that this was the kid you were talking about?

It's Finally Here

My kids have literally been counting down the days. No, there is not some cool video game coming out. It's not even a trip to Chicago. They've been counting down the days until school would start and IT IS FINALLY HERE!

I didn't think they were going to make it. We had a bunch of neighbor kids that started almost two weeks ago. Everyone else we knew started last week. I thought my kids were going to poke their eyes out if they had to sit at home for another day, (Being the good mom that I am, I let them turn the TV room into one large blanket fort--we've had it like that for the last week or so!) Needless to say, we were all very ready for school to start (Yes, I know--what is wrong with these kids actually wanting to go to school!)

Kobe got up at 5am. He came in our room and asked if it was too early to take a shower (duh) Tehani got up much to early as well and spent the next two hours perfecting her hair and outfit for the day. School doesn't event start until 8:15--but the kiddos were ready to leave while it was still dark out :)

Now, any kid of mine should know that you are not going to leave for the first day of school without the obligatory photos out on the front porch. You'd think they'd learn that the sooner they can both a picture where they both have their eyes open (notice how Kobe is tying his shoes above with his eyes closed) and with normal looks on their faces, we could leave sooner...I beleive this was the picture I took after I said "Open your eyes!" I should have told Tehani that those insturctions were for Kobe only. The kids were sure that we were going to be late for school (which would've been ironic since they had our whole house up at the crack of dawn)

Anyway, after snapping this lil' picture the kids were officially ready for their first day back at Meridian school. Happy School Year kids! (Don't forget to learn something)

What religion are you?

I remember when I was growing up and would ask my mom what a word meant when I didn't know the meaning. Her standard answer was "Why don't you look that up in the dictionary?" I can honestly say that I didn't ever bother (which means she is the cause of my mediocre vocabulary skills:)

Anyway, now that the kids are back they've been double-teaming me with all of sorts of words--articulate, mortality, Pol Pot (Ok, I didn't know who that was but thats what Google is for anyway, right?) And these were just the "What does this mean" words from one day!

Just when I thought the "Word Quiz-o-Rama" couldn't get any worse, Kid #1 through me for a lil' loop at breakfast the other day:
"Mom, what's a virgin?

I gave the appropriate eleven year old answer (its a person that's never had sex before just in case you are wondering) and had to chuckle with the reply I received..."Oh. I've always thought it was a religion."

I can hardly wait to see what "unknown" words they come up with next!

A penny saved is a penny earned

So I'm still just a rookie at the whole couponing thing but I wanted to post a pic from my trip to the grocery store this week. I purchased 20 items (pictured above--minus the package of cookies that we already ate :) for a grand total of... (drum roll please)$15.37

At $0.76 a piece I didn't think I did too bad. I called to tell my mom about her score and she told me that if I keep it up, I might be as good as Cynthia one day (A girl can dream, cant she?)

Pennies saved? Two thousand, nine hundred and seventy five :)

Meet my nephew

Another benefit of my trip to Chicago is that I got to officially meet my newest nephew. Here's a pic of me and the lil' guy (Ronan is his name.)

It's hard for me to believe that my kids were ever this small. He pretty much sleeps all day (well, when he isn't eating) so Cynthia and I even managed a quick trip out to the mall for a trip to the Motherhood store (in case anyone is wondering it turns out that the maternity store is the only place you can find nursing shirts)

Other than that, I spent most of my day scanning pictures for my dad. He's going through and putting all of his pictures into albums (which is no small feat, I might add, when you have 73 years worth of photos :) I'm definitely going to be an expert picture scanner by the time I get back to Utah.

I am the Master...

...because I have a Masters (which is a good thing because you basically need one just to figure out how to put on the funky graduate hood thingy that is hiding underneath my flower leis :)

Anyway, after two long years of studying, homework, and more homework, I am finally done with my MBA. I walked in the commencement exercises today. There were a lot of people from my class that decided to skip this part of graduation but I thought it would be good for the kids to see this (when they go off to college in a few years I'm claiming all the credit for the time I made them sit through a boring graduation ceremony :)

And while I was a little bummed that my parents were not able to attend (I know, I know what kind of grown adult still wants her mommy and daddy to come to all of her stuff) but I know they were here in spirit (that and my station broadcasts the whole thing so they were able to watch it (Have I ever told you guys how much I LOVE my TV station?)

I figured my big news deserved a small post (in the midst of my blogging drought) I'm going to have to get back in the swing of posting (you know you've been a blog slacker when your sister--yes, the one with a three week old newborn and crazy three year old toddler--manages to post more than you do)

Home again home again dancing a jig

Ok, I guess technically Tehani isn't dancing. But she is home again. She actually flew back by herself. My mom put her on the plane at O'Hare and I got a security pass to pick her up at the gate here. My little girl is all growed up :)

Here's a pic of my lil' frequent flier showing off the new luggage that she got while in Chicago (Thanks Grandma!) We haven't unpacked yet but I'll just assume that Tehani scored so much new stuff that she needed more luggage to get it all back here. (Maybe I need to go home and visit sometime :)

Welcome Home Tehani! We're glad to have you back!

Pioneer Day 5K: I'm Lovin' It

While most of the civilized world spent their day off from work sleeping in, Simone and I trekked up to Salt Lake for the Deseret News 5K race. When I saw that Ronald himself was the MC/mascot for the race, I just knew I had to get a pic for my scrapbook (because nothing says "health" and "fitness" like Mr. Mickey D himself :)

I mean, who knew that Ronald McDonald was a runner?

The good news: He did not beat us in the race.

The bad news: I guess there wasn't really any bad news--other than the fact that I was tired the rest of the day (Which is pretty lame since a 5K is only 3 miles)

Let Freedom Run

Just a quick post to let you know that I am alive and well (I know my lack of blogging had some people wondering if it was time to put put out a missing person alert :)

Anyway, I am doing so well that I managed to squeeze in a 5K to celebrate the 4th of July (last time I ran this race was back in in 2008) I've never been a huge runner in the past but it felt good doing the run (even though I am pretty sure that I'm going to be sore for days)

Now that I'm done with school (my last class was two weeks ago :) I figured that gives me a little more free time for getting back in shape. Because in addition to gaining an MBA, I managed to gain about 30 pounds over the past two year!! So its time to run, run, run!! The next race I'm doing is the Deseret News 5K on July 25, so if you are interested in a running buddy let me know.

Happy Fourth!!

Be on the lookout...for the world's best Dad

Yep, it's a wanted poster. I'm posting this in honor of my Dad ('cause nothing says Happy Father's Day like a pretend wanted poster :)

Anyway when you have a family member that's a cop (thanks Officer Ray) you end up with mug shots of your kids--and pretend wanted posters. My brother whipped this up a few years back since my Mom kept getting mad at my Dad for spending too much time--and money--at the local neighborhood greenhouse (in my mom's defense, the man does buy A LOT of plants.)

So Happy Father's Day Daddy. I may not have inherited your green thumb but I know that I'm the person I am today because of you. Here's wishing you many undetected trips to the nursery (You deserve it!)

Wordless Wednesday

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.8

A lawyer walks into a bar...

I figured I'd better start brushing up on my lawyer jokes since it looks like we may one day have another lawyer in the family. My BIL (or "brother-in-law" since I know my parents don't know texting shorthand :) is the only lawyer I know at the moment. But here's the conversation I had in the car yesterday that may change all of this...

Kobe: Mom?

Laura: What Kobe?

Kobe: Do you think for Christmas you could get me some law books?

Laura: I guess. Are you going to be a lawyer when you grown up?

Kobe: Maybe. I'm just thinking it would be fun to learn more about law.

Yes people, my child used the word fun to describe learning about law. Tehani piped in and asked if Kobe just wanted to read those books so that way he could break the law (thanks Tehani)

I told Cynthia about the incident and she informed me there are some kid-friendly books that talk about strange laws and such. I decided this was a bad idea since it would only encourage Kobe's new found interest in learning legal speak. The other option is to to just give him a regular book of legal code. I'm guessing that's all it would take to suck the "fun-ness" out of learning about the law :)

Flashback Friday

Today's flashback is from Dec 2008 (or at least that is what the digital time stamp on my photo says :)

This is a pic of our two favorite Tahitians--and their families (or at least most of the fam.) I'm pretty sure Norm and the kids and I were in Chicago for the holidays and "The Mom's" had the idea for us to have a family dinner a la Sweet Tomatoes. It seemed like a good idea. Except its a buffet--which means we ate and ate and ate (But it's ok that we all gorged ourselves since "It's only salad," right?)

(And yes, Tehani is falling asleep on my mom's purse in the picture :)

You've got mail

Apparently I've got a new job...as a spokesperson for one of the departments on campus.

http://printandmail.byu.edu/home/content.php?page=about/articles/article-lauratevaga&section=about/about

(Don't worry, we didn't send all 500,000 pieces of mail to the same person :)

My Happy Place

It's easy to smile when you're at the happiest place on earth! Last week, Norm and I took the kids on their first trip to Florida. Never mind the fact that I had just gotten back from my two week "asian adventure"--I had a work trip scheduled to Orlando so we figured it would be a great time for Norm and the kids to fly out and join me!

I do have to say I was jealous of the fact that the fam got to hang out all day by the pool the first few days there (while I was busy "hanging out" in conference rooms learning about the latest and greatest in fundraising :) But when Thursday afternoon finally rolled around, the real fun began. We managed to squeeze in a visit to Sea World and we spent Friday at Aquatica (Sea World's waterpark) And of course no visit to Orlando is complete without an obligatory stop at Disney. We spent most of the day at Epcot and then stopped by to say Aloha to our friends and family at the night show at Disney's Polynesian Resort.

Anyway, the kids loved it. Kobe has already asked if we can move to Florida and I'm pretty sure Tehani is already planning for the next time we can go out to visit. I'm pretty sure they also liked the fact that we had confirmed seats on the plane (thanks to Grandma, they're used to flying standby all the time.) I was talking to the kids on the phone before their flight (I flew out a day before them) and they were asking what would happen if they didn't get on the plane. I kept trying to explain to them that they'd for sure be getting on since we had bought tickets. It was kind of a foreign concept for them :)

Speaking of foreign concepts, I've spent the last two night sleeping in my own bed. Spending the last three weeks in hotels has been great, but it's nice to sleep in my own bed for a change. (I just need to figure out how to get a hotel maid to come in and make up my bed in the morning :)

If you sprinkle when you tinkle...

You are looking at the one and only picture I took during my layover in Tokyo. Yes folks, its a remote...for the toilet.

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.8

Land of a thousand smiles

I am now in Bangkok. The tour guide said it's known as the land of a thousand smiles. I haven't even been here for a whole day but I already have a new favorite place. Were staying at a fabulous Marriott resort. I went and had an hour long massage. And now we are taking a boat tour.

I know I am smiling...
Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

Namaste

Today we say goodbye to India. It's after 1am and I'm sitting on our airplane ready for our flight.

Next stop: Thailand

Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

Laundry Day

Just a quick pic from our city tour of Mumbai (aka Bombay) And although this city is much more developed (lots of skyskrapers and even street lights :) there are areas of the city that look like this. We came past here a little later in the afternoon so almost all of the clothes washers (the tour guide said that in this area it is only men that was clothes :) were already done for the day.

The funny thing is that before going on the tour I had just gotten done washing some of my clothes. In the sink in my hotel room (you'd be washing clothes too if you had to bring two weeks worth of clothes in one suitcase--that can't weigh more than 44 pounds) Thank goodness for my packets of travel Tide!
Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

An elephant never forgets

And here is an experience I will never forget--my first elephant ride. This was near Amber Fort, which was our main sightseeing visit for the day.

Our paciderm parade was almost cancelled--when we got to the fort today they said it was too hot. Don't tell PETA but the tour guides must have decided that our India photo op was more important the elephant's welfare because here I am on my new elephant friend (her name is Beshy in case you are wondering :)

*Note--No animals were harmed in the taking of this picture. I mean, in 46 degree Celsius really that hot?

Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

Just another day at the palace

Here are a few pics of the Taj Palace, our hotel last night. It was an actual palace at one point in time. We're in Jaipur today (aka the Pink City--or at least that is what the tour guide says :)

All of our hotels have been just as nice (though I don't know if I will get used to going through metal detectors and having armed guards walking around the lobby :)

Just another day at the palace!
Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile