It seems that the blog has run away without me…I’m having a hard time keeping up with it, so please excuse this extremely long post that might, just might, double as a Christmas newsletter!
We are 95% moved into our new home…everyday something finds a place to go and we are just about done with the seemingly endless trips to “Home Pro”, Thailand’s version of Home Depot. One part of this house was clearly an “add-on” and I realized that we have a screen door INSIDE our house…hilarious…
Now we can corral the inside bugs! Sweet!
I also neglected to mention that Adrianne turned 11 sometime in the last two months (it all seems a blur to some degree)…our impromptu party at the pool (yes, Adrianne handed out invitations on Friday and it was the next day) was a great success thanks to her great friends and a great Ripstik so she has more of an opportunity to break another arm! 🙂
Hurray! Adrianne is 11!
Happy Thanksgiving with Julie - a part of our family that we got to enjoy for 4 months!
We also did Thanksgiving somewhere in there…Julie’s husband Dave headed out to the jungle as a part of the Free Burma Rangers and we all enjoyed an American feast at a local restaurant. Julie and Dave were able to move into their house the same day that we moved into this one…our time together as a “family” was something that I will treasure forever. What life and spunk she brought to our family – we had the privilege of knowing and loving her 7th grader way back in the day and to get to know and love her more was icing on the cake.
Jack has been busy with all the action in the neighborhood as well as school stuff. We moved into a 9 year old boy’s dream neighborhood – our trampoline attracts his kind like bees to honey and there is never a dull moment or lack of a wandering kid to play with. His school soccer team has also kept him moving (if you know Jack, it’s just a matter of him moving somewhere…and we were thankful that it was on a soccer field for about 6 weeks). They didn’t place in their tourney, but they played really well and I was proud of Jack’s clean aggressiveness…that’s a difficult feat for 29 year olds, much less 9 year olds!
Jack mixing it up on the green...
Jack at the 3rd grade "wax museum"...he played Abe Lincoln as a semi-thug...didn't mean to, just ended up looking like that. 🙂 Still very cute, though!
We have recently been blessed with a visit from one of our Oki favorites (to be followed this week by two more!) John & Sook Velker are Ange’s parents (our DTS Team Leader) and have known us and our kids since, well, before Adrianne was BORN! They are an integral part of the “Make-up-for-Oma” team that God has assembled in light of her heaven-going…they love us and our kids more than they should, but we will take it anyway!
Sook and Megan making candy cane reindeer (and bunny ears!)...
This last week was our culminating time with DTS and their graduation. We were so proud of these students who have grown both individually and together. Watching them say goodbye the last two days has been utterly heart-wrenching. This time, I can safely say, has been a destiny marker in their hearts and soul…may God use it for His glory alone!
DTS Graduation!
If you made it this far, I would ask that you would pray for us as we make a “quick” trip to Laos (they pronounce it “Lao”) to get new extensions on our visas (we just need another 3 months or so to get long-term visas all squared away). The trip goes (hopefully) something like this: Overnight Bus to border, tuk-tuk race to Vietienne (the capital city) before noon the next day, apply for, smile pretty, beg, borrow, perhaps steal…whatever it takes to pick up a visa the next day, reverse tuk-tuk race and overnight bus, and hopefully arrive in Chiang Mai the morning of Christmas Eve. Anything in the “Beg-borrow-steal” portion goes awry and we end up having Christmas in Laos…which I contend could be a great story someday, but will probably end up more like a whining torture chamber this Christmas. Pray that our hearts will be soft to whatever God has for us…
I’ll throw some random pics of other recent events up for your viewing pleasure. I will try and keep you updated on our Amazing Visa Race also!
Much love always!
Jen for us
Shameless adoring of the cute cupcakes I made for Adrianne's Christmas party! She was so sick, she couldn't go, so we Skyped her in...modern technology!
Adrianne and her friends at the Fall Festival
Lifting off lanterns at the Fall Festival