Trip to Singapore

Had a nice trip to Singapore-- was there for 9 days, and thought it was a really nice country. We just dedicated a new plant here. In addition to going to a lot of meetings, I was able to visit docs and pediatricians in their offices yesterday. People are very friendly and it is very easy to get around because everyone speaks English.

I went on a night safari, which was very cool. I got to see some nocturnal animals up close. It was a neat setting. My other extra-curricular activities were visiting a Hindu temple and I also used a "fish foot spa" where I put my feet in some water full of little fish and they all started nibbling my feet. It makes your feet soft, and clears off any dead skin cells. It didn't hurt-- it was more like the tingly prickly feeling you get in your feet when they have been asleep.

Singapore is very clean and safe. Would recommend it to anyone.

Pinewood Derby

Tyler did great last night- #8 out of a field of 21 cars. His won the most "super-duper" car award.

Library book sale

Science Fair Project

Campout

Our Week

Teresa's at the doctor now, probably the last of the family's string of sickness dating back to before Christmas. We think she has the flu and pink eye. Despite that, she chose to re-paint the upstairs hallway yesterday while Dan was away for the morning playing with a friend. That's dedication-- it looks a lot better. Teresa has basically painted every room of each of our previous three houses, and she's jumping into touching up this one.

Hal goes to piano this morning, and Courtney is at a Young Women sleepover. I did a little Scout work this morning, now that I'm the Scoutmaster in the ward. We've got a campout coming up in Wisconsin at Sol R. Crown campground, which is just over the Wisconsin border.

I'm working on learning Spanish, which is my new year's resolution. I've been listening to the tapes that Mom got me in the car, and practicing with Courtney and Hal. It's going to take a little while, but I'm making some progress.

We're bummed that the Chicago temple is closed for so long. It used to be our date every Friday night to go to a session, but when the pipes burst from the cold, it sounds like they had some damage and had to close it. Looks like early March opening-- in plenty of time for our family temple day / get together on April 24th and 25th. I hope lots of you can make it!

I'm enjoying my job here-- learning a lot by interacting with our business leaders around the world. It is very different from anything that I've done before, and very challenging. The coordination is the major challenge. Abbott is doing well despite tough economic times, which is a blessing. Our international infant formula business exceeded all of our forecasts for 2008, which was good to see. I'm preparing now for some upcoming training for salespeople in Latin America and a global marketing meeting in Singapore.

Jungle Book