That Great City

I had my first solo outing with three children tonight. You might think that's wimpy, as the baby is going on 4 months old, but I thought it was quite courageous. We went to the park that's a 2 minute drive from our house. Baby in sling, big kids getting filthy in the sand. We got lots of attention, let me tell you, being the only non-Thai folks there, and with the cutest baby boy in the universe snuggled up to me like a little marsupial. He was facing out, so he was a drooling magnet.

I think tonight's outing illustrates that we're getting settled in. It will be 3 weeks tomorrow since our return, and things are feeling more normal, bit by bit. It's strange to live in two worlds! Life is taking on some rhythm, which is always a relief to me. This past weekend we went up to the mountains for a retreat with our little church. We stayed at this lovely place:

Which is a nice change of pace from Bangkok. It was 101 the day we left, so a bit of fresh air did us good. It was great to be with our church family here, and from what I can tell, the teaching was quite good (I understood almost none of it. Funny how resigned I've become to my lack of understanding!). But the fellowship was sweet, there was no cooking involved, and I got to read The Hobbit while my little boy was napping. It's even better with subsequent readings.

One of the best parts of the weekend for me was seeing how our children are re-acclimating. I looked at them running around at one point and thought, "They are having a GREAT time!" That does a mommy's heart good. In fact, they apparently had such a good time that Asa cried over and over on the way home, "I want to go back to the hote-el!" The Thais really shower our kids with love, and all the children have a good time together, as evidenced by Emmy's ride on the Bekah horse...

A kids' activity during the teaching time

The other major, not so happy event in our lives as of late was saying goodbye to our dear friends, the Henrys. This family is synonomous in our minds with Thailand, and their friendship has been a lifeline for us. I'm not sure how we're going to make it without them, but we're trusting God to provide, even as we're asking Him to give them lots of grace as they settle back into American life and begin seminary.

We love you, Paul and Crystal, and all your children, too!

Emmy and PJ playing one last game of Tigers...sigh...