When we landed at the Bangkok airport there were many signs that said, "Long live the King." As an American, I immediately thought of Elvis, but knew that they could not possibly be die-hard Elvis fans! Thailand has a monarchy, similar to England, and they pay tribute to their King in many ways, including pictures of him everywhere you turn. Here we are at the Grand Palace in Bangkok, which is not the primary residence of the King, but is still used for all of their formal ceremonies.

We learned a great deal about the Buddhist religion while we were in Thailand. The country is 97% Buddhist and has 30,000 Buddhist temples. In Bangkok, Thailand we visited the Temple of the Emerald Buddha, the most beautiful of all the temples. It was amazing how ornate the temple is, which is difficult to capture in the pictures.

Duane wanted to go scuba diving while we were in Thailand, so we took a day trip to the Phi Phi Islands and did two dives. Yes, I said we!! I was adventurous and decided that I should try something Duane does, almost weekly. I enjoyed seeing the sea life, but the jury is still out on the decision as to whether or not I will officially certify.

In Phuket we went on a boat trip to the Phi Phi Islands. The scenery was spectacular and this in the spot we stopped at for a picnic on the beach.

Our visit to the long-neck village was a humbling experience. We were surprised at how primitive their living is, with no electricity or running water. The rings were introduced in order to protect the women's necks from tiger attacks while the men were out hunting. The little girl in the photo is 10 years old and wanted me to try on the rings, which to my surprise were very heavy. They can weigh up to 5kg (about 11lbs)! The rings are placed on the girls beginning at age five and the more rings they have, the more beautiful they are perceived.

We got to go on an hour long elephant trek up the mountain to the long-neck village. We enjoyed the beautiful views from the top!

We had a great time watching the elephant show in Chiang Mai, Thailand and were amazed by their painting abilities!

Thailand

In November we celebrated ten years of marriage with a trip to Thailand. Duane's dad came to Okinawa to watch the kids and the two of us headed off. We had a fantastic time visiting Chiang Mai, Phuket and Bangkok!

Ryan wasted no time putting together his new mini Pirate lego set.

Our two beautiful girls, Miranda and Olivia, love showing off the new outfits they got for Christmas.

Duane is modeling his new chef hat that goes very well with his "Real Men Fry Turkeys" apron.

Olivia will no longer need to steal her sister's baby dolls. Mommy and Daddy got her a Cinderella baby of her own. She is a very good "mommy" to her new doll.

Miranda loves High School Musical and loved this new shirt she got from Santa.

Olivia discovered Cinderella this year and fell in love with the dress up set she received. We struggled to get it off of her at the end of the day!

Olivia loved Christmas. She unfortunately found a stray pen and decided to tatoo herself.

We had a beautiful Christmas day with a warm 75 degrees and the sun shining bright!

After Ryan's two months of lessons, his first piano recital went well. He enjoyed playing his Star Wars piece so much he kept playing. I think he played his piece about ten times and his teacher asked me if he was going to stop. She finally tapped him on the shoulder and said he could stop playing.

After only two months of lessons, Miranda did a great job at her first recital