1.27.2012

Chinese New Year


Ok-these pictures aren't great, but they are the only pics I have of Chinese New Year. A holiday where everything pretty much shuts down, everyone goes back to their hometown, and people shoot fireworks off EVERY night for two weeks. And I am not talking sparklers here people. There are people shooting fireworks in the middle of a group of people that in America you could only shoot off on a barge in the middle of a lake. Loud. Big. probably pretty dangerous. My boys LOVED it. Any one surprised?:)
Everyone was really safe in these pictures. The kids were watching Matt and our friend Nate set off relativly small fireworks.




The worst part of the fireworks come at about 11 at night when youa re trying to go to sleep. And they are SO LOUD! The kids wake up, are scared, can't fall back asleep. One of the times it is hard for me to embrace the culture with a happy heart :)

But we can sleep in peace now--until next year.

1.19.2012

Dunked

While we were in Thailand 6 children from our group got baptized. Everett and Reid were part of the group, and the other 4 children are some of their best friends over here. Although it was hard to not be with family when they did this, it was so sweet to be able to do it with people we do life with over here.
This is Matt baptizing both the boys. What a sweet and precious moment for me. We both pray that the boys would continue to grow in their faith and love for Jesus Christ and we are SO thankful that He has drawn them to Him.
Sweet story--after Reid asked Jesus into his heart several months ago, Everett leaned down from the top bunk and said "finally! I have been praying for you to do that for forever!" and reid replied "now we have to pray for Rylie to do it, she's the only one left". Love their hearts for their brothers and sisters!





everett getting baptized


reid getting baptized



Proud parents!!


sweet boys on their special day

1.17.2012

Little fish

From Bangkok, we took a bus to Cha Am for our conference. We were in meetings a lot and the kids went to childcare (which they LOVED!)
But sometimes in the afternoons we had some freetime and the kids turned into little fish in the pools.
The best part about the pool time was that all their friends were there. They played in the pool all afternoon with their friends, came up to the table to eat dinner, and went back to the pool until dark. They had SO much fun!! I think we ate dinner in our swimsuits every night :)




I think the kids went down this waterslide 250 times each. They LOVED it!


Sonya provided a game for the kids. This is Reid juming through...pretty good form :)



                                                                         Matt and Rylie


Cameron, Reid, and Canyon

1.12.2012

Overnight train

Our last day in Chiang Mai we checked out of our hotel at 12 and our train didn't leave until 9 that night, so we spent the day exploring the city....at least the part around our hotel we could walk to :)


The boys found a place to play games and Rylie and I found a place to get a mani/pedi!
She got her nails and toenails painted for the first time and LOVED it! She sat so still and let them dry.


Such a happy girl!


Rylie and Mama enjoying a watermelon shake at the boys favorite steak resteraunt before we got on the train.


The kids at train station. We were taking an overnight train to Bangkok. And we were not in sleepers. Just regular seats. I had prepared myself for the worst, but the kids did AWESOME!!


Our seats.
They loved looking out the window and the boys loved "peeing right onto the ground" in the bathroom......


Kids with the train


1.11.2012

Ox Cart

After our hike to the village and waterfall--ok, this day sounds like it lasted FOREVER doesn't it?? We started at about 8:30 and got home at about 4. We were busy :)
ok--after all forementioned activities, we went on an ox cart ride. It was fun, but we were all SO glad that we don't travel like that.....kind of bumpy and a bit slow.....


Our ox-cart


Reid got to sit up front with the driver and help steer the oxen.


Our whole crew


Our family---you can tell Ry has missed naptime in this picture. She really did outstanding the whole day, but I was glad this was our last activity. She slept the whole hour drive home!


One last family picture


I just love this picture of Sandy and Rylie walking, holding hands.
My kids all LOVE them some mrs. sandy and mr. john

Waterfall

After the elephant show, we went on a short hike to a village and waterfall.



This is a typical house in the village...


and Jenny--there is a sewing machine, so you can come on over to live :)


The whole family at the waterfall!
Love the family God has blessed us with!


Daddy and his little girl


All three kiddos. and no one fell in. victory.



my honey and me

Feeding the Elephants

After we rode the elephants, we went to the camp and got to feed them. They put on a little show that the kids LOVED!




Here is Reid feeding the baby elephant.
He was fasinated that they ate the bananas without peeling them!


Everett feeding the baby a piece of sugar cane.


Ry showing us what she is going to feed "her" baby elephant.


Ry feeding "her" elephant


Her elephant saying "Thank you"

ok--the elephant painted this picture. all by herself. with her trunk. WHAT? We were all very impressed!

Riding Elephants!


This is the bridge we had to cross to get to where you ride the elephants. I don't know if you can see exactly what it was made with, but it was exactly not enough wood and nails that were popping off. WHAT? I almost didn't make it across. The boys loved it. Figures.

Here are Matt and the boys right after they got on the elephant

Here is me and Rylie on the elephant, after I stopped hyperventilating about bridge. Just kidding...kind of.


The whole family on the elephants!
We got to feed the elephants some bananas while we were waiting here. They ate them by the bunches!

The girls



After we rode across some super scary cliffs beautiful hills, we rode in the water for a bit before returning to
camp.

Sandy and John


After we rode the elphants we went on a fun bamboo raft. This isn't a picture of us (i took this while we were riding elephants), but this is exactly what we rode. The kids loved it! They were catching things in the water --we were leisurely floating--and they only caught 2 bugs!

Such a fun experience! We are so thankful that we got to take our family!

Orchids and butterfly


On our second day in Chiang Mai we went on an elephant trek. It was a day trip where we would head up into the mountains and ride an elephant, a bamboo raft, have lunch, and ride an oxen cart.
On the way into the mountains to ride elephants, we stopped at an Orchid and Butterfly farm. The flowers were beautiful and the ONE butterfly we saw was ok I guess pretty.
We saw more butterflies OUT of the farm than in it......


Here is our family pic in the orchids. 2 out of three isn't bad.....


sweet Sandy and me

Chiang mai-- Day 1

Sunshine, oh the sunshine!!
Our first morning in Chiang Mai we took a long walk in the WARM SUN!
It was delightful!!


We went to a yummy mexican restaurant for lunch with our friends John and Sandy, who had bravely signed up to vacation with our family. They have no kids yet--we have three......


John and Sandy.
So fun to have them with us! Matt and I have known Sandy since our days at Georgia. A LOT of years ago!


Rylie enjoying her watermelon shake.
Next to the warmth and sunshine, my next favorite thing about Thailand is the shakes. You can get them anywhere on the street, any fruity flavor you can think of, and they are only about 1 dollar. Does it get any better than that??


After lunch we went back to the hotel to do some swimming. The kids were SO excited to get in the water....i thought it was a bit cold....Chiang Mai is in the mountains. But it didn't seem to bother the kids :)


The pool was on the 5th floor and had a fantastic view!