Borneo Part II: Kota Kinabalu

One month after our first visit to Borneo, we were back, this time to Kota Kinabalu and with our friends Jeb and Andrea.  I should be forthcoming with this post, that we spent four fabulous days relaxing and enjoying Kinabalu...from our resort.  We never, not even to go to 7-11, left the Shangri-La Rasa Ria resort.  It was that good.  Yes folks, I am saying, it was THAT good.  The best resort we have been to, best food (best Indian food I have ever eaten), best pool, nice beach, relaxing and luxurious, a highly recommended resort and kid friendly!  We were certain that our friends would want to explore the city of Kinabalu or check out SE Asia's highest peak, but our like minded traveling friends, were more interested in laying in our beach chairs and pressing the call button to ask for another Mai Tai.  We visited the resident orangutans but were pretty quickly rained out, as the "rain forest" really lived up to it's name.  Lucky for us Adalyn loves the water and had a good time playing in the rain while her mommy and daddy walked back to their room splashing in puddles.   We really had a fantastic time and hope to go back.  Maybe next time we will venture into the city and get a bit closer to the peak of Kinabalu.  All in all, not a bad way to kick of 2014, in fact, a pretty spectacular couple of days. Enjoy a few pics!

The view from our room!  See why we didn't leave

Beautiful Big Sandy Beach

Our Beach Baby

 

The view from our beach chairs...and yes, there was a "call" button for service

Happy Baby...

Chillin in the pool

 

Dr. Dunn & Dr. White....

 

 We had such a great time.  I hope Jeb and Andrea will make another trip to SE Asia before we leave! 

Adalyn: Eight Months

It's hard to believe, but this precious face is 8 months old!  Adalyn continues to be such a joy and happy baby.  This month she has mastered sitting and can scoot backwards on her tummy.  It won't be long and she will be crawling!  Yikes.  Adi is eating 3 solid meals a day.  Her favorite foods are bread (especially nann), prunes, mango, sweet potatoes and salmon.  She hasn't met a food that she doesn't like.  She continues to grow and is a healthy 8.45kg (18.5 lbs).  Adi loves to "talk" saying ba ba, da da, momma, nom nom.  I know it won't be long until she's talking and on the move.  Here are a few pictures from our sweet girl's eighth month.  Enjoy.

Borneo Part 1: Kuching

In November, we traveled to Kuching, the capital of Sarawak on the island of Borneo with our friends Eli and Robin who were visiting from the states.  We enjoyed a long weekend swimming in the ocean, hiking, watching orangutangs, visiting the infamous Cat Museum and relaxing.  Here are a few pictures of our time in Kuching.  Enjoy!

Playtime on the balcony with Eli & Robin

Adi was certainly happy to hike with her daddy

There was a fantastically cool natural pool at our hotel, we all enjoyed a swim in the natural water

Adalyn's first trip to the beach and ocean.  She loved it

First time in the ocean....

Momma forgot about the waves.....

This was followed by a large smile.  She's a natural in the water and held her breath when the wave splashed her!

Happy, happy girls!

The view from our balcony

Also, not a bad view for Adi's playtime.  Notice the curious lizard who wanted to play as well

After our time at the beach, we took a trip to visit the famous Semonggoh Wildlife Center  to visit the Orangutangs that live at the sanctuary.  It was an amazing hour, watching the "man of the forest" swing on the trees, eat, play and be in their "natural" environment. 

We spent our last evening in Borneo enjoying Kuching.  We checked out the famous Cat Museum, which was a creepy collection of cat memorabilia.  The best part of the whole museum was the picture below and the building that the museum is in. Someone really, really loves cats...

 We had a lovely mini-vacation to Kuching and it was great to share our trip with our friends.  I hope we can venture back, even for a long weekend, as the city is clean, there's a direct flight from Penang and the beaches were nice.

Our JennEric 2013

This year we decided to go "Eco-friendly" with our Christmas cards and end of the year letter so here is our 2013 JennEric Recap in Bullet Points. (What I really want to say is, I've been too busy playing with Adalyn and hanging out with Eric and our blog, Christmas cards and our year end letter have become lower on the priority list.) Enjoy!

• We welcomed Adalyn Mutiara Hartner on May 27, 2013 at 6:58pm into our loving family.  Our lives have not been the same since.  She has filled our lives with so much joy and fun, that the first months of sleep deprivation are a distant memory.
• We have extended our contract in Penang and our here at least until December 2014
• Jenn & Eric traveled to Chiang Mai, Thailand and Luang Prabang, Laos to play with elephants and visit gorgeous temples
• We had many visitors to Penang this year; Eli & Robin, Jeb & Andrea, Aunt Jo & Uncle Alasdair and Emily made trips to hang with the Hartners
• Adalyn has taken 19 flights in her 7 months of life.  She has visited Singapore, Borneo (2 times), Hong Kong, Michigan, Texas and California.  She is a natural jet setter! 
• In October, Jenn spoke at the Luscious Ladies in Pink Breast Cancer Fundraiser in Penang.  She shared her story of Loss, Resilience & Hope to a ballroom full of 275 people.
• Eric, Jenn & Adalyn love spending time at home, in the pool and with their friends and family around the world

We feel incredibly grateful for the love and changes that 2013 brought to our family.   We wish you all a wonderful 2014 and hope we will see you soon!

Lots of love,
Jenn, Eric & Adalyn