Happy Holidays from Bangkok!

"That boy's a runnin' fool." Kaya is always running and trying to race me. This photo was taken outside the Grand Palace the day before Kiran was born. We missed going in by five minutes. Fortunately, or unfortunately, this made us come back the next day and turned into quite a birth story! (Which I will tell sometime in the near future.)

Quality family time on the rooftop.

Kaya can swim!!!! (well sort of)

Being a father and husband are the two greatest things in my life. Needless to say, I immediately fell in love with Kiran.

I would probably have to say that this Christmas will be one of the most meaningful ones I have experienced in quite some time. Before my family objects, let me clarify.... We have just made an addition to our family. We only need the dog and a house and we are living the American dream, abroad. Not that *I* have ever strived to achieve the "dream," but for some reason it just feels right. We were very happy with just Kaya (and Bunte), but I think we always knew there was going to be another person in our lives at some point . Therefore, in some strange way, our family hasn't been complete. That sounds weird, so let's just say, a great thing got even better!

In addition to addition, the next reason this Christmas is so meaningful is because Kaya is at an age where he is so excited! Today, we made more cookies, since the first batch somehow disappeared. We also read, The Night Before Christmas, ate oyster stew, a Hesse tradition, (don't worry, I used oyster mushrooms instead of oysters!), put out the stockings, listened to Christmas music and watched Rudolph before bed. Kaya loved it all. He was bouncing all over the place. During the story, he ran out to check and see if we put milk out for Santa. It was so cute. The endless enthusiasm evokes memories and emotions I won't soon forget. I love you little Kaya. Thank you....

Sheela and I are gearing up for an early morning. If Kaya's instincts are honed, he will wake at around 3am to check things out. He may just wake anyhow, who knows!? In any event, we will keep you posted as to how Christmas on this side of the world works.

Siobhan, Sheela and Kiran. More to come on how Siobhan saved us!!