April 2-3: 6am flight Calgary to Vancouver then to Seattle. We are waiting for our 14 hour flight to Hong Kong now and we are smiling because we are still excited!
As soon as we got to Hong Kong everyone went straight to bed but we walked along the river to see the night lights and had a magical time! (Picture) Had to be up early and ready for touring the next morning but I set my alarm clock to wake up 1 hour earlier to go running along the river again. It was 6am and the locals were starting to tai chi and swim in the ocean. It was the best part of my day and wound't have missed my run for anything! It was so fun being a part of the local people and feeling the peacefulness of the early morning!
KIANNA'S BABY BORN!!! We got a text the morning we awoke that Kianna is in labor and heading to the hospital! That evening as we got on the plane for Bali we got a picture of Kianna and Audrey for the first time! Audrey is absolutely BEAUTIFUL and we were so surprised and pleased when Kianna said 'Ya and I thought to myself I could actually do that again-it wasn't that bad!!' She had to have stitches and all and yet she said that! She must be on a 'mother's high right now' We Skyped her and she kept saying don't put the camera on me-put it on the real star of the show!' I still think Kianna is the star-wow-what a great strong daughter I have! Brett and Chanelle were so thoughtful and came up right away to help hold the baby for a day and Katelyn brought them over tacos and is trying to help out Kianna so much. Brett said he was surprised how well Kianna is doing and Katelyn said Audrey is SO cute. Auntie Sara said she wants to come see her and Julie Kearl said she was going to bring supper over. I know her church ward did too! I am so thankful for this! I am really torn because I learn so much when I travel so I love traveling...but I want to be home when I think of Kianna and Audrey..but I try not to think too deeply about it because I can't be there for her! The picture below is the Hong Kong Temple.
April 4:Went sight seeing and off to Bali for 5 days! 5 hour flight and were serranaded with flowers on our arrival.
The people of Bali are very polite and always greet you with their palms together as if they are about to pray and graciously bow to you as you walk by or say good morning to you. It is a gesture of acknowledging your soul. 95% of people in Bali are Hindu. Every house has their own individual temple they build so they don't have to go to a temple to worship-they build one in the centre of their plot and they build their family house around it. Grandparents live in a separate house on the same land, as children marry they build houses of their own in the same plot. When I say 'house' I mean a 200 sq foot structure. The vegetation is SO lush. Green moss grows everywhere and vines envelope the homes if you don't keep it under control. It is so beautiful. All around you, at every street corner, on trees, buildings, sign posts, fences, you see signs of their religion and how they worship their god. They have several god but one main god as was explained to us. They wrap cloth around trees as a sign of worship and every morning they put out this plate of flowers and greenery that they burn as part of their prayer ritual. (Just like we give flowers to our loved ones-they give flowers to their god) They add a cookie, cracker (ritz cracker-I notice) or piece of cake on to the plate too to offer something 'sweet' to their god. They believe in reincarnation and desire to come back as a dog in America because American dogs are treated so well and if they come back as a dog in their country it means that they must not have been as good in their past life to be put into something like a poor dog here. It was sad when he said that if you are poor it means you did something bad or weren't as good as a wealthier person. They really believe in Carma and the more good you do the more it will come back to you in the next life you have! Interesting to see the similarities and I really admired how our guide tried to share his gospel and live a good life.
As soon as we got to Hong Kong everyone went straight to bed but we walked along the river to see the night lights and had a magical time! (Picture) Had to be up early and ready for touring the next morning but I set my alarm clock to wake up 1 hour earlier to go running along the river again. It was 6am and the locals were starting to tai chi and swim in the ocean. It was the best part of my day and wound't have missed my run for anything! It was so fun being a part of the local people and feeling the peacefulness of the early morning!
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