A major change in plans...for the good!

Lindsay is pregnant, so we're coming home early.

Ha ha ha...not TOTALLY true...

The trip has been going great - Lindsay and I have been loving it! We have had the chance to do some amazing snorkeling, boat trips, food eating, and enjoy massages on the beach too!

We have decided, however, to cut our trip shorter than we originally anticipated, as we realize that a month long trip will be plenty of time to be away from home :)

Shortening our trip will also allow us to continue to do many of the activities above, which we have thoroughly enjoyed.

We will now be coming home December 13th, and are actually looking forward to getting home for Christmas - it turns out that we are both homebodies! (not to mention we both like the luxuries that money buys, and when you buy many of those luxuries your money can dwindle faster :-)

Anyways, we have been tossing this idea around for the past week (yes, the trip is only a couple weeks long), but we thought that it would be a better decision to come home earlier, and we are both comfortable and at peace with this decision.

We will be "living it up" for the next 3 weeks, which we plan on enjoying greatly - we should come home very relaxed!

Cheers!

NEWS FLASH - NEGOTIATIONS HAVE COMMENCED

After a long standoff between the lower intestine and the urethra, headway may have been made.

Although there are no official reports or confirmations, one spokesperson for both parties had the following to say, "We're confident that trade talks will lead to a resolution. For almost 2 weeks the lower intestine has tried to steal the exports of the urethra, and take a monopoly on all bodily excretion. We are pleased to say it seems to show weekness now in this stance, realizing that it is better suited to deal with raw solid exports, not liquid."

With this recent progress we hope that there will soon be a resolution, where the urethra will have full control of all liquid excrements, and the lower instestine the solid.

From Koh Lanta, Thailand, Michael Ray.

Lindsay appologizes for me...ha ha ha...

A day of loveliness

A great day!

We woke up around 8:30, got up, took our scooter out for a rip (Lindsay wants me to call it a "motorbike") got breakfast, explored, and got massages on the beach. Now to elaborate...

It was bright and sunny, and a great morning to cruise the island. Mike loved the scooter - he wants to get one, and I'm starting to feel more comfortable on them too.

We had an "American" breakfast, which is basically toast, eggs, and "sausage" (a hotdog), and "ham" (Spam).

We drove down to the bottom of the island and got very expensive massages from a resort down there (about 400 baht per person, or $13 for an hour). We can find them all over for about 200 baht, but we really wanted one, and it was a nice place...a VERY nice place :)

We then came back to our basecamp, where Mike relaxed inside, and I went to the beach huts to read, watch the chained monkey, sleep, and finish off 3/4 of a can of Pringles.

We then went out for dinner, and now we're going to go get our drinks, maybe by a tub of ice cream, and sit out in the beach bungalos.

Love you all!

We are finally out of the room!

Mike's stomach felt well enough today to get out, at least momentarily - I got REAL sick of the food at the place we were staying - I say that it is suspect and probably the reason Mike is sick again!

We rented a scooter...a little nerve racking, but Mike seems to be doing OK at it - I have to keep reminding him to slow down though.

We are just at an internet cafe in town for a couple minutes and thought to make a quick post - the video is from our snorkling trip.

Sitting in the room the past couple days we have watched quite a few movies - Poseidon, Baby's Day Out, Home Alone 3, The Island, Murder by Numbers. We are tired of watching movies, but it's hard to do anything else when you're stuck inside!

The weather is beautiful here, although it seems to POUR rain every night - I guess it is nice during the day, though, which will *hopefully* allow us to enjoy the next couple days.

We are definately jealous of Heather and Adam enjoying mommy's food - it would be a pleasant change in pace to have dinner with you all tonight :(

Has anyone started Christmas baking or decorating yet??? I know I would be already done the decorating if I was home :)

Missing chocolate cake and bread and butter

Hi everyone!

We are now on Koh Lanta - another island about 1 hour from Koh Phi Phi (East). It is less busy, and the weather has turned slightly cooler and more stormy. We are staying right on the beach, although this beach is rocky not sandy.

We sprung for an air conditioned room because, surpise, Mike is sick again - it's a good thing we have it with all the time we have spent inside! I'm not sure if it is the food or our pills making him sick. I must have a better immune system or something, maybe it's because I bite my nails!

Last night there was a huge storm with thunder, lightening, and piles of rain. We stayed inside our room and watched a movie.

We were hoping on renting a scooter today to go around the island on, but with the combination of the weather and Mike's health we are going to wait another day.

The pictures/video we posted are from Koh Phi Phi and our snorkling trip.

Heather and Courtney Mike has now started reading "A Prisoner of Birth" too! I'm almost finished. Miss you guys. You'll be gald to know that on this trip I'm actually keeping up on my journal.

What's the weather like in PG? Is our home being looked after? How is your suite coming Heath?

Please keep praying that Mike's stomach adjusts to Thailand - it might turn into a very long trip otherwise!

A Day Snorkling...with mixed results!

Firstly, we saw some amazing things and had a good time. No regrets.

It is just too bad that in order to spend a full day snorkling you need to spend a full day on the water...does anyone remember how motion-sick Mike can become??? Today was no exception - he is still trying to recover from Montizuma's Revenge at both ends, 3 hours later.

We forgot to bring our camera cord with us so we wont be able to post any photos tonight - maybe tomorrow.

Love you all!

Banana Pancakes

The search is over!

After days on end of searching for Banana Pancakes, Lindsay found them! They are kind of a deep-fried crape with banana slices folded up in it, and chocolate drizzled on top. You wouldn't believe how hard it is to find such a thing...many "American" pancakes were ordered with bananas on top until we found the right mix!

Ko Phi Phi is where we are now, and it is beautiful. We are kind of in a jungle-village setting, which is really nice, but it is really hot - we have no AC from this point forward! That's what happens when you are on a budget.

Tomorrow we have booked an all day snorkling trip, from 10:30-6:30. I'm guessing that I am going to get sick (as I have no tolerance for bobbing up and down and side to side), but it should be fun.

Lindsay says that we had a wonderful hike...I'm still not too sure - the top was nice, as you can see from the photos - but it was a SWEATY hike up a steep hill. I'm sure I am going drop a few pounds while gone...

Thanks, everyone, for your comments - it is nice to hear from home! Oh, and Heather, Lindsay is halfway through the book.

While in Phuket I did end up going to the doctor. Apparently I'm bloated. I've been given a shot of some kind and some pills for antacid. I seem to be doing better, but still sore at times.

Last night I went for a walk to the Real Estate office in Phuket while Lindsay wrote in her journal. In that short walk there I was solicited by 3 prostitutes...apparently I am a "handsome man" and one girl was going to "give free massage for you!" Anyways, back to Real Estate, it's not a bad a setup. I've told Lindsay that once we find an extra $100k we will be buying a place here...anyone want to get in on that action and pool some money together?!?!?!

While in Phuket we paid to use beach chairs and an umbrella - totally worth it! Lindsay was very fond of this because it was like you had your own little servant boy to come setup your umbrella, move it as the sun moved, get us drinks and food, and even dust the sand off your chair when you got sand on it...Queen Lindsay was very pleased!