Happy New Year!!!

Been wanting to post more often, but it's hard to find an uninterrupted chunk of time to complete a post. I will try to post shorter posts so they can be more frequent...or rather, post more frequently so they can be shorter.

The month of December has been quite busy. We can't believe we've been here more than 3 months already! Our hearts are full of THANKFULNESS as we reflect on these past months of adjustment:

• Even with many health concerns, particularly for the boys, we're thankful that they haven't been more serious these early months. We've made it through bronchitis treated with antibiotics for both boys; 4 stitches for Eli treated with antibiotics; 3 rounds of impetigo for Ian treated with 2 rounds of antibiotics, antibiotic cream, and now steroid cream; stomach virus for Eli treated with a shot to the tush to help him keep fluids down; general respiratory issues off & on the entire time we've been here. We're now on the mend.
• Having the prayer and financial support of so many back home and even abroad in Japan, Canada, the UK, and Korea brings much encouragement and strength as we adjust to life here in Thailand. Your generous support enables us to focus this time on learning Thai, learn about ZOE, and adapt to our new life here. So thank you!!!
• Although our involvement with a local church body has been limited, we're thankful that we've been able to worship and receive solid teaching at Chiang Mai Christian Fellowship Church and attend alongside some of our ZOE missionaries. We've volunteered to co-lead a 5th-6th grade Sunday small group in the coming year. We pray that this will be an opportunity to minister to our local body and get more connected with our church.
• We're so thankful for the wonderful ZOE family. We continue to learn from, be encouraged and challenged by, and enjoy fellowship and accountability with each of them. We hope to be able to spend more time with everyone and serve more at the children's home in the coming year. David has met with the leadership to specify his job description and I've volunteered any help I can give with my limited availability from home. We meet weekly or biweekly with fellow missionaries for accountability.
• God has provided another wonderful source of accountability, support, and encouragement through the small Korean American Christian community in our neighborhood. We have grown close to our duplex neighbors, Reverend Chang and his wife who minister to local Thai communities, and Pastor Danny and his family who run elijahfoundation.org. David meets with Danny for accountability twice a month. Additionally, there is also Reverend JJ and his Thai wife Junya who run jasperkids.org and have been a great resource and source of fellowship for us as well.
• Apart from their health, the boys have been adjusting so well here in Thailand. They love school and are doing really well there. We really couldn't ask for more in regards to this area. Although Ian misses America and expresses this with daily comments about Disneyland, his cousins, our church, and old friends, he's doing great and maturing in many ways. We're especially thankful that God has given us the patience to work daily (or hourly) with Eli on his difficult behavior upon our arrival. God is gracious and helped him to settle down and given us tools to communicate with him during this stage of his development. He's not the craziest kid in public anymore. =P
• My pregnancy continues to progress normally and all measurements appear to be healthy. What was one of our greatest concerns coming out here has turned out to be the least of our concerns. I'm now entering my 3rd trimester! Whoa!
• God has blessed us with wonderful families (parents, siblings, nephews, and nieces), and we're so thankful for their full support in coming out here, as well as just loving us as we've been adjusting out here. We're able to communicate via Skype and email with them, and they help us out a great deal with our day-to-day affairs in the States. Thank you family!
• We're immensely thankful for the wonderful resources God has provided through all of you...our home, food, appliances, car, furniture, the list goes on. We have more than enough and thank God every day for providing for our needs.
• The Lord continues to uphold and strengthen our marriage as we experience this new season in our lives. We're utterly dependent on Him to help us love and support each other. We started reading through Tying the Knot Tighter together as a way to dialogue and check in with each other about the most important things. We're only on Ch. 3, but hey, it's a start. =)
• Jesus! We're thankful for Jesus. He is our hope, our strength, our joy, our reason for being here, our reason for living. He continues to be our source for anything and everything each day. We're thankful for the Lord's grace in our lives, manifested in all the ways mentioned above and in abundantly more ways.

Now for some pictures...

We continue to deal with all kinds of critters on a daily basis. This is the 3rd dead centipede we've found in our yard. The ants love them. The insecticide around our home must be killing them. Phew:

ZOE fellowship activity...we had to draw what we're thankful for:

Teamwork activity:

Eli after school in his uniform:

Common Thai dish for a little over $1:

My attempt at cooking the same dish...it's cheaper to buy it:

Another visit to the Night Safari:

I spend a lot of time each day trying to manage our ant problem:

However, this is nothing compared to one of the other missionary family's encounters with giant ants in their home. Click on this link and scroll to the video at the bottom:

ZOE women's fellowship activity: 

Playdate at the Nakamuras:

David & Eli Skyping with Gary & Nam:

Our baby girl:

At the Hug You sheep farm with Reverend JJ's organization:

Dry sledding after the sheep farm:

Getting ready to eat:

One of the missionary children, Garrett, getting baptized at church. Awesome!: 

Ian's first round of impetigo:

Thanksgiving with ZOE missionaries...look at Ian sitting by himself (by choice) on the other side of the table:

Prayer before the meal:

Generous donors donated the turkeys b/c they are expensive in Thailand. The missionary families potlucked the side dishes:

We bought Ian a bike with training wheels & a special seat for Eli to ride on our bike. During the month of November, David carpooled to Thai classes in the mornings and had to use the car 2-3 times/week, so I had to bike Eli to and from school 2-3 times/week, while Ian would ride his bike home alongside us on those days. Now that David switched to a new Thai school with classes in the afternoon, I can use the car:  

Father's Day at Eli's school:

At one of my favorite places to eat, Hideaway, where I can buy cheese products & American & Mexican food:

Random skin irritations...this one's on his ear:

Sweet sticky rice inside bamboo:

Really yummy snack:

How I do the dishes b/c most Thai kitchens don't have hot water. We tried to install a water heater, but it's too powerful for our kitchen. We got this quick boil to get hot water after Ian kept getting the impetigo & I couldn't wash his dishes in hot water: 

Mrs. Chang next door often brings over extra food she makes. This is nonspicy jjamphong. Reverend Chang doesn't eat spicy food like David, so their food is to our taste:

Snack time after school:

With a week off from Thai school, David was able to go into ZOE for a few days. Here he is after his 2nd day on the job:

Our wonderful church family sent us things from the States that are hard or expensive to come by here in Thailand...thank you Homs for the sweats:

Thank you Pawleys for the Ziploc freezer bags & Jason Park for the bonito flakes:

Thank you Christina Lau for the J. Lo & children's towels:

We haven't received the other 3 boxes yet because the post office makes us come and pick them up, and every time we go, the post office is closed.

Volunteering at Ian's school for their Christmas activities: 

 At another favorite Thai restaurant across the street:

Christmas activities at one of the missionary's homes, the Nakamuras. Nancy planned a great day of cookie decorating, storytime & a movie about Christmas:

Christmas dinner with the ZOE missionaries:

Christmas day:

Night Safari with Grandpa & Grandma:

Eli loves to pose:

Happy birthday grandma:

We didn't celebrate on her actual birthday (Jan. 1st) because of traffic and the busy-ness of the holidays, but we got to go out a few days later, along with our new good friends Reverend Chang's and Pastor Danny's families:

New Year's with ZOE...Eli posing with Auntie Jessica and Ian's buddy Nathanael:

And for those who didn't see it yet, here's our holiday message to all of you because we didn't get a chance to send cards or updates this year:


And here's a holiday message from ZOE Children's Homes:

You can keep up with ZOE Children's Homes on their blog!

A Toddler Trafficked: Nicha's Story

Here is a ZOE blog post from the beginning of this year regarding one of the youngest children in the children's home. Heartbreaking and heartwarming, all at the same time...

Encouraging Stories...

Some encouraging stories regarding the children's home from the blogs of some of our missionaries:

A Happy Heart

A Mother's Thankfulness

Animals Anyone?

So a few weeks ago, we finally got to go see some animals. Ian's been begging us, just about every day to see the animals in Thailand, so we got to go to the Night Safari when Ian had a week off of school. It was one of the best experiences we've had at an animal park. It really was a safari, which I wasn't expecting.

Right before the entrance before you walk into the park:

After the entrance:

Interesting albino exhibit...porcupines:

Racoons:

Python:

The boys:

On the daytime safari shuttle:

Didn't realize the animals would be coming right up to you. I was sitting on the side where you can feed them, but if you know me, I am not an animal person. David handed me the carrots, but I freaked out & told him to do it. He had to crawl over all 3 of us and feed the deer:

Here's a video of the feeding:

They take you through the animals in different parts of the world...kangaroos:

Rhinos:

Zebras:

Camels:

Pigs:

Eli enjoying the ride:

These bears were a sight to see:

I was so surprised that Ian was totally willing to get on this elephant for a ride. Thought he'd be scared:

Here's a video of them riding the elephant:

Eli getting on a pretend zebra while Ian prepares to mount the real elephant:

We look forward to frequenting this place often. =)

Somali Muslims Cut, Beat Christian Unconscious in Kenya

Reminded that our Christian brothers and sisters are suffering all over the world, simply for worshipping our Jesus: Somali Muslims Cut, Beat Christian Unconscious in Kenya


Sometimes I research news about Christian persecution to stay informed and be reminded that this is happening every day, all over the world, to so many. These stories aren't readily reported in mainstream media.


Praying for those who are persecuted for their faith and that those of us who are not would be thankful every moment of the day for the freedom to worship, showing such thankfulness...by actually worshipping.

Settling In

Can't believe we've already been here over a month! In the last couple weeks, we've really made some progress settling in and getting into the swing of life here in Thailand. We're learning to make adjustments to life here, like turning on/off our propane tank outside every time I want to cook on the stove; baking in a toaster oven; wiping up crumbs and putting food away immediately so we don't get an infestation of ants; airing things out so the humidity doesn't breed mold; having dirty feet no matter how many times you clean the floor; refrigerating everything to avoid mold; bugs in the home, outdoors, and in restaurants; and shaking our shoes out in case any critters are taking a rest in there. (To David's surprise, while he was shopping, he thought he felt a leaf in his shoe. When he took it off and shook it, a dead gecko fell out. He didn't even tell me about it until we were at the gas station later. He probably knew I'd want to take pics of it. Alas, no photos.)

ZOE is so great to give us this month to settle into life. It's also hard not be consumed with ourselves as this entire month has been about us. It's been so odd to go from multiple bible studies, small groups, fellowship activities, ministry, etc. in the States, to just Sunday worship. Recently though, we've been able to fellowship a bit more through some organized ZOE activities, so that's been a joy. Personally, I'm trying to look around me wherever we are, to think about those we encounter each day, whether at the store or service workers at our home, to hopefully be the aroma of Christ, to one another, and to those around us.

Here's a pic from a ladies' fellowship activity at the night market...fun, fun:

Recently, the boys also got to go to their first birthday party, as one of the missionary families, the Crosses, were celebrating their son Spencer's 3rd birthday. You can see the amazing decorations Andrea put together in her blog post. It was a frog and turtles party. Her parties rival IBC baby/bridal showers. The boys had a blast.

Here are some more updates:


Flooding:
To answer many of your concerns, the flooding you're reading about in the news is in Bangkok, which is about a 5-hour drive or 1-hour plane ride away, so we've not been affected by the recent flooding. When we first arrived, there was some flooding where we are in Chiang Mai, as the Ping River overflowed, and some neighborhoods just about 15 minutes away were under water, but the recent flooding is much farther away.

Please pray for the people who've been affected by the devastating floods. Reports are that it will take up to a month for some areas to drain. It's so sad reading about the controlled flooding where water is purposely being diverted to certain areas to avoid flooding the business districts. It's understandable, but so sad for those communities that are being flooded. Indirectly, we experienced the effects of the flooding up here in Chiang Mai as we tried to purchase a car and furniture, and learned that production has stalled and some products won't be available for months. Here's a recent article about the floods.


Home:
Our home is starting to feel like "home," as the furniture we ordered has arrived and we've purchased the appliances we need to cook on a daily basis. David did a great job picking most of it out as I was homebound from pregnancy malaise or just being home with the boys. It really was daunting to buy everything from scratch. We've realized that during all the years we lived in the States, we never really invested in our home purchases, buying little or using hand-me-downs, hoping to move abroad one day. Now that we are finally here overseas, we are making purchases that will hopefully be for the long-term. I will post pics of our furnished place in the next post.

Food:
The question we get a lot is whether the Thai food is like what we eat in the States. Although we can find the Thai dishes and tastes we've had in the States, what's more readily available and affordable at the food courts are dishes that are more unfamiliar, apart from pad thai, fried rice, and stir fried chicken noodle dishes, which can easily be found. We're still learning what some of the dishes are so we haven't ventured too much with the Thai food, and have been sticking to what's familiar to us...fried rice, stir fried noodles, wonton soup, Japanese, KFC, McDonalds, Pizza Hut. I've also been cooking Korean and Japanese a lot at home. Thank God for our dear chef friend Jason Park, who gave me invaluable Japanese cooking lessons when we were in the States. They've been coming in handy. And we're so thankful to that Korean family I mentioned in a previous post, as they gave us hard-to-find Korean cooking ingredients. And thanks to the Matsuyamas, all the way in the Philippines, who happened to know someone who was visiting ZOE and delivered a package of additional ingredients I haven't been able to find.

Eli:
Speaking of home, we are getting used to the tile floors, as everything echos and every day is a danger for Eli. When we were in the States and realized that the homes in Thailand aren't carpeted, I feared for Eli's safety as he is very accident-prone, always having a bruise, bump or scar on his face. However, God kept him from any serious injuries in the States.

Last week, we had quite a scare as Eli was playing with a ball as he walked down 2 kitchen steps. I was cooking right next to him, and suddenly he fell hard, with his head banging against the edge of one of the steps. I think he may have stepped on the ball to make him fall so suddenly. At first, I thought it was a typical fall. I picked him up and held him, but he was crying hard. David came to see what happened and said, "He's bleeding." We panicked at first and started to grab our things to rush to the hospital, but then we held a towel to his head to stop the bleeding, which slowed down; cleaned the wound up a bit to take a look at it; and saw that it was a deep gash, which would probably require stitches.

We drove to the local hospital and got seen at the ER fairly quickly (thank God!). They shaved the hair around the wound, Eli started crying, then they laid him on a vinyl covered mat and asked if I wanted to stay for the stitches. I thought, "Of course," and said, "Yes," and soon realized why they were asking me. A man with gloves came in and held his face down sideways on the mat, a woman (who was very nurturing) wrapped his body and arms in a towel to keep him from moving around. The ER doctor took a long needle and made 3 anesthetic injections in and around the wound. That was the worst part. Blood was squirting out of the wound and Eli was screaming like I've never heard him before, and we've all heard him scream. The poor guy cries like we're torturing him when I take him for a haircut, so you can imagine what this was like. The doctor then quickly sewed in 4 stitches. As I was clenching my fists and tensing up my body, the woman asked if I was ok. It was over very quickly. When they sat him up, he had blood and fluids all over the side of his head and face. They wiped him up, then I got my wipes and wiped him up some more, I held him, and he quickly fell asleep in my arms as we waited to pay for services.

The entire experience was traumatic for him and me, and the worst thing I've been through with either of the boys. We're thankful that it wasn't worse and that Eli was his happy self right after we got home. Here are some pics from the ordeal:

All patched up:

Back to his happy self:

Making faces for Mommy:

Taking the bandage off:

Ouch:

He was put on antibiotics and we were taking care to try to keep the area dry, but the humidity is always a concern for wounds because of the possibility of infection. Thankfully, after a week, we got the stitches removed today and it seems to be healing well. He had the nastiest hair, as we couldn't give it a good wash for an entire week, so we were so happy to give him a good shower today, although we were supposed to wait another 2 days.

Please pray for his safety as he has so much energy. He's already fallen off the couch twice, bumping his head and thankfully, breaking the second fall with his hand. Although we weren't planning on it, we decided to enroll him in a preschool program for a few hours in the morning, where he can just run around, play, and socialize with other kids. It's scary to have him run around at home, and hot and sometimes dangerous to have him run around outside. We're praying about this decision and are open to making changes if there are any negative consequences.

Here are some pics of Eli's other antics:

I left a Tootsie pop on the table for Ian to eat later, and later found it like this...Eli couldn't figure out how to take the wrapper off, so he just ate it: 

This is how we get some shopping done when we have Eli with us:

Ian:
Ian continues to do well at school. At his parent-teacher conference, the teacher said she's never seen a child adjust and adapt so well in the middle of a school year (he began 2nd quarter). She said he just came right in and acted as though he's been here all year. Praise God! And thank you for your prayers, as this was a concern moving here. She said he's connecting well with the other boys and academically, he's right where he needs to be and can easily catch up in the areas he's behind (i.e., lowercase letters...I realized that I didn't work much on lowercase letters with him, just uppercase). However, she was impressed with his phonics and that he knew all the sounds of his letters. Yay!

Here are pics of David biking Ian to school...one of the highlights of Ian's life here in Thailand:

Ian and Eli both have been recovering from bronchitis and allergies. This is really common here, as the air quality isn't great, we're always running the fan and A/C, and the humidity breeds mold. We were referred to a pediatrician, who happens to be the pastor of a church nearby. In Thailand, doctors can prescribe medication and give you the bottles right there at their clinic. And they tend to prescribe a lot. I've never given them so much medication. These are all the bottles between the both of them:

Ester:
I had my first visit with a doctor that was referred to me. She was very nice and happens to be a Christian. The facilities aren't what we had in the States, but that's what we were expecting. The doctor checked for the heartbeat and said it sounded good. In 2 weeks, we'll get to do an ultrasound and find out the gender.

Now that I'm in my second trimester, I'm feeling better. Thank God! I'm still very tired and sleepy all the time, but generally better.

I've been thinking that all of these health issues in the first month here has been helping us feel more comfortable with the health care system here and perhaps preparing me for delivering the baby here in Chiang Mai, as we have to make a decision soon. Some of the moms of the children in Ian's kindergarten are also pregnant, so I hope to learn from their experiences. Please pray for a continued healthy pregnancy and baby.

David:
David will begin his language classes next Monday, along with another new missionary, Sam. It'll be every day for 3 hours in the morning. Pray that he can be diligent in his studies and pick up the language quickly, as this will be so helpful in ministry and just life in Thailand.

This past week, David got to go up to ZOE and help to host some guests visiting from Korea. He was gone from lunchtime until late evening, so I was reminded that once he starts working daily at ZOE, he'll be gone all day. He's always worked from home, so it'll be a new experience for the boys and me.

ZOE:
Last Friday, the family was finally able to visit ZOE Children's Homes. The children had a performance night where they sang songs in Thai and even English and performed skits. We also enjoyed a wonderful time of worship with them. It was great to see the children again. I'm always overwhelmed to see their smiling, happy faces, as I can't imagine the terrible things that some of them have experienced. Please continue to pray for their well-being and the staff as they minister to them.

That's all for now. We also finally got to visit the Night Safari, but I'll post about it next time as this post is turning into a novel. Thanks always for your thoughts and prayers!