It is sooooo awesome having family in Asia. LOOK!

We had a great time meeting up with our dear friends Mary Kelly and Giovanni Bello in Bali. We stayed in a little villa in a town called Seminyak. Unfortunately the Krembs’ didn’t get much sun time since they burned themselves on the very first day! Dumb! We should definitely know better. We enjoyed the rice patties though, tons of Bali shopping, and chill time at our little villa pool. And, we even had a chance to catch up with friends made from our time in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia: the Zavitz!

Vincent really hit it off with Krista and Chris' son Keegan.

Even though I flew all day on my birthday this year, it was still remarkable. So remarkable in fact that a week later I’m inspired to blog about it!

First, on Saturday morning, the 20th, Gigi comes in the room and says, “Mommy, happy birthday. We have a surprise for you. You are to stay in bed.” It was so cute. It’s worth recording–in fact I may have to do on my new birthday toy….

So, I stayed in bed. That’s not too hard. First I received my coffee. Then Vincent came in with some incense. Next Gigi came in with the huge March Vogue. Vincent came in again asking if I’d like classical music or Balinese. My menu order was taken. Before you knew it I had a wonderful tray brought it with fresh fruit, an omelette, bacon, Orangina, toast, little treats like a bar of soap and Balinese wooden utensils, oh and of course some chocolates! It was such a wonderful way to wake up: Breakfast in Bed! And the gift keeps giving. I can have it at least once a month. The gorgeous bed-tray made it back to Beijing!

Here they come with the my birthday breakfast in bed!

The kids made sure to explain all the little details.

When we got back to Jakarta for one more night with Jen and Brian, we had a wonderful Turkish meal at Anatalya. When we got home, there was a birthday cake awaiting us:

On the actual day of my birthday I had two neat surprises: one, the flight attendants all signed a card for me and gave me a box of chocolates!

And better yet, during our hour and a half layover in Hong Kong, Kevin bought me this!

My birthday continued on Monday when during lunch the entire library staff at ISB had made a special lunch for me:

Our trip over winter break to Hawaii for my brother’s wedding was fantastic! I was anxious for the trip, but once we all got together I knew I had nothing to worry about. The wedding festivities were beautiful, sharing a condo with the Collins’ was a breeze, the weather was glorious all week long, and the Hawaiian mentality was catching.

They have a term with accompanying hand gesture that solves all: HOWZIT! It basically means how’s it going, but it also means all is goin’ well. It’s like a nice chill term for everything’s gonna be all right.

The first week back to school after winter break, and Vincent received the Dragon Award today! He’s so proud. He received it for having a great “can do” attitude and being a great helper in the classroom.