November 2011 Part 1

Thanksgiving 2011 in Hanoi.  1.  Rolls in the motorbike trunk - check  2.  One driver, two passengers - check  3.  Pumpkin pie - check  4.  Oatmeal apple cake - check  5.  Exact address of where we are going - we'll figure it out when we get near. 

Our friends house seems to be one of many dead zones for cell phones (as is our first floor).  We called two different friends that were coming and neither got our call, but in the nick of time another friend arrived and we followed them to the right house, a few more up from where we were.

We had great food and fellowship and this year and to curiously, little rocks on the tables.  We learned that these would be a type of Ebenezer stone.  Recorded in I Samuel 7 is how the prophet Samuel set an Ebenezer stone, literally meaning, "stone of help", to commemorate the victory the Lord had given the Israelites over the Philistines.  We were encouraged to pickup a stone and when we had thought of a situation the Lord had been our help this past year, we dropped the stone into a bowl. 

One of our beautiful palm trees out in front of our house is dying.  Today it lost it's last two fronds (massive "leaves" around 15 feet long).  When the fronds have come down, they land in our little courtyard, or in our alley, dragging wires down with it.  We are thankful the wires have never broken. Asking our landlord again about removing the dying tree, especially as some of our neighbors are nervous the tree falling.

November 20th was Teachers Day here in Vietnam.  We were treated by Ann's English class to a dinner with some of the parents and the kids.  The picture is of Brittany with the girls in the class all digging into a bowl of multiple scoops of ice cream.  The boys got their own bowl and even us adults were given a bowl to share - it was good. 

The English class we host in our home took us out to a new, not yet fully open, resort that is located about 1 1/2 hours outside Hanoi.  It is a beautiful place, with a big lake, some different types of boats and bicycles built for two.  We had a lot of fun riding among the trees, walking on grass and breathing the clean air.  To the right is a picture of Ann and Brittany in a rubber canoe.  Below is a picture of our class and few of their children.



There is more to write about November, but it will have to wait until next time.