We recently did a family photo shoot in Saigon with Michelle Seltzer of Green Gate Photography. I loved the newborn photos Michelle did for us when Arianne was born here in Vietnam, but that was three years ago! I thought the photos of our last year in Vietnam would be a nice momento for, Read More
I spent five full days in Langkawi with kids for a Malaysia beach and wildlife vacation. I found Langkawi to be a perfect travel destination for young children (ages 2 and 5), as the island is small but there is plenty to do! The beaches were pretty much empty, and they had a wonderful, Read More
While planning a Malaysia beach vacation with kids, I wanted to make sure I chose a destination with plenty of indoor activities. Langkawi was perfect because there was so much to do, even when my kids were recovering from illness or it was raining. One of the places I wish we had spent more, Read More
We had a lot of fun preparing for and celebrating Arianne’s first birthday! Because Arianne’s birthday falls during the Tet holidays, I decided just to have a small, simple party at the house. Gabriel gave me a long list of HIS friends that he wanted to invite, but I showed him on Facebook that, Read More
Today our school celebrated the lunar new year. As this is our third Tet in Vietnam, it’s become a fun tradition for Gabriel to dress up in traditional Vietnamese clothes. He outgrew his bright blue ao dai that he had for his first Tet, so I got him a new one in dark blue, Read More
It’s hard to remember that Gabriel is not yet 4, considering he has already been planning his 4th birthday party for several months. There will be Ninja Turtle cake, and Ninja Turtle pizza, and lots of running around in the yard pretending to be Ninja Turtles. With his language development has come the ability, Read More
Since my son Gabriel was born in 2011, I’ve been posting sporadic updates about my kids and their travels over on my Parenting blog. With the new blog design at Expat Heather, I’ve decided to now post everything all in one place. At 8 months old, Arianne is really on the move. She isn’t, Read More
We have had a lot of sickness in our house this month! Arianne had two bouts of fever up to 104.6 degrees Fahrenheit and an ear infection. While I was in the hospital getting surgery for two abdominal hernias, she went to the Emergency Room at Family Medical to get her fever down, as, Read More
Our daughter was born in Ho Chi Minh City in February 2014, and in order to apply for her US citizenship and passport we needed to first apply for a birth certificate from the Vietnamese Ministry of Justice. The process was not detailed on the Ministry of Justice (MJ) website in entirety, but after, Read More