RIP: MISS SIENNA PUPPY - Dec 2005 - Dec 2018

Miss Sienna standing guard 2011/2017

In 2013 we made the hardest decision of your lives.  We had decided to move our family overseas, making Vietnam our new home.  Actually, that was not the hardest decision.  Deciding to leave our dog - Miss Sienna Puppy - behind was.  We were embarking on something very much unknown to us.  To a place where (false) stereotypes around dogs existed.  To a place, we had never been.  To a place, we were not sure how long we would be there.  At the time Sienna was about 8 years old and the thought of dragging her out of her comfort zone to someplace halfway around the world, with such uncertainty, was daunting.  

So the plan was made for Sienna to stay behind, with the idea of scooping her up the next summer should things look favorable in our new home for her.  She would stay with Brittany and Jason (Erin's Sister and Brother In Law).  At the time they lived in the vineyards of Lodi near her parents.  They had a yard and family nearby for support.  Also, Brittany would watch Sienna often when we traveled, not to mention that Brittany was the one who picked her out of the litter when Erin got her for me.  Sienna would be surrounded by love and be well off while we re-settled.  The next summer came and it was obvious - Sienna was living a much better life then we could provide her in Vietnam.  Not that we didn't have a great scenario, it just wasn't as fantastic as where she was.  We lived on the 8th floor of an apartment building, Brittany just opened the door and Sienna could run outside and play.  It was 95f degrees on average where we lived, while Lodi had a fairly temperate climate (except for the summer).  Also, putting a 9-year-old dog on 2 flights totalling 18 hours did not seem ideal.

So the final decision was made, Sienna would stay with Brittany and Jason while we lived abroad.  Yes, I could have been selfish and taken her with us.  Trust me, that thought went through my head every single day.  What seemed best for me didn't seem ideal for her.

In early 2006, Sienna came to me as a surprise from Erin after dating just about 4 months.  She was a tiny thing and ended up having parvo the first night, with us returning her to be nursed back to health.  A rough start for the little girl.

She recovered quickly and soon became attached to my hip.  As most puppies do, she had a bit of separation anxiety in the beginning whenever I left the house.  While most dogs would tear things up, chewing them into oblivion, Sienna would go into my closet and bring my shoes, one by one, out to her bed.  We'd come home to a living room full of footwear and Sienna snuggled up in the middle of them all.

While waiting for all of her shots to be taken, she was limited in scope for adventures so we used to throw her in a backpack - the same pack was used for her food and things when she traveled throughout her life - and go for hikes.  She loved it.

I was lucky enough to have a job where dogs were welcome at work (thanks LV!)  Trickily though, a large portion of my duties involved being on the road all day long.  Sienna was always right there with me.  Quietly resting her head on the back door, gazing out the window.  There were many times I forgot she was even there!  The benefit to me having her was not only companionship on the road but because of her I would stop at parks for her to run around and play, eat, etc....it got me out of the car, even if for a brief time, for a bit of fun mixed into the day.

If you have ever been to one of our showrooms back in the day, then you knew Sienna.  She would greet you running at top speed and barking wildly.  Some people were taken aback as a 50lbs pit bull was sprinting towards them, but usually, she was wagging her tail and looking for a ball for you to throw to her.  She made some really really long days a bit more fun for a lot of people who came through those doors, except for maybe Dan the UPS Man.....he came every day.  Every day he brought her a biscuit.  Every day she sat for the biscuit like a good girl, except she could not stop growling at him.  For years this went on.  I am sure Dan wasn't too bummed when we left that space.....

Because of this environment, Sienna and I were together all day, every day.  Connected at the hip.

She learned how to swim in the mighty Pacific Ocean at Fort Cronkite beach - she would lounge in my truck while I surfed and when I was done, it was her turn for fun on the beach.

She was a fantastic hiker.  Whether it be on Mt. Tam, in Golden Gate Park, or on Lands End.  Off leash was never a problem for Sienna and she hiked endlessly on these trails for years and years.

Once Graeme came around Sienna instinctively knew how to act around him.  She slept when he slept (usually right next to his crib) and was awake when he was awake.  As painstakingly hard as it was, she knew what toys were his and which ones were hers.  Graeme isn't the most comfortable kid around dogs these days, but with Sienna, he was always different.  Never an ounce of fear or worry with her, as she never gave him reason to have it.  Seth, on the other hand, is obsessed with dogs.  He LOVES them.  When we were in California this past summer he would chase Sienna around as much as she would let him at her age...unfortunately he caught her in the geriatric stages of her life.

Sienna's attachment issues faded very quickly and more times then not she would connect with and become fast friends with whoever new was hanging around.  If we traveled, friends of ours would actually become upset if they weren't the ones tasked with watching here while we were gone.

Life was not all rainbows and unicorns for her though....as mentioned earlier she started out with Parvo.  Later in life, both her knee's were replaced with titanium (a 6-month recovery for each knee and they were done back to back) by TPLO surgery.  Ganged up on by 2 dogs over a tennis ball, she lost 1/2 of an ear.  On a misguided hike (unfortunately, I was the guide) a dew-claw was torn off.  Through all of these, she never let you know she was hurt or in pain.  Tough as nails.

Dogs tend to have 3 stages of life.....Puppy - The Prime - Old Dog.  Brittany, Jason, and Greyson showered Sienna with love, attention, and adventure.  Swimming, camping....she enjoyed as active a lifestyle as she could have ever wanted with them.  They also had her in the Old Dog stages so when things got tough for Sienna they just showered her with more love and attention then you could imagine.

We cannot thank them enough for the love, support, and family that they provided for Sienna.  We know she became even more of their family as the years went by and each time we saw her we knew we made the right decision, even if it wasn't exactly what I wanted.

Although selfishly wanting and yearning to be with her at the end, it was warming and perhaps, fitting, that when Sienna passed she was in the same arms that she was in when I first met her, Brittany's. 

Miss Sienna Puppy brought so much happiness and joy to so many people.  The next time you come across a dog give them a little extra scratch behind the ear.  Throw the toy a few extra times for them.  Offer them one more treat.  All things we wish we could do with Sienna and things we know she would appreciate you doing for another dog.  Sienna you will always be in our hearts.

Much Love, 
The Hawken's in Hungary

#thetaoofgraeme #sethssojourns

A Tale of Two Goodbyes - Vietnam is Forever

The Dream Team - Graeme's EC, KG and G1 Teaching Staff!

If you have not yet heard, we are moving to Budapest, Hungary so Graeme's tenure at SSIS has come to an end.  This is a tale of two different goodbyes.  One to SSIS and its community as well as one to Vietnam itself.  Let's start with the educational side of things. 

#1
Graeme's first 4 years at school have ended.  (5 really - we can not discount his amazing year at Kids Club!)  Starting at Early Childhood with Ms. Tina, Ms. Thao and Ms. Vi then up to Kindergarten with Mr. Chris and Ms. Hue and, finally, 1st Grade with Mr. Lee and Ms. Ngan.  Wow.  What an unbelievable way to get yourself set up for success!  I have tagged them the "Dream Team" above because they truly are best in class.  I have equated his start at school in the past as a "foundation" of sorts for the future of his education.  If this is true, then this group of Educator's are the absolute Bedrock of it.  They have worked endlessly and selflessly with him over the past 4 years - teaching him not only how to read, write and do math - but how to learn, how to fail, how to formulate ideas into plans and plans into realities while working with others.  They taught him how to have fun and enjoy the process while doing all of this.  They taught him valuable life lessons that will be ingrained within him for the rest of his life.  Remember the saying, "Everything I need to know, I learned in Kindergarten"?  Well, I'd say these 4 years will encumber that and he will continue on with his studies as an extremely well-rounded person because of it.  We as parents are forever grateful to this group for the countless hours they have put in and efforts they have afforded so that Graeme could have the best possible start to his future.  To the Dream Team, we offer our unconditional thanks and look forward to crossing paths in the future!

Mr. Lee's G1 Class 2017/18

First Grade was an amazing year for Graeme!  A few years ago SSIS implemented student-driven, project-based learning.  I have spoken in the past about the Super Units that his classes have worked on.  This was the first year where we really saw it all come together.  Where the Units intertwined with the lessons in the classroom and you could really see Graeme and his classmates grab hold and take ownership of the process and its outcomes.  Graeme came home every day with stories about how hard they were working on particular projects and tasks.

Notably, they were "Campus Rangers" and tasked with upgrading the Little Dragons Garden area on campus.  One major idea was to plant Sunflowers in the garden but it was discovered in the process that they are an invasive species!  Oh No!  Time to shift to Plan B, and the students rallied and did a wonderful job beautifying a fantastic area of the campus for all to enjoy.

Their last Unit involved Systems and how individual things needed to work cohesively in order for the entire system to work.  So what did they do?  They created a Bakery in their classroom from scratch.  They identified the needs such as a name, logo, menu, different positions needed, signage, etc.  Culminating with a lunch service that Erin and I were lucky enough to get a reservation at!  Everything from Greeters, wait staff, kitchen staff, dishwashers - you name it and they created it.  It went along without a hitch and we enjoyed a wonderful meal with our favorite restaurant worker!

Taking our order

The process documented

yummy!

It was not all books and projects...We moved into the world of Sleep Overs and going on your own to knock on a friends door to ask them to play.  1st Grade comes with lots of socialization and Graeme has continued to show us that he very much a social creature and craves relationships with others.  He has also continued to show us that he is kind, empathetic and willing to help others when they need it.  These things are difficult to teach someone so we are happy to nurture them and be glad he was born with these traits.   We could not be more proud as parents of how hard Graeme works and how much joy he not only receives but passes on to others when at school.

Mr. Lee we thank and appreciate you so much for all that you have done for Graeme this year in Grade 1.  You helped us as a family as well as with Graeme's academic successes.  Guiding  Graeme to reach his goals that he had set and furthering a growth mindset into his psyche.  I never thought Graeme would come home and say "Mr. Lee says....." more then he said, "Ms. Tina says...." in EC but I think you gave her a run for her money!  It is obvious Graeme appreciates your work with him and enjoyed immensely taking his academic successes to the next level with you as his guide.  You will be a tough act to follow into G2...

Mr. Lee says....

BFF's

at the top

There is more to our SSIS story than just Graeme's education.  As a family, we moved here 5 years ago and the SSIS community becomes your defacto family.  Within the SSIS workplace, there is an army of people working for us to be able to afford the luxury of living here in Vietnam.  As an expat, there is a myriad of things you deal with but because of the team here, we (usually) deal with only a fraction of that.  The Business Office, HR Dept, ES Office, HS Office, Gardeners, Cafeteria Staff - and many more I am forgetting - have all made our lives here much easier.  They take care of things we don't even know exist.  On the chance that I ever needed to walk into an office with a question of how to take care of something, nine times out of ten they already were aware of it and either had taken care of it or had a plan in place to.  For these teams tireless efforts we as a family say THANK YOU!

The teaching staff at SSIS is (as stated above) second to none at what they do.  They also have become our family away from family over the past 5 years.  Neighbors, closest friends, babysitters, classmates, co-workers, travel partners.  We have connected with so many it would be impossible to mention them all here, so let me just say thank you to everyone and we look forward to seeing you all in the future!  Remember, we are not leaving, we are just giving you more travel options.

The Greenview Crew - Tan Phu Ward Represent!

Hawken-Sylvester-cation

So I will end this first goodbye with a deep gratefulness to everyone involved in our journey at SSIS the past 5 years.  Most especially to those who have been involved in helping shape, direct and nourish Graeme into the great little human he is!

Peace Out!

#2
Easily the hardest blog I have written to date.  For many reasons.  Logistically - how do you fit it all in?  We have over 20,000 images and videos on a hard drive from our daily routines and adventures.  We have met so many kind and friendly people, some becoming lifelong friends - how do we mention them all?  Emotionally - I mean pick a topic - friends, adventures, culture, ups, downs.....they are all there.  How do you pick and choose which ones get mentioned?  Thinking about it though, it should be the easiest blog to pen.   You kind of think about the day you will leave from here the moment you arrive.  Not for negative reasons.  It is just that little inkling in the back of your head that this is not forever.  It may be 2 years or 20 years, but you have had it in your mind that your stay here is temporary.  Vietnam, though, is forever.  I will try to explain.

The first thing that hits you when you land in Saigon is the warmth.  Not the heat and humidity, but the warmth of the people.  With so much hustle and bustle about (12+ million people in the city) there are loads of smiles and things just seem to somehow work, no matter how illogical or chaotic it may seem.  

We were foreigners in a foreign land that is for sure!  Culturally clueless...Graeme became an instant rock star in a world where they absolutely adore children and having blonde hair with blue eyes is pretty much unicorn status!  Poked and prodded, picked out of our arms, fed snacks, ogled at sites usually reserved for buddha worshippers - he handled it like a champ and we (somehow) went along with it.

For the first few years, Graeme and I dove into the fray while Erin held things down at work...out and about on our bicycle, "cracking necks" as cousin Noah likes to put it!  Taking care of life's day-to-day activities, which surprisingly, can take quite a long time when you don't speak the local language or know where anything is ;)  But as long as there was a smoothie at the end of the journey, Graeme never seemed to mind!  We were hit twice by motorbikes but came away unscathed, anyone living here for even a short while will tell you that we were very lucky!

We have enjoyed our share of meals that we weren't quite sure what they were but were never disappointed.  One time while on vacation in Phu Quoc with Team Sylvester we even got an entire meal of food we never ordered - we just ate whatever showed up and it was delicious!

We have seen just about anything you can imagine driving down the road on a motorbike...many things that we could not even imagine as well!  Restaurants, steel beams, livestock, even Nan!

Hi Nan!

We showed up here a small family of 3 with 6 duffel bags to our name.   5 years later we leave with 1/2 container shipment and another human being!  Graeme welcomed his brother, Seth, to the world while living in Vietnam.  If you ever want to witness the warmth and kindness of Vietnamese culture, be a pregnant foreigner or give birth here as a foreigner.  People come out of the woodwork to help you.  Offering to translate at doctor appointments.  Offering to care for Graeme during the birth.  Holding doors for you.  Ushering you to the front of any lines.  Just an overwhelming amount of care and love from people that just want you to have a great experience in their country.  To be honest, a year and a half later I am still in a bit of awe.

Day 1

Big Bro!

Seth has thrown himself into the mix as best he can.   A healthy little brother who eats well enough and sleeps well enough - just doesn't travel as well as his big brother.  Yet - we will break him in for sure!  Graeme loves to play with him now that he is a bit older and can actually play.  Seth absolutely adores his older brother and Graeme can do no wrong in his eyes and whatever Graeme does is hilarious in Seth's eyes.

We have had visitors come from far away, some more than once!  SE Asia isn't on everyone's agenda, it's a bit of a haul to get here as well.  But we are very thankful for those who were able to make it here and share in the experience.  Nan and Poppy flew in a 2nd time for Seth's birth (literally for Nan) via India!  Aunt Donna flew here just to babysit Seth only a few months after he was born.  Now that's commitment!

Boycott Palm Oil!

Saigon's proximity to the rest of SE Asia has afforded us wonderful travel opportunities.  Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Singapore, Borneo, Bali, Sumatra, Malaysia, Taiwan, India.....some we have been to a few times, others we mean to get back to, there are even more places that we have missed but they are still on our list!  All along the way meeting some of nicest people you can imagine.

Taiwan

Sorry, had to make this XL - Maldives.

Bali

New Delhi

Our yearly summer trips to the USA are also Graeme's favorites.  Getting to hang with family, celebrate birthdays (or Christmas in July if that is your thing!), meet new cousins (multiple new cousins each year on the Hawken family side), visit with friends - basically create situations to get the kids together and the parents can, ummm, watch them.  One-handed ;)

Dumbrill-Johnson Family

Hawken Family

Christmas in July!  Told ya!

Cali Crew!

Within Vietnam, we did our best, but it may just be impossible to see it all.  I refer at times to Vietnam as the never-ending-peeling-onion.  Figure something out or visit somewhere and peel the layer back to only reveal another layer!  I have said it before and stand by the statement that you can live here your whole life and never see it all.  Our travels within Vietnam really gave us a deeper look into the culture and people here.  In the hustle of Saigon, everyone has to have on their "game face" but once outside of the big city the hearts are worn on the sleeves and the smiles get broader (if that is even possible).  Some of our family faves?  Tet with Ly Tran's family in Hanoi, any trip to the Mekong with Phuc, and one of Graeme's favorites - going to the beach in Ho Tram with his best friends, Cade and Brooke.  

Tam Coc

Tran Family Home, Hanoi, Tet 2015

Bar hopping with Brooke

Sun-kissed...

How do we wrap up 5 years of our lives in a few words and photos?  How do you wrap up Vietnam in the same way?  I guess the short version is, well, you cannot.  If you put me on the spot and asked me to describe it in one word?  I will go back to what I stated earlier, "Warmth".  Again, not the heat and humidity, but the kindness, generosity, welcoming, embracing and overall "warmth" of the people here is possibly unmatched.  If you have read The Tao of Graeme and followed our travels along the way, you will find a recurring theme wherever we go - it is the people, not the place, that makes it.  The warmth that Vietnam and the warmth that SSIS has shown our family and helped Graeme develop into a person with a global outlook, the warmth that they have shown while we grew our family, the warmth that they have shown us as Erin furthered her career; that warmth makes Vietnam.

So if you run into us and you ask about Vietnam or maybe just see us gazing with a lost look on our faces, you will know where our thoughts are at that moment.  You will know where our hearts are at that moment. They are, we are, in Vietnam.  Because Vietnam is forever.

Nó không phải là tạm biệt Việt Nam, nó sẽ gặp bạn lần sau! Bạn sẽ luôn ở trong trái tim của chúng tôi. Cảm ơn bạn vì lòng tốt, sự hào phóng và sự ấm áp mà bạn đã thể hiện cho gia đình chúng tôi và cho sự phát triển bạn đã cung cấp cho chúng tôi. Chúng tôi sẽ trở lại để cho Seth thấy quê hương của anh ấy.

Now....anyone know about the ant situation in Budapest?

Hòa bình,
The Hawken's in HCMC

Fitting parting shot - our view from our apartment past 5 yrs.