It's been nearly a year since we were here at The Honeychurch Chronicles. Last January, I got stuck trying to post the last bits of our Asia vacation, and then life intervened.
So, this is me trying to get unstuck and bring us into 2012. It's important because re-booting the blog is my New Year's resolution. Here we go, starting with the email sent to family and friends in January
2011:
Happy New Year! (Or Selamat Tahun Baru! in Indonesian)
Dear Friends & Family,
Happy new year! We are surprised to find that 2010 is already over. It was a very, very busy year.
Nicole has had her head down and nose to the grindstone for months and, no, she didn't achieve last year's resolution to exercise more (thus, setting the stage for a lame, lordy-am-I-that-old-already hip injury last fall). Ed has been busily expanding his product line and mapping the best eats and longest lap pools in Bentonville, Arkansas. And the girls? Well, of course, they're nothing short of remarkable. And somehow they developed into real people with opinions. Vocal opinions, in fact, which demand to be heard. Family dinners have never been so much fun.
Notwithstanding Nicole and Ed's busy work schedules and the girls' program of school, violin, theater, soccer and gymnastics (do you get tired just reading that? we do), we did a good bit of traveling this year as well, including New York, DC, Hawaii, Vegas and Utah. But the most incredible trip was over winter break -- we visited Bali, Hong Kong and Nicole's family village in China.
We documented all of our trips, including the recent adventure in Asia on The Honeychurch Chronicles, although it's taking us a little while to finish posting the last days. For now, be sure to check out our work in a Balinese rice field. We also had 2 great days of surfing and pics are on the way, so keep checking in!
Likewise, we haven't had a chance to blog about the trip to the village. While it was a bit of a struggle to get there (with Nicole's limited and rusty Mandarin), it was well worth the effort. Coming off a pretty cushy deal in Bali, the girls were a little shocked by the long ride up the Pearl River Delta and then the 2 hour Chinese bus ride into the village with lots of loud Cantonese folks. And the hotel in Kaiping? Well, let's just say it's not exactly The Peninsula. It would have been nice, for example, if it had heat. But, as we told the girls, Great Grandma took the same trip on a barge and then got out and walked. For days. So, we can all be thankful that harvesting rice is a tourist attraction for us and not a livelihood. Here are the pics of the village. Flip to the picture of Sophie and Anna checking out the old stone rice thresher in our house. :)
We wish you peace and joy in 2011 and hope we'll see more of you this year. Come and visit us.
Love,
Nicole, Ed, Sophie & Anna
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| Pictures of Woo family, including Nicole!, are hanging in the family home. |
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| Cow's Hair Ridge has a fish pond, rice paddies, a dozen houses and six water buffalo. |
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| Auntie opens the old house. |
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| These are our village cousins. |
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| PoPo cooked in this kitchen when she lived in the village. |
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| The bedroom walls are reinforced with bamboo to protect against soliders and bandits. |
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| Anna and Sophie tried out the rice thresher. |
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| This is a tower to protect the families during invasions. |
Phew. Met my New Year's resolution just in time. Happy 2012, everyone!
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