Birthdays- Two Big Ones

It's been about six months since I've visited this space, and that's a testament to the pace of our lives and the BIG changes that have come. I am rarely on the computer, and when I am it's only to cover the bare necessities. But I find myself with a bit of time this Sunday morning and I'm going to pick up with life right where it is. Where that has been most recently is in celebrating two big birthdays in our family. First, I celebrated 40...

Because our pace of life has been rather fast (understatement) of late, I needed a quiet night with my family. That's just what we had, and it was lovely. A phone picture is my lone remembrance. I'm so grateful to be right where I am, in the midst of these dear ones.

Asa's birthday came right on the heels of mine, and Tim whipped up this super fabulous invite...

...then we celebrated with a gaggle of boys in a good, old fashioned way- simple lunch, out to play, back for cake, out to swim. It was lovely; he has a great group of buddies. 

 

And speaking of buddies...

with a classmate on 'crazy hair day'

 Finally, a shot of everyday life near our home...

Sparking Joy

I have a myriad of things I could blog about here; I have more ideas than time. This has become a memory keeping space, so I keep coming back to it. I'm woefully behind with printing photos, but I WILL make peace with that burden eventually. In the meantime, I think a smattering of moments is in order today. Sometimes I peruse photos Tim has downloaded and just choose ones that 'spark joy' (for any of you Kondo readers) to share. These made the cut today...

3rd grade field trippers

this is a treasure- from the time I was in the U.S. with family- Julian's prayer book

Ju enters the sparring world

Happy 17 years to us!

Visiting New City Fellowship Church- we don't get there much these days, but it's special when we do.

International Day at ICS

American, Thai-Chinese and Canadian-American on the Hollywood red carpet at International Day.

Seven

Ju turned 7 last week. Seven is a big boy age. Seven is first grade, where he has taken root and flowered like a healthy vine. I still look at him and think, and sometimes say, "What a gift you are. We could not have planned you, so perfect for us." Ju coming into the world those seven years ago so gigantic and tumbling through his first two years with horrible rashes, worrisome weight loss and infectious smiles, giving us no end of worry, doctor visits, and joy. His skin is so good now, he's becoming so sturdy and stout, you almost wouldn't know eczema and allergies were such a dreadful part of all those years. He still has small issues, and we deal with them as they come. But the joy, the smiles, the affectionate nature that gives us so much love and makes him a friend to so many, those things have endured.

One thing I like about Julian is that he is very decisive. He was given a rather sizeable amount of money to spend on Lego as a birthday gift, and I took him to the store where he accomplished the task in less than 5 minutes, no long deliberation or second guessing (of course, Lego is so expensive here that it doesn't take long to spend a lot of money!) For his birthday, he told us clearly what he wanted to do. He wanted to go to Phra Pradaeng, Bangkok's 'Green Lung', to ride bikes and visit the Bangkok Tree House, an eco-resort we also visited on his fourth birthday. So we did. We rode and rode and rode and enjoyed our candlelit dinner and cake reward at the end!

good morning, birthday ninja!

He wanted a 'craft cake' to reflect his love for creating things (budding artist, I think). After a lot of thought, I decided we'd each make him an origami crane, as origami is one of the things he enjoys and cranes are considered symbols of blessing.

I think he likes it!

This taxi driver took us to the pier to catch the ferry for Phra Padaeng, and he was a treasure. He had spent many years as  a professional Thai boxer (a sport called Muay Thai), and he enjoyed showing us his 'back in the day' photographs. So special to reflect on his long and full life as we celebrated Julian, a life so much at its beginning, brimming with future and possibility.

A tree on Phra Padaeng hung with traditional Thai dress as an offering to spirits.

A day of adventure and a day of rejoicing in what God has given in this very special life. May the Lord bless you and keep you, dear Julian, may He make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you, may He give you peace, now and always.

Christmas Past

Here we are on the evening of Julian's birthday- these special occasions pile up furiously for our family during these last/first weeks of the year. We had a wonderful day celebrating our little man. But before I chronicle that, so as not to be behind on too many things at once- Christmas.

I felt pretty icky on Christmas Eve and day- headache and nausea and a low fever. I wasn't pushing for pictures, so we don't have a great many. We actually had about 30 people in our home on Christmas afternoon, and we don't have one picture from that gathering. I was just trying to feel well enough to make it through with some measure of enjoyment. 

'twas a Tolkien Christmas

A few days after Christmas we headed down to southern Thailand to visit our dear friends/colleagues that have lived there for about a year. It was a really amazing time, just the right balance of sitting in the Henry home talking and drinking coffee, sitting at various interesting breakfast venues, and heading out on adventures. We explored a rushing waterfall and a rustic beach, and we walked literally through the treetops in a botanical garden. Mostly it was a joy to be with our loved ones there and to mutually encourage one another while laughing a great deal...

To be very honest, these short hops on budget airlines are not enjoyable to contemplate or to experience. They're kind of a necessary evil. Tim likes to joke that their slogan 'Now Everyone Can Fly' means that any Joe Schmo might be flying the plane...

But we made it and made lots of fun memories, too...

two of my dearest- Catherine spent nearly 3 weeks with us over Christmas and it was fun to do this trip together...and Crystal was a loving and generous hostess as we all invaded their space for those days!

the vehicle that drove all 12 of us all around Trang- lots of lap sitting and not much in the way of seat belting- we were grateful for safe conveyance!

this waterfall was truly awesome and lovely, and it was explored to the fullest by these adventurous kiddos!

the whole crew- Paul was such a trooper dealing with a neck injury during our visit...the scarf was to help with stabilization and I think he looks very Euro chic!

these adorable little tuk tuks are Trang's method of public transport

Asa ponders the jungle walk

and finally this lovely fellow gets a mention...he was waiting for us at the end of our botanical garden tour- this was taken before he attacked poor Catherine- those beady eyes and sharp claws took on a dark aspect after he lunged at her...thankfully she escaped unscathed! And I'm ashamed that I could not stop laughing about this event for some time afterward...

Of Late

Life has continued at its pace, as it is wont to do. I'm just now finding time, the day after Christmas, to share what life has held these last months. So we'll do that, with Christmas soon to follow. 

Tim had the opportunity in November to travel to Japan for some meetings, and to fit in some time of connecting with the wider arts world, as well. Just looking at this picture makes me long for the feeling of chilly rain, as I sit in (interminable) 90 degree temps...

Meanwhile, Granna flew in to be of help to us in Daddy's absence, and she got to do so many wonderful things while here. Including seeing boys get new taekwondo belts...

...and seeing Emmy as an orphan in 'Annie'!

she was splendid

We celebrated Loy Grathong with church family...

...and then it was Thanksgiving. Our Thankful Tree was full as we counted our blessings; even in a year of heartache, God is good to give so much joy.

We spent the day with our team family (can you find Granna?)

And then it was time to Deck the Halls (dog unwilling to be held and photographed, Daddy sick on the couch...)

 Asa continues in his passion...

Then Tim was off again to spend some time with the men on our team in southern Thailand.

And I just had to include this one of the shirt Tim made for Julian of one of his favorite book characters, 'Ricky Ricotta's Mighty Robot'.

More to come soon...

PawPaw

July 2015

It's strange that Daddy has been gone for two months. I've hardly possessed the wherewithal to write about it, except in my faithful journal that traverses all circumstances with me. The time we spent last summer in Georgia was golden, and more so filtered through the lens of the end that so quickly came after our departure.

This is from my journal, written on September 2, one day after we celebrated 9 years with our Asa and as we knew Daddy was living his final days with us.

I have reached the stage in my life where my heart is split- my precious Asa turned 9 yesterday and I reflect on the beauty and gift of his life with deep thanksgiving. My heart meanwhile aches for Daddy, lying in his hospice bed in Georgia, sleeping away the pain of the disease bent on destroying his earthly frame. I am in the middle, focused on the life and growth and newness of experience of these dear children God has given, bursting with joy as they walk the path ordained for them, so early in their journeys...AND my focus is simultaneously on the end- my heart somehow outside of me, residing in that now quiet room across the world, where one of the people God ordained to give me life traverses the end of his journey. His body is of little use now as the illness has diminished his frame, but his spirit, his 'made in the image of God'-ness, still strives. He walks through his children and grandchildren, his sister and brother and nieces and nephews and cousins, his many friends- he walks through the love and relationship sown in our hearts through years of life together- of laughter and joy and sorrow and holidays and motorcycle rides and hunting and fishing trips and races and cookouts and conversations. You lie and rest now, Daddy- we're walking for you.

I am so grateful that I was able to travel back to be with my family as we said goodbye to him and celebrated his life. The kindness and love that surrounded me everywhere I turned during that time can hardly be described- a fitting reflection of the kind and good heart of the God who weeps with us in our grief. 

A Week Can Hold So Many Things

Like birthday marathons. My birthday and Asa's follow one another in rapid succession, so we have a week of birthdays. We will have to make do with low quality phone pictures for my birthday, but memories are memories...

out for Lebanese- arguably the best food in the world- love Ju's smile here

celebrating with our team family- preparing to indulge in an amazing cake made by Julie

The one high quality photo I have is of a gorgeous and creative gift that Tim happened to photograph before giving it to me. He asked some friends and loved ones to write haiku poems to me, and bound them beautifully in a little book. I smiled and laughed all the way through it- one of my favorite gifts ever.

love the gold leaf detail. had to put your creativity on display, Nells- 'twas the only photo he took!

We celebrated our sweet Asa with great joy- he's so very celebrate-able, my tender-hearted warrior boy. We began with a smallish gathering of boys who enjoyed a Lego challenge, make your own pizzas, and a classic Robin Hood movie...

everyone drew a challenge out of a hat and had 30 minutes to create on their theme- 
sadly, we're missing a couple of boys here

...and they enjoyed this gorgeous Tim-decorated cake on Asa's favorite literary theme.

 

 His real birthday found us celebrating with a traditional cupcake in bed...

...cupcakes in class...

...and cupcakes at dinner- I think we enjoyed enough cake to last us for a good long while...or at least until Tim's birthday next month:)

Even as we celebrated all of this life, I found I could no longer communicate with Daddy by telephone because he has begun sleeping so much, and we're getting word every day of greater decline. Joy and sorrow all mixed together. Praying for grace to walk well within it all.