Giving Thanks with a capital T

Happy Thanksgiving!

We are thinking of all the good food everyone will eat on Thursday; friends are sending me pictures of pies they've baked and facebook pictures remind me of my favorite time of year back in the States.  Fall...ah, Fall.

We are in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where every day it feels like we are in a tropical rainforest, because I guess that's what this country is.  It's hot and sticky, and almost every day it rains - a torrential downpour complete with thunderous lightning strikes.  It's lush beyond belief and there's always the sound of dripping water from somewhere outside.  It's kind of an amazing place. Plus there's such amazing food here.

Rania, Gabi, and Eli enjoy some dumplings

While most of our family is in full Thanksgiving mode (there are celebrations to be had in Nairobi, Rome, and Phnom Penh for sure), and while we also will celebrate Thanksgiving tonight with the American staff of the International School of Kuala Lumpur, the rest of Malaysia is in full-on Christmas mode.  I remember this from our last visit during Christmas years ago, no one seems to love Christmas more than Malaysians.  I remember seeing the malls decked out in Christmas decorations the likes of which I'd never seen before.  It was surreal, sometimes, walking into a fancy mall to be serenaded by a choir made up of all sorts of people - including those wearing traditional Muslim head coverings - singing Christmas carols,  some of them with traditional religious lyrics.  It all made me feel strangely cheerful, actually.  There's this gung-ho sense of celebration here, and while we Christians try to remember the spiritual aspect of things, it's hard not to want to go downtown armed with many Ringgits (around 4 to the dollar), and buy, buy, buy!

The only mall not suitable for sufferers of vertigo

Well, before I get carried away with either Thanksgiving or Christmas spirit, I ought to reluctantly share with you that we had an amazing beach getaway over the last three days.  I say "reluctantly" because more than any other post, this one might make our friends in the colder climates hate us.  But it has to be done.

We went to the Malaysian island of Langkawi which is located off the west coast of Malaysia in the Malacca Straits.  We booked one room for all of us in a very basic hotel which did not have a cafe or bar or really anything but rooms.  And a gorgeous beach.  The water was the perfect temperature that allows you to just float around in it for a half hour before you even think about wanting to get out.  The beach had not one strand of seaweed.  It was absolutely fantastic.  I offer some pictures below to indicate what I mean by "fantastic".

Find the photobomber

I can't take a selfie without my veins coming to the fore.  (get it?)

Getting ready to parasail

Daniel way up there

You can't be part of a sunset like this and not be incredibly thankful

And now because it's been a few hours since I began this blog, I can share pictures of the amazing Thanksgiving dinner we just enjoyed at the International School of Kuala Lumpur where Doug and Tracy (Mark's brother and sister-in-law) work.  It was great to be with Americans, thinking of the holiday that binds all Americans together all over the world, regardless of race, religion, politics, etc.  It's a day when we can all agree that gluttony is okay.  Then we all regret that we ever felt that way right after desert.  I tried to reign it in this year, but failed as usual, and now feel I'll be up for a long time before the old GI tract permits lying down.  TMI, maybe...let me just post some pictures and wish you similar happy eating:

Potluck.  We, the combined KL Woodwards, provided mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, a gluten-free sweet potato pie, a jello relish (complete with the requisite midwestern garnish of marshmallows), and corn casserole. 

Eli, Reeve, Micah, Daniel, Gabi, Rania, and Rania's friend Ava help themselves

Desert table, part 1

Desert table, part 2

What else can be said?  The theme for this post is obvious...we give Thanks with a capital T.
Micah:  gives Thanks for this Asia trip.
Eli:  gives Thanks for this Asia trip, too.
Daniel:  gives Thanks for safe travels.
Mark:  gives Thanks for this year off and the chance to spend quality time with family.
Marta: is once again the blogger so she gets to take up more space.  I give Thanks for every magical thing we've experienced, but also Thanks for the magical friends and family that we have in our lives, back in the States and all over the world.  We give Thanks that we are in a position to blog our thanks from the comfy home of Doug and Tracy in the tropical land of Malaysia.  We give Thanks for the trips to come.  We give Thanks for Mekele, and the children who we get to hang out with every day.  I look at the pictures of tonight's banquet and think of these kids, whose generosity and kindness to us knows no limits.  We give Thanks for the people who send us e-mails and messages and little comments on this blog.  We cherish you!  We're surrounded by plenty, in every sense.  God is good, all the time.

PS.  No, I cannot update you on Hazal, but I'll leave you with this cool picture of Micah.

We did not stuff him in that bottle, it was taken at a 3D art show in Langkawi, Malaysia