Our Time with Aunt Catherine

 We spent a couple days with Catherine and her brother, Will, at the beginning of the week.  Catherine has served the Lord in Bangkok for eight years now, teaching music at the international Christian school.  She has been a faithful servant to the Lord and friend to us and so many others.  She is leaving this week to return to America for a few months and then go on to study the cello some more in Hungary.  We are really, really going to miss this beautiful woman.  We are so thankful for the time we had with her this week, it was a wonderful blessing to us, and I hope it was a joy to her as well.  We traveled to Kanchanaburi, Thailand which borders Burma on the west side of Thailand.  There is a lot of natural beauty in this part of the country (where isn't there in Thailand?!) and there is also a lot of WWII history here.  The Japanese built a railway here during WWII in which 120,000 laborers died building it.  POWs,  mainly Aussies and British died as well as many Asian laborers.  They built the railroad in 20 months!  A wonderful book to read on the topic is To End All Wars by Ernest Gordon.

 Above is Adele sitting on an elephant.  Below is Adele and Paul getting sprayed by the elephant.  Paul and Adele joined Catherine and Will on an elephant trek along the Kwae River.  It was a special time for Daddy and his girl...this girl was the bravest of all the other kids.  =)  Not sure what the Lord will do with her but I think she's going to lead people.  She doesn't like to be a follower, that is for sure.

 Above, PJ and Calvin riding on the train from Kanchanaburi to NaamTok station, beautiful scenery,  and part of the Death Railway, as it was known by POWs because of the loss of life to build it.

 Above, Paul holding the camera out the door of the train as we went over the Wang Po viaduct.  Google it, it was pretty incredible....and scary!!!! Once we go to the Hell Fire Pass Museum we read that the POW's tried to sabotage the bridges they were forced to make.  PJ's comment was, "That's encouraging."

 Above is a picture of Hell Fire Pass, what the POWs called it because as they worked at night, cutting away the rock, in lantern light with their emaciated bodies, it resembled hell.  I can not imagine the torture and hell the men went through.  I believe the Japanese had lifted the track sometime after the war but you can hike a good bit of what used to be the railway.

 Above are the kids sitting in front of a peace flower over looking the beautiful mountains of Burma.

Above is a little bit further down the line, overlooking the valley.  Across the valley was where the main POW camp was located for this particular area.  They would get supplies delivered there and then the POWs would have to carry the supplies to other camps in the area.  Not an easy feat.  You can also see, sort of, that we are on the side of a mountain ourselves...and so the men had to work in extreme conditions, climbing up the side of a mountain.  Catherine is reading Ernest Gordon's book and she reminded me that he said that in the hot season, it was hot, but in the rainy season they had to battle the rains...and the rain washing away all the work they had done. They suffered no matter what season it was.   I just can't imagine.  But, knowing his story, I know God was in this place.  I long for more Thai people to know the redemption that took place in the face of so much turmoil and pain and suffering.    They only know the story from a Hollywood perspective of The Bridge on the River Kwai, few know the story of Ernest Gordon and what peace God brought between him and those who enslaved him.
We had a wonderful trip, we are thankful for it...and we are sad to say goodbye to our dear friend.  Hopefully, we'll see her again in Thailand!!!

Moments with Mommy

I've decided to try to post every Monday for my Moments with Mommy snapshots that I get throughout the week with the kids.  Most of these pictures aren't going to be perfect, but at least it will chronicle, for my kids' sake, that I was around!

 Coloring with Adele.

 Kisses with Elizabeth...love those cheeks!

 Tickles with Elizabeth.

 We hit the beach one day last week...snag this picture with Calvin and Elizabeth.

 Reading with Adele and Elizabeth.

Why, yes, we do crank up the volume from time to time!

Snuggling, she's growing too fast! Look at that face!


  And I realize I need to get some of PJ and me together...he's doesn't sit still too long, though!  That can be my goal for next week!

For the Grandparents and other interested parties

Well, here she in high gear. Adele steamrolls right thru life these days. Today she took my camera bag, swung it over her arm, walked to the door and told me, "bye-bye". She's growing up...too fast!

spaghetti face

Digging in!

She's still not walking but she does stand up all on her own (without holding on) so it won't be long before those first steps come.

to Erin with love

Having fun with Adele

Adele is growing like a bad weed. I can't believe in one month she will be ONE already! Where has the time gone? Adele has recently started pulling up onto things (first photo) and she has added two, maybe three, more teeth to her growing set.














She recently has started playing with this fun set the Cunningham's gave her before they left Thailand. She enjoys opening the door to it. It's a little kitchenette set with blocks and "pans" for her to cook with.













As I said, she likes to pull up onto things these days which means she also has a new interest in the stairs. Thankfully, Paul built a gate so I don't have to worry too much about it. When I tell Adele "no" she shakes her head back and forth (no). It's pretty funny but she will usually continue to get into whatever it is she shouldn't be getting into (usually the game cupboard).
And yesterday the kids and I went to the King's Park to kick the football around a bit but Adele hung out in her stroller and cheered us on.

Adele Crawling

Here she is in action...enjoy!

Adell-a Bell-a

That's her new nickname...and she is a DOLL! She is blossoming into quite a mobile baby. She isn't crawling on all fours yet, but that doesn't stop her from getting from point A to point B! She continues to be the love of her brothers hearts, both are very proud of her and are still (after 9 1/2 months!) eager to kiss her first thing in the morning. Calvin recently figured out how to give a kiss, so he is eager to kiss anyone these days...as he thinks it's big fun! The picture to the left was taken a few Sunday mornings ago before church. I think the second pic of Adele is hilarious...not sure what she was thinking!!! =)

It's been a crazy busy couple of weeks here in Bangkok. We've been busy with ministry and life with three kids is rarely dull but we also hosted a short term team from Atlanta, GA. They stayed with our family...which was so encouraging and wonderful. It really was. I don't say that because I have to, we really enjoy having people in our home. We had 4 couples come for a week. They did a lot of different ministries from CPR training to our Mom's group/community to pouring concrete in Maahaathai 3.
So, this picture is of Adele with Khun Aree's son, Mario. They are two weeks apart (Mario being the younger). They always have a good time when together. This was taken the day of the CPR training for our mom's group. We had 6 women come...and this coming Monday we are meeting again for another "glum samrap khun mae" (mom's group). Please pray for us as we encourage these women in their role as mom/wife but pray that they would be hungry for the Gospel and for Christ.


I just had to post this picture for the grandparents. She is getting big..and somedays my heart aches because you're missing it and I know your hearts ache, too. My comfort comes from knowing that God is being glorified and when that happens it doesn't matter where we are or what we're doing; it's His fame we are to be concerned about and HIS glory. I am thankful for His grace for the moment! I am thankful for you, our parents, who have loved us unconditionally and supported us faithfully and have encouraged us endlessly and prayed for us fervently...thank YOU for being godly examples to us and for fearing the Lord to let us come here.
Ok, sorry for the little tangent, but Adele is a "belle" and I think you will all agree the next time you see her! (Lord willing)

Inching along

Little Miss...

Adele is getting big. She will be six months old on the 21st! It seems like we brought her home from the hospital just yesterday and now she's nearly six months old.
She enjoys smiling, chewing on her fingers and tongue, playing with toys and grasping anything that comes within reach of her small fingers.

She continues to love her brothers and lights up when they talk to her and play with her. She is enjoying tummy time and is rolling from tummy to back but has yet to master going the other direction.

The first picture is with Rhianna (one of our teammates), rarely do we get pictures of Adele with such a big smile, I'm too slow with the camera!



Today, Adele celebrated her first Song Khran (Thai new year started today and will go thru Wednesday) and the Thais made sure she got a little bit wet and also got some powder smeared on her cheek and forehead! She welcomed the water, as it was super hot today and didn't mind the powder smearing either. Notice how red her face is from being out in the heat!

Nap time

Adele in her crib before naptime. I love how the sun shines in her room in the afternoon...the first pic is with the flash off and her room looks that color. She's playing with her tongue...her favorite thing to do to pass the time away!








Getting ready to fall fast asleep with her bink and her froggie and dolly nearby


Good night, Little Miss

Adele

Adele enjoying her toys...thanks Grammie! Notice how she likes to play with her tongue...so cute, if I must say so myself! =)

Thanks to all of your words of encouragement. God is good and I know that, if I didn't know that I would be in some serious spiritual trouble!