Cambodia

The last leg of our Christmas trip brought us to Cambodia.  We spent two nights in Siem Reap and then took a bus trip to Phnom Penh to visit with family for three days.

In Siem Reap we spent a full day touring the temples of Angkor Wat.  This was a childhood dream come true for Paul, so it was a special day.  Whether or not the kids appreciated the history and beauty of the temples, they seemed to enjoy themselves nonetheless.

Our driver and our ride for the day.

It's likely that we broke a rule or two.  

At the end of the day, when I asked the kids what the best part of their day was, Alana said it was getting to sit on the bike of our tuk tuk.  It really doesn't take much to please them.

Showing a love for trees!  (How could you not with trees like these?) 

He kept reading all the different names of the trees.

Enjoying the hotel.

After a whirlwind tour of the temples we left the next day for Phnom Penh where we had the wonderful opportunity to visit with a cousin of mine who moved there a year and a half ago with her husband and four small children.  It was such an awesome opportunity to spend time with family and to see their life in Cambodia.

One afternoon we went off on our own to visit the Royal Palace and then met up later for dinner together.

Adapting well to the Asian culture:  

putting up her fingers for the camera, except instead of the two fingers, she put one.

Fun times with cousins!

Waiting for our ice cream dessert!

Paul took a sombre trip on his own to The Killing Fields. According to Wikipedia "The Killing Fields are a number of sites in Cambodia where collectively more than a million people were killed and buried by the Communist Khmer Rouge regime, during its rule of the country from 1975 to 1979, immediately after the end of the Cambodian Civil War (1970-1975).  The mass killings are widely regarded as part of a broad state sponsored genocide."

  

One of the biggest highlights for the kids on this entire trip was spending time with their cousins.  I was pretty amazed at how quickly they hit it off and so pleased to see them play so well together.  What a wonderful family we had the privilege of spending a few days with.

  

And off we go.... back to Jakarta!

Once again, we need to sit back and marvel at the things we saw and the things we experienced over these past three weeks.  We are continuously amazed at the things God created and the history that has come before us.  We realize our kids do not quite understand the fullness of their experiences, but we hope that someday they will look back in awe of how God has created our world so vast and so absolutely amazing.