Craig Conducts the Penang Philharmonic

Last night was Jennifer's performance with the Penang Philharmonic Symphony and Choir! We got to enjoy musical serenades featuring some well known carols, a few quiet compositions from John Rutter, and some original compositions from the conductor as well. Can you spot Jennifer? She's the one with the flashy earrings.

Some of our friends also participated in the fun. The conductor, Martin Rutherford, lives in our building and is very fond of Craig.

Here is Dick Yeap, a 16-year-old violin virtuoso who is a member of the symphony. He's also a member of our Young Men's organization and has memorized D&C Section 4!

Here is Ninian LeBlanc (who likes very much to wear red velvet with white trim) singing in the bass section. His wife, Swan, also sings in the choir.

And here is Jennifer, who sings soprano and is the most conspicuously beautiful singer in the choir. They asked her not to wear her "flashy" earrings so that she wouldn't stand out. Could it be that the earrings make no difference? I think she stands out no matter what!

We had a visit from Father Christmas after singing "Santa Claus is Coming to Town". He handed out sweets to all the children and also got a special chance to conduct the choir and symphony in a rousing rendition of Jingle Bells.

We also had another guest conductor this evening. This particular maestro has studied music and singing since an early age. His repertoire includes songs like "I Hate People" from the musical "Scrooge", "Hark the Herald Angels Sing", and "We Are the Children of St. Christopher's", among many others. Here is our very own Craig in his musical conducting debut! Click the arrow to see the entire performance!

Craig was grinning from ear to ear! He was an instant hit, and spent the rest of the night signing autographs and shaking hands with the audience.

Here are two of the fun original compositions that the choir sang. The first is called "Cowboy Carol", and the second is called "The Holly and the Ivy". They are really fun! Click on the arrow to watch the whole thing!



We wish everyone could have been there! We had a great time and I'm so proud of my beautiful wife and sweet boy for helping put on such a great musical performance! What can I say? I think it's in their blood. Merry Christmas!

Santa Claus is Coming to Penang!

Merry Christmas from Malaysia! There's still five days 'till Christmas and we've already had a whirlwind of fun!

We jump started our holidays with a celebration at our house with my staff and co-workers. Jennifer made lunch and we all played games and exchanged gifts. From left to right is Chloe, Joey, Catherine, Jennie, Jennifer, and me.

We did a Christmas gift exchange as part of the fun.

A few days later Craig had a special visitor at school! Here is the entire student body at St. Christopher's, all waiting for Father Christmas himself!

Santa made his grand entrance on a school bus this year. Here is Jennifer and her "elves" from the PTC with Santa's bus. The bus driver was absolutely thrilled to be transporting the Man in Red.

Santa Claus arrived to thundering cheers from all of the students!

All of the students got a chance to visit with Santa. Here is Craig and his Year 2 class with jolly old St. Nick.

Craig was sure to tell Santa that he wanted Harry Potter Legos for Christmas this year.

Here is one of Santa's official helpers with Jennifer and Craig. Can you guess who it is? Whoever he is, he's one handsome guy!

This week we put together gingerbread houses with some of our friends in Penang. Here is Craig with Katie (left) and Lauren (right) decorating their edible edifices. The bowls of candy were empty by the end of the night. I figure about half of the pieces actually made it onto a house.

We built four houses - one for Katie, one for Lauren, one for Craig... and one for Jennifer. Here is the happy little girl assembling her dream home with candy canes, gumdrops, and colored sprinkles (known as "hundreds and thousands" to our Aussie friends)

Craig was quite proud of his house, which wasn't really a house, but a place of business. He built a bank where Ebeneezer Scrooge and Bob Cratchit count their money. I guess we've let him watch A Christmas Carol a few times this year...

Here are all the houses in a row, just like a little gingerbread lane!

All the kids had a great time eating and decorating (and eating), especially these two!

We also had our 2nd annual Christmas Pageant with our little Penang Branch. Jennifer programmed the whole night and provided the music. This year's performance featured more characters, a guitar solo from a shepherd, and a Bach violin and piano prelude. We had a great time and really felt the Spirit of Christmas.

Merry Christmas everyone!