CAST REMOVAL, B-day, Diwali, Phoebe, Emma, Mattie, Ornament Party, Vietnam,...whew

Hello everyone,
Just trying to make up a title for this month made me tired, so I guess it's pretty clear how busy the month of November was.

We'll start with something that we've been dreaming of for months now...the cast removal! I'm a bit out of sequence with putting this event first, which is a little annoying to...me, but it was a pretty big event as she's had that doggone thing on for 3 months. 

She didn't want to watch!

Her arm is healing OK.  There is still angulation, about 13 degrees, but her arm should straighten out about 1degree per month...soooo, we have a ways to go before it's straight.  We've been in therapy and she's slowly getting mobility back.  She cannot do a complete palm down (as if she were playing the piano) without compensating by putting her elbow out a bit but it's better than before.

Mattie turned 8 and had her birthday party at the bowling alley which was a lot of fun.

This is a bad photo of her party, but I can't find the other ones - oops

The above photo is of a group of friends that got together for Diwali, the Hindu celebration of lights.  As Mattie says, "they light all the candles and have fireworks."  We did light candles and the men shot off the fireworks and the kids played with sparklers so a fun time was had by all.

Just a cute picture

Phoebe did her own hair...well, she put her own bows in.

Here Emma is speaking to the entire elementary school along with about 100 parents during the school's monthly assembly.  She did fantastic and didn't seem nervous at all!

Here Mattie is at her Mini-Expo.  "I had to present to all the parents about my endangered habitat which is Antarctica.  The diorama behind me is some of Antarctica."  Mattie had a poster that explained all about Antarctica and had to present to parents who walked through the room.  She also did great.  Her teacher did say she had a tendency to give a little too much detail.

In keeping with the Kohl Family tradition, we had an ornament party here with some of our friends and my parents.  We had a wonderful time and got some amazing ornaments. 

The following photos are from our trip to Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), Vietnam with Mom and Dad.  We had a wonderful time.

Dad cutting ice...obviously

Waffles!  I would really like to know where this guy got a waffle maker.  We had to wait in line to go across the river on the ferry and they were selling food while we waited.  Who knew we would find waffles!

Leaving Cambodia... Vietnam ahead

Notre Dame Cathedral.  There's one in every country.

We all loaded up in the cyclos, took pictures, then got back out because they wanted too much money to go less than a mile down the road. 

 This was Shawn lecturing the girls before we went into the Palace in Saigon.  I think he was afraid we would be arrested or something because the girls ran around like hooligans. 

An example of how not to dress when you're a tourist in Vietnam.

 The following photos are from our trip to the Cao Dai Holy See (their big church).  The following is an excerpt from Lonely Planet that briefly describes the religion.  " A Vietnamese sect that seeks to create the ideal religion by fusing the secular and religious philosophies of both East and West.  It was founded in the early 1920's based on a message revealed in seances to Ngo Minh Chieu, the groups founder.  It contains elements of Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, native Vietnamese spiritualism, Christianity and Islam, as well as a dash of secular enlightenment thrown in for good measure."

Notice the figures on the wall in the back.  I think Jesus is the third down on the left.

 The following photos are from the Cu Chi Tunnels. Again, from Lonely Planet "These were a network of tunnels dug by the Vietnamese in the 1960's.  The network, parts of which were several stories deep, included innumerable trapdoors constructed living areas, storage facilities, weapons factories, field hospitals, command centers and kitchens.  The tunnels facilitated communication and coordination between the VC enclaves, and allowed the VC to mount surprise attacks."

I will say that these tunnels were creepy.  Deep in the jungle one could really imagine how scary it would have been for US soldiers.  We were as always very proud to be Americans and have ever more respect for our soldiers. 

Now you see him...

Now you don't!

Greta's reaction to gunfire.

Jenny's reaction.  It was pretty neat shooting an M and then some number.

Mom and Emma did the best in the tunnel.  It was dark and it was hard to breathe and Mom had to sit and crawl through because she was too tall.  All Jenny wanted to do was get out of there.  We all went through the first section so that was good.

We also went to see a water puppet show.  It was great.  Greta did not like it and fell asleep.

Heading back to Cambodia.  We had a great trip!

This guy carried our bags across the border while we went through passport control.