Celebration

Circumstances have conspired against my sharing pictures from some special times lately, and one occasion that we had the privilege of being a part of several weeks ago was the wedding of our friends Tang and Pramote. We admire these two so much as friends who are loving and generous, are talented in many ways that bless the church and many around them, and have been a great blessing to us with their extraordinary babysitting skills and love for our little ones!

Thai weddings begin with a procession that involves the groom passing through a number of 'gates', and giving gifts to the gatekeepers to ultimately gain access to his bride. I love the joy in this picture, even as the rain threatened.

Some moments from the ceremony:

honoring their parents

an aerial view

This was a moment in time in which we could clearly see the beauty of community- so many of the people we have come to know and love here, with distinct backgrounds and world views, all coming together to celebrate and support the commitment of two followers of Christ to one another and to Him.

And we all got to don our 'chut Thai' (Thai dress), which added to the fun.






And more to the present, look at the literary Saturday morning scene that greeted me in the hallway this morning...

Full

Tim just returned from 13 days away. He traveled to the States for our organization's Global Missions Conference and a slew of other engagements in Georgia and Tennessee. He had a busy, fruitful time in cool, crisp weather and saw many wonderful people, and we lived life here without him for almost two weeks. I entered into this time with great trepidation; caring for 3 young children is not an easy job for one person, particularly one as flawed as I.

And it was draining and challenging, for sure, but it was also an opportunity to clearly see God's hand providing for us, and provide He did. Early on in the first week, I found myself with a few quiet moments reading 1 John, and was clearly reminded of the truth that even as I fret about caring for 3 little ones on my own, I am actively being cared for by a very present Father. "See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are." 1 John 3:1

God cared for us in practical ways through community- friends surprising us with meals, having us over for meals, coming for a couple of evenings and reading bedtime stories so that I could get out to exercise, taking morning carpool so I never had to have everyone up, fed, dressed and out the door by 6:45...very real, humbling help.

An interesting moment came near the end of our time alone, when I went at 10 pm to check on Julian before going to bed...and found that his door had accidentally been locked from the inside...and the keys were in the room. So I had 3 sleeping children and no way to get into that room. Thankfully, Tim was available on the other side of the world, and I called him.

He happened to be with some friends who live and work in Australia, and they asked if we might "call the local fire department to come and help the little bub?" We had to laugh at the different settings in which we live; ringing up the local fire department to pop over and assist us is very far from reality here! But we have something even better- caring and capable friends. Tim skyped our friend Pat; 10 minutes later, Pat and Charin arrived, heroically, and assessed the situation. 10 more minutes found them whacking the doorknob with a screwdriver and hammer. The door was soon open, and (this surprised all of us) the doorknob was easily put back together, good as new. How's that for trans-global, multi-lingual crisis management?

And here are a few of our happenings of late...

My sweet cousins, Ricky, Maria and Tiffany, were in route to Chiang Mai, where Ricky will be teaching for a period of time. We met and had a nice dinner together- it was a real treat to see them and to have family in Bangkok!

Asa and I made graham crackers... they were no Honey Maid, but my children, so accustomed to and patient with their mommy's whole wheat flour and natural-ness (and unaccustomed to conventional graham crackers, which are largely unavailable here), loved them.

Chicken Fun Run...Emmy's 2nd grade class has taken on a project this year of raising money to provide baby chicks for orphans and widows in Zambia, to provide sustainable income for those in need (http://chicks4orphans.org). It has been a joy for us to see God's care for those in need, and His desire for His children to be His hands and feet in this regard, become living and active to Em as she works toward this goal. Her class had a fun run to raise money, and here she is with her running partner. Thank you to the many dear ones who helped her in this endeavor.

Tagging in the relay...

...and they're off!

It was also pioneer day at school last week, and the children were encouraged to dress in a costume from that period in history. Of course, little brother had to dress up, too!

And now our man of the house is back in the saddle, and Asa can be off duty:). Tim arrived in the wee hours of Thursday morning, and I was so excited for him to be coming home that I arranged things so that I could go and pick him up at the airport. Of course, it had to be a surprise, romantic idealist that I can be, and so he didn't know I was coming. I had a nice time drinking coffee, writing letters, reading and becoming bleary-eyed as it got later and later...his plane finally arrived...I waited and waited...and I missed him! He evaded me, took another exit I didn't know about, and beat me home! Oh, the disappointment. I can look at it with humorous perspective now, but I drove home through Bangkok in the wee hours, exhausted and crying bitter tears, a silly, emotional mess...such is life...I had gone to surprise him and I was the one surprised!

And, in an entirely different vein...the other day, driving on the road adjacent to our neighborhood, I had to go around a water buffalo in the road. Isn't that a hoot?

Walk in the Park

Halfway to Seventy

We celebrated 'halfway to 70' for Tim last weekend. Happy birthday to my friend of the last 20 years, my husband of the last 11.5, and an incredible father to 3 very blessed kiddos.

some birthday cheesecake to end the day on a sweet note

I happened to be looking around recently in the fancy grocery store that opened up nearby (Villa! We're getting to be big stuff over here in our little corner of Bangkok!), and did a double take when I saw ONE six pack of IBC root beer on a high shelf. Never before have we seen it here, and it's Tim's favorite, so it was a fun splurge for his big day. I enjoyed the look on his face when I gave it to him, trying to figure out how I'd managed to get it across the world.

Pondering his good fortune

Continuing our incessant discussion of birthdays...Em was invited to a friend's birthday party last weekend. She decided she wanted to make something for him, so we came up with the idea of a monster doll, and it was our project for the week...

We thought it came out to be rather fun. She wasn't entirely sure whether the birthday boy liked it, but we sure had a good time making it for him.

Just because he's cute

And now, I promise to stop talking about birthdays soon, but this is fun. In Thailand, the birthday person is often the giver, as well as the recipient, of gifts. So if you go out to dinner for someone's birthday, that person would often buy the dinner for all of the guests (!) The way this plays out in second grade is that the birthday boy or girl will usually bring small gifts, toys or treats, for all of the other people in the class. Recently, one of Emmy's classmates, whose father owns a noodle factory, had a birthday and gave this as a gift to all of his fellow second graders...

"Long Life Noodle"

The directions on the back say: This noodle is suit for birthday present and other auspicious ceremonies. Apply this top quality noodle for your favorite recipe.

We applied it for our chicken noodle soup and it was quickly devoured. Here's to long life, loving God and our neighbor. And here's to halfway to seventy!

Speaking of Birthday Gifts...

I want to share, for the benefit of grandparents and others who might otherwise enjoy these in person, my favorite birthday gift. Emmy made these books for me, and they are truly Emmy, truly wonderful.

r and i by Emmy= written and illustrated by Emmy

You open these up to some wonderfully whimsical poetry; I'll share a bit: (spelling corrected for ease of understanding)

Mommy Queen: My mommy is a mommy queen and her baby is very hard to wean. She has a cloak and royal crown, and a twisty, twirly gown. She is nice and seeks the treasure of her last name being Meeks. Oh, my mommy is a mommy queen and her baby is very hard to wean.

My Mother Was a Mouse: My mother was a mouse and she lived in my house and she didn't wear a blouse, so there. Oh, my mother was a mouse and she lived in my house and she didn't wear a blouse, so there.

Marvelous Moms: Marvelous moms, marvelous moms, marvelous moms bazaar! Like a kitten and her mother, a kid never goes far. Oh, marvelous moms, marvelous moms, marvelous moms bazaar!
______________________________________________

Here are a few other pictures from recent days:

This boy has a big imagination. He is often 'in character' (and frequently in costume), whatever that character may be, and he's usually battling bad guys. He has his 'get the bad guys' scowl down to a science. He recently came to me in the midst of a church service and whispered, with great graveness, "Mommy, sometimes when I'm sitting, I get a ninja feeling." That's one of my favorite quotes ever.

This is a wonderful age with him; they've all been delightful, really (full disclosure- he can really turn on the jets and throw a fit- we affectionately call him 'foghorn' when he's in this mode, but he's truly quite mild mannered in general.) He is the sidekick of my days now, with sister off to school and little brother taking LONG naps (hooray!), so we play, read, bake, do laundry, whatever the day holds, together. He's a sweet companion. A really neat mix of warrior with a very tender heart, as reflected in his most recent list of things he wants to be when he grows up: jedi ninja, worker, artist and pilot.

Emmy has at long last fulfilled a dream and is taking a beginning ballet class after school. She seems in many ways a natural ballerina with her long limbs, toe walking, and generally flitting and prancing through life. She's really enjoyed it thus far, and perhaps it will be something she wants to pursue- we shall see...


At any rate, she certainly is a lovely ballerina, in my completely objective opinion.

Have I mentioned that I love having a cat? Happiness is a warm furry kitty belly.

And in the wider world outside our four walls...
This is a dinner out at our recent team retreat at the beach. Thailand specializes in outdoor restaurants; they might constitute the majority, in fact. This one was just at the edge of the ocean. Asa played in the sand the entire time he wasn't eating and Ju suffered serious 'sand in eyes' issues during the evening...but the seafood was great!
This is our friend Tang holding a wacky magnetized sea creature...a little girl was selling a tray full of them at the restaurant, for 35 baht each. That's her fiancee beside her, and they're getting married next month; lots of excitement around here about that!

And a couple of our smallest guy, at the park on Saturday...20 months and counting, and he's a little firestorm, really bringing us lots of smiles these days.

Pirates and Ninjas and Storm Troopers- Oh, My!

Here's our big four year old with some birthday treasure. He had a really great big day. Just a regular day at home (except I did take him and Ju to a park, where it was as hot as the Sahara, and I was fully reminded why we don't go to parks during the day!), and we had a family party at night. He wanted pancakes for supper and a ninja cake....

Here's what Tim came up with, red sparkly hot pants and all. Actually, Asa's request was "a ninja with a light saber practicing fighting". Nice work, Timbo!

Our sweet little man wanted to invite two of his grown up friends from church, so Yu (above) and Pat (below) came to celebrate with us. He's holding the awesome sword that Yu gave him. And do you see the ring on her hand? Asa made that for her as a party favor, with some materials out of a craft box. Oh my, he's so cute.

A very tired little pirate staying up for the party.

This was my favorite gift he received. Emmy wanted to get him Star Wars legos (he's fascinated with Star Wars, despite the fact that he's never laid eyes on the movies), but it just wasn't feasible for her seeing as how they cost an arm and a leg here. So we came up with the plan for her to make him a Star Wars coloring book, and it's really great, completely homegrown. He loved it!

What's really fun about this is that she did it all from memory of pictures she's seen, having never seen the movies, either.

In other Big Boy News, 4 years old has meant the beginning of a preschool co-op! Here he is on the first day, learning about the letter A, with my friend Lisa taking her turn as teacher.

And here's the whole co-op crew. They range in age from 3-5, and hail from New Zealand, Australia, the U.S., Sweden and Canada. This is a great blessing for us to get to be a part of. When I asked Asa how his first day was, his exact words were, "I thought it would be really, really boring, but it was really, really, REALLY FUN!"

My recent birthday had me pondering scripture on perseverance. Thinking of how as a happily engaged college student, I tended to think of our wedding, being young and married, having little babies...but having second graders and being in our 30's was not so much on my mind. It's a good time, a time of realization of the fleeting nature of the days, a time to persevere in and savor the now, and to seek to look forward to all that's ahead. And it was a really yummy, albeit a bit wobbly, cake!