Merry Christmas!!

We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas. We are THOROUGHLY enjoying being home for the holidays. It's been an adventurous, challenging, and exciting year for the Bikmans. We love Christmas and the opportunity it gives us to celebrate the birth of the Savior. We are thankful for the gospel and the strength it constantly gives us.

My fabulously talented cousin, Jeanne Louise Photography, did a quick photo shoot for us this past week and here are a few of our favorites. It was cold and raining lightly so we only lasted about 15 minutes but still got plenty to choose from. She is based out of Utah Valley and is working on updating her blog and making a website so look for those soon.

Little Miss S in her Christmas Dress

More Christmas posts to come!!

Samara's Cultural Assimilation

This is Samara's trusty umbrella. It is just her size and she LOVES it! When you think of using an umbrella what kind of weather comes to mind? Rain? Try again. Here in Singapore umbrellas are used not only for rain but also for sun protection. No one wants a tan here or the skin damage that comes along with it. They do everything to protect themselves from the sun.

It is hard to believe we've been here almost a year. It has been both challenging and rewarding. While Singapore is certainly a mild version of Asia, there are still plenty of differences (like umbrellas for the sun, excruciatingly slow walkers, etc.). There are many aspects of the culture here that we will never adopt, but apparently this is one we will.When Jody and Dano were here Samara announced one day, "Mom, I need to take my umbrella with us in case it is sunny." We about died laughing. She has told me several times since that she needs to bring it because it's so bright outside. I'm sure she's overheard me telling people about this but it's funny nonetheless.
She and I head home in two (count them...TWO) days. We can't wait. Ben follows a week later. While we are very grateful for all the places we've been able to visit over here there is still no place like home. We watched a Charlie Brown Thanksgiving movie about the Mayflower a few weeks ago. Samara explained the story of the Mayflower to me in her own words today as we were talking about our trip home to America. She said that the kids on the boat were going to America from Singapore because they missed their families and they wanted to see their Grandpas and Grandmas. History retold by a 2-year old. Can you guess what we've been talking about?!