PJ Rolling/Packing Party

Delta Airlines also donated tons of world maps and pencils for the kids at the Vinh Quang Primary School:

THANKS DELTA!!! In fact, we have had so many donations pour in, that we had our own personal packing party... in our pj's of course!

In order to get as many items in our suitcases as possible, we rolled all of our shirt donations, so that more would fit. This is a tried and true ancient packing secret learned many trips ago...

Ashton says he "perfected" his technique... and that HIS technique was far superior to MY technique. Of course, always up to a challenge, I told him to Bring.It.On!

Okay, you be the judge... Ashton's roll is at the top and my roll is at the bottom (with his little finger pointing at it). The comments section on this blog is open, so please feel free to comment with ridcule and laughter:

Then, came in our back up help:

Look at how serious she is:

Such prideful workmanship:

And THEN, a little thief ran in and tried to take off with our hard work:

Finally, we got some control over our rolling/packing party and ended up with at least 3 boxes that I will ship to Catalyst in MN since I can't get it all in our suitcases without severely going over our baggage allowance. Their packing party is the weekend after next and hopefully they can get our excess into their baggage allowance:

Chuc Mung Nam Moi

Happy Lunar New Year... it is the Year of the Tiger!

The girls didn't want to wear their Ao Dai's for Tet this year... go figure. But they looked so awesome in their Chinese dresses that it didn't even matter:

Here, my baby is riding her horse side saddle... so she will be more "lady-like":

Delta Airlines

THANK YOU DELTA AIRLINES !!!

Delta provided over three hundred shirts for the 2010 VN Aid Expedition. Here is Ashton making snow angels in them:





And here are our Flat Stanley's (uhm, the red-headed one is mine... and the blue/black haired one is Ashton's). They are very excited to be included in Delta's Force for Global Good:

Vinh Quang School Kids

Here are the kids we are going to help:

Girl Scout Troop 14044 - Cumming, GA, USA

A big shout out to Girl Scout Troop 14044 from Cumming, GA (belonging to the North Forsyth County Service Unit and the Girl Scouts of Greater Atlanta Council)!

They have partnered with the Catalyst Foundation for the 2010 Vietnam Aid Expedition.

A HUGE thanks to:

1st Grade Daisies: Molly, Ashley, Mary, Shannon , Brooke
2nd Grade Brownies: Katie, Julianne, Madison
3rd Grade Brownies: Rachel
4th Grade Juniors: Elena

and their fearless leader Susan Koblasz and co-leader Jennifer!!!!

The GS girls are currently working on their fabulous artwork that Ashton and I will be taking to the children at:

Vinh Quang Primary School
Vinh Quang Ward, Rach Gia City
Kien Giang Province Vietnam

They have also selected Vietnam to be their country of choice for their "Thinking Day" event. I can't wait to post some pictures of their event! And last but not least, we will be taking some GS cookies to the children at the school. I have heard that Samoa's are their favorites and we can't wait to see their faces when they get to eat some of the now WORLD famous Girl Scout cookies.

Colorado Rocks!!!

My long time friend (we were together from Florida to North Carolina... until she moved on to Colorado) Amy, and her daughter Morgan sent me a HUGE envelope of the most AWESOME artwork. Here are some of my favs:

And of course... especially this one!

Thanks Amy and Morgan... you guys are the best!

The Power of One... The Starfish Story

I have always loved the The Starfish Story... you will remember it once you start reading...

The Starfish Story

Once upon a time, there was a wise man who used to go to the ocean to do his writing. He had a habit of walking on the beach before he began his work. One day, as he was walking along the shore, he looked down the beach and saw a human figure moving like a dancer. He smiled to himself at the thought of someone who would dance to the day, and so, he walked faster to catch up.

As he got closer, he noticed that the figure was that of a young man, and that what he was doing was not dancing at all. The young man was reaching down to the shore, picking up small objects, and throwing them into the ocean.

He came closer still and called out "Good morning! May I ask what it is that you are doing?"

The young man paused, looked up, and replied "Throwing starfish into the ocean."

"I must ask, then, why are you throwing starfish into the ocean?" asked the somewhat startled wise man.

To this, the young man replied, "The sun is up and the tide is going out. If I don't throw them in, they'll die."

Upon hearing this, the wise man commented, "But, young man, do you not realize that there are miles and miles of beach and there are starfish all along every mile? You can't possibly make a difference!"

At this, the young man bent down, picked up yet another starfish, and threw it into the ocean. As it met the water, he said, "I made a difference to that one!"

adapted from The Star Thrower

by Loren Eiseley 1907 - 1977

When we become throwers of the starfish, we too, have the power to change the world… one starfish at a time. Thank you to all of the starfish throwers out there... your contributions to Aid Expedition have and will make a huge difference!