It's Puja Time!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Once again it's Puja Time! The annual blessing on everything related to the house and the running of it: the car, the motorcycles, bikes, the generator, the yard, the security gates, the house itself. They light incense, toss flower petals, throw puffed rice and walk around the house with a burning watermelon which they then smash on the road in the front of the house - sort of reminds me of Halloween actually :) Here are photos from this year.

STEP INTO MY GARDEN...

Take a tour of the flowers in our yard... When we moved in last year, there was basically a bare yard. As you can see from the photos, the yard is in full bloom now. This is not due to any green thumb I have, but to our wonderful gardener who is out there every day weeding, watering, cleaning, and fertilizing. We do not personally employ him, but he is employed by the owner of the house. Of course the tropical climate helps too because there's an abundance of sunshine and things bloom continually around here. I'm enjoying it now late in October but also look forward to crisp October days full of changing autumn colors!

Diesel shortages in India

Here's a fellow expat's news report about the diesel shortage in India. I believe it was filmed on the road going to our house. We usually see these long lines of buses in the morning waiting for their fuel. I guess fuel headaches are universal at this point! Click on the link below to see the report:

http://edition.cnn.com/video/#/video/world/2008/08/25/neisloss.india.diesel.cnn?iref=videosearch

Meet Our New Neighbors

Behind our house


By our bedroom window

On other side of house

When we got back in August we realized we had new neighbors on all three sides of us. We were fortunate last year that we were surrounded by empty lots. However, Chennai is experiencing a housing boon and we are right smack in the middle of it. Over here, when a new home is built, a "village" literally moves in. Whole families set up shacks, huts, tents and live there while it's being built. We are now awakened by hammers, generators, smoke and lots of shouting orders pretty early in the morning. I guess growth is a good thing for Chennai but we miss our little bit of peace and quiet (and for those who live in Chennai you know that your home is your sanctuary!) I'll be very surprised if construction is finished before we leave...

School: Year Two

First Day of School
Zach grade 11, Emma grade 7

If we compared last year's first day of school picture(which I cannot locate at this moment!) with the one from this year we'd see that obviously both Zach and Emma seem happier this year. Last year was full of unknowns (people, school, culture, poverty...) This year is full of promise. They have come back to good friends, and the school and culture is no longer alien. As for the poverty (see my post about our new neighbors) that never goes away, we just accept as best we can and pray that there's a better way and thank God for all the bounty we are blessed with!

More summer highlights

As I mentioned in the previous post, on one weekend I attended three weddings and a golden wedding anniversary. I wanted to share photos from my niece Crystal's wedding to Thomas in June. They were beautiful, the wedding was beautiful and we all enjoyed celebrating this happy occasion. Congratulations Crystal and Thomas!

We also attended the baptism of Katie and Laurel. We were godparents for Laurel and I was godmother for Katie. Bless you both on your journey with God!

Summertime....and the livin' is easy...

Grandpa manning the ice cream maker on Father's Day!

Fun down by the river!

Melissa, Josie and Emma down by the Ohio River

Sunset on the family farm...

It's not summer without a hayride. Of course Dad
enjoyed using his new tractor!

Just an update of our summer holiday before I get back into the blogging groove! We spent 7 weeks in Kentucky and loved every minute of it! I attended 3 wedding and a golden anniversary party (all in one weekend!) and loved it because I got to visit with family members from both sides of my family and my coworkers all in one weekend! We also did all the doctor's appointments but it wasn't too bad considering that was sandwiched between eating out at way too many restaurants to list here :) Othertimes were spent barbecuing, camping or hanging out at the county fair (kids choice--not mine!) We got to see almost everyone we wanted to see and just enjoyed the fresh air, sweet tea, cherry picking, porch swing, kind of life we have in Kentucky. It was great to see you all and we're looking forward to Christmas! In the meantime, tune in to see what we'll get into here in India!