Christmas Morn 2010 Part 4, I think

Ok, so this is post-Christmas picture with a pre-Christmas story. PJ lost his other tooth beside his front teeth and so now is missing both of them...he looks kinda toothless, well, I guess he is. Here's a funny picture of him smiling without his teeth.







Also post Christmas was the celebration of Grammy's birthday yesterday. Most of the family was able to be there. Becky made her a yummy cake along with some brownies (when you're feeding a crowd like the Henry Clan you need more than one cake!). The kids enjoyed singing to Grammy and celebrating her life. We are so thankful for her and for all the love she dishes out daily to each of her children, grandchildren and countless others!




Adele posing in her Christmas dress that actually didn't get worn until the day after. I had to get at least one picture of her in it! Notice the chocolate in her hands...this girl is a chocoholic some other folks I know!











And no Christmas day would be complete at Grampy and Grammy's without the Christmas night swim in the jacuzzi. These boys had their romp and Grampy made sure there were lots of bubbles. They had a blast.










As you can imagine, no grown ups ventured in the jacuzzi with this wild crowd.

We had a wonderful Christmas this year. The only down side is that we didn't get to see my family. That has made me a little sad, to say the least, but I am looking forward to the next time I do get to see them. My cousin, Jesse and his wife did come for Christmas dinner at the Henry's (they live down here in FL too) so that was really nice.
We hope each of you had a wonderful Christmas season and that you will have a Happy New Year full of the Lord's presence.

Henry family playing Grampy's new game, Hink Pink. Lots of fun.













Two little girls playing dolls on Christmas morn.















Calvin enjoying his dress up gifts from Daddy and Grammy.
PJ...can you say excited?! He was so excited about this LEGO set from Grammy and Grampy.

Christmas Morn 2010 Part 2

Grammie opening her gift from us...jewelry from Namibia!
















Adele opening her "big" gift, a dollhouse for her dollies!















PJ and Calvin getting started with their gifts from under the tree.
















Calvin and Adele opening stocking gifts.















PJ dumping his entire stocking out to see what is inside.

Christmas Morn 2010

Paul admiring the stocking all hung by the fire with care....
















Calvin and Mommy waiting.
















PJ and Adele waiting...

for Pappy

Ho, ho, ho

These are for my Dad...I hope you enjoy them!

Thanksgiving 2010

We enjoyed Thanksgiving with Paul's family again this year. We had 14 kids (13 years and under) and 10 adults. All the cousins have enjoyed running through Sherwood Forest and the rest of the property calling out war cries and every so often we would hear a charge rise up from the woods. The childhood these kids are having is one that is a tremedous blessing...their imaginations, fueled by good books and each other and even their parents, are always working overtime...and it seems that

they work even harden when here at Gramp's beautiful home with lots of open space to run and play.

This year, Thanksgiving happened in a less traditional sense. We didn't have an indoor meal. No, friends, we are blessed to live in Florida. Now, Florida weather in the winter can be a bit unpredictable from year to year but this year it is quite mild and so we put up tables on Jay (Paul's brother who lives nextdoor) and Nancy's front porch and feasted. You can see the picture below. The consensus was that with 14 kids, maybe we should think outside the box a bit and so we opened up to the great outdoors! I must say it worked out great! When the kids were done eating (which was long before the grown-ups!) they got up and went off playing some more while we visited. Then a little while later, we had our pie and coffee (while the kids were still playing!) and then they came in for their dessert. It was beautiful and I think everyone enjoyed it.
All the cousins are enjoying each other. Don't get me wrong these kids are not perfect...they fight and get tired and fuss and whine, just like all kids, but they are having a great time with each other. You can see below the younger three girl cousins Erin, Adele and Vinnie who are all currently 3 years old, having a tea party. It's fun to have little girls who play house and baby dolls and aren't constantly fighting with swords or karate-chopping things!

And lastly, Adele playing at Erin's kitchen with her bubushka on her head. She must be getting the tea ready for their tea party. They do have a good time together.
The food was delicious. Nancy made the turkey, faithfully basting it every 20 minutes! And we each chipped in and made side dishes. It really cut the workload down, though Nancy might disagree since she had the turkey! I found myself often praying and thinking of our Thai/American family in Bangkok also celebrating "Giving Thanks to God Day" and how I missed each one but how thankful I am for each one. So, now that Thanksgiving is over, it's time to think about Christmas and decorating and the greatest gift ever given. =

Some Thoughts on Thanksgiving

The time of year is quickly approaching where we, as Americans, eat way too much food (especially turkey!) but hopefully we are also full of Thanksgiving to Christ for what He has done. I recently started reading an old and I believe, out of print book entitled, Squanto and the Pilgrims. I had NEVER read or heard the account of the story of Squanto before (except in Charlie Brown's Mayflower Voyagers video my kids watch, which is surprisingly quite accurate!)
This is an amazing story. If you have never read it, I would strongly encourage you to find it and read it OR I discovered another children's book entitled Squanto and the Miracle of Thanksgiving that is also true to the historic facts of what happend way back in 1620. It's amazing to see the Lord's providential hand upon Squanto's life, though it was a life full of hardship and suffering. It's amazing to think how the Lord took Squanto to England for several years before the pilgrims came, thus learning English! Crazy! My boys have thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and are constantly rooting for Squanto. We haven't finished the book yet, but we're getting near the end. I haven't read any other books on the topic, though I intend to finish On Plymouth Plantation now that this little children's book has piqued my interest!

Camping, Conference and COLD!

I forgot my camera so I am challenged to give you all the details well enough to keep your interest! We traveled to Atlanta, GA and Chattanooga, TN at the beginning of the month. We were gone about a week all together. We camped, mostly, but thankfully, some new friends and some old friends also each put us up for a night here and there. I must say that the camping part of our plan wasn't planned out so well. Neither of us remembered how nasty fall can be in north Georgia...rainy and cold and it turns out the weather is quite similar in Chattanooga! However, by the weekend, the weather had turned to sunshine, though still quite cold at night. We managed and I can say that I am glad we ALL went on this trip. It was worth it to see so many friends (P'Khiaw and P'Pawn who came with Miss Mary all the way from BKK along with Tim, Dave, the Bronsons and all the newbies...). It was also a blessing to reconnect and chat with those who are friends of Thailand...those folks who LOVE Thai people...and also love us and even a few who love us enough to listen and pray and encourage us through our tears and our weakness...thank you! And, of course, there are those friends whom the Lord has given us in past ministry that we got to catch up with and meet new children and hear what God is doing in their lives. It is amazing how He weaves His tapestry and how that tapestry seems ever connected as we go through life!

The kids enjoyed seeing the change of leaves though, admittedly, wasn't spectacular, it was still beautiful. We enjoyed sweet fellowship with the Cunningham family on our trip home who labored in Thailand 6 years with MTW and are now called home to the USA to live out their calling here. It's amazing to me to hear my 7 year old (who was 4 when the Cunninghams left Thailand) inform his brother that we were going to visit Gracyn who is one of his best friends! As Third Culture Kids those bonds go deep. The kids also attached themselves quickly to P'Khiaw and P'Pawn...as if we had never left Thailand. They were completely comfortable with them and immensely enjoyed being with them.
Looking back on our trip, I am so thankful for it. For the ways God has richly blessed us with relationships that are beyond time and space with our eternal Lord in the very center. He is the glue that binds us together, praise His name!


*pictured above, P'Khiaw holding Adele and Calvin the week we left Thailand*

A Special Little Girl

(NOTE: I apologize for the lack of order of photos and the spacing of words...blogger is not my friend today!!!)

Last week we celebrated one very special little girl's life. Adele Grace turned three years old on October 21! If you have followed our blog for any length of time then you have probably realized that we like to be fairly low-key about birthdays around here. It all stemmed from our Thailand days when the thought of having a big party just wasn't feasible and we have come to enjoy setting apart a day for each child and celebrating her or him. This year was no different. Paul and I decided to have her party at the park that is located pretty much right across the street from our house (there is a row of houses across from ours but behind those houses is the park). I made cupcakes and Adele requested Corn Dogs (thanks to her OP cousins whoe introduced her to them!) for lunch. So, we loaded up all the food and gifts and headed to the park for a morning of celebrating our little girl.

She enjoyed opening her gifts but I must say Grammy and Grampy's gift was the highlight of the day for Adele. Adele has been very much into Angelina Ballerina for the past few months and she's always flitting about dancing and singing. Grammy, very wisely, picked up on this and for her birthday Adele received a pink tutu, slippers, leotard and accesories. She LOVES them! And, even though I know nothing of ballets or ballerinas I will tell her to arabesque and she does or plie...it's pretty funny. Boys and Girls are so very different!

Paul and I also got Adele some furniture to go along with the dolls she has. I also re-gifted and gave Adele some Cabbage Patch sewing cards that were mine when I was a kid! She has thoroughly enjoyed keeping her hands busy with all of them. Calvin got her some Play Doh and PJ got her a Grandma Doll along with a little boy doll.

Part of the joy in celebrating birthdays that I receive is seeing how my other children lavish love on the one being celebrated. It always amazes me to see how genuinely happy they are for the one that is getting gifts and getting all the attention. There seems to be no regard for their own selfishness...which is so refreshing to see because most days we are so laden with it!

I pray Adele will continue to grow to be the girl and woman God desires her to be. We also gifted Adele with a book entitled, The Princess and the Kiss. It's a book for young girls (especially) about God's gift of purity. This is my heart's desire for all my children, that they would love God and honor Him with their lives and remain pure before Him. If you are a mom to young children, NOW is the time to start teaching your children about purity...don't wait until their 13, it will be too late.

Fall is in the air!

And, since fall is in the air, we like to build campfires and enjoy the cool, crisp nights that are coming our way in northeast Florida!
There's Teddy, the most lovable and sweet dog you'll ever meet. He, too, loves eating s'mores by the campfire and running around fancy free. We are going to miss this guy when we move, and I think he might miss us too!


You never know what you might find up in the trees around here. Tonight, I found Calvin with a marshmallow fighting off the bad guys.

From morning 'til night, these four boys are running around the property like a gang. One will often hear words like "shadow knights" or "light sabers" or "Robin Hood". Often, at least one or all are barefoot and they usually all have some sort of weapon, usually a stick that easily transforms into whatever play they are working on at the time. Our boys are going to be lost without their cousins to play with when we move this weekend. I thank God for the many hours they've had to learn and grow and pretend together...I know there will be many more!

"Cheese!!!" These two little beauties are either getting along spledidly or trying to boss the other...it's their lot in life because both have two older brothers and so have had to learn to be experts at getting their own way! This, of course, can cause a fair amount of conflict when neither one wants to back down, but again, they're learning together how to be friends. Both refer to their brothers as, "the brothers" and Erin affectionately calls all her cousins, "the cousins".

Behind them, you will see the fire glowing and giving off it's comforting heat. It's been a blessing to be here, to have these months to share together with family. I am sure many fond memories are being made, how wonderful to be a kid!

cousins, friends, nature

I think these three words just about wrap up our life as of late. Last week Paul's sister was down in St. Augustine at the beach so we went down one day to see them. We had a great time. Vinnie (their 3 year old) and Adele (our almost 3 year old) had a blast together while Calvin and Lincoln (6 weeks apart in age) also had a fun time playing in the ocean and sand. This brings to mind a story...A few weeks ago (Labor Day weekend, actually) our family went to the beach. Now you have to understand that pretty much wherever we go there's at least one cousin we will see. So, we walk down to the beach and set up our chairs and stuff and Adele immediately spies another family next to us and says to me, "Mommy, come, let's go meet my cousins!!!" So, she thinks we're related to everyone..I guess that's what happens when you have 17 first cousins in all. (we're not even going to count 2nd cousins!!!)

PJ has been practicing on his cast net throwing skills and just like Daddy, he takes this stuff seriously. He has caught several tadpoles and some small bait fish. Paul took him shrimping a few weeks back and he got onto it then. We're preparing him for Thailand. I have visions of him and Calvin on some Thai boat working as boat boys...using their English and Thai skills to bring tourists and Thais together on excursions. (I know, my goals are a bit lofty, but hey, I can dream, can't I?!) PJ is often found outside chasing butterflies and other bugs. He thoroughly enjoys Grammy and Grampy's place...and he's a little sad about leaving. It's a great place for a young boy to explore creation...and his 2 boy cousins have made it a lot of fun too!

Calvin, Adele and I made a butterfly house last week one day. You can almost see it there in the background between them. I wrote "welcome butterflies" on it they drew flowers and butterflies on the sides. I don't think any of our winged friends made it their home but it was fun all the same. (I know that it looks like Calvin is half wai-ing (Thai greeting) but I think he was doing a karate chop....)
And, lastly, but not least, we had friends over the other day. It rained for 2 days (with a few breaks) but as a result we had some mega mud puddles and these guys had so much fun running through them. You can see Aaron (19 months) had the most fun. Baths and a change of clothes were needed before they piled in the car to go home!!! We had a great
time with our friends even if it was a little messy!

Still missing our second home

(picture at left is Mot and Tang, to learn more about them keep reading!!! Isn't Tang beautiful???!)

It's been nearly 1 1/2 years since we departed the Land of Smiles. That is hard to believe. We're nearly to our half way mark (hopefully!) of getting back there. Thailand is a daily thought and daily in our prayers. My prayers now not only include those to whom our team in BKK is ministering to but also includes those people that we have not yet known or met, those people who, Lord willing, God is preparing their hearts to hear the Word. And, the desire to return burns in all of us, especially Paul and me, but the kids have it too, I think. I know they're young, but they get it that millions in Thailand are dying without knowing the Savior...what faith children have! Calvin woke up one morning a few weeks ago and the first thing out of his mouth was, "Mommy, I'm gonna miss my cousins and friends here when we go back to Thailand." I answered and said, "Yes, I know, I will too." And I was about to remind him why we are going back when he continued and said, "but, the Thai people don't know Jesus and we have to go tell them about Him." YES! I was thrilled to hear this from his lips. That burning to tell the nations the good news that their sins are forgiven in Christ and they can be free in Him!

There has been much to think about lately. We are getting ready to move back down to Orlando for which we are both excited and thankful to God for making a way for us. We are so thankful to many of you who have been praying with us. We've been reading lots and praying lots and seeing so much in our own lives that need Christ's transforming power to change us. We are so thankful for Paul's parents who have graciously invited us into their lives for another season and have kindly endured temper tantrums and bad manners at the supper table. Without them I am sure we'd be living out of our van, sleeping in RTS's parking lot! God is good to provide, though.

I can't wait to get back to Thailand. I am now on FaceBook, I finally gave up and gave in. The great thing about this is I get to see how all my Thai friends are doing and chat with them and correspond with them. It's been great, as everyone said it would be. I still have struggles with whether I should continue on with FB but for now I am on and enjoy keeping up with everyone on the other side of the world.

This has been a hodge podge of thoughts. I've tried to keep them on Thailand.

If you remember, please pray for Mot and Tang who are getting married NEXT Saturday![Pictured above] Mot and Tang have been working with our team for 3 or 4 years now and have a heart for the LORD and the lost. They fell in love while working together within our team in BKK. Pray for the Spirit of the LORD to be upon those ministering in His name and that many would hear the Gospel as well as receive it! Pray for Mot and Tang as they adjust to being married that God would protect them from the enemy and keep them strong in Himself.

All I have to say is...

ROCK ON GIRL!