David's big 4-0 getaway

We had not left our kiddos with our helper since we had one less child and Tobin was in diapers (unable to cause mischief). But for David's 40th birthday I planned a short getaway to a city less than 2 hours from here.

We booked a nice hotel, I planned the kids time down to the minute and got our helper on board. I would not do this with just anyone. She is awesome. She is willing to tattle on our kids, for one thing.  The kiddos were completely on board too and knew they were serving us well by behaving, and they did fabulous.

Though it was less than 48 hours, it was still incredible to be on the road, able to rest, read, dream, laugh, and eat without distraction.

My handsome man. Lookin' sharp in his old age.

We love this little town. The urban planners did an incredible job with the roads, turn-abouts, and space. It was refreshing to drive where the traffic actually flowed.

The view from our room, overlooking a lake. This was the same town we visited with Poppy and CC and has a great WWII museum

Our only outing was to an 'old town' tourist spot. It was quaint, relaxing, and not a place to venture all day with small kids (narrow uphill walks, and not super-interesting stores).

We had heard about a restaurant that served real pizza and the only way we found it was by asking someone. That person had no idea, but a lady walking by overheard us and said: 'I live there, I will take you.' She went on to say how lucky it was that she heard us. She was right, we never would have found it without her.

This was place was a super-cute coffee shop/restaurant/guest house.
With quite a few dogs.

This was part of their kitchen, I loved it.

Tables made of doors.

We sat here for two hours, ate pizza, drank great coffee, read, and talked real life stuff...like what's going on in our hearts, the hearts of our children, future goals, weaknesses to work on.

 I love doing life with this man.

We ate at McDonald's (more than once), walked around the town a bit, and settled back in our hotel.

We watched some of our favorite TV shows....
and by Sunday midday we left for home.
We had kept up with the kids throughout the time and they were doing great!

We were so thankful for the opportunity to do this, it was just what we needed!
Happy 40th David!

Ping Pong, Fairs, and Fun

Lots to catch up on...so here we go.

Early October was the National Holiday around here. We returned from Thailand had a few more days off from school (to do the homework!), and get ready to start back. 

These kiddos...usually have each other's back...until they don't. 

 Now that Tobin is in Chinese first grade it is just G and me at home in the mornings, she misses her big bro to play with...but we have fun jumping on the trampoline, helping mommy bake,  helping mommy get ready for the day/week, and doing her own catechism/verses, tot school, and read aloud with mommy.

We went to a 'fair' during the holiday break and it was okay. Kids learned how to lose money. Tobin and Isabella proved to be pretty good shots.

 And then there was the ping pong tournament. My friend K and I often joke about how we never have any sort of normal week of Chinese School+ homeschool....we sometimes vent, we usually laugh, and remind each other that our kids' involvement and eagerness to participate is a good thing. So along came a ping pong tournament that took place about every afternoon (the time I homeschool). Sophia got chosen from her class and made it through the first round with some wins.

Then it came to the finals...we squeezed some schooling in, including on Saturday and we all went to support our budding ping pong enthusiast. She started practicing some right after school in the middle of the day and she improved so much through out the two weeks that she ended up fourth in her grade (about 450 students, though not all participated of course).

We never knew when the games were, they would announce day-of  (a common theme in the culture here) and then we still had to wait for her turn. One day I took Gabrielle with all of us, letting her miss her afternoon kindergarten...
she played while waiting to watch big sis.

Tobin also got recruited by his PE teacher to help count the laps her volleyball girls were running.

And then the action...

Sophia made some great new friends throughout this experience and had fun with some old ones. We were thankful for this opportunity for her to play Asia's favorite sport. Some of these kids were stellar ping pong players, and Sophia proved once again she's got heart and skill to match (and mommy and daddy better watch out, she just may beat us sooner rather than later).

Felicia, Dear Felicia…

Felicia, Dear Felicia…

What to say that hasn't been said. This lady and her contagious joy, her spirit of fun in anything with anyone…her deep faith…her ability to love deeply and quickly. Yes, to all these things….

But to me and my family….

I remember my first meeting of their entire family. I was an outsider. Who was this Florida girl gonna marry my cousin David? David (warned, HA) told me of this tight knit, extremely fun family: get ready because they're real. Sounded like my kind of crew. It was Felicia and Heather that just drew me in with their warmth, their questions, their laughs. I was never made to feel like an outsider, ever. And after that we were instant family. I got the sense that they loved everyone this way and I knew right away that they weren't southern Sunday culture Christians, they were the real deal, it was so refreshing.

Felicia just loved me before she knew me, and loved me still once she did. Though we only come back every two years and usually stay less than 2 days, she stuck with us (in pain the last time) for hours of discussion. Four years ago, it happened to be just Felicia, David, and me talking super-late. She poured her heart out, was candid about struggles, and displayed her ability to lean deeper into Jesus. We laughed, we cried, and spoke truth into each other. David and I still talk about that conversation and how much we appreciated Felicia's willingness to let us in, and to hear our struggles too.

Our children, the older two, remember how kind Felicia was to them and how much fun she was, trying to teach their momma the 'wobble' and other cultural things we had missed. Felicia LOVED LOVED our children. And I will never forget the looks she gave me in silent wonder at Tobin's adorable expressions that look just like his daddy.

I will certainly miss her expressive face, her lively character, her genuine love and devotion to us, and her deep faith that held her steady when her health began to unravel.

To Larry, Luke, and Lance, I just say: We are so sorry. I just watched the video of Felicia about to go into surgery saying "Felicia means happiness". Though you are in deep sadness, she would want you to seek that blessing that happiness in Christ and learn to live there even in pain. Through all the tumult of emotions bombarding you, in the fears, in the senses of guilt you may have, in the uncertainty, let Christ bear these unbearable things for you. Lay them down, daily if necessary. Felicia is forever healed, forever alive, rejoicing to know her Savior face to face. Rest in these truths, rest in God's love for you in Christ, rejoice even to know real hope.

(I wrote this recently to some daughters who had lost their mom)

 And in our grief, remember we don't lack joy, we do not grieve as those who have no hope.

Let me quote an article I read recently. It was so timely:

Grief is not the opposite of joy. The opposite of joy is despair. Grief is a sign of a heart alive, of red blood pumping oxygen to the part of our soul that longs to see the un-reflected face of Jesus.

Turn your eyes upon Jesus,

Look full in His wonderful face,

and the things of earth will grow strangely dim,

In the light of His glory and grace

(Excursions)....with Friends

The friend on the R in this pic shared how she and her fam went on an all day outing to 4 stops on the cheap and had an incredible time. All the things sounded right up our alley so we all went, and she and one of her sons joined us too!


The first stop was the insect museum. Not for the faint of heart...

All kinds of critters...tons of tarantulas, HUGE cockroaches,Tarantulas eating cockroaches, beetles, bugs, butterflies and more...

After a giant something flew at my head, I screamed, bolted and calmed down near the more docile lizards...

The bearded dragon...quite cute and friendly

Huge iguanas...

This thing started climbing up her shoulder...of course.
You could also hold a scorpion if that happened to be your thing (crazee).
This was a great little exploration of all kinds of creatures.

We ate a great lunch of a-mazing street food Thai grilled chicken, pad thai, stir fry veg, sticky rice, yum and more yum. Then off to the snake farm.

I don't mind snakes really, but this place was creepy. I am still scarred by the experience to be honest. The show was interesting...the narrator was hilarious, and "Mr. Snake Man" was in his element to shock and awe his guests (which were only our three fams). Our kids thought this fascinating...until he pretended to come at us with the Cobra's mouth too close for my comfort....it was a bit surreal (David was holding on to the kids, Sophia was ready to bolt out the back opening of the outdoor platform and I was almost in my friend's lap...oh the drama...yes)....They had also trained a rat snake to fake sleep, and the climax was when Mr. Snake Man dove into a small pool and came up with a huge python around his neck....
May not be going back there, but it certainly added to our adventure.

Next we hit a waterfall. There are many levels to the falls, but following our friend's advice, we stayed at the one where you could swim. Our kids could have stayed here all day.

You can go behind this fall and jump into the water.

Last stop: Elephant Poo Poo Paper. Yes, you read that right. Making paper out of elephant dung.
This was a very well put together operation (tourist trap). The tour was interesting, the signs throughout quite fun (we take the 'oo' out of 'poo' among others), and the whole experience one our kids love to talk about just so they can say 'poo' a lot...

This was already dried poo. They showed us horse, cow, and elephant dung for comparison and why/how it is best to use elephant poo to make the paper.

The process: boil for 6 hours (something like that), kill all bacteria...
(I told the kids this was the job you get if you don't learn your math. There is no shame in my game.)

let dry for many many hours....

add color and make it into a tight ball with one more additive (I forget what).

break up the ball onto this screen in the water and spread it out with no holes.

Lay it out to dry...Then pull the paper off.

Then make crafts with the paper...

This was a fabulous day doing a bit 'touristy' things (but actually very inexpensive). 

The best part was enjoying it with people we love. CLICHE!

Here she is...one of my bffs...

The L and C families together....until we meet again! 

(you guys really should come south for the winter....Chinese New Year???)

Excursions...

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.   

Taxi to the airport two thirds of us. Blurry selfie with finger too!

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:

Ohhhh the tuk tuks. A child's dream.

Meanwhile a day later, new tooth and all, David and Gabrielle made their way to Chiang Mai to hang with friends while we ladies conferenced about home school.

Born just over a month apart, these girls kept David and Uncle J on their toes!

They survived on Swenson's Ice Cream delivery and late night talks.
Lots of catching up to do!

It was at this pool that Gabrielle really took to swimming even more.
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.