Crossbows

When Matt came home from his trip he brought us all a little gift. The boys got wooden crossbows. They LOVED them! A friend of ours who also went on the trip, brought them back for his two girls and the four of them have really enjoyed playing in the complex with them.

Everett, Hailey, Reid, and Madison poised and ready to go!

Here is a little video of the crossbows in action

He brought Rylie a fish purse and a necklace. As you can see, she loved it!

Welcome Home Daddy!

A couple of weeks ago Matt went on a business trip and was gone all week. We all really missed him and were SO glad when he was on his way home that Friday. The kids wanted to make a welcome home sign for the door, so we brought the paint out and went to town.

They each painted a word and then got to decorate a part of the sign.

Rylie concentrating hard on painting her heart.

Reid and Rylie were SUPER into the painting

The final product on the door waiting for Daddy to come home. I was a bit worried it would freeze, but it survived!

(This is our outside door in the stairwell of our building--stairwell is outside, which is why i was worried about freezing!)



Prince and Princess

One of Rylie's sweet little friends here is a Valentines baby and had her 4th party this Valentines Day. She had a prince and Princess party and it was so much fun!

They all decorated a princess hat or a crown

Princess Rylie

some of the royal party.

 i love the pose Cooper is striking in the back row!

The girls and the awesome mermaid cake.

please note the chocolate covered strawberries in the corner of the picture. so yum, ate lots of those.

Sleepover

The kids had their first sleepover here last weekend! They all had a great time. Cameron and Laura Cate came so everyone had a friend. Rylie and Laura Cate sleep in the same twin bed--they were so cute!

The boys stayed up reading the Action Bible. So sweet!

We had movie night and they all snuggled up on the floor.

The boys

 Rylie and Laura Cate

Happy Valentines Day!

Happy Valentines Day!

we had heart shaped pizzas for dinner, enjoyed cards from family at home (THANK YOU!)

and Matt took Rylie out for dessert for her first annual Valentines Date. I think he is secretly hoping that if he starts the tradition now, it will prevent her from having another date on Valentines day. ever.

(we went out on a date Thursday night for our Valentines date--just in case you think he forgot me :)

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.

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

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

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



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!