HAPPY NEW YEAR 2008

We rung in the new year in a pretty low key way. Tim and Rhianna and their two kids came over for a few hours. We ate turkey pot pie and hamburgers and, of course, chocolate chip cookies (if you know Rhianna you can never have a get together without some yummy cookies!). It was a spur of the moment get together but a lot of fun none-the-less. PJ, Calvin and Emmy enjoyed watching "The Jungle Book" while Emmy's little bro went to sleep in the pack and play. We didn't stay up until midnight but I did hear some fireworks being shot off all around us.

The kids have gone thru serious grandparent withdrawl and we've also had to get back into our routines. Adele is getting herself on a pretty decent schedule...now going to bed USUALLY between 10 and 11 for the night and getting up between 7-9AM. She is so precious and just coos and talks and smiles during her awake times. She really enjoys her mobile and loves to be talked to, as we all do! =) PJ and Calvin still shower her with kisses and lots of affection. Calvin still comes over to her and touches her little toes and fingers with a big grin on his face. PJ comments on what "a precious kind of baby" she is and how sweet she is. He is quite proud and protective of both her and Calvin. It's nice to see his brotherly love coming out!


Paul got it in his head to make a rocking horse for the boys and so he got to work the other day and finished it up yesterday. I must say, he did a pretty good job of it! The boys LOVE it and now we've satisfied PJ's burning desire to buy a horse. He really wants us to paint it black (for Black Beauty) but we'll have to see about that.

Hope your new year's was great!

More Christmas

Paul got Dad some "brass knuckles" from the market...he got a kick out of that!

This year was our thrid Christmas in Thailand and so far we haven't celebrated Christmas without our good friends from Holland, Jan and Jose. They joined us Christmas evening for a delicious meal (thanks to Mom!) and fellowship. They flew back to Holland that same night for a furlough of about seven or eight months. We will dearly miss them. Thanks for joining us Jan and Jose!

This picture of Adele is for Grammie Henry. I love this out fit on her...hope you enjoy it!

For Christmas, my dear husband got me a new sewing machine! I was really excited and yesterday Mom showed me a few things. Hopefully I will be able to do some neat crafty things. So far I've hemmed a pair of cut-off pants for Paul and made another thing my mom showed me, but i can't tell you about it because it might be a gift to you one day!

Christmas Day

PJ sporting his new knight gear...all ready to do battle.

Aunt Cathy got this beautiful Christmas outfit for Adele. She looked like a little princess.

Calvin opening his stocking gifts...opening gifts took a while this year. The boys would open a gift and then not want to open any other gifts, they just wanted to play with their new toys!

Pappy and Nanny got the boys matching "Cars" jammies. Here they are (last night) before going to bed.

Thank you to everyone who sent presents for us...everything was perfect!

Merry Christmas

Our Adventures Last Week: Kanchanaburi and Khao Yai

Last week we went "by thiaw" to Kanchanaburi, Thailand and then on Friday to Khao Yai National Park (if you are a regular reader of this blog then you know we go to Khao Yai quite often and have had many adventures there!). As you can see above, Adele started showing us her beautiful smile. She actually smiled for the first time on my birthday! (I believe it was her birthday gift to me!). She has done remarkably well with all the traveling we did last week and I think she will be going thru some Nanny withdrawls in a few days.

On Friday, we visited Farm ChockChai before going to Khao Yai. We had never done the tour before and decided to do it. It was really well done. Farm ChockChai is a dairy farm here in Thailand...the first, I believe. They have 5,000 cattle. My dad said it was the cleanest farm he had ever seen...good news for us since we drink their milk! =) Anyway, we got to ride in covered wagons pulled by a John Deere tractor and saw the farm. They had horse rides, pony rides, a western style show where they showed us how to lasso a cow, etc. Above you see our cowboy riding a pony for the first time. He was so excited and happy to get to ride a pony. He really wanted to ride the horses but he was too short...maybe next time! We ate at the steakhouse they have at the farm for lunch and on our way out we got milkshakes...and they were REAL milkshakes...so good!

Before we left for our trip mom and the boys and I made Christmas cookies. This was the first year Calvin was really able to participate. Here we are cutting out some dough.

And then last Monday we headed to Kanchanaburi, Thailand. If you are a history buff, then you might remember that western Thailand was occupied by the Japanese during WWII in which they built a railway to Burma (or they almost succeeded in building it). So, we visited some WWII museums. The Bridge over the River Kwai is located in Kanchanaburi and we took a short train ride over the river and back again on the original train line. The railway is also known as "The Death Railway" due to the thousands of men who died to build it. The Japanese used POW's to build the railway, working them all day and night with very little food. A good book to read on one man's personal experience is "To End All Wars" by Ernest Gordon. The museums were really well done. I wish I had more time to hike part of the line and even take another train about 30 miles on the "death railway." Maybe in the future! It will make a good field trip someday!

Pictured above you see all of us at Sai Yok National Park which is also located in Kanchanaburi Province. We hiked a little here and there and Paul explored a couple caves but didn't find much. The boys enjoyed the outdoors. Kanchanaburi is a beautiful area of Thailand. The place we stayed was gorgeous with mountains surrounding us and a river running past our rooms. It was so peaceful..I could have spent all my time there and been happy!

On Friday when we went to Khao Yai we also had another elephant sighting! This time the guy was just mozying along back and forth on the road. (it was nighttime) He came right up to the van we were in (if he wanted he could have touched it with his trunk). PJ was sitting in the front seat between my dad and Paul and the elephant was pretty much right in front of him. It scared him a bit...but all in all, I thought he was very brave! PJ prayed that we would see an elephant that day and we did! Mom wanted him to pray for us to see a tiger but he refused to pray that prayer...and I can't say that I blame him! We did see some wild dogs, though, which we haven't seen before.

So, that's what we did last week. Lots of stuff and lots of fun!

an outing and an elephant

Adele sucking her thumb for the first time.

The family on a long tailed boat.

An elephant on our doorstep. Dad and Calvin feeding him sugarcane.

Surprise!

Adele at five and a half weeks...and yes, it actually got cool enough to wear this beautiful warm dress my Aunt Betty sent for her. Thanks Aunt Betty! I love it and she looks like such a doll!

As you know, my folks arrived last week. My mom, the queen of surprise parties pulled off a surprise party for me this past Sunday (my 29th birthday.) Here I am as I walked thru our door. It was a lot of fun...thanks everyone for making me feel so loved!

Here is Adele and me on my birthday.

Yesterday we took mom and dad to the zoo. We rented a golf cart to get around in. Here is Calvin and Dad hanging out on the back of the cart. As soon as the cart stopped, Calvin jumped off the cart to go see the animals. We had a little mishap with some wild monkeys but thankfully no one got hurt...pretty funny story. Let's just say we had some banannas in the cart, there was some kicking and yelling and then the banannas were gone and we were on our way!

Adele at One Month

Getting bigger! Paul returned home late Tuesday night (it was really early morning Wed) and one of the first words outta his mouth was, "Adele is so big!" We are VERY happy to have Paul back from his trip Stateside. He enjoyed seeing so many of you but he said he is glad to be back in Thailand and with us...awwww!!! Thank you to all of you who sent presents for our boys, Adele and even us.

I don't know if I have shared this yet but my parents are flying in this coming Wednesday night (the 28th). We are REALLY excited to see them as it has been about 2 1/2 years since we've seen them. They will be meeting two of their grandchildren for the first time and this is their first time out of the good 'ol US of A. Please pray for them as they travel as they are a bit nervous about it (mainly the connecting flights, etc). I am sure there will be pictures forthcoming of their time here! WE CAN'T WAIT!!!

Wan Khop Phra Khun Phra Jaw

Yesterday, we celebrated "Wan Khop Phra Khun Phra Jaw." This is how you say Thanksgiving Day in Thai. We had a feast complete with all the trimmings but minus the "bird", well, we had some birds but they were chickens (turkey is a bit expensive in these parts and we were unsuccessful in trying to smuggle them into the country with our husbands! Just kidding!). Anyway, we had about 30 folks here (maybe more...I lost count after a while!). It was great. We were quite an international group. We had our Thai friends with us, Americans, and even Filipinos! Yes, Paul and I are currently hosting a team of 5 Filipinos in our home and we, most assuredly, invited them to partake in our Thanksgiving meal. A fun time was had by all. We do have SO much to be thankful for. Today, I am thankful for our family in Christ that even though we may be across the world, we are not alone. Pictured above (from L to R) is Khiaw, Katie, James, Jonathan, Calvin, Melanie and Jan.

Pictured above L to R is Carrie and Alec (friends of Bee and Natee's from Chicago who are visiting), Dave, Bee, Natee.

Pictured above from L to R is Mii (Paul's good friend), Christopher (pastor from Philippines), Paul, Ying and Bow (Mii's girlfriend).

And pictured above from L to R is Dan, Joseph, Linda, Fe (all Filipinos), Yu and Khun Mae (Chai's mom).

Three Weeks Old...already?!

Adele at 3 weeks...she's growing too quickly! Where does the time go? We're surviving here without Paul. I've had some great help since Friday night...but today we're on our own again. God has been gracious in many ways. Calvin is still a little sick... just has diarrhea so please pray for continued healing for him. No one else got what he has so that's good! Thanks for your prayers!!!

Just For Fun!

This is Calvin back in September singing one of his favorite songs. I hope you enjoy it...this is especially for the grandparents...of course!

Catching Up

It's been a while since I've actually written a blog...I guess that is ok since we just had a baby and all, but I want to let you all know how things are going in our house. It's been good and hard all at the same time. I know that there are MANY more women out there who have way more children than I do and do way more than I do and are simply amazing (for just ONE such example...check out Eva B's blog at www.eva-forthejoyofit.blogspot.com ...you'll see what I mean!). BUT, this is our experience and this is what God is doing in our lives here. Adele is amazing. She's precious and so easy going. She really hardly cries (only when she's hungry and sometimes when we change her diaper). The boys love her immensely and are always looking for ways to help mamma out, however, there is the daily need of "the boys." They want me and they miss me...rightfully so and I must admit it makes me feel loved even though it's hard to say "I can't play with you right now..." or "I can't read you that book right now..."

We are about to kick it up another notch as my dear hubby is leaving for the good 'ol US of A tomorrow night!!!! Yikes! Paul has been awesome these last two and a half weeks that we've had Adele. He has been more than helpful and I have moments of panic as I think he won't be here to help, and yet I know God will give me grace and thankfully He has also given me teammmates, both Thai and American, who are more than willing to come and help too! Paul will be gone for about 2 weeks...he returns the 21st. Please pray for us as we hold down the fort here in Bangkok and pray for Paul as he has a busy schedule in the States, meeting with supporting churches, individuals and attending MTW's Global Missions Conference in Atlanta the 16th thru the 18th.

This past week the boys were both sick..so hopefully they are over "it", whatever "it" was and hopefully Adele, Paul and I won't get it! Please pray for good health for all of us during this time.

And I also have to brag on our team here and the love and support they have given to our family since Adele's birth. I had to cook for the first time JUST last night! (This is only because our teammates have been supplying meals and the days they didn't supply meals (which wasn't many), we had leftovers from the freezer that I had prepared before Adele came. So, we are really blessed to have a team that acts more like family than a business...for which we are very grateful!
So, this is the news on our end of the world. Thank you for all the prayers and support you "out there" have given to us as well. Many of you will be seeing my dear hubby soon...I am sure he will be freezing cold the entire time he's Stateside! We both hope that those of you who do meet up with him will be encouraged as he recounts to you the many ways we are seeing God at work here.

bedtime

A VERY special day

Today, we, as a body of believers, both Thai and American, committed to doing all we can for Chai and Pawn's son, Joshua, to aid him in his spiritual walk, to love him and guide him and teach him of our wonderful Lord and Saviour. In a word, he was baptized. How wonderful to be assured of the covenant promises God gives us in regards to our children. Today was a day of celebration and joy as we look to God to do His perfect work in Joshua's heart and life. Natee, the man in the black robe, is a Thai man who love the Lord and works closely with our team. He is a great preacher and recently he and his family moved back to Thailand to commence their work here at the Bangkok Bible College and Seminary. We are so blessed to have godly men like Natee as leaders in the church in Thailand.

Pictured above is Adele being admired by some of the Maahaathai girls and Khiaw (Khiaw's the one holding her). Today was Adele's first Sunday to worship...may there be many more!

And here is Pawn with Joshua. Pawn is expecting their second child in March. Please pray for a healthy pregnancy for her and baby.

And pictured above is little miss Emmalynn Mills with Adele. Emmy and her momma (and little bro) came over the other day to visit. Before Adele was born I was asking PJ who he thought the baby would look like. He very matter of factly said, "Emmy." =) I guess it makes sense to him...Emmy's his best pal!

The Kids...

I have a new helper, pictured above. His name is PJ and he has taken to doing the dishes as of late. Of course, I have to double check to make sure they are clean, but all in all, he does a good job. He sticks to cups and plastic bowls and dishes and gets way more water on him and the floor than on whatever he is cleaning, but hey, that's a perk to having tiled floors and a kitchen that is off the rest of the house! When I posted this pic I noticed the large knife sitting in the sink. Please don't think PJ was unsupervised while washing dishes AND rest assured he did not clean the large knife sitting in the sink (or the glass casserole!).

And here's our "pretty girl", Adele, sporting the cute little outfit Aunt Becky sent her. This was taken October 29th.

And not to be forgotten is our "chubba-bubba" Calvin. Have I mentioned how HUGE this child is? Especially now that we have tiny, little Adele, Calvin looks like a giant! I caught him sleeping on "bear" the other day and just had to snap a picture. How blessed we are with these three children. God has been so good to us.