Recent Finds

Recently Trip and I have found some viral videos on YouTube that we have been sharing with dad and our friends out here.  I figured that since it has been a week since I last posted something, this would be a great insight into what we have been doing/ enjoying the last few days.  Hope you like them!

I wasn't able to embed the third video that we really enjoy, so here is the link instead:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLTIowBF0kE

We found this last one before we came to Malaysia and it continues to be a favorite.  I still laugh so hard when I see it!

More pictures and updates from the family's visit will be coming soon!

Thailand - Take 6 (Elephants)

Out of all the things we did in Chiang Mai, going to Baan Chang Elephant Park was by far the best.  Not only did we get to ride and wash the elephants, but we also learned about their lifestyles, how to care for them and many other educational tidbits of information.  Out of all the elephant experiences available, we were so glad that we chose this one!

Little baby elephant


We got picked up at 9am and went to buy fruit for the elephants.  At the fruit stalls we learned about what fruits are good and not so good for the elephants.  (Green bananas are bad, yellow bananas are good)  Then we were off to the park, where we had a brief orientation.

After that we got to feed the elephants. 

We were able to approach any elephant that we wanted and feed them as much as we wanted until all the food was gone.  Since there were only 14 people in our group, we had plenty of time and opportunity.
Next, we were instructed on how to mount an elephant and we all got to practice.

Then we got to practice steering the elephants while riding them.

 
After practicing, we got lunch and then we took a couple hour elephant ride on a mountain path.  The elephant that Trip and I were assigned to was named Dancing Queen.  She is the one we practiced on and she got her name because when she is standing still or gets bored she starts dancing. We don't have any pictures of our mountain trek or the bathing because we decided to leave the camera behind.  We didn't want anything to happen to it.
 

We had such a good experience; we would recommend this park to anyone!

Thailand - Take 5 (Orchid Farm and Cooking Class)

After the tigers, monkeys, and snakes, the last stop on our day of tourist sites was an orchid farm.  It was a really relaxing way to finish the day, especially after so much excitement!  Even though lilies are my favorite flower, I thought the orchids were beautiful and they just might be my second favorite flower  :)

This humming bird flew into view right when Trip was taking the picture.  It was so perfect!

 On our last day in Chiang Mai we decided to take a cooking class.  We started with going shopping for ingredients, then we were driven to a farm where the rest of the ingredients grow and we were instructed in making real Thai food.  We had a great group and really enjoyed ourselves.  Plus, we have the added benefit of knowing how to cook some yummy stuff!

 The market where we went for ingredients

 Rice, anyone?

 Getting instructions

 On the farm, I love this picture.

 Making curry paste

 Making Spring Rolls, my favorite part!

 Mmm...Pad Thai

We had a great time and came away with a few new skills.

Good Morning Monday

Today I decided to turn over a new leaf.  For the first time this month I got up on time, which means I was able to shower, get ready and even eat breakfast without having to rush to get to work on time.  I was proud of myself because I woke up feeling congested and really wanted to keep sleeping.  We left with plenty of time to spare, climbed into the car and tried starting it.  

Nothing.  

Not even a click to indicate that the car was trying to turn over.  

No worries, we thought, we will just walk to the neighboring hotel and get a cab.  After telling the driver our destination we are on our way and I am thinking how nice it is to not be running late and that I should do this more often.  

About 5 minutes from the campus, the cab driver ignores our instructions and goes the wrong way.  After doing this 3 more times and running up the meter to almost double what it should have cost, he finally pulls up to the school.  

I am now a half hour late to work.  
 ---
Forget the new leaf...next time I am just sleeping in.

When Family Comes to Play...

 This was the only group picture I could find.  This is from our weekend in Hong Kong.

We recently had the whole Doxey clan (minus Dan, who is serving a mission for our church in New York) come and visit us and it was so much fun!  I was able to take a week off work and spend the time sightseeing with the family.  Trip wasn't able to miss quite that much work, but he still was able to spend plenty of time with all of us.  There are so many pictures that I won't be able to put them all up at once, so as I finish up Thailand, I will also be doing several posts about what we did with the familia.  Here are a few pics of Brayden first meeting us to get things started.

When they first arrived, straight off the plane.  Brayden promptly pulled the headband off my head and Tigger went straight to Steve.

 He loved that headband!

 When Brayden first saw Trip he went straight for the hair with this huge smile on his face.

Even though Dan wasn't with us, we still thought about him and missed him.  Shout out to you, little bro!

Brayden is a little cutie and we fell in love with him and his awesome smiles!  We became the doting aunt and uncle almost immediately.  If you would like to see some cute pictures of us with Brayden, follow this link to my sister's blog or scroll to the end of her post about Thailand.  We will also be posting more on here soon.

Thailand - Take 4 (Snakes)

Anyone who knows Trip, knows that he hates snakes.  One of Mr. B's favorite stories is about when Trip was little and found a snake in the backyard and freaked out about it.  His sentiments haven't changed much over the years.  That is why many of you will not believe your eyes when you read this post.

One of the popular "tourist" places that we stopped at in Chiang Mai was a snake farm.  They had some snakes that were called "big eyed snakes" and I swear those things were watching us like prey.  They also had King cobras.  Now, snakes aren't really what I would call friendly looking to begin with, but King cobras are the toughest, meanest looking of them all.  They had tons of snakes and snake keepers who were absolutely insane.  The following story should explain just how insane the snake dudes are.

Before the snake show (that was put on just for us), we decided to wander through all the cages and check out the different snakes.  As we were taking pictures, one of the snake keepers, or whatever you want to call them, told us to follow him, so we did.  He takes us over to this cage at the back, opens the door, and starts to walk in.  About a second later 2 snakes pop their heads up and flare out their hoods.  Yes, he just walked into a cage with 2 King cobras, and they were not happy about it.  You would think that this guy would take the hint and leave, but instead he grabs one of them by the tail and tosses it out the door!  For the next few minutes we are all standing within feet of this ridiculously poisonous snake while the snake guy is provoking it so that it will flare it's hood just so we can take pictures.  We thought he was nuts until the snake show.  That was a new experience for all of us.

Trip, being the aspiring photographer, kept his fear at bay and snapped some great shots throughout our visit.  He was even convinced to hold one of these bad boys (not a cobra)!  Following are the pictures and proof for you unbelievers.

I love the look on his face in this picture...you can just tell what he is thinking!

Another great look on Trip's face!  This is in response to the tongue of the snake touching him.

Creepy "big eyed snakes"

Crazy snake man picking up a big eyed snake with his mouth

The King Cobra
 

From the snake show

I think it is funny how calm mom is with a cobra wrapped around her neck.  They did this to everyone, but mom's picture was the best.

 This guy actually let this python go into the water, then jumped in after it and didn't come back up until he caught it.  Can't tell if he caught it or it caught him...