so, malaysia. and a quick catch-up from the summer

well, so here i am.  took me about 5 minutes to remember to how post a new post.  not a particularly good sign.

since i just downloaded 707 pictures, (all from june, july, and august), which is more than i'd taken in the last, like, 2 years, i am trying to decide where to start.

we had a truly GREAT summer.  i am such a summer mom.  just let it be summer all year long, okay?  i love having all the kids home with me.  and the lack of schedules, except for MY schedule.  my rules, my way.........(maybe i shouldn't admit that?)

anyway, the day after school got out (and after sadly, sadly, sadly) saying good bye to friends (and not sadly) the weather, we drove to utah for a two-week visit.  much fun was had---we kicked off the summer by going swimming almost every day at amy's pool, going to 7-peaks, and celebrating the 4th of july (early--since we were actually on the plane to malaysia on the 4th.  actually, we missed the 4th of july day entirely--we left utah on the 3rd, and landed in malaysia on the 5th.  it was weird.)

so, malaysia.  it's great. and different.  and mostly good.  mixed in with frustrating bits and pieces.  like not getting our air shipment for 7 weeks (instead of two), and then having 9 of the boxes be missing.  stuff like that.  and getting lost on a regular basis while driving.  we just plan in an extra 30 minutes for getting lost.  but here's a list of the things i like:

1) meeting all sorts of new people from every country possible---in our apt complex, there are australians, austrians, russians, iranians, norweigans, chinese, phillipinos, indians, brazilians, belgians.......when we moved in, there was only one other american person in the whole complex (and she is married to a french man, so it only half-way counts).  now there are three other american families.     i put on my outgoing (usually hidden) personality and talk to them all.

2) most people speak english.  hallelujah!!!!!!!!!  no, seriously, it's life-saving.

3) the motorcycle riders wearing their jackets backwards.  it makes me smile.  i like seeing funny things.

4)  walking to the grocery store.  even though it's a pain.  it feels industrious.

5) SWIMMING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i should have put this first.  and second.  and third.  i love the pool.  love.  love.  love.  i have been doing little swim lessons with wells since the other kids started school.  it is the highlight of my day.  and i get to do a swim workout every morning.  heaven.

6) driving on the wrong side of the road. it's a rush.  and scary.  driving is just always a gamble here.  but any time i make it somewhere safely, i feel like i accomplished something great.  it's not, just like, "oh, i went to ikea today."  it's like "WHOA,  I DROVE TO IKEA TODAY AND I ONLY GOT LOST ONCE, AND I DIDN'T CRASH, AND I UNDERSTOOD THE CRAZY SIGNS TELLING ME WHERE TO PARK!!!!!!!"  see how much more fun that is?

7)  the bum washers.  but NOT the squat toilets.  those are a mystery to be avoided.  but the bum washers come in handy for all sorts of things.  you can hose down the whole bathroom and your toddler all at once!  (when wells has a dirty diaper at the pool, which he does seem to sort of plan on, he says "better go spray my bottom off").  anyway, they are fun.

8) doing laundry and yoga outside on a balcony.

9) the view from my windows.  trees, the pool, and downtown kuala lumpur.  we have huge windows/sliding glass doors in every room.

okay, that is enough for now.  i will try to add some pictures on now......it ended up being totally random pictures.  707 is too many to go through, it seems.  i will do some smaller, less general posts next.

                                            (at my mom's house in the backyard)

                                           (at amy's pool.  i made them tread water forever, trying to get a good picture, until we realized there was a bench right behind them.....see below.  ha!)

                                           (my grandma and grandpa........jody-ray, as my kids call them)

                                           (this is how i walk to church if i want to wear heels once i'm actually there.  the sidewalks and streets are far too hazardous for anything but sandals.)

                                           (at klcc by the petronas towers.  and the splash park)

(we left back-to-school pictures until it was a little too late.......this is the kids getting into the elevator to go down to the bus--there are 2 elevators and 2 apartments on each floor in our building)