The end of September, early October took us to Thailand for David to receive dental work and for some of us to attend a home school conference.
If you recall from this post David's dental implant failed after 10+ years. That was two years ago. On a different trip six months ago he got a new implant, and this visit was to finally get a tooth on the thing!
We were trying to get all these appointments to coincide with this conference so that we could see some close friends that we NEVER get to see (they live on the opposite side of the country). And it all worked out. Sort of. Gabrielle was too young to attend the conference, so she and David had a big long Daddy date in Bangkok (sitting in on every dental appt) and on to Chiang Mai.
He needed more than one appointment for the crown so he and G left a few days before us, saw the dentist, and made their away around BKK (by moto taxi some, don't tell the grandparents).
The rest of us geared up for our conference and traveled out a few days later. This was Tobin's first HSC and he was very excited.
To get to the conference on time, we had to fly out a day early and spend the night in our provincial capital. The flight schedules are bad and this happens more and more, adding a whole travel day. And thanks to a doc appointment of my own I got us on a 7 a.m. flight. International remember? That means an EARLY rise....
please no....where am I?
The misery of the wake-up call was made-up for by swimming in the pool and hanging out with friends once we arrived while Momma went to said appointment!
We were not in Bangkok, which is why I was okay with this:
They survived on Swenson's Ice Cream delivery and late night talks.
Lots of catching up to do!
Though we had one scare, and David's soaked iphone to show for it. At the left end of this pool is a kid's pool divided from the big pool by a wall. We had just arrived for the morning and I let Gabrielle go in the kids pool with no floatie. We were setting our things on our chairs across the pool and I was watching her the whole time....so that when she tried to reach for the leaf and fell in the big pool I saw it all. I knew she would not drown because I jumped up and yelled: 'Gabrielle!!!' I ran toward her (around the pool), and David simply reacted to my yell and jumped in. It was not an overreaction, it was what was necessary. To do it all again would have produced probably the same result. By the time David got to her she had found the wall. Still a hero daddy!
His phone won itself a day stay in a bag of rice in the fridge, then another few hours soaking in the sun. Yes folks this worked. There was a shadow on it for a few days and we had to dig rice out of the charge hook-up, but it revived!
We stayed at this place with our friends for four days after the conference and had a BLAST, getting very little sleep and enjoying our kids together. God's provision in GREAT friends should not be understated. We love these folks: we talked deep, we talked long, we laughed hard, we dreamed, we shared real burdens, we spoke into each other's reality and spurred one another on. So thankful.
