Home Alone

It's been  almost two weeks back to work from the Christmas break and what a change of pace it has been! Mike has been putting in 10-12 hour days getting things organized for the two teams that are here, one from Chile and one from Kona Hawaii. As he has not gone through the discipleship training school that they are a part of before, it has been a steep learning curve for him to figure out how everything works. And Rob, the base leader, has been away speaking at a school in Chiang Mai for the week so Mike and the team have largely had to figure it out as they went along. I have a feeling that is par for the course for missionaries!

Over the weekend we had the opportunity to take the Chile team to the flower show. Unlike last time, the kids carnival type area was open which the boys were told we could check out at the end of the flower show. And they had a little 3 year buddy, Sadudee, to run around to flower show with this time which they really enjoyed. Mike had to take the team back but the boys and I hit the rides section to pick out one ride the boys would like to try before we went home. Of course they chose bouncy castle world. I paid for them to have 20 minutes of fun running around the different areas of inflatable fun. Isaac and Oscar particularly enjoyed the big bouncy slide. I'm sure you can see why.

It seems as though our being from Raincouver has finally rubbed off. January - April is the dry season  in Chiang Rai and I have heard that it may rain once or twice for the whole 4 months. We have had about a week and a half of cool temperatures and lots and lots of rain. While we are used to rain to go on for days on end, I have never experienced the dampness that it leaves behind as we have here. The moisture just hangs in the air and clings to everything. If you are campers, think of the feeling when you wake up in the morning after a night of rain and get out of your damp tent and sit in your damp camp chairs. Everything is a bit wet. The floors are damp, the couch is damp, the cereal boxes are damp, and when you climb into bed at the end of the day the sheets are, wait for it, damp. However,

there are at least a couple benefits to all this rain and moisture.

1. You can discover play dough that has been left out for more than 24 hours in it original condition, no need to throw out dried out play dough rocks.

2. It makes seeds grow into flowers and vegetables quite quickly. Last week before the rain started we planted some flowers, corn, and tomatoes. We had to water them the first day but the rain took care of the rest. It didn't take long for the plants to start poking up out of the soil.

 3. Puddle jumping.

Mike is currently on his way home from Chiang Mai after being there for yesterday and today. As I knew that I would be home alone with the boys for two days with no vehicle and a forecast of more rain, I thought it would be a good idea to take them to something fun on Wednesday. We piled into the truck and headed for the mall. On the top floor they have a big play area with slides and a ball pit, and lots of fun things to keep them busy for 45 minutes. The boys loved it!

Thankfully, while still cloudy, yesterday was rain free so the boys and I did some exploring around the village that we live in, Nang Lae. It's a quiet little village with rice paddy-fields, banana trees, and pineapple plants all around. Nang Lae is known in Thailand to have the worlds best pineapples!The low plants are pineapples with banana trees behind them. Isaac did the whole village walk with the magna-doodle, carefully mapping out our route.

 We discovered an abandoned truck canopy which was now inhabited by chickens.

 We met a neighbour who enthusiastically gave each boy a big hug!

Oscar here is saying hello to you all "sawadee cup"!

 Homeschooling has been going much better since we started the curriculum at the beginning of last week. We were studying M is for moon and did a lesson on moon shapes with oreos.

 A is for apple, and so we did a craft today making an apple tree.

 We then spent some time talking about the fruit of the spirit; love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self control.  After reading the list, Isaac piped up and said "I bet self-control and patience are the hardest". Such wisdom from a little guy. Sadly I shortly after gave a lesson on the fruit of the spirit, I lost my temper with Isaac when the boys' usual shenanigans got to be too much for me to take. I apologized to Isaac and pointed out the fruit of the spirit I was lacking in; patience, self-control, and kindness. I asked him to forgive me and told him how we need to keep asking Jesus to help us. He of course forgave me and was soon playing with hot wheels.

Thankfully this afternoon the sun came back out and I was able to hang our bedding in the sun and went for popsicles with the boys.

Earlier this week for the first time since Christmas break there was a post office run. The boys were so excited to see the pile of letters addressed to us! We of course miss everyone at home so much, but have not yet come down with bad homesickness. However, when I opened a letter and pulled out a family Christmas photo and stared into the face of my dear friend, I shed big tears and felt an ache for home that I haven't yet felt. We are so thankful for facetime and email and good old snail mail to stay connected with you all at home and it makes the distance between us seem not as great.

Goodnight for now, Mike just got home!

Ewadee Pe-e Mai (Merry Christmas Thailand)

We are back at it again this week after enjoying two weeks of holiday time for Christmas and New Year. It was wonderful having the opportunity to hang out as a family while the staff took a break, many of them going home for Christmas. We took the opportunity to go on a few day trips around Chiang Rai during this time and saw some of the beautiful surrounding areas. The first was the Golden Triangle. This northern area of Thailand is right at the border of both Laos and Myanmar which next to Afghanistan has the largest amount of opium production and trafficking in the world. Efforts from the royal family helping farmers grow crops other than poppy's has reduced production significantly. This area is a major tourist destination and the boys enjoyed watching boats along the river, climbing up the giant elephant statues, and of course, eating popsicles.

Rob and Cy had shown us a beautiful park called Singha Park in Chiang Rai the first week we arrived. The park is 8000 acres and full of beautiful gardens and lakes, a large zip line, a small zoo area with giraffes and zebras, and a few restaurants. When we went the first week we had planned to rent bikes to visit the zoo but were told we could not take the kids rented bikes around the park due to previous children injuring themselves on the hills. There were also tandem bikes with kids seats in the back so we went back to try again with Oscar on the back of my bike and Emmett and Isaac on the back of Mike's.

This time we made it about half a km towards the zoo, but as Isaac's feet didn't quite reach the pedals, and a three person bike with only one person actually riding it is quite wobbly, there was a revolt, tears, and another failed trip to the zoo. Third times the charm, right??

We are surrounded by beautiful mountains and jungle in this area of Thailand. Another exploration we did was to Doi Mae Salong. This is about an hours drive, much of it up a steep, windy road, to a small village on the ridge of the mountaintop which is habituated by mostly people of Chinese origin. It is full of tea plantations and more recently coffee as well. It had some of the most breathtaking views.

The jungles and mountains of Northern Thailand are also full of waterfalls. There is one just a short drive from our house that we went exploring. It is not a long hike, but with the boys it was about a two hour round trip, including a short snack stop at the top. Isaac and Oscar did a great job climbing big rocks, crossing raging rivers, and checking out the wildlife (mostly ants). Emmet was pretty happy hanging out and getting carried up on my back.

Every year Chiang Rai puts on a large flower show over Christmas and the beginning of January. It was a spectacular display of colour with hundreds of thousands of flowers in beautiful gardens and sculptures. While probably not the highlight for the boys, it was really nice getting to walk through the garden. It brought back many found memories of my childhood spent at garden shows and VanDusen Gardens. Surely we never complained about being bored though did we Mom and Dad?!

Christmas in Thailand was of course very different than Christmas at home. While we missed our family so much over Christmas, Rob and Cy make a big effort to make Christmas special here every year in Chiang Rai. Cy hosts a big family dinner on Christmas Eve with lots of food, games, and a gift exchange. We all had a great time and were so appreciative of all the work that went into it. I was also able to contribute a little bit of a taste of Christmas dinner at home with some of Mike's family's staple dishes.

 Christmas morning with the boys was so much fun!! We brought only a few simple toys from home so the boys have had very little to play with until now. Watching the open their gifts was really such a joy to watch. Our little 700 sq foot home is a bit more messy with the influx of new toys, but it is totally worth it!

While we had to adjust to a different Christmas then we are used to, the reason to celebrate doesn't change. It was great to spend the time of advent talking with the boys about the birth of Jesus and how that is the greatest gift of all. We give because he first gave to us by coming as a baby to eventually die on the cross for our sins. This is the reason why we are here in Thailand, to share this good news to those who have never heard it.

While Jesus is the best gift we could receive for Christmas, one that is also pretty amazing is...RENTERS!! On Christmas Eve we had a lease signed by three university students from Ontario who are interning with Microsoft Headquarters in Vancouver from January until April. They move in today!! This is such an answered prayer for us. Thank you so much for everyone who has offered us encouragement and prayers as we have struggled with finding people to cover our housing costs in Vancovuer while we are volunteering in Thailand.

Now that Christmas has passed, we are back to work this week. A team from Chile arrived on Monday and Mike has been busy with two other staff members who are hosting the team and organizing projects for them to do. Another team from Kona arrives on Sunday. These teams will be helping with the bible distributions, going on village outreaches for agriculture projects and coffee harvesting, volunteering at schools, and helping complete some projects around the base.

While Mike is busy with the teams, I will be spending most of my time with the boys. When we first arrived in Thailand I was excited to homeschool, but the with limited resources, stomach bugs, and Christmas, it didn't really go as planned. I am so thankful that Cy had some great material that she had used for homeschooling Elias before he started to attending school. I am feeling much more prepared with an actual kindergarten curriculum to follow. However, homeschooling a five year old with a three year old and one year old at home is no joke! Kudos to all you homeschooling mamas out there with multiple kids. It's hard work. I have a feeling Emmett will ingest playdough in much higher quantities than is medically recommended while I focus on school with Issac and Oscar.

2016 was a year of big changes and an uncertain future, who would have ever thought we would be in Thailand at the end of it. Who knows what 2017 has in store for us! Emmett, for sure, is excited about it.