'Twas a Merry Christmas

Arriving back in our home just two weeks before Christmas after being gone for months, and then having house guests arrive a week later- made this Christmas come on fast and strong.  It was so fun to get back in time for our four Thailand grand-kids Christmas programs and then to have Lori here with us made it especially special.

Immediately after getting off the plane we got to see Hayley's first grade program and then a few days later went out to GIS to see all three kids sing with their classes.  Collins in the back row here with his 5th grade.

Hayley is in white on left with the 1st grade and Summer is the blonde in back with her 3rd grade. 

Our first Sunday back was the church Christmas program and we got to watch the two older angels, and Nathan as Joseph.

Our northern TCCC staff party is always a highlight for us.  This year the theme was to dress like nature. There were a lot of branches flowers and trees on the staff.

There is always a lot of fun and laughter at this party and the Foltz grand-kids entertained our staff with their "whip & nae nae" dance. 

We also got to be a part of our new Leadership Led Movements (LLM) Christmas party.  This is a new ministry that BJ and Lamai are leading with business people in Chiang Mai. Christmas is a great time to have evangelistic parties because Thais are curious about the meaning of Christmas.  About 50% of those invited did not know who Jesus is. Above is the entertainment team.

We had another performance by the Foltz children at this party.

Mike ended the evening with a message and invitation to invite Jesus into their lives. 

We decorated cookies at Marisa's house and ate at our house.   Good thing we are just a few steps from each others houses. 

Christmas eve morn we all nine played golf.  Well sort of.  It took us two hours to play three holes, but we sure had a lot of laughs and fun.  This year has been unusually warm with not much of a cool season break, which has been disappointing.  It just does still not seem right to be sweating in the kitchen as you prepare the Christmas day meal. 

Christmas day we had our big holiday meal in our home with 9 of the 17 of our family.  Pretty good this year to get half of us in Thailand. There was a rare shipment of Dr. Pepper that showed up at one store in town, just in time to make it into the Foltz kid's stockings. 

The grands made Christmas so fun this year.  Ages 11, 9, 6, and 4 are very fun ages. 

Of course, we ended the party with a birthday cake for Jesus and went around the table and each told what we liked about him best.  So precious to hear all the comments. We were all thankful for a great family Christmas in spite of missing the other 8 in the USA. Hope yours was merry, too!

The Rachel's

Lori grew up here in Thailand, it is home to her, and she feels comfortable with life here.  Thailand is one of the top tourist destinations of the world.  People love to come here and observe the culture and enjoy so many affordable activities.  Put those two together and Lori emerged into a great tour guide for two of her best friends these past two weeks.

Both girls are named Rachel. All three of these girls grew up as staff kids with Cru, and now they are all on campus staff with Cru in Texas.  They understand each other well, and are quite the trio of friendship. They arrived just a few days after we got back to Thailand and spent their first few days in Bangkok and on two different beaches in southern Thailand before coming up here to Loris home in Chiang Mai.

They were pretty independent, going on outings by themselves each day- but I did join them for a few days. Most visitors want to visit a Buddhist temple, so we went to a well known one on the top of a mountain which was very busy that day. 

If your legs are not totally covered, you are asked to rent their Thai skirts while in the temple.  They look lovely, eh?

The temple has a beautiful view overlooking the city of Chiang Mai.

It's a lot of steps to get these lovely girls from the temple top to the bottom.

We also joined them and the Foltz family for a hike up the Bua Tong limestone waterfalls.  It's so beautiful there and such a fun climb. 

These girls did so much in their short 11 days here.  Elephant riding, bamboo rafting, more market shopping than they can count, zip-lines through the rain forest, and more. They really squeezed in a lot, just in time to fly home and be with their families by Christmas eve. We are enjoying six days with Lori now before she returns back to Texas.  We miss you Rachel(s)!  Thank you for coming to visit Lori and for giving her such a great time! Ha ha! 

Vonette Bright's Coronation Day

This morning I woke up to the news that this world had lost a great woman, Vonette Bright.  She was such a hero to me. I know that she is home in heaven with her beloved husband, Bill who she co- founded our movement with and that she is praising God with an  amazing choir of angels, but I still feel a heaviness of heart. She had such an impact on my life.  If it were not for her, Mike and I may not be serving God in Asia for 37 years with Campus Crusade, along with our staff in over 180 nations. I am so thankful for her impact on my life. 

Just a few memories that stand out for me was that on our first flight overseas in 1979, Bill and Vonette happened to be on our flight for a conference along with a large group of CCC staff.  They sat back in economy with us and as ‘faith stretching’ as that first trip (for 3 years) across the ocean was for me, it was comforting to know that our president and wife were accompanying us on our flight. Another memory was a few years back when Vonette was here in Thailand  with a conference and the group did the regular tourist elephant riding.  Vonette wanted to be in on the fun as usual, but because of a broken wrist her staff were not sure she should risk the ride.  Mike offered to take care of her and rode the elephant with her, making sure she was safe even as she kept sliding down and he had to hold her up on the elephant’s seat.

More than anything, she was an encourager of our staff, who demonstrated to me her trust in God in all things. She was a true helpmate to her husband and taught me through her example. Tomorrow as we celebrate Christmas, it's good to know that Vonette is home for Christmas with Jesus and her husband, Bill. 

Vonette was a role model to me through her life and even in the way she died.  God blessed her for her faithfulness as she was speaking with groups to encourage them just days before she  left this earth. I am so thankful to be part of her legacy and our whole cru staff family will miss her. You can read more about her life at this website. 

Below is a tribute to Dr. Bright that was made in 2001.  I cannot watch it without tears.

Kennedy's birth day

Three weeks ago right now, we met our precious baby Kennedy for the first time. Life has been a bit of a whirlwind for us since then, between travelling from Oklahoma to Iowa and then returning to Thailand. It's a day I do not want to forget.

Being Thanksgiving weekend, the Seiler's were able to have Ben's parents, us, Lori, and the Allens all in town. Family was in and out of the hospital before and after Kennedy's arrival. The ice storm that weekend added a little excitement to the travelling, but they all made it before the birth.

Ruby Kay meeting her baby sister for the first time soon after the birth. 

They shared the name with us for the first time once we were all in the room and we even had the Foltz family join us via Face-time. 

It was so special to have the whole family gather around as the two new grandpa's prayed and dedicated this new life to God. 

This is one proud, thankful and happy Papa with his 8th grandchild. 

Ruby Kay and Ellanora (Allen) are just 6 weeks apart and now there are two more cousins close enough to grow up together.  Lola Mae and Kennedy are 11 weeks apart and their mama's already had them in some matching sleepers at the hospital.

Thank you again God, for the safe arrival and perfect timing of our healthy baby girl Kennedy Frances!

Thanksgiving- 2015

As we draw near to Christmas, our family Thanksgiving of 2015 will always be a memorable one. It will be remembered as the Thanksgiving weekend that God gave us a new baby.  It was challenging planning the logistics of the holiday, because of Jen's due date 12 days before Thanksgiving and our return to Thailand 12 days after Thanksgiving.  Being a missionary family and having to spend so many holidays separated from each other- since we were all in the same region of the country, we wanted to be together.  Jen and Ben graciously offered their home as the meeting place and we knew we all would need to be flexible with the plans.

The day before Thanksgiving, Lori and the Allen's drove from Texas and Arkansas to meet us in Oklahoma.

We enjoyed a fun evening together and 2 month old Lola Mae was the center of attention since we all had not had much time with her since her birth. 

She is one of the happiest lovable babies and was passed around the whole weekend. 

Jen was so gracious (being 11 days over due) to let us invade their home.  She set a pretty table and eagerly helped us as we all prepared the meal together. It was continually on everyone's mind, that this baby could potentially come at any time, but we had a mixture of feelings between carrying on life as usual while trying to keep attitudes of patience and contentment while waiting. 

In spite of missing the Foltz family in Thailand, we were so thankful to get the ten of us together and enjoy a meal of turkey, dressing and all the fixin's. Every single meal prayer ended with a request for labor to start and especially on this Thanksgiving day, as a testimony to the grateful hearts of the whole family after much waiting. 

We went bowling that evening and came back to play a hilarious board game at the house. Jen was such a trooper as she bowled two full games and just kept going.  Ben thinks it was all the gut wrenching laughter during the game of "Things" that finally brought on labor that Thanksgiving night.  

The next day, a relaxing morning around the house and then some "Black Friday" afternoon shopping kept the contractions consistent and a threatening ice storm that evening added some excitement to the timing of it all.  Since the hospital was 1.5 hours away in OKC, the doctor suggested she come on in that evening to avoid the storm. Off to OKC they went, checking in late that evening at 13 days overdue.  They knew that they still had a long night ahead of them and yet it was a relief knowing that baby girl would be arriving soon, making this Thanksgiving one to never be forgotten by all of us. 

Announcing the arrival of ......

Kennedy Frances Seiler

November 28, 2015

5:05pm

7 pounds, 10 ounces

20 inches long

God answered so many prayers concerning Kennedy's arrival. Jen was 13 days overdue, but because of that all the family (here in the USA) was together.  She actually started labor on Thanksgiving night after we had been bowling.  They made it to the hospital in Oklahoma City safely in the midst of an ice storm. Her labor and delivery experience was just what she had asked God for.  Both Mama and baby are doing great.

They are back home from the hospital now, and we are enjoying just two more days with them before our return to Thailand next week. 

Ruby Kay is very fascinated with her baby sissy and looks around to find her each time she walks in the room, and then gives her kisses and loves.

Kennedy had mixed feelings about this first bath at the hospital, but I love her newborn-ness here so much.

Experiencing Kennedy's birth was just as amazing as my other grandchildren. Our bodies are incredible and so intricately made, that I always find it breathtaking as I watch them take their first breath. The miracle of birth is one of God's greatest miracles to me and one of God's greatest blessings.  Thank you God for our new precious granddaughter.  

waiting for baby girl Seiler #2

The wait continues... today Jen is 40 weeks and 4 days.  That means 4 days past due date.  Not sure how proven it is, but I'm afraid that I may have passed on a family gene.  I was 1-2 weeks overdue with all four girls. It seems normal to me.

Last Sunday, on her due date, we were too close to the Allen's to not get to see them (mostly 2 month old Lola Mae....sorry Michael and Bethany and Ellie Faye)  so we all drove and met in Tulsa for a few hours. While letting the toddlers play at a park, we decided to get some last pictures of Jen with the baby inside, since she had not taken many this time around.

Yesterday, I got to go with her to her dr. appt. and meet her dr.  The nurse raved over Jen and how great she looked, how happy she was and still smiling.  She said many women come in overdue and are angry, mad, and crying.  I ask, "Why?".  The dr. reminded us that every woman has her own internal time clock and the baby will come when her body is ready.  The baby will NOT stay in there forever. What good does it do to get grumpy?  I am proud of Jen for waiting it out and agree she looks and is beautiful in this stage as she waits.

Everything is ready and waiting for baby in their home.  Ruby Kay talks about baby sissy a lot.

We are all anxious for the name reveal, after the birth.

Their little family of three is soon to become a family of four. 

The timing is becoming a little tricky and we have no other choice but to go with the flow.  Jen and Ben had decided to host Thanksgiving for us this year, not knowing the timing of baby girl. So for now, we are not sure if they will have a houseful and still be waiting, or have a newborn, or if we need to change the date of Thanksgiving this year if she is in the hospital.  Regardless, I am thrilled to get to cook the turkey for everyone, since I have not been able to do that for (who knows how many) years. Also, with our return tickets to Thailand on December 8th, we do not want the arrival and recovery days too close to our departure.  So for now, we wait in God's timing and remind each other that He is always in control and wait with open arms for baby girl.

c o u s i n s reunite

It is a three hour drive between the Allens in Fayetteville and the Seilers in Stillwater.  Yesterday on Jen's due date, we decided to drive and meet halfway in Tulsa. Well, actually more like 1/3 and 2/3rd's for the drive. 

Hello from Tulsa!

These two cousins have grown up almost like sisters and were so happy to see each other again. Being 2 year olds and only 6 weeks apart, they like to copy what the other one does.

Noticing that they have "sort of" matching boots.  

Love these silly cousins as they are so much fun when together. 

They truly do love each other (most of the time).

I think we were all most excited to see, two month old, Lola Mae. 

She has changed so much since we last saw her, smiling, cooing, and charming us all.

She got passed around the entire time we were together. 

And now we just wait for her next cousin to join us any day.  Jen is keeping super active, doing all those "nesting" projects, but as we all know... babies will come when they are good and ready and she just must not be ready yet.