Somtam and Wii

Last night Lori, Mike, and I got to enjoy one of our very favorite Thai dishes, "Somtam". The girls have always liked going over to Pii Lamai's house- because she gets the fresh ingredients all prepared and set up and then lets them make their own Somtam. Lori did a good job and it was very delicious. We put one thai chili in ours-- but when Lamai made a batch for her family, she put in a handful (10-15) of the peppers.

Some of the ingredients are: unripe papaya, julienned carrots, long beans, tomatoes, melted palm sugar melted, thai chillies, garlic, lime juice, fish sauce, and roasted peanuts.

Lori using the clay mortar with a wooden pestle to pound the garlic.

Lamai's finished batch.

After dinner we played tennis and car racing with their Wii game and laughed till my stomach was so sore. Let's just say they have the game much more perfected than we amateurs, which provided some good humor to watch us.

Live each day fully

"Too often we focus more on the big events of life and consider routine days as unimportant.

We must not think of any day as ordinary but

live each day fully in the moment,

enjoying the season.

We can prepare for the future,

but we can only live in the moment."

Home

We are home and I can't tell you how good it is to have the bags unpacked and to be enjoying the comforts of own home. It's been especially fun to see Thailand through Loris eyes. She graduated from high school here 7 years ago and the last time that she was home in Chiang Mai was 4 years ago. She is amazed at all the changes here and has been sentimental about seeing some of the old stomping grounds from her teenage years. This is her at the airport when we first landed in Thailand. These Thai giant statutes are all over the welcome area.




When we landed in Chiang Mai some of our sweet Thai staff and friends were there to meet her with flowers and welcome signs.We've had some Internet problems since we got here that you've may have noticed. We are at BJ and Lamai's house for a welcome dinner tonight and I discovered that the Royal Thai Police is not blocking their house Internet as it is ours. The following blog is one that I've been trying to put up since we got here......

Bangkok@Midnight

Chicago to Tokyo=13 hours with 1 hour sleep
Tokyo to Bangkok= 6 hours with 6 hours sleep
What to do in Bangkok when arriving at midnight with Lori ready to explore and hungry?….
The front desk told us the closest spot is the 7-11 about 5 minutes away—but they tell us it is not good to walk alone at this time of night. They ask would she like the bell boy to take her on his motorcycle? We recruit Mike to take our midnight stroll with us and in the meantime we are all laughing about feeling like we’re in a hot and humid sauna even at this time of night. Should we just snack on the banana bunches that we are passing along the way? Stepping over the dogs on the street as we walk. Garbage lining the street for the next pick-up? Lori thrilled to find some of her favorite Thai products. Thankful that 7-11’s are open 24 hours and can be found every few blocks in Thailand. We’re so happy to be back!

Anyone else having problems?

Ever since we got back here to our home- we cannot get on certain websites and cannot post on our blog. The message in my previous post comes up! Anyone else having this problem?

Sorry, the web site you are accessing has been closed by Royal Thai Police due to inappropriateness such as pornography, gambling or contain any information which is deemed to violate national security.

Stop in Tokyo

We just finished the longest leg of our travels (a 13 hour flight) and are enjoying a few hours layover in the Tokyo airport! Lori and I were calculating that we don't think we've crossed the ocean together since she graduated from high school in 2002. She's much easier to have a long now than some of those years of when we travelled with four little ones, which I'm really not too sure sure how we did it back then. This was taken right about the time when we didn't think we could sit another hour more.

I actually sort of enjoy the time of refection we get transitioning between countries, and the chance to read. I like this quote that I just read from British theologian, J.I. Packer:

"Christianity sees each person as designed for a life beyond this life-an endless life which for those who know God will be far richer and more joyous than our present life can be, and for which life in this world was always meant to be a preparation. We were never intended to treat this world as home, or live in it as if we would be here forever." It helps me with my perspective in moving from one home to the the next- of which neither are really my real home!

One day left!

Tomorrow is our last day in the USA before we return to Thailand. I'm so ready to get back to our home and life in Chiang Mai. I look forward to unpacking the suitcases and putting them away for awhile. This week, I had fun with a little project in our cabin. I got the idea out of a magazine and thought it was appropriate for our family who is so spread out in different time zones. I'm not sure how long these locations will be current, but I can change them with time and this is where everybody is for now.

Last night we had my family up to our cabin for a cook out and volleyball. We had such a fun time together and it reminded me of what a great location our cabin is, right next to the sports courts. We had a pretty serious guys vs. girls volleyball game! Won't tell you who won!

Dan, Dean Drake, Shan, and Mike made up the guys team.
Judy, Bella, Kim, Sydney, Lori, Me and Delaney were missing Sarah a whole lot! Today the weather in Iowa was absolutely gorgeous. I think I especially enjoyed that perfect 70 F. temp- knowing that we'll be back in some serious heat and humidity real soon.

Grandma's Brag Book

My mom always use to carry one of those photo books in her purse to show off her grandkids (my kids). I guess I display my Grandma Brag Book here on my blog. As we just came back from a fun time with our grandkids and are preparing for our return to Thailand in a few days, here's some of my favorites.Collin had told his dad one day just before we arrived that he was ready to take the training wheels off his bike. His first time on the bike he rode to the end of the street and turned around and came back without falling once. He could hardly wait for us to get there and show us his new riding skills. He is amazingly steady on it and is already trying fancy tricks at age 4. He's definitely his father's son. Summer was showing us her riding skills right along with him-- but still has the training wheels on. Everything most certainly has to be pink or purple for her- if possible! Collin and Summer are so fun to watch playing together and copy each other's idea's real often.

Baby Hayley is officially into solids now and pretty much wanting any food that anyone will feed her. Since the different food's are still being introduced gradually, Marisa had to monitor all of us and our attempts to offer her ice cream, etc. Funniest thing was watching her eye/hand coordination when she tries to eat her little baby finger foods. Loving her bath time and playing in the water....I can't get enough of her gorgeous eyes.... and don't you just want to kiss those cheeks........

.... and let's just say we can't get enough of this baby doll!

Marisa loves dressing the sisters alike! Let's just say that when we get back to Thailand - we are increasingly thankful for Skype, the internet, and blog updates.

False Advertising??

Last week while we were in Arkansas, we had a pretty hot day and I decided to pick up a little inflatable pool for Collin and Summer to play in. Now I knew it was going to be a small wading pool only, but after getting it out of the box and blowing it up- we laughed so hard at silly grandma. They both thought it was so funny as they could hardly both fit in it at the same time. I just kept comparing the picture of the child and lady on the box in the pool and their happy faces- with what we got in reality. Somehow they made the pool look alot bigger than the one was in our box at the house. I asked Col and Sum to make a look of disappointment for my photo and this was the best they could do. Collin was much happier at the lake a few days earlier when Grandpa let him drive the golf cart and ..... he was happier in the lake with his dad where they had alot more water and space to swim and play. I'll be sure to check out the inches on those inflatable pools before I get them home and provide some laughter for everyone in the family.

Hobby Lobby Update

Just got a comment on my last post with this inside scoop about Hobby Lobby! Thanks for the info, Jan!

"Yes, go to hobbylobby.com It was started by David Green. Their company purpose states "to honor Biblical principles in all we do." Do you listen to the music in the store while shopping? It is all Christian music. Very cool. Full-page ads in Courier on Easter and Christmas with the gospel message. Yes, do support this store!"

Allowing Time for Worship?

After church today, Lori and I did a quick run to Hobby Lobby to get some supplies for a home craft project. I was very surprised and so excited to find the place closed with this sign on the door. I remember when I was a child and almost every business would close on Sundays for the Sabbath. Nowadays, it seems that Sunday is one of the busiest shopping days. I absolutely loved reading this sign, with the bold statement that they want to allow employees time for worship and it seems Lori did too. So we're wondering if the owner is related to Chic-fil-A, which is known for being a Christian business closed on Sundays. Does anybody know the story behind the Hobby Lobby "closed on Sundays" policy? I think I'll start shopping there more just to support them!

all my chicks in the nest...

Well, they weren't exactly in my nest-- but then again as a missionary I'm not always sure where my nest is! As a mama, it just feels good to have all the chicks in one place at the same time- which is what I was able to experience last week for two days. We spent time with each of the girls over a period of a week-- and those two days that we were all in one place at the same time were the best. Needless to say, all the interacting between the 10 of us- (especially with the grandkids) felt like pandemonium at times-- but we loved it all!

Just the single girls!

Having fun with the photo shoot!

For a girls night out, we went to the Broadway show-Peter Pan!

In the Peter Pan gift shop.
Gotta love those "blingbling" hats!

All my ducklings in a line and as happy as can be!

We'll let the boys in on this one, too- but just remember...

"don't mess with my sista!"

Surprise, Surprise, Surprise!

Once we found out Lori was coming back to the USA and then on to Thailand with us-- we decided to let her sisters have a little time with her to catch up. Our trip to Missouri to see Jenny and then to Arkansas to see Marisa and family meant we'd all be together except Bethany. After checking on our free mileage tickets and Bethany's work schedule- Mike decided it'd be a great surprise to bring Bethany back for the family time together. Since all the plans were made so "last minute" (literally in 2 days time) - we decided to surprise the girls. We were all on the phone with each other alot over the next few days-- and it was a real challenge to keep the secret until we were gradually all together. Here's the progression documented each day in pictures.

Wednesday- Mike picked up Bethany at the airport and she sneaked into the cabin for the biggest surprise of all to Lori. As you can see Lori was moved to tears and in total shock.

The travels begin!

Thursday- We drove from Iowa to Missouri to meet Jenny where she is working this summer. Our surprise plan there was to meet Jen at Fuddruckers, just near her job before she had to go into work. After greeting Lori with hugs, Jenny too was pretty shocked to see Bethany walk up a few minutes later.

Friday- Jon and Marisa and kids drove over from Arkansas to stay with us for two days and see Lori and Jenny. After all the hugs of seeing us and Lori-- Marisa was totally confused in this picture when Bethany walked up and ran the doorbell of the house.
What a fun time of surprises-- and the plan actually worked! More photos to come of all the fun times we squeezed into our few days together.