Happenings.

This morning was actually cool and I thought it was beginning to feel like Christmas... and then the sun rose higher in the sky. :-) I try not to have too high of an expectation when it comes to the weather in Thailand, unless of course that expectation is hot! Thankfully we are in cool season, because I know what's coming in April!

Humorous side note: an Australian man just walked by our truck, saw the (small) barking dog and said, "hello, Giraffe!" What a name for a dog. :-)

Our days are filled with a couple of key events: language school, studying for language school, and going to the grocery store every couple of days. Exciting, right? Gotta start somewhere. :-)

Language study IS coming along - and at a fast pace. I'm very thankful we're going three days instead of five days a week. Monday's class was learning about colors, reviewing what we studied on Friday, and our first quiz. Yeah, now I really feel like I'm in school! The Thai language is slowly starting to break down for us and we're recognizing letters everywhere even though we can't read the signs yet. Little by little, bit by bit!

Today's new adventure includes replacing the kitchen faucet and finding charcoal to grill out for dinner. Never a dull moment!

Riding The Elephants.

Today we decided to head to an elephant camp near us and really enjoyed the day. It wasn't our typical Thanksgiving Day, but since we were missing family, cold weather and the aroma of dinner cooking, we choose to do something that we wouldn't normally do in the States. :-)

We actually packed in a lot of things and the camp we visited was the best elephant camp we've ever been to, by far. So if any of you want to come for a visit to see us, we'll probably take you here!

We decided to do the all-in-one package which was well worth the price. We first enjoyed a Thai buffet lunch, followed by an elephant show. The elephants play soccer, move logs with their trunk and paint pictures. Very well, I might add! Always impressive. After that we took a ride on an elephant and returned to the camp on an ox cart. The day finished out with a very lovely and peaceful bamboo raft ride down the river. What a beautiful day!

I learned today that an elephant has 40,000 muscles in its trunk ... fascinating! As I watched the elephants, I couldn't help but marvel at the handiwork of God. What an amazing Creator!!

One of the 66 healthy elephants at the camp. 

Paul wasn't too excited about an elephant hug. :-)

Watching the elephants play

My niece (who is with us for another month) loved riding the elephant:-)

Paul and Nat on the elephant. Paul didn't make a sound the whole time we rode the elephant, but he definitely held onto the bar!

Just walking through the river

We had one tuckered out little boy at the end of the day! Here he is riding on the ox cart. 

Arrival.

We have arrived! In Thailand, that is and that happened a week ago. Oops. We have been slightly busy moving into our new house and getting acclimated to a new country. As an aside, going from a three room apartment to a two-story house has been a big adjustment!  There is space everywhere and it's all filled with furniture. :-) We've done some shuffling around to make hard, wooden furniture a little more cozy (if that is even possible) and we're slowly getting things put away. Actually I feel like we've accomplished quite a bit in one week's time.

Wednesday night was my first time cooking an actual meal in our kitchen (unless scrambled eggs and oatmeal count)! A few days ago we got the ingredients for chicken parm and then each evening we would be so tired, busy, or away from the house that we didn't get around to making it. Plus the Thai food here is incredibly cheap. Our first day in the country, we decided to go to the neighborhood restaurant for lunch. My niece, who is with us for several weeks, couldn't believe the three of us ate lunch for under $2.00! Let's just say it cost a whole lot more to make chicken parm, so that's going to be a recipe reserved for special occasions. :-)

We've been enjoying having a market just across the street... well, it's slightly more complicated than that because the "street" is a 6-8 lane road filled with busy traffic and we have to wait at the light for 197 seconds to make the u-turn. Yeah, it's always depressing to drive up to the traffic light and see it just turn red. That would be the perfect time to catch up on some reading. :-) Nevertheless, the market is always a sight (and smell!) to behold. Of course there are lots of things I haven't tried yet. :-)

A few months ago, a missionary's wife wrote me a letter as I was in the packing stage and said, "there are things you are going to pack that when you get to Thailand you'll ask why you brought it!" That has been very true on a couple of things. My niece brought some of our stuff over in her luggage and I'm thinking she'll be taking a few items back when she returns home! No sense keeping something here taking up room when it can return to where it belongs! Overall though, I've been very glad for most of the items we packed. Since it's been four years since I lived in country, I've forgotten what it was like to live in Thailand. Other memories came back in a hurry. :-)

A new day awaits us and each day since we've arrived has been an adventure! Good thing we still have our sense of humor intact - we've needed it several times already. :-) I'm sure there will be more adventures to come!

Grace.

And so it begins. Our marathon, that is! The next three days are jam-packed with special events, saying "see ya later" to dear people we love, and walking away from our first home. You'll have to forgive me for being sentimental; it is somewhat warranted for where we're at right now. 

We leave for Thailand on Tuesday and I am beyond excited that this day has finally arrived. We've had plenty of starts and stops to this journey but I know the Lord has been faithfully leading us through it all. 

I think about my dad passing away 6 months ago and how God in his mercy allowed us to still be in the States to grieve with family. I also think about all the travels of the last year or so and I realize we got to see tons of people that we usually don't see. Our travels have taken us from Maine to Alaska, with everything in-between and we wore out a path down to Texas - to the point that things in a state hundred of miles away began to look familiar. :-)

We've always enjoyed coming home and my heart does an extra beat whenever i type "home" into our GPS. Funny how the miles seem to fly by when we're heading that way! I often say to my husband that my favorite street in the world is the street that leads us to our street. :)

The hardest part in the midst of all of "the lasts" and the packing has been packing up my house - completely. We've left it before for months on end but we've always returned. I still have some kitchen items to pack away, and those carry-ones still aren't packed, but we're getting there. Back in the summer I began to get serious about the whole "everything's gotta go" deal and so I took the first picture off the wall. I think removing that first picture hurt deeper than all the subsequent events because it was so final. Nat came home from work that day to a pile of bubble-wrapped pictures and a tearful wife. Thankfully God's grace is sufficient and He gives strength day by day.

So here I sit at the beginning of probably one of the the most busy and emotional weekends of my life, and I contemplate that thought. God's grace is sufficient. Friday I took my son and spent the day with my mom and my sister, primarily to get out of my husband's hair so he could have the concentration to finish up some important details. My husband didn't ask me to leave (and he never would!), but I know how loud my son can get and figured this was one way to bless my husband. Of all mornings, Paul was up early, and I do mean early! God's grace is sufficient no matter what's going on, even as I tried to rock my son back to sleep. Throughout the day, Paul exhibited lots of signs of tiredness, so I assured my mom and my sister that he would definitely fall asleep in the car. I'm not sure if it was the excitement of seeing so many people throughout the day or if it was because I was using his old car seat, but Paul would not take a nap, aside from a short 20 minute nap in the morning. 6 hours later, I was very close to tears and frustrations. But then the reminder came. God's grace is sufficient. Totally. 

I'm happy to report Paul did fall asleep as we were heading over to someone's house in the evening, in his new car seat mind you! And God's grace was sufficient for me the whole day... I just needed a reminder. :-) I am very excited and unbelievably sad all rolled into one this weekend. Such a bittersweet time. But the one truth I'm clinging to this weekend is God's grace is sufficient... for me. 

A Summary Of Deputation.

Since we began deputation 19 months ago, with 12 of the months actually being on the road, we've traveled 30,000+ miles (glad that's behind us), presented our ministry in 72 churches in 28 states, drove through 34 different states, had one car accident, stayed in all kinds of places and in all kinds of situations and met some of the sweetest people out there. Friendships were developed and strengthened, kindness was shown to us many, many times over, and our desire to get to the mission field intensified each time we presented our burden.

But now? Deputation is officially behind us. We were done at the end of June, but had two last commitments to complete in October, so now we can say we're done for sure. :-) As evidenced by this blog, I have a great love for travel, but after being on the road for a year and living out of a suitcase, I'll admit the novelty of traveling has worn off a bit. Add into the mix traveling with a newborn baby and that really puts a whole new spin on things! When we went to Texas for this last trip, Paul and I flew down while Nat spent four days driving (poor guy). So I missed out on the first leg of the road trip, but we experienced it full force the rest of the way! Paul did fairly well during the days, but nights were just a mess. In fact, one night he was up from 1 am - 6 am for no apparent reason (like teething, flu, etc). That one really baffled us and the next day we had a 6.5 hour drive to make. Thankfully he finally slept. ;) Since we've been home though, he's been doing very well and going to his bed with zero fuss. I guess he really does sense all the upheaval and chaos and reacts to that.

So now starts the mad dash to the finish line, so to speak. We hit the ground running with commitments and people to see and this next week looks pretty full. In between spending time with people, we have lots of packing to finish and things to put into storage. I thought I did a pretty good job of downsizing our stuff until I came home Thursday (after living out of a suitcase for three weeks) and realized things just multiplied while we were gone! So now it's time to get ruthless again. :-) In the end, it's all just things and I have to keep reminding myself of that. 

17 days before take-off!!!

Exciting Times!

We just ended our first of two missions conferences Sunday evening and it was exciting and sad all rolled into one. Exciting because this was the first missions conference of this church and we know the Lord is going to do great things as long as this church stays yielded to Him. But it was sad to say good-bye to the other four missionary families, knowing that we won't see them for a very long time or ever again until eternity. Unless we have layovers in Australia, Mexico, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island that is! I told Nat we could take a different route to and from Thailand every time because we have so many friends in so many countries. Can you imagine a trip that includes stops in South Africa, Scotland, and Canada? That would be a looong trip home!

One of the missionary families was quite delayed in getting to Texas from Oklahoma City (4 hours away). Last week someone tried to steal their diesel from their truck and made a real mess of some hoses. They got that fixed and then were on the way down to Texas when their transmission died. They finally got here Saturday by borrowing a church van. This morning the pastor was sharing their story and said a couple of people gave him checks to go towards the transmission repair. He then mentioned if anyone else wanted to give, they could. I was so thrilled and excited for this missionary family as this little country church took up a free-will offering of several hundred dollars. I know how it feels to have an overwhelming car problem that you have no idea how it will all sort out and then the Lord uses people to meet that need. God is so good and I'm thankful this family got to be on the receiving end of His goodness!

We have now entered the "under one month" mark for Thailand! That is to say, Lord willing, this time next month we should be in Thailand, travel weary and bone tired. Ahh, but before that month finishes out, we have exciting things in store. Birthdays to celebrate, an early Thanksgiving with my family, dinners, lunch dates, packing, more family time, a special sending service at our home church and yes, tearful hugs and goodbyes for now. I'm not a huge fan of long, drawn out goodbyes but there's something sweet about those teary goodbyes too. I know that God will give much grace to make this big move halfway around the world!

Texas Travel.

We've been hanging out in the middle of nowhere Texas for the last couple of days, but it has been nice to have a comfortable trailer to stay in! We're taking part in a little country church's first missions conference and we are glad to be here, along with a few other families we've crossed paths with while on deputation. If we can't see a missionary when they come to our home church, then we'll just have to meet up with them at a conference!

Yesterday we drove about 45 minutes to a nearby town (yes, that is nearby for Texas!) to what is considered the world's largest flea market (http://www.cantontradedays.com/). If it's not the largest, it's certainly a close second! We walked around for a couple of hours and gazed longingly at everything we couldn't buy. We did pick up two small Christmas items, and kept telling ourselves the day is coming when we will be able to purchase things again. For now, we wait until Thailand! 

The market we were at reminded us a lot of Thailand, with the exception of the booths having space between them and wide aisles to walk through. The day was hot and the sun seemed to be just above our head. It was a good reminder of what's in our future! Thankfully the humidity was low. :-)

From here we move on to Louisiana, a state I've not been to yet. I'm surprised the tourist in me hasn't started checking out things to do in Shreeveport and Baton Rouge. :-) I'll gladly take suggestions!

I can tell that we've been out of the traveling mode for a while, because we're all slightly off our groove and what little schedule/routine Paul had is gone.  I'm very grateful our deputation days are over because I'm not as big of a fan of traveling anymore. I'm ready to make the one last big trip to Thailand and then be done for a little bit. :-)

My Poor, Neglected Blog...

Umm, where did summer go? Seriously. It was just here!  I suppose with today being the official start to fall that I should get off my summer slump of not blogging and resume this little place I call home. :-) So let's see... a quick recap!

Nat, Paul, and I took some cousins to a nearby amusement park in early August. While I did manage to write about it here (yay!), I failed to add a picture.  Here ya go:

Paul and I on one of the (few!) rides he could ride.  Just wait 'til he is older... he'll be zooming all over the park then. :-)

We also celebrated Paul's birthday in early August with a grand birthday party... balloon animals and face painting included! Between Nat's immediate family and mine, we had 15 kiddos running around.  It sure got confusing because the kids on Nat's side are siblings while the kids on my side are nephews and nieces, so we were forever saying, "Go to Uncle Nat, I mean... Nat!" or ".... Anne, I mean Auntie Anne!" But we had lots of fun. :-) 

His party was a little early since my in-laws were up from Texas at the beginning of August.  Hey, we figured this was the only birthday party for Paul we'll actually have family at since most of his birthdays will probably be celebrated in Thailand.

Paul's gift was his first set of car keys! Too bad the car didn't come with it! ;-)

Then we celebrated Paul's birthday on his real day by taking him to a local burger place.  Too bad the kid doesn't have any teeth so he could enjoy a burger! ;-) For the record, the burgers at the Creamery are amazing... seriously, they are so yummy. Although the name of Nat's burger was "The Heart Attack" so that should also tell you how good for you they are!

We did take Paul to a local yogurt place for dessert and he devoured an entire bowl of yogurt and blueberries... mmm!  Happy birthday little guy!

So the next plan on our agenda is head to Texas to visit with my in-laws before starting the drive back through the South. I am very excited to be adding three new states to my list of states I've been too. Once this trip is over, I'll only have ten more States to visit... like Hawaii and California. :-) But we'll save that for the next round of deputation/furlough.

 There's my little update and since we're hitting the road soon, I'm sure you'll hear from me a little more often now.... I tend to be a better blogger when I'm traveling or living in a different country! ;-)

No more stuff!

I feel like it has been an eternity since I last posted, but that's because life has been happily chaotic and full. I was glancing around my apartment this morning and realized we met a really important goal this weekend: getting rid of stuff. 

We had our yard sale Saturday and even with the dead-end street factor working against us, we still managed to get rid of quite a bit. One couple who stopped by mentioned their daughter was having a boy in September. Since Paul was a September baby as well, I gave them 5 boxes of baby clothing and both parties were very happy. :) 

We only hauled back half of a tote into our apartment and that made me really happy! What didn't sell we put out for free at church and then whatever is leftover goes to Goodwill. :)

There were several items that we were sad to see go, but that's just the way it is. Now my plan is to start helping my mom go through her house - now that's going to be a job! ;-)

Cousins And Couches.

Friday Nat, Paul, and I picked up two little cousins and headed to an amusement park nearby to join up with my sister and her family. The five little cousins had so much fun together, although I will admit that the ones who had the most fun were the ones who could go on all the rides. :-)

Nevertheless it was a great day to spend time with some of our nephews and a niece, especially since our time here in the States is rapidly drawing to a close. 

In other news, our couch moved on today to a new home. Nat had bought a couch set with one of the guys from church when they were both bachelors and split the set when the other guy got married. Now the two parts will be reunited again and we have one more thing out of our apartment. I suppose we could've waited until we moved to Thailand to get rid of the couch, but the space it freed up was a little more important to me. :-) Now I feel like I can organize our remaining stuff a little easier! Plus we won't have as many last minute things to do if we start doing them now!

The next thing on my calendar is a yard sale on August 24th... Please buy our stuff! It would be lovely to get rid of the pile in my bedroom. :-)