Big News From Bangkok

Well, at least from our little corner of it. We're overjoyed to share that we're expecting a little one- an anniversary gift due on January 9th, our 10th anniversary! Of course, based on prior experience we have no expectation that Baby will make his or her appearance anywhere near that due date, but it's still a fun one to have. God has given us the gift of having this little one when we're going to be in America, and we're very excited to share the joy with family and friends there.

This picture was taken a couple of weeks ago, the night we had a candlelight dinner and shared the news with the kids. Asa is fairly oblivious (his only comment was, "Baby Adele", who is his favorite baby), but Emmy is very excited and is, of course, lobbying for a girl. We told her we'll just have to wait and see, and we'll welcome with open arms either boy or girl upon arrival. She's satisfied with this, but still refers often refers to Baby as "she".

I'm almost 13 weeks along, and feeling very well now. The first several weeks were very difficult in terms of nausea and general unwell-ness, but it helps me now to so appreciate feeling well! We're very excited and thankful, and looking forward to this next adventure. And to being outnumbered- yikes!

American Breakfast

Em and I headed out this morning to the buy groceries at Foodland. Our area of Bangkok has several grocery store options, and we use different ones at different times, but for good quality and availability of farang (western) food, Foodland is our favorite option. (I should say, though, that our local outdoor market is the best and most interesting place to buy produce.) Another thing this particular establishment has in its favor is their little restaurant that serves an American Breakfast! So this morning we enjoyed scrambled eggs, bacon, toast, fresh orange juice and tea (Emmy feels like such a big girl when she gets to drink tea!), serve on real china, no less. 47 baht ($1.50) each, and we sat up at the counter- big fun for a Saturday morning!

One of my childhood memories is always going to the grocery store with my mom, so it's fun to get to do it with my girl. She's a great shopping companion (unlike Asa, who is always overcome with desire in the dairy section and begins to chant "milk, milk, milk!" in increasingly desperate tones as I'm trying to find yogurt and butter), and the promise of a box of juice on the way home goes a long way in keeping her content while Mommy does her perusing!

In other Emmy news, she had her 5 year old checkup this week. She screamed like a banshee while getting her shots, which was pretty rough, but aside from that all was well. She's 3 feet, 10 inches tall, and still off the growth chart for height, and weighs 43 pounds, putting her in the 50-75th percentile for weight. We thank God for a healthy girl.

Mountain Mama

We took a day today to travel to Khao Yai (which means "big mountain") National Park, about 3 hours north of Bangkok, with our friends and teammates Rachel, Preston and Melanie. It was a long but fun day with a packed van and tired children. We hiked to an overlook of a beautiful 3- tiered waterfall, which is behind us, unseen, in this picture. It was really spectacular, and just good to be outside in creation. And we were rewarded on the way home with a visit to Chok Chai Dairy Farm for a big cheeseburger and milkshake!

May I brag on our children just for a moment? Thanks. Our Emmy was a great hiker, braving some rough terrain and complaining very little. But what's even more impressive is the way she stood still on the trail several times as whoever happened to be following her at the moment removed leeches from her shoes or legs. Now that's a big girl! They were nasty persistent little creatures in the wet, muddy environment today, and we all found a few in the course of our hike. And Melanie got a big splinter in her head from a scary thorny hanging branch, but that's another story.

And Asa Bear's accomplishment today: using his first Thai style (in the floor, flush with a bucket) potty. Never a dull moment for these children!

Pictures From Her Big Day

Wake up birthday cake- in the shape of a "5"

We had a wonderful day yesterday celebrating our girl. I think never is the passage and the sweetness of time more stark than on a little one's birthday. What a privilege it has been to care for this life over the past 5 years. She is truly a gift from God.

We had a family day and went to the Bangkok Children's Museum. It's always an adventure traveling anywhere by car in Bangkok, but this one had a happy ending and all went relatively smoothly. We even were able to find a Mexican restaurant in that part of town that we've heard about for two years. What a treat that was! The owner is from Texas and brings in Dr. Pepper, so Tim was a happy man, and the food was amazing. All in all, a day to be remembered and one Emmy says was her "best birthday ever". Bearing in mind that she often makes such superlative comments, we were still thankful for the happiness of our girl. And thank you to all of you who went to the effort to send cards and gifts and loving emails to her; it's such fun for a child to have a concrete way to see that others celebrate her, and she loved everything.

The look on her face upon opening this was priceless, Granna and Papa Jeff! I don't think she knew such wonderful things existed in the world!

A big girl bike from all of us- with streamers! We also gave her some great books, and we've already begun Black Beauty. We have lots of wonderful things to read now, and she asked me to read her a chapter first thing this morning when she awoke.

The children's museum has a big new Disney exhibit. Here's Cinderella sweeping the castle.

And here's our boy with Belle's father. When he saw this statue, he said, "Paw Paw", and if you know my Daddy, you'll know why. We laughed so much about this!

Playing dress-up in the Japanese house

Asa Bear loved the water play area outside

With their balloons- another big treat!- outside the Mexican restaurant

The elephant building in Bangkok

The birthday cake- I was responsible for the culinary aspect, but as you all know, Tim was responsible for the aesthetics!

Happy Birthday to our precious girl.

Happy Birthday, Beautiful

Tim put together some video from our day celebrating our girl yesterday. Enjoy!

Last Day of 4

We celebrated today with Emmy's dear friend PJ. They happily played the morning away, then had lunch...

enjoyed birthday cookies...

and she opened a sweet gift. PJ picked this cat for Em all on his own, which shows how he knows and loves her. These two are peas in a pod!