Tag Archives: Ban Moon

All I Want for Christmas

We’re wrapping up a hot and sunny fun-filled Christmas here in Laos. It started with a gift exchange, which was especially exciting with Blake’s pop-eyed, big-mouth gasp of surprise every time someone opened a present. When I gave him a little backpack (made by tribal ladies in northern Laos), he squealed, “My backpack!” You couldn’t pay for a better reaction.
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Tony gave me a lovely Lao-style creche that looks just like the countryside homes up on stilts, complete with a hanging basket for the baby.
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You know your friends “get” you when they show up with a suitcase full of weapons for the traditional Christmas war. It sounds morbid, but growing up in a military family, we usually received some kind of Nerf gun that shot sticky darts, velcro balls, foam arrows or other harmless ammo. After the last presents were opened, our family would leap behind furniture or take cover under large sheets of wrapping paper for a major skirmish. How special to share that tradition with our wonderful visitors!
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Everyone played with their toys and lounged around for most of the morning, and then we jumped in a tuk-tuk and headed to Ban Moon. Barry, an Australian, and his Lao wife, Moon, run a little restaurant attached to their home. (“Ban Moon” means The House of Moon.) They served up a Christmas feast of turkey, ham and pork with roasted potatoes, carrots and pumpkin.
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Blake stayed busy chasing balloons…
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… and taking photos.
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He took this one!
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