Cousins in Singapore

If you've been reading the blog for a little while then you know that back in April we traveled to Vietnam and met my dad's family for the very first time. The family members included my cousins, Hung and Ngan. They were both so sweet and we knew right away that we wanted to be sure and have another opportunity to get to know them better. So on our last day in Vietnam we asked them to please consider our offer to bring them over to Singapore for a weekend to see a new country and spend time with us. We're so glad they accepted! They visited us here a few weeks ago and we spent 3 fun-filled days getting to know more about them. It's so great to have "new" family members!

We took them all around Singapore showing them all of the usual hot spots, but I must say, the weekend seemed to be more about food than anything else! There were so many new things we wanted to introduce them to...local cuisine like chili crab and American cuisine like trips to McDonalds and Chilis :) They most certainly didn't go hungry while they were here. In fact, I'm pretty sure they returned to Vietnam a few pounds heavier ;) Hopefully, it was all worth the fun we had together.

Thanks for coming to see us in Singapore, Hung and Ngan! We hope we'll be able to spend time with you again...maybe next time in the US! :)

Our first lunch together...steamed pork dumplings!

Strolling along Orchard Road

Ngan and Matt on the river taxi

Hung and Matt enjoying some local chili crab

Marina Bay after dinner

Ngan, Matt, Hung and the Merlion :)

Breakfast at McDonald's. Ngan had never even heard of McDonald's before...which Matt thought was refreshing, haha!

Walking through Clarke Quay

On the cable car to Sentosa - their first time being on one!

Underwater World

Dinner at Chilis. They asked us to order for them so we chose ribs for Hung and a hamburger for Ngan. They liked the food (or at least we think they did), but they couldn't get over the American sized portions! There's a reason we're so much bigger than them... ;)

At the Marina Bay Sands Casino

View from the sky bridge at the MBS hotel

Up in the sky garden

Me and my love :)

The end to a very fun weekend!

Back in VA...

After we left TX we had 3 more days in VA before we had to head back to Singapore. We didn't make any big plans this time, instead we just spent quality time with family and friends. I can't think of a single thing that would have been better than that!

First, we stopped by our good friends Jeff and Katie's house to visit their new bundle of joy...

Baby Jacob!

A sweet, new family of 3 :)

A little parenting practice for us. Let's just say it's a good thing we have a few more months to prepare...baby J is clearly on the verge of tears!

Then it was off to Mom's house for some fun sibling time and of course, delicious homemade meals from Mom. Her cooking never fails us!

Trampoline time! No one would let me jump...something about trampolines and pregnancy not mixing ;)

A little evening bike ride. Seriously, is she not the cutest little 8 year old you've ever seen?!

A bit of brother in law bonding over basketball

Our last day, just before leaving for the airport to head back to Singapore. Us with Dad.

I can't say enough good things about our trip home to the states. Even though we were there for 3.5 weeks, it truly felt like we were there for 3.5 days because the time went by so quickly and we had SO much fun! As much as we've enjoyed our time in Singapore and all of the opportunities we've had through it, it goes without saying that we're always missing our families and friends back home and look forward to coming back soon!

The sweetest niece in the world

On our last day in the TX we hung out with Matt's parents and, as the title suggests, the sweetest, little niece in the world. Not a whole lot to say in this post...just a whole lot of cuteness to look at! :)

Modeling the outfit I sent her from India and showing off her best Bollywood moves :)

The ribbon is all Uncle Matt's doing...

It's about time...

The title of this post refers to two things:

1) It's about time...that I start blogging again since I've taken several weeks off. (I blame it on multiple visitors, a trip to Bali, and pure laziness...which I am further blaming on pregnancy).

2) It's about time...these two boys are featured on the blog.

In fact, having blogged for over a year now, I'm not sure how these 2 have never been mentioned. I mean, sure, they aren't living with us here in Singapore, but they are family.

So now I proudly present to you our little boys dressed in dog costumes (as Matt refers to them)...

Rocket Gipson

and...

Coal Gipson

(this one isn't the brightest crayon in the box, but man is he sweet!)

Thanks to my sweet in-laws who are kindly taking care of Rocket and Coal while we live in Singapore, we haven't had to worry about them for one single second because we know they're being well cared for. Still, in a few short months we'll be back and reunited with our furry, little friends...just in time to prepare them for a new little brother...only this one won't have fur and should look a whole lot more like us ;)

Meet the Brisendines!

Susie and Sam's wedding was in one word...perfect! The style was very much "them" and we loved every bit of it. It goes without saying that Susie was an absolutely beautiful bride and Sam looked just as handsome. We have no doubt that they were brought together by God and made specifically for each other. They are a perfect match and we are thrilled with our new brother-in-law!

Congratulations to the new Mr. and Mrs. Brisendine!! :)

The gorgeous bride!

Bridesmaids! We loved the colors Susie picked for us!

My super handsome husband also happened to be the proud brother of the bride :)

The newlyweds!

After dinner, Rachel and Anna both made incredibly sweet speeches for Susie. Here are Matt and Brandon standing listening to the kind words.

There was a sweet first dance...

...followed by more dancing...

...and finally the anniversary dance! Mimi and Papa (Matt's grandparents) even participated!

Good thing they did it because...

...they won! They've been married longer than anyone else at the wedding. Although I think Matt and I almost had them with 6 years behind us ;)

Me and Anna warming up with the cute cardigans that Susie gave us :)

And just like that, it was all over. Congratulations again Susie and Sam! We loved being a part of your big day and seeing you both so happy!

Gipson Family Fun Time + The Rehearsal!

So after our weekend in Houston we went straight back to Dallas for some quality bonding time with Matt's family plus lots of wedding prep for Susie and Sam's big day (that will be the next post)!

Matt's family is all spread out between Dallas, Austin, Baton Rouge, and of course, Singapore so getting us all together at the same time only happens once in awhile. In fact, the last time we were all gathered in the same place was Christmas 2008...so a family get together was LONG overdue! We spent our first few days just hanging out and catching up and playing with our super cute nephew and niece. They're growing up so fast (don't kids always seem to do that?) and in the one year we've been gone, they've changed SO much! They were both so adorable!

Finally, as the rehearsal dinner and wedding approached, it was time to get serious...and that meant making cookies!

With too many cookies and so little time, Matt decided to try his hand at decorating for the very first time!

After fully icing the cookies, we left them to dry for several hours so that we could add the details. Unfortunately, by the time we came back to the house they were STILL not dry! The icing was gummy and easily messed up when touched. After trying to add details to a few cookies, I was completely frustrated and ready to just throw them all away! I gave up on the project all together...but Matt, no, he didn't give up at all. In fact, he decorated every single cookie by himself! The result? Well...see for yourself!

The cookies were completed just in time to bring them to the rehearsal dinner! Thank you Matt for saving the cookies! Off to the rehearsal we went...to rehearse :) All went well and then it was off to dinner. We went to a Tapas place and the food was delicious. Yum!

Susie and Sam, the happy soon-to-be newlyweds!

My wonderful mother and father in law and our sweet niece, Lucy (Susie and Sam's daughter).

Tim and Rachel

Our hilarious nephew, Brandon (Rachel and Tim's son), making a funny face for the camera :)

Anna and Luke

All of the Gipson children! Matt and his 3 younger sisters...

With the rehearsal behind us, we were ready for the next big thing...WEDDING day! :)