Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 2012

Happy New Year from the Gilbert's! We are wrapping up our three week Christmas vacation and now preparing ourselves for second semester. We had a wonderful break. Both of my brothers (Christian and John) and their wives (Abby and Leah) were able to make the trek over the Pacific and spent two weeks with us. They began their "tour" by exploring Seoul for a couple of days and then we brought them back to Daejeon, so they could experience our "hometown" in Korea. After five days in Korea, we took off for warmer weather in Vietnam. What a trip - we spent time in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), the Mekong Delta, and Mui Ne (beach resort on the South China Sea) with Christian/Abby and John/Leah. Very interesting spending Christmas Day walking around Ho Chi Minh in flip flops and shorts - I even saw Santa wearing red shorts outside one store! We enjoyed the Vietnamese cuisine (especially Pho'), the sites/culture of Vietnam, and spending time/relaxing as a family. We had to part ways on Dec. 30 (they had to go back to work!!) and Liisa, the kids and I took a bus up the coast of Vietnam to the city of Nha Trang to celebrate the new year. I have posted some pictures below to give you an idea of some of the things that we experienced. We hope that everyone at home had a wonderful Christmas and great start to 2012. We think about and talk often as a family about everyone back home - we miss you! The Gilberts