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!!!

Khao Yai National Park

*update on Calvin: We took Calvin to the eye doc on Monday for his one week post-op and the doc still believes there is a good chance we won't have to flush it out again. We have to keep massaging it and go back in two weeks. His eye has been watering a little since the surgery but the doc didn't seem too shaken by that, so I guess that is good! Please continue to pray for complete healing and if God so chooses to answer differently pray for patience for Paul and I as we trust in God for His will to be done. Thanks so much for your prayers.

We went to Khao Yai yesterday to escape the noise of Bangkok. It's always good for the soul to get out of the city, even if it is only for a few hours! When we first arrived and finished eating our picnic lunch, the boys and I were walking through some grass and the boys spotted a "caterpillar" and PJ proceeded to pick it up (actually there were two). These "caterpillars" were crawling in a really bizarre way but I didn't think anything of it because I had seen something like it on Planet Earth or something and so I thought it was fine. PJ shows Paul, and he quickly tell us that no, these aren't caterpillars but leeches!!! Ha, ha! That just goes to show who knows what in our family! It was really funny though, unfortunately, we got them off PJ's fingers before we thought to take a picture. As always, we prayed that we might see a "chang" or elephant...and once again, God heard and answered our prayers. We also saw some deer and monkeys.

The elephant coming up the road toward us. There were three or four cars in front of us when we arrived on the scene but they quickly backed up behind us. We aren't sure how we ended up in front, but it made for some good shots! I made a video but it was too big to post on here. Sorry! You'll have to wait to see it. She was a big packaderm, though. It was a beautiful sight to see her coming up the road with the rain falling down on her, a picture of meekness and gentleness.

Yesterday was also Adele Grace's 1st birthday! I can't believe my baby is one already. The past year has really gone by so fast...it makes me sad how fast it's gone by. We didn't really celebrate yesterday (we will be celebrating tomorrow) and I think it worked out well because Adele was sick! On the way to Khao Yai she didn't seem like she was herself but once we got into the Park, I quickly realized that she was sick..she had a fever and a few other symptoms. Thankfully, I have a small bottle of children's tylenol in my diaper bag that goes everywhere and I was able to relieve some of her discomfort. She was a bit better today but still not back 100 per cent. So, due to her being sick, we had to split up to see the waterfall. Paul and the boys went to see it and then when they got back I walked down to see it. There are several waterfalls at Khao Yai and this is the time of year to see them in their full glory and splendor (the end of the rainy season). We were hoping to walk to another waterfall but decided not to once we realized Adele wasn't up to par. So, it was my first time to go all the way down a zillion steps to this one particular waterfall (Haew Suwat, for those who are familiar). It was gorgeous. I just wish I could've sat there for a couple hours to drink in the beauty and spend some time with God. But, I couldn't. I climbed back up the zillion steps (which felt like 3 zillion climbinb UP!) and found Paul, Adele and the boys completely fascinated with a monkey who was climbing in some trees beyond where our truck was parked. A few minutes later, this same monkey tried to jump in our truck eager to find something to snack on. I was puttting Adele in her carseat and the next thing I know Paul is swatting an umbrella at a monkey by the front car door! I thought it was PJ! =) Too funny!

Can you spot the monkey? He's in the tree near the corner of the roof of the building...sorry it's not the best picture! He did come a whole lot closer by the time we were done.

And, here the boys are hanging out the windows keeping a close eye on the monkey in the tree.

On the way home, Paul hit a dog on the highway. It was sad but thankfully PJ didn't have any clue we hit it because he was asleep! It's amazing but this was the first time we've hit a dog here...and if you've been here, you know that is something because there are dogs all over the streets and roads and they are quite lazy. This one, however was running down the middle of our lane, he swerved out of the way and Paul swerved the other way but then at the last minute the dog went back the other way and bam, he was gone. A few minutes later we almost hit a motorcyclist who ran a red light. We immediately thanked God for His care. I told Paul that I think I still haven't adjusted to the craziness of traffic here. The things people do sometimes, is just, well, crazy! And, I believe it all comes back to their worldview believing that fate will have its way, but goodness...I still think I would be a bit more careful! I am sure driving in America will feel like a breeze now that I've been here!

Paul found some "birds" to fly around (pictured with PJ below). They had a lot of fun flying them about and watching the wind take them.

All in all the day was a fun time, had by all!