Author Archives: lubabob

Best group picture we managed in front of the Taj Mahal.

Christmas 2017 Katy’s sister Mary and her husband Mike came and spent a week with us in India to celebrate their 20th wedding anniversary. We spent the first couple of days in New Delhi and Agra before flying south to our hometown of Kochi for the last few days. Far too much wonderful craziness transpired for us to properly report it all. But, with so many cameras, we do have roughly a million pictures, so we will fill this site with lots of images. Be sure to check the captions to figure out what we were doing!

We started the first day in Old Delhi, the oldest part of the city still standing. The Flower Market (where temple offerings of garlands are prepared and sold) and the Wedding Market, and the Spice Market are all in this section of the city as well as many temples and holy places. As soon as we stepped foot in the Spice Market, we were dogged by a “tour guide” who not accept that we did not want a tour guide. He followed us for so long and was somewhat helpful, so we quit fighting him and just went with it. He certainly made getting rickshaws easier.

Rooftop preparation of flatbreads.

Many of the old building have elaborate outsides.

Only small cycle rickshaws fit on the narrow roads.

Mike learning how to string the flowers into garlands.

Mike found an awesome singing bowl.

At least 15 kids jammed into a rickshaw (middle) on their way home from school.

Lunchtime traffic.

The roads are very narrow in Old Delhi and always busy.

Doorway on Jain Street.

Rooftops are also places for social gathering.

Bobby and Max looking for the freshest flowers.

Mike testing his strength at the flower market.

One of our very favorite places in Old Delhi to visit is the Gurudwara Sis Ganj Sahib. This is a place of worship for the Shik faith, but also a place of community out reach. Tour guides are provided for foreigners free of charge (though it is nice to donate while there). The outside of the building is unassuming, but the inside is gorgeous. We happened to visit during a celebration this time. The guides all speak excellent English and truly love teaching others about their beliefs which leads them to work for the good of the community at an amazing level. They will even take you into the communal kitchens and dining hall on the backside of the property where literally thousands (rich or poor) are fed every day, three meals a day.  Working in the kitchens for a little while is always a highlight.

Our guide with Gabd and Max.

Mike rolling chappati.

All wrapped up outside the Gurudwara.

Lunch time in the communial dining hall.

Bobby and Katy in a rickshaw.

Inside the Gurudwara.

Mary and Mike

Bobby and Max listening to the music.

Chefs taking a break before the lunch time rush.

Serving in the dining hall.

Cooking chaphati.

Bobby helping in the kitchen.

Mary rolling chapati.

Shik believers worshipping.

While in Old Delhi, we also visited a Jain temple (where pictures are not allowed) and spent a night listening to the nightly music at the Hazart Nizamudden Dargah Muslim Shrine. Finding the shrine was a bit of a nightmare, but we were determined to get Uncle Mike some local music.

An elaborate systems of tunnels led to the Shrine.

Mike and Mary in front of the shrine.

Mike talking shop with the Shrine muscians.

Mary and Mike at the entrance to the Jain Temple.

Mary in a cupola by the Spice Market.

The whole group by a Mosque.

We spent a whole day in Agra at the Taj Mahal and the Red Fort built by the Mogul Emperors. We did have a tour guide at both places. I highly recommend it at the Taj which is super busy. Afterwards, they took us to get some lunch and to look at a store where the same family who did all the stonework on the Taj Mahal still creates things out of semi precious stones and marble. Needless to say, everything is very expensive and nice, but even if you do not want to buy anything, the demonstration they give you on how the Taj Mahal was decorated is fascinating.

The Taj Mahal:

Built as a tomb for all three of his dead wives, Emperor Shah Jahan forever enshrined his third wife as his favorite when he placed her body in the iconic white megalith while the other two have smaller tombs elsewhere on the property. He planned to build a mirroring tomb out of black marble on the opposite side of the river, but his son refused to allow him, saying he had already spend too much money.

Frieze on the walls.

Semi precious stone work on the walls.

Workers cutting, sanding, and creating out of marble.

Side buildings.

Gabe!

Door to somehting.

Beautiful in white.

The gate into the Taj Mahal’s grounds.

Katy and Mike getting into the work.

Gabe is growing too much!

Screen in the stone at the tomb’s entrance.

Reflecting pool in front of Taj.

The designs are so tiny.

Bobby zooming through the VIP line (you have to buy a VIP ticket if you are not Indian).

Taj Mahal cows. Cows are everywhere.

Modern example of semi precious stone and marble work.

Group photo #1

Waiting for Katy to return from the toilet.

Towers (4 in total) built leaning in case of earthquake.

The “guest house” on the Taj’s side.

The Red Fort:

The Red Fort predates the Taj Mahal. It was built by that man’s grandfather Babur the Tiger. The fort is still strong and in great condition, but the palace inside the fort is gorgeous. Shah Jahan spend his last years under house arrest in a room with a view of his beloved wife in the Taj Mahal across the river.

The moat around the fort was only partially filled.

Arches of the People’s Hall.

People were shorter back then…

Palace inside the fort

Mike and Max lunching with the best corn ever!

Front gate

Creasman Family picture on a balcony.

The RED FORT!

Max’s smoldering intensity

Bobby leading the way forward.

Mary and Mike

Courtyards and balconies.

Creasman family portrait.

Katy taking a break from taking photos.

Not sure what Max was doing…

Taj Mahal in the distance.

Door detail

Aunt Mary can get selfies with these boys but not mom.

Bobby in his natural state.

Whole door

Sisters are forever.

Mike and Mary honeymooning it.

Bobby and Katy taking a break where people were allowed to petition the King.

Beautiful door frames.

The Lotus Temple ( a Baha’i House of Worship) is located in New Delhi. No pictures (as well as no talking) are allowed inside the building but we spend a long time at the information center learning about this faith before heading into the spare but beautiful worship center. We also went to Akshardham (a Hindu cultural center complete with temple) but running short on time, we had to make sure that we focused on seeing, not documenting that experience.

We left action-packed Delhi for sunny Kochi. We do not have as many pictures of this time. Katy came down with a severe bout of sickness and spent most of this time in bed, but Bobby, Gabe, and Max took Mike and Mary to see many of the everyday aspects of life in Kochi like the hypermarket, the video game arcade and carnival rides on the top floor of Lulu Mall, and the nice (but pretty dang inexpensive) movie theater. Once Katy felt better, we took Mike and Mary to experience a traditional Thalli meal (Katy’s favorite) and then Katy took them to her ayurveda doctor where they both underwent a consultation with the doctor and a treatments (a very slippery massage with medicated oils).

Mary post ayurveda treatment.

Max duking it out at the amusement games in the Lulu Mall.

Traditional South Indian Thalli meal.

Ice skating top floor of the mall.

Our family are so grateful to be able to share many of the wonderful things about India with people we love. We will never forget that Mike and Mary came to visit and play with us!

Walk up river a little ways and you can play in the pools on the side.

Katy’s birthday is at the very beginning of December. When it comes to presents, she has always preferred to just spend that money on experiences and time with her loved ones to actual physical presents. Sometimes we go far from home, sometimes we stay close. In 2017, we took a drive into the beautiful rain forest surrounding our home of Kochi and spent the day at Athirappilly Falls. Climbing the path, jumping from rock to rock at the top of the waterfall, and playing in the water together, made her fell very loved.

Monkeys often grab food out of the visitors’ hands.

Our family seems to be very good at finding fat monkeys.

The fence stops people from going over the cliff.

3 Amigos.

Max

LOTS of rock hopping!

Bobby

Gabe

View from the bottom of the waterfall.

The looks on their faces can predict the winner of this duel.

In October, our family headed back to the good Ole USA for the wedding of Doug and Emily Bonessi in Athens, Georgia. On the same trip, we decided to fulfill a family goal: visit the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios in Florida.  Mostly we kept the phones locked away (didn’t want them to fall out on the rides and break), so we have only a few pictures of our activities during that time. However, our most awesome pictures were snapped by the Universal Photographers at the little store in Diagon Alley after we got all dressed up. We have never purchase such pictures before, but Katy could not pass up the Harry Potter themed ones. We even made a short movie, which we can not post here because this site will not allow videos- but it was awesome. It is our family’s favorite memorabilia from a trip- EVER!

The boys waiting for the rain to stop.

Bobby and Katy meet a velicoraptor.

Getting ready to enter Kong Island.

Let’s go find some dinosaurs!

Ice cream for dinner!

Blue Man Group!

Boys excited for their first ever!

Time to go to the Ministry of Magic!

Let’s take a ride!

Stick to your ticket!

Hogwarts Castle from the bridge.

This dragon breathes fires!

Watch out! This duel could get nasty!

Looking like a male model in a hospital ad before surgery.

By August, it became obvious that Max was going to need surgery on a very sensitive part of his anatomy. Our family physician worked with us to find a suitable hospital with a surgeon who could explain everything well in English. It was a stressful and scary time especially since the issue was time sensitive, but the knowledgable staff and up to date facilities took great care of Max even though they were mystified by the temporary Batman tattoo on his chest. The adventure was over before we knew it. Max healed beautifully, even if he did reuse to wear pants for a solid month afterwards.

Pain took awhile to get under control after the surgery.

Gabe decided to chill in the bed with Max to help him stay calm.

Boat ride through the canals around Bangkok.

Bobby told us that he has to fly to Bangkok for work. Katy informed him that he would not be flying alone. Thus began our fantastic trip to Thailand. We spent a couple days in Bangkok while Bobby worked, then headed to the beach town of Hua Hin to relax at a resort for a few days before flying back home. This post is a short photographic account of that journey. I am not surely we captured the truly great time that we had in this country. It all started with a boat tour:

Temples dotted the waterways.

We passed plenty of other boats, some with tourist, some otherwise working.

Every temple had beautiful gold detailing.

We also passed plenty of regular houses.

Some houses looked more livable than others.

Gabe chilling in the boat.

Plenty of these giant lizards sunning by the river.

Oh, wait. They also swim. Lovely!

After our boat ride, Katy, Gabe, and Max headed to the Grand Palace which houses both the Palace and a large temple complex called the Temple of the Emerald Buddhas. We did visit the building with the actual Buddha statue in it, but no photography is allowed.

The Grand Palace

Exterior of the building with the Buddha statue.

All the columns are miniutely decorated.

I think these guys are guards.

Building completely covered in gold.

Got to love gold snaked with multiple heads.

Entrance to a closed building.

Miniature replica of a famous temple

Sculptures of unknown animal mixtures are common.

So much gold work.

Female Fu Dog.

Close up of the Emerald Buddhas that make this temple famous.

Happy Max!

Gabe and Max trying to help the Emerald Buddhas.

Katy in front of the amazing detail work.

Hanging lanterns outside the temple.

Official residence of the royal family.

The Palace Guard

We also explored the local markets, trying fresh fruits and fish. We had to do other things like business dinners with Bobby, riding the train around town, exploring 7 Eleven, and getting Bobby fit for a custom suit, but we did not bother to take pictures of any of that. .

Hau Hin is a beach side town that has been welcoming visitors for a long time. It is usually visited more by locals than foreigners but we found a nice resort there right on the beach for a reasonable price. Our first exposure of Hua Hin was watching the fattest monkey we have ever seen walk out of 7 Eleven. Regretably, none of us had our phones handy as we passed by in the car. We did a lot of exploring and playing in Hua Hin. Here’s a peek.

Dragons surrounding you must be good luck.

Hillside Temple to Guan Yin has lots of cool statues.

Dinner at the Night Market

The boys’ favorite part of the Night Market was the foot massages. During the day, we spent hours and hours playing on the beach.

Pool side

Gabe found a giant pile of rocks to climb on.

Bobby and Katy celebrating the moment.

Gabe and Max got to experience jet skis for the first time. Now they are hooked.

Dad and Max vs

Gabe and Mom

One day, we drove down the coast about an hour to the Phraya Nakhon Cave inside a national Park. The drive was gorgeous, but the cave was one of a kind. This cave house a special pavilion and throne once built for the Thai King when he visited the beach. We hiked all the way in (which was longer and more arduous than we expected) to the cave, but we caught the ferry back to the parking lot.

The path was bumpy and chaotic. It was easier to walk on the side by the railing.

Pavillion under construction.

These houses are everywhere in Tahiland. They house the neighborhood gods. Offerings are placed out each day.

Views from the trail:

It takes a million steps (at least that’s what it felt like) to get up to the caves. Then you have to go down many steps to actually enter the caves. Here is a short slide show of the interior of the cave including the holes in the ceiling that let in air and light and the King’s throne.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

All of us would return to Thailand in an instant.

Max ax Green Arrow

Gabe as the original Iron Man

Origins is a gaming conventions held in Columbus, Ohio. We knew we would be in Lexington, Kentucky when the convention was occurring which is only a couple hours away, so Gabe and Max asked if they could enter costume contest. They spent weeks leading up to it working on their individual costumes. Max did a lot of sewing. Gabe got pretty friendly with the glue gun. The results are below. We had a really good time seeing all the other costumes as well as talking to the other kids that were inspired to make one.

The boys waiting for their turns.

The winners of the costume contest.

We spent most of our time wandering around the Vendors’ Hall, looking at all the cool stuff for sale. We didn’t take many pictures, but we had a great time and a lot of people stopped to take pictures with the boys in their alter egos. But you always have to take time out to fuel up.

You ever seen Green Arrow eating tacos? Now you have. You’re welcome.

Boogie boarding is Max and Gabe’s favorite beach time activity. In this picture they are proudly sporting the new skin guard shirts that Mrs. B bought them.

We try to visit our wonderful friends the Bonessi family every summer. We eat great food, play a lot of games, have good conversations, and get our beach on! We always leave Wilmington feeling five pounds heavier and a good deal more loved than when we arrived. This year we were excited to have Emily join in our activities.

Watch out for the surf!

Gabe laughing at Bobby for something.

Doug and Bobby leading the boys out into the surf.

Emily and Doug pausing for a conversation.

Beach side shelter.

Happy Doug and Emily.

Lone man walking back for a drink.

Britt’s doughnut eating competition: Max’s favorite activity

They always sleep so well at the Bonessi’s.

We happened to be at the Bonessi’s over Father’s Day. Katy, Max, and Gabe got Bobby a surfing lesson for Father’s Day. He did not want to do it alone, so Katy signed up too.

Katy and Bobby back in the AC after the lesson.

After the lesson.

Bobby practicing on shore.

The Blue Ridge Mountains as viewed from the grounds. All the surrounding forest used to belong to the Vanderbilts as well.

Just before our trip to North Carolina, both Gabe and Katy finished reading the book Serafina and the Black Cloak by Robert Beatty. This book, about a special little girl solving a set of disturbing disappearances, is set at the most famous home in Katy’s hometown- the Biltmore House. We decided to take time to tour the house and grounds but we did not make it to the farm on the property. Nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains, Biltmore was built in the late 1800s by the Vanderbilt family as a summer home.

Biltmore has four acres of floor space and a total of 250 rooms including 35 bedrooms for family and guests, 43 bathrooms, 65 fireplaces, 3 kitchens, and 19-century novelties such as electric elevators, forced air heating, centrally controlled clocks, fire alarms, and a call-bell system.

No expense was spared in the designing, building and furnishing of Biltmore. It is the largest privately held home in America. It is open to tourists all year long, but you do not need to wait until you find time for a trip to North Carolina. We are sharing our favorite features here. Just run your mouse over the photo and captions will appear. Click on the pictures if you wish to see them bigger.

Ivy on the fountains in front.

A different view of the entrance.

Large lions guard the entrance.

Solarium in the house stayed warm all year.

Beautiful brickwork and lighting fixtures.

The dining room can easily handle a feast.

Max was tired already!

View of the mountains from the balcony.

The giant library is my favorite room. There are even ladders that attach to the walls so you can get to the books up high.

Candeliers in the stairwells.

The boys waiting at the top of the stairs for Mom to finish taking pictures.

The door to the elevator.

The hallways in the basement level are not as refined as the upper levels.

The outside of the stairwell.

We did not manage to get any good pictures of the indoor pool with its very nice changing rooms, or the bowling alley in the basement, but we very much enjoyed seeing them. Also worthy of note, but with no pictures, were the kitchen and larders, and the neat system that had for drying the bed sheets.

The grounds between the house and the greenhouse are covered in manicured gardens and paved walkways.  There also used to be an outdoor pool but it was filled in a long time ago now.

Blue Ridge Mountains

Gold leafed angels stand on the end of the stairs.

Detail from the railing on the stairs.

Arbors running along one side of the grounds.

Covered walkway to the greenhouse.

Resting our feet in the greenhouse.

Greenhouse room 4

Covered walkway to the greenhouse.

Arbors running along one side of the grounds.

One of the things we miss most about living in a big Asian city is the limited access we have to nature and when we travel it is always nice to get out and around in the world that God made. Black Mountain, NC is situated in a beautiful and vibrant forest. We were likely enough to have our family guide us down one of the hiking trails on this trip.

Moses looks a lot less excited about the hike than the other kids, but he was a good trail leader. Max appears weirdly happy at Moses state though.

Nothing centers the mind or calms the heart like a stroll through the woods.

April 21st, 2017 Max turned the big 8. Since there is not baptismal font or enough priesthood for him to get baptized in our current city, we gave him the choice of traveling to Bangalore to do it or doing it while in the USA visiting family. He really wanted his extended to be there if they could. So that’s what we did. Max felt very blessed to have his grandparents, the Henrie family, and the Stair family all attend and celebrate with him.

Bobby and Max, both excited to get underway.

Finally a picture with both Mom and Dad.

Gabe also turned 12 the preceding February. What he was most looking forward to about being 12 was to go to the temple. He got his recommend in India, and then we had a little temple trip with as many of his grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins that were available and of age. Jack did us a great service by staying outside the temple with Max so both Katy and Bobby could attend with Gabe on his first time. It was such a joyous day.

More or less from left to right: Uncle Mike, Grandpa, Grandma, Uncle Joe, David (front), Aunt Angela, Bobby, Gabe (front), Katy, Max (front), Uncle Mary, Jack, and Sam (front).

And the family even found a little bit of time to play games together after church on Sunday before people had to start leaving town.