Visit from the Gulleys

The Gulleys were in the States for the month of November visiting from the Philippines.  For some of you that do not know the Gulleys, Tammy is my best friend from high school.  Tam, her husband Matt and their son Cade live in Dallas Texas and in 2006 were transferred to the Philippines with Matt's job at Texas Instruments.  We see them at least once a year and this time was a very special visit.  Tam was here to experience a little bit of our pregnancy with me.  This was the first time she has seen me pregnant except for in photos and she was quite amazed at how small I am.  (She is too sweet I know.)   We had such a great visit, not as adventurous as our usual visits, but it is always great to just see them and catch up.  They are doing so great in the Peens and have seen so many things over the past couple of years that most of us could hardly even imagine.  There are so many stories that they have shared with us over the past few years that have all been so interesting, some mind boggling and others I cannot post on my family blog.  hee!hee!  I do have one interesting story that I want to share I know everyone reading will enjoy. And to anyone that knows Tam, you will appreciate this even more.  A couple of months ago the Gulleys went on a 2 week vacation to visit Malaysia and Thailand.  As most of you know, Tam LOVES elephants..always has.  She a tattoo of an elephant and has always collected them.  In Thailand, it is nothing for elephants to be roaming the streets with someone walking beside them or riding on top of them.  For some, an elephant may be their only form of transportation.   Of course, with the love of elephants that Tam has, she was determined to have as much interaction with the large creatures as she possibly could.  Many photos of her were taken standing beside elephants and the family even went on a excursion riding in a basket on the back of an elephant.  A total dream come true for her.  While visiting Thailand, they were at a show in some park of some sort where they saw alligators, snakes, monkeys, all sorts of wild animals that they were able to have close encounters with.  They took photos with chimpanzees, saw a man put his head in the mouth of an alligator and Cade even head a love snake.  They went to an elephant show where there were trainers working with them, showing tricks and all.  The trainer asks the audience for a volunteer and of course Tam stands up, raising her arms to be picked.  Probably being the only blonde in the whole crowd, she is picked and proceeds to walk up on stage with an elephant and his trainer.  Matt has camera in hand and Cade is cheering on Mommy knowing that elephants are a love of hers.  As she approaches the stage, in her mind she is thinking that she is going to get to take a ride bareback on this elephant.  Much to her surprise, the trainer had something completely different in mind.  He points to a mat on the ground and tells her to lay face down on the mat.  Thinking "Oh my goodness, what I am doing?", but to late to change her mind, she lies in the ground and they cover her body with a towel.  Praying, trembling and thinking to herself, "Please Lord, do not let me die in front of my child", this massive elephant proceeds to take a step with one paw over Tam's body to the other side of her.  She buries her head in her arms and just prays as the elephant takes his other paw, puts it on her back and proceeds to give her a "back massage".  While this is going on, Matt is in the audience snapping away on his camera and getting some great shots while Tam is fearful for her life.  ;0)  After the elephant finishes the massage, he steps completely over her and she is relieved to still be alive.  As she proceeds to stand up, thinking that she is finished, the trainer says, "Oh no ma'am, please lay back down, you are not finished yet."  Waiting for her at the other end of the stage are 6 more elephants in line to walk over her.  Needless to say, I think my blonde adventurous friend may hesitate next time to volunteer so quickly for something.  hee!hee!  Enjoy the photos and check out the photos in our family albums!

Love to you all!!!