Malaysia

Bari, Dennis and I went to Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia over the weekend. We had a great time! We stayed in a hotel in the heart of Chinatown, and it was a little dive, but comfortable, clean and cheap....about 20 bucks a night. During the day, we went to Bucha Cave, a little ways past the city. It is a Hindu temple, and there were over 212 stairs leading up to the cave. I have to admit, I do not know much about the HIndu religion, but I DID learn that the two main gods can be both a man and a woman...go figure. We also visited the Muslim Mosk in the city, after walking around for quite some time looking for it. We even got to dress up in a hajab and gown while we visited the mosk...it was very interested to say the least. The mosk was beautiful, and we also went to an Islam Art Museum and that was pretty informative for me. I learned a lot about both of these religions this weekend. After we did that, my favorite part was having dinner at the KL Tower, on the 45th floor. It was kind of like the Space Needle, the restaurant revolved to see the whole city at night. It was beautiful! Then on Sunday, we walked around the city and got to go in the sky bridge on the two tallest towers in Malaysia, and I think in Asia in general. I am not a big fan of heights at all, so it was a tad bit scary for me! But I am glad I did it, for sure!

Song Kran

The water festival called Song Kran is a wonderful Thai New Year celebration, lasting about 4 days. Chang Mai is one place where people come to celebrate big time. I was able to visit my friend Hosannah, as she works up there, and we had a great time with the 4 day waterfight. We went all around Chang Mai, donned our cowgirl hats and waterguns and started "playing water" as Thai people say....Chang Mai is a very quiet town, and I really enjoyed hanging out there.

Elephant Nature Park

I had an amazing experience at the Elephant Nature Park near Chang Mai. I went up to Chang Mai to visit my friend from Seattle, Hosannah, and really wanted to go see some elephants, as the elephant is a very lucky symbol in Thailand. This park is special because it is dedicated to help abused and hurt working elephants. This park has 32 elephants, 45 dogs and 18 cats. It was a very special time. We were able to feed the elephants, and go to the river and bathe them. They are a very caring animal, and there is even two elephants that became best friends upon arrival. One is blind, and she calls out to the other one when she is not sure where she is or if she needs help. The other elephant is never far away from her, and they have been this way for about 5 years. The blind elephant became blind after their trainer wanted her to move, so he poked her in the eyes with a stick that had a nail on the end of it whenever she would be out of line. It was such a wonderful experience, and I really want to go back to volunteer for a week.

Abby Jane Thorleifson

Dear Friends and Family,

I am soooo excited to introduce you to the newest member of our family....Abby Jane Thorleifson. She was born on April 5, 2007. She was 7 pounds, 4 ounces and 21 inches long. She is such a cutie, and I can't wait to meet her! Mama and baby are fine, and Erik reported that Wyatt has already tried to poke her in the eye. Gosh I miss my cuties!!!!