The Thurman Bunch: January 2009

I've been waiting to write this update because I knew it would take me a long time to write it. Our trip to Bangladesh was so good. I fought and dreaded it so bad but all along was praying that it would be something that the kids would remember forever. I will just start at the beginning and share some of the high lights. We left on December 19th right after Brice took his last exam. I had packed 4 suitcases for our family. I thought that was pretty good for 2 weeks. We ended up wearing everything except two pairs of pants and a couple of shirts. I had packed a backpack for everyone. I had included puzzle books, magazines, candy, snacks, wipes, hand sanitizer, toothbrush, toothpaste, earplugs and sleep masks. The kids had their PSPs and Ipods. We were set. The plane leaving Jackson was an hour late. (go figure..) We made it to Houston in just enough time to swallow a few bites of pizza before boarding the next plane to LA. We made it to our hotel in LA and tried to sleep some. The boys and I had a screaming baby next door to us and that baby cried all night. We didn't leave until 9:30 p.m. the next night so we were able to have the room until about 7 p.m. We took naps and showered late. We ate a good lunch. We had hamburgers. We didn't know how long we would be without that good ole American food. Our flight to Bangkok was on time and we left for our 18 hour flight. Within the first hour they fed us. It wasn't too bad. I think everyone found something to eat. Then they turn the lights out and so we slept. We all slept pretty good. As well as you can on an airplane. We had our on screen to watch movies on or TV shows so we were set the rest of the flight. We had a 5 hour lay over in Bangkok. It wasn't fun. Eli slept on the cold, hard floor. Bless his heart...he was so tired. We made it to Dhaka around 12:00 that afternoon. We had to stand in line at immigration for about 1 1/2 hours. By the time we made it to the guest house we were pretty weary. We had a great dinner that night of fried chicken strips and home made crescent rolls. We went to bed about 7:00 p.m. and were awakened by the Muslim prayer calls at 5 a.m. We had the joy of this wake up call each morning...

Our days in Dhaka were filled with visits from friends that found out we were there and seeing all kinds of sights around town. Philip, Eli and I all got some kind of upper respiratory thing. Philip and Eli ended up with fever. It spoiled the trip for Philip. But we were able to just walk right out the gate to a pharmacy. You just tell them what you want and how much you want and you buy it. I was so amazed with that. Philip and Brice were able to go to a cricket match on the 26th. Courtesy of one of their oldest friends in Bangladesh. They were in the VIP section. They had a good time doing that.

We went to Faridpur one day which is the place that Philip spent alot of his "growing up" years. We had to cross a ferry to get there. We had a really good time. Philip was able to see some of his "buddies" from back in the day. They were so excited to see Philip and his family. We even got the experience of a flat tire when leaving Faridpur. It was actually a blow out. We were blessed for it to happen at the right place. We were in a little village/town that had a place that fixed tires. The women and children crowded around me and Gloria and couldn't believe their good fortune of getting to see white people. Some of them even tried to get me to take their babies. They told me in Bengali that they didn't eat much...They thought Brice and Shelby's teeth had rotted out and that their braces were holding their teeth (dentures) in. We got a kick out of that.

The last day in Dhaka we had to stay at the nicest hotel I have ever seen. The day we left was election day and they weren't allowing any private vehicles on the road. So we stayed at the Sheraton in Dhaka and were taken to the airport in a shuttle. Our flight to Bangkok was uneventful. We stayed in Bangkok for 3 nights and enjoyed some down time. We shopped and walked and ate while there. That was about it. We got home by way of a 13 hour trip and a nights stay in LA. We were able to get some more hamburgers in LA before we went to bed. Those hamburgers were some of the best I've ever tasted. After 3 days of Thai food I think just about anything would have been wonderful.. We got back to Jackson in the afternoon. I think we all crashed about 7:30 - 8:00 that night. It has taken us awhile to adjust back to MS time but I think we are all back now.

It was a great trip. The kids really loved it and have their own stories to tell. I have lots of pictures but knew I couldn't share them all. Here are some.

This is a shot from the roof of the guest house.

This is a picture of our Christmas tree and gifts that Gloria brought. She had wrapped up a gift for the kids to be able to open on Christmas morning. She is so great!

This was one of our favorite pass times in the guest house. We played scrabble. We never kept score which is a first for my kids. They are usually so competitive. I guess they knew how it would turn out if they kept score.

This is a shot of some of the traffic. All of the rick saws. They are everywhere!

This is a moving truck. I guess they were moving office furniture. I'm scared for those men and anybody riding too close to the truck.

Some of the Thurman's oldest friends took us to Pizza Hut on Christmas day. They even had a Bengali Santa. See him in the background?

This is a picture of Brice at the cricket match. It was very foggy that morning so it started very late.

Eli and Philip went to the top of the ferry when we were headed to Faridpur. He had a lot of fun that day.

This is a picture of one of the ladies in Faridpur. She is cooking her lunch. I think she was frying some fish.

Philip's friends in Faridpur. They couldn't get over the fact that Brice was as big as they were. Philip says he was always bigger than they were.

Swimming in December??? Only in Thailand. This was at the hotel in Bangkok. Brice came later. They said it was a little cold but not too bad. The temp was around 85 I think.

This was in a mall that we went to in Bangkok. They really had it decorated nice.

We had to check out of the hotel in Bangkok by 2:00 p.m. but didn't have to leave for the airport until 4:00 p.m. so we had a Uno tournament. The things we do to keep our children entertained!

Eli is reading the Christmas story from the Bible. What a big boy.

My mother opening one of her gifts.

Brice doing what he does best...texting.

I'm enjoying some good shrimp gumbo that my mother made.

Happy Birthday Baby Jesus Cake. Our family tradition. Hannah is helping Eli blow out the candle.

Brice opening his PSP.

Shelby with her new Ipod Nano.

Eli with his PSP.

Me and Philip at my parent's house.

Brice with my niece, Hannah and nephew, Zach.

My sister, Melanie and her husband, Woody.

With leaving on the 19th of Decmeber for our trip we had to do Christmas early with the family. We went to my mom and dad's on the 17th and opened presents and then ate dinner with them. It was quick because the kids had exams the next day but it was fun. Brice and Eli both got a PSP with games and Shelby got an Ipod nano. They could take all of those on the trip and have something to keep them entertained. On the night before we left for our trip Philip's mom came to spend the night. We did our Christmas then. Brice and Eli both got a Rip Stik and Shelby got a Vera Bradely bag. They were all excited and hated to leave their new things the next day but it was fun being together. This Christmas was really different. We cut way back and the being gone from home was hard. But we were together and that's an important part of it all.

Brice opening a present at our house the night before we left.