Street Dogs and House Gates

I am fuming. And I really don't fume very often. Tim just came in with some really bad news. You see, Thailand has a phenomenon called street dogs. Actually, they're called "soi" dogs, as "soi" is the Thai word for a side street. Anyway, they're everywhere. And there's one that lives, more or less, in front of our house. Her name is Dang (appropriate) and she doesn't belong to anyone, but is kind of a neighborhood dog who growls viciously at outsiders but wags her tail at those she recognizes as neighbors. Also, it's important to understand that we remove our shoes before coming into the house. So quite a few shoes accumulate outside our door. Back to tonight, Tim came in a few minutes ago holding my brand-new (as in, just delivered last week by friends visiting from America) Chaco flip flops. They're beautiful and comfortable and cost more than one should really pay for flip flops, but as we wear them all the time, I thought it would be good to invest in some quality ones. Anyway, when he went out to take out the trash, he found the shoe in the street, with one strap chewed off. You should also know that most homes in Thailand have gates in front of them, and we unwisely left ours open today. And this is not the first occurrence. I bought Asa some brand new sandals when we were in America. He has worn them twice. And one of them has disappeared. Dang strikes again. I'm tempted to go out and take a picture of the offender for you, but I'm afraid I might say something I'd regret.

Holidays

Some of our holiday moments...

Asa with three of his "aunties" at our staff Christmas lunch. These women LOVE our boy! At one point, I looked over and he was being fed huge spoonfuls of chocolate mousse. So, needless to say, it was a very good day for the little guy.

Our women's Christmas party. We visited, ate (pizza and satay!), played games and exchanged ornaments. These women are very special.

Christmas morning, we went to Emmy's preschool first thing (they had a regular day of school). The administration had decided to have a Christmas celebration, and we were invited to share the meaning of Christmas, Jesus and all. It was the first time most of these children (and their parents that came) had ever experienced anything related to Christmas, and it was amazing to be able to share the story of Christmas with them, straight from the Bible, and to sing with them. Unfortunately, we forgot our camera, which is too bad, because they were all so sweet and joyful!

Asa Bear with a new truck from his aunt and uncle.

That evening, some of our teammates came over for a dinner of appetizers and pizza, then games. It was big fun, as you can see here!

We had a very laid-back, very enjoyable New Year's Eve with the Henry's. This was the second day after we had moved, so we were exhausted; needless to say, none of us actually rang in the new year!


And finally, we celebrated nine years of marital bliss:). We had an afternoon and evening out on the town together, which was a real treat.

A Farm and a Wedding

Sawatdee-kha!

We're going back a month to share some photos with you. In mid-December, we traveled to the Isaan region (northeast Thailand) for our neighbors' wedding. It was a privilege to be a part of a Thai wedding (Thai-German, as the husband is German). It was a 5 hour drive, and we stopped off at a dairy farm on the way for some great hamburgers, milkshakes and a tour of the farm. If you have a minute, go to the farm's website- it's very fun.

Relaxin' in the shade of a dragonfruit tree!

We fed a bottle of milk to a calf at the petting zoo. I also got to hold a lamb; what a day!

It was dusk as we headed out for the remainder of our trip, and we pulled off at a beautiful dam to enjoy the sunset. We made it safe and sound, not without some discussion of the interesting fact that we were on a road trip, in the dark nonetheless, on the other side of the world! We spent the night in the hotel where all the festivities were held.

The wedding began in the morning with a parade of sorts. The family hires musicians to play loud and festive music...

and the family and other guests walk (and dance) to the wedding locale (in this case inside the hotel) where the bride is waiting. The groom has to pass through several stages of family and friends who are acting as obstacles, paying money to the appropriate people. He finally makes it to his bride, and the ceremony begins.

This is the water pouring ceremony, during which the guests pour water on the hands of the couple in blessing. Isn't she SUCH a beautiful bride?

And, in my opinion, the most handsome guest. Look at the size of those cheeks!

Our friends gave Emmy a traditional Thai outfit to wear to the wedding. Here she is showing off her Thai dance form.

After the morning ceremony, the day was free, and we gathered again for a much larger dinner reception that evening. Here the bride and groom wore western-style wedding clothes, and a "Chinese Table" dinner was served, including the delicacy shark fin soup. Asa was a big fan of the soup- who knew his tastes were so exotic?

Do you see the fellow behind us on stage? He's doing karaoke, which was the evening activity of choice, in lieu, sadly, of dancing. We were treated to Frank Sinatra, John Lennon, Elvis and a host of Asian songs.

Dizzy

We've been experiencing life at a dizzying pace as of late. Moving, studying, working...it's all moving so fast! I'm back in language school for another module and am enjoying it thoroughly- what fun to speak, read and write Thai (slowly...)! The commute is fun, too- I ride the soeng taew (a truck that ferries people around- pictures to come soon), then the bus, then the Sky Train, all with my buddy Melanie. Tim is doing a fabulous job as Mr. Dad every morning then working lots of late nights, but God has been faithful to us and we're thankful for all the ways He is providing abundantly for us. We have internet access now and I hope to do some catching up with photos this weekend.

Moved

We've just completed our first week in our new house, and things have been chaotic. That's what happens when you decide to move on Wednesday and moving day is the following Saturday. But our home is great and we're settling in. We won't have internet access for two more weeks, most likely, and then we'll catch up...I'm at our local coffeehouse on their painfully slow internet, but it's something!