Double Vision

Alright, let's end the debate once and for all. The girls DO NOT look alike. Really, they don't.

Or do they?

 

You can tell we are an environment-friendly family ... we reuse and recycle!

 

Each set of pictures were taken at similar ages, and it's fairly clear who is who. If you really need a hint, look at the hair.

 

No prizes for guessing correctly, since it's pretty obvious anyway, right?

Three Weddings and a Really Smelly Fruit

Updating this blog seems like an impossible task, not when life seems to run at full throttle,well, pretty much all the time. We can only offer snapshots of the year before, fully realizing this year is almost half gone.

There seemed to be a flurry of weddings in the last quarter of 2011, which meant opportunities to dress up the little angels. Here's one at Adrian's wedding last September:

... and about a week later at a Malay wedding. 

Hannah asked:" Is that the King and the Queen?!"

   

Well, for the day, I suppose.

About a month later, we were on a road trip to the land of chicken rice & taugeh - Ipoh. This time, we were attending yet another old university friend's wedding.

 

 It seems slightly rude to post pictures of the girls and not the people we were meant to be celebrating with, so here's a collage of old friends and new:

And finally, something totally irrelevant to what we've been talking about...

Isabel loves durian!!!

And why the sudden change of topic? Who knows. It's whacky Sunday, a kind of prelude to the Monday blues we're all meant to have. Perhaps if we keep up this pace of blogging, we'll catch up before Christmas comes round again.

Have a great week ahead everyone!

The Best of Gifts

What are you looking forward to getting this Christmas?

I spoke recently at Bethel Baptist Church, KL, on the topic of "The Best of Gifts" as a means of preparation for Christmas. If you'd like to listen, you will find the message here.

Have a blessed Christmas if we don't post before then.

Chris, Cindy, Hannah & Isabel.

New Sermons

If you ever browse the sermon list on this page, you might be thinking I've stopped preaching. Truth is, I just got lazy with updating the list.

You can now find 5 more recent sermons in the list. And by the end of 2011, there should be 2 more as well.

On the topic of preaching, let me share a couple of quotes I have found helpful recently.

In answer to the question "What is preaching?", Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones wrote:

"Logic on fire!...Preaching is theology coming through a man who is on fire."

And along similar lines, R.C. Sproul writes:

"Preaching calls forth an emotional response. It is not merely an exercise in the transfer of information. The pulpit is the setting for drama. The gospel itself is dramatic...To communicate the gospel dramatically is to fit the preaching with the content. Dispassionate preaching is a lie. It denies the content it conveys."

Quotes like these help remind me how different preaching is to teaching - and how important it is to know the difference!

Isabel = 1

It wasn't long after Hannah's celebrations that Isabel stole the limelight. About 90 minutes, actually!

She was cute an adorable, of course. And she even allowed people to carry her (even though she was more than capable of toddling around by herself, having decided to start walking a few weeks ago).

It may not have been Hannah's party anymore, but that clearly didn't stop her enjoying herself. How Hannah still had energy, I don't know...

There was another wonderful cake - TP's magic, again.

But in the end, it wasn't Isabel who shined for the camera. Her second cousin decided to turn up the charm and strike some poses.

(Thanks John & Karen for the pics!)

Hannah's 5th Birthday - a Princess Party

We are playing catch-up on our blog now. Three things to post about, starting with Hannah's 5th birthday party on Sunday 31st July (one day after her birthday).

We had some stunning decorations, thanks to Kimberley, Melissa and Natalie. Here, Isabel is getting into the princess party mood.

There were so many helpers on the day, it is hard to mention everyone. But Maggie did a fantastic job of putting paint on faces in a highly artistic fashion.

The amazingly life-like 'royal tiara on a cushion' cake was the work of TP - something of a regular cake supplier in our family! (We are going to miss you when you move to Penang, TP!)

Just as the party was winding up around 4.30pm, Hannah's best friend arrived - Hayley! So the girls got some quality play-time together before the next big event...Isabel's 1st birthday party.

Once all the fun was over, Hannah was left with a large pile of presents and it literally took her a week to plough through them. Mind you, Isabel seemed happy enough with the unopened boxes!

Come back soon for the next blog.

Marrakesh 2011

Finally, pictures from Marrakesh are here.



It was an amazing holiday, and a very different wedding (Tony and Mel, not us!). Great to look back at the photos and remember the experience. But also very sad to hear that just a few weeks after we came back a bomb exploded in the Djemaa el Fna square which we had visited (as all tourists do, both local and foreign) more than once.

Party on!!!

We seem to be enjoying a spate of weddings and birthday parties this year. Or perhaps our popularity ratings have soared on account of our daughters.

Earlier in March, Hannah was invited to a classmate's birthday party. It was an afternoon of fun and games, including an appearance of a magician!

Spot the girls ?

Here's Hairdresser Hannah getting a taste of her own medicine, and seemingly enjoying it!

But of course, Hannah has always enjoyed food, especially CHOCOLATE!!

Here we are at my father's 70th birthday party with the extended family at the Empire Hotel.

Having been born during the time of Communist unrest, the actual date of Gong Gong's birthday had been a bit of a mystery as his birth was only registered several months later by the authorities.

My aunts turned up at his house rather unexpectedly one afternoon offering to celebrate his birthday. 3rd aunt had traced his ACTUAL birth date by cross referencing the Chinese lunar calendar of his birth year. So, according to the lunar calendar, Gong Gong turned 70 in March!

Such a milestone deserves a celebration, and so it was. The family was treated to a buffet lunch at a newly opened hotel in Subang.

As usual, the little ones raised the background noise by more than a few decibels. Here's her second cousins, Ivan and Isaac, trying to appear nonchalant.

A special treat from the hotel staff for the birthday boy. Happy Birthday Gong Gong!

Hairdresser Hannah

Before.....

During....

Ta Daaaa!

Love that hairdo. Would love it more when Isabel is actually big enough to play with her sister on more equal terms!

Has it been 2 months?

So much has happened in the last couple of months - our trip back to the UK, a short visit to Barcelona, recovering from jet lag, gearing up for a new school year, plunging back into our challenging workplaces, weaning Isabel, battling virulent strains of flu, and right now, enjoying the festive mood of Chinese New Year.

Since it is impossible to cover all that in a single blog, let us first journey back to December...

Our little family packed our bags and left sunny Malaysia for winter wonderland. While we were longing for some respite from the hot and humid weather at home, we were not exactly prepared for the coldest winter in Europe for the last couple of decades.

Thanks to family and friends who helpfully loaned warm clothing to the girls, they looked suitably (and fashionably) dressed in jumpers, tights and anything else that could keep our tropical babes warm in sub-zero temperatures.

Even Hannah got over her initial excitement of building snowmen rather quickly, when she discovered what a bitterly cold and numbing affair it could be.

We managed a trip to Barcelona to visit Aunty Sam, and discovered that 10 degree celsius could actually feel "warm". It was here that we first soaked in the atmosphere of a Christmas market, gazed in awe at the marvellous works of architectural geniuses, and where Hannah was touched by an angel...

Obviously the pride of Barcelona, Gaudi's influence on the landscape of the city was apparent and no tourist could possibly leave without visiting one of his landmarks or taking at least a hundred snapshots of his curious buildings.

Another highlight of our trip was visiting a popular cafe selling churros, a delightful fried dough snack dipped in hot chocolate. Did you know however, that this creation is really a modified version of the Chinese You Tiao, first introduced in Portugal during the Ming Dynasty?

We bade farewell to the friendly city, narrowly escaped an airport closure and landed back in England amidst heavy snowfall. Soon it was time to gear up for ...

CHRISTMAS!!

Aside from receiving enough presents to last a year, the girls had an enjoyable time getting to know the extended family. Here's Hannah with her 2nd cousins...

... who might well be Isabel's future babysitters!

It was a wonderful trip home that ended all too soon. It will be a long time before we wish for a white Christmas - simply too cold to handle.

A parting smile for now from our cheerful darling, until we find time to blog again...

Trigger Happy

We've been slightly trigger happy this last week or so, and thought we'd share a few pics with you.

You might have noticed that our blog entries are now shorter and picture-packed to reflect the general sense of busyness in our household.

Our little sunshine enjoying a roll on her new playmat

What has the big sister been up to this school holidays?

This says it all:

Angel one moment...

... little imp the next!

Little Isabel continues to delight in everything surrounding her, and flashes her brilliant toothless grin ever so often

Things sure look different from up here!

Just in case we don't manage another blog before then...

Merry Christmas to one and all!