Here are a few pictures from our daily life :-) Below is one of the kiddos half eaten noodle soup - they like the noodles and "meatballs" (pork balls), but pick around any vegetables or other types of meat. Selah is learning to eat with chopsticks - she does it pretty well, but very slowly, so sometimes we have to get her food to go. Kiera was shown by a Thai woman how the Thai people eat noodles, you use your chopsticks or a fork to twist the noodles onto a soup spoon and then eat the noodles off the spoon. So she likes to eat the noodles like that; which usually requires either Ross or I getting the noodles onto the spoon for her.
This picture is of our family at our favorite noodle shop. The guy in the background is the owner and he used to live in the UK, so his English is really good and it makes it very easy to order as well as have a Thai person to talk with. There are walls on two sides of the restaurant, the other two sides are open to the street, literally, the street. The sidewalk is right next to the tables. That is how most dining is here - it makes it super convenient and there isn't any need to advertise. You just walk down the street and pick a restaurant that looks like what you want and stop in. There are two basic types of restaurants - Noodles or Rice. So, first you ask yourself if you want a noodle dish or a rice dish. Everyone in the group has to agree on one, because they don't sell noodles at rice shops or rice at noodle shops. You can tell what kind of restaurant it is by the food items they have on display in their mini-kitchen. Most food is prepared very close to your table where you can watch if you would like. I am definitely going to miss the food here. It is healthy (well, most of it! Thai people really like their snacks and some of them are very fried), yummy, cheap (usually $1.00 - $1.50 for a meal), convenient - we can walk to a variety of restaurants, quick service, cooked once you order it, pleasant - the Thai people are so hospitable.
Next, a picture of the kids sleeping arrangement. This mat on the floor is about 2 feet away from our bed, so at bedtime, Ross and I sit in our bed with either a small light on or playing on the Nabi's (thank you, mom and dad!) and the kids wrestle, kick and fight over the big pink blanket until (after multiple spankings) they each finally fall asleep (Kiera first, then Mason, then Selah - they wake up in this order in the morning, too). Usually before we go to bed, we pick them up and put them back in their area (Kiera is usually on the floor, Mason close to Selah and Selah upside down). Then in the middle of the night, someone cries because someone kicked them and I untangle the puzzle again. Outreach Living!!! I will be happy to have a separate room to sleep in than them, but it makes it convenient to just step out of bed and be right at their bed, there isn't any walking into the other room to take one back to bed.
Here is a Buddhist Temple that we walked around a few days ago. It is only a few hundred feet from our hotel and we pass it multiple times a day because it is on the way to food, the university, a small market. The temple is beautiful - so shiny and ornate. There were lots of things that would have been fun for the kids to climb on, but we tried to be super respectful, so the kids lost interest quickly.
A few more things:
- Mason is still sort of using the potty. This morning he woke up and said, momma, I need to go tinkle. He walked right into the bathroom and used the potty. And then their are times when he gets so caught up in what he is doing that he doesn't use the potty all day. Oh well, this is just for fun now, when we get back to Montana, we will be more serious about it. We will get to start using underpants!!!
- We only have 4 days left in Chiang Rai - which we are very sad about. We have come to enjoy walking to restaurants and the coffee shop across the street, playing games and eating with the Thai people that we have met here and have become our friends. We gravitate towards the ones that enjoy our kids :-) At the coffee shop they have lots of games - UNO, Phase 10, Rummikub, Battleship, Scrabble, Monopoly, Jenga... Selah has figured out that she can play these games and so really enjoys hanging out at the coffee shop. Kiera usually finds a Thai college student to hang out with and Mason plays in the water outside :-)
- Once we leave Chiang Rai - we will travel to Bangkok (12-15 hour bus ride), then the beach (can't remember name, about 4 hours from Bangkok), then back to Bangkok (4 hours), then to Seoul (6 hours on plane), Seattle (12 hours on plane) and finally home (1.5 hours on plane + 45 minute drive)! That travel starts on Monday evening and we arrive in Montana late Friday night. Sound like a lot? I think so too :-)
- Please pray for safe travel, health, patience, rest, good attitudes, friendly people next to us on the buses and planes...
- For Christmas Ross surprised me with sunglasses! It was so wonderful for a variety of reasons - 1. I forgot my other glasses at home 2. These are the ones I have been wanting for riding and running 3. I thought he had Zac as his secret santa, but it was really me and he tricked me and surprised me and it was great!
- I got to go to a new friend's house on Wednesday. It was a short visit, but so needed and great! I went with all the kids because she has a 2 and 4 year old also (as well as a 6, 11, 13, and 15 year old that were all in school). It was wonderful because I got some girl time - with a mom and missionary and Christian, there was so much we could share and encourage each other about. It was great to see an American woman living in Thailand, it was also great to see her house, meet her kids, just feel like a mom going over to another mom's house for a playdate. A dose of normalcy in our not so normal life. Funny thing is that our kids do think this is normal. Moving, traveling, school on the road, not speaking the language, trying new food, walking places... they don't know any different because they are getting exposed to this so early.
- I'm reading a book called "The Mission of Motherhood" - it is a love-hate relationship. It is encouraging, yet at the same time, I think - I can't every do all the things she is recommending. Yes, I should put it down, but I don't want to quit, only 3 more chapters.
- Ross and I have both had lots of time to read during this outreach because once the kids are in bed, at least one of us stays back with them - so we've always got a few hours at night to read. It has been so nice to have this time. A few of the books we have read (either one of us or both of us): Missionary books about Eric Lindell, Amy Carmichael, Gladys Alwads (sp?), Ida Scudder; The Book that made your world (ross), Mission of Motherhood, (in the middle of) Shackleton's Way and A Long Obedience in the Same Direction; one by Henri Nouwen... You get the idea. I'm loving that Ross is reading with me, too!
- Mason is often the star of the show in the cafeteria at lunch. University students walk by our table and say "Hi, Mason" and I've never seen them before. How do they know his name? Part of the reason is because he will find one friend and then that friend will take him to their table and then he will stay at that table for a while, taking pictures will all the girls, eating their food, giving hugs and smiles. He sure knows how to work the system. My girls have a friend that eats with us most days and sometimes after their lunch she will buy them a Thai snack, sometimes they like it, sometimes they don't, but they sure like that she bought them an edible surprise.
- Selah has hit an entitlement phase that isn't pretty. Usually Ross and I are the only ones that see it, so she has everyone else fooled :-) I'm pretty sure that Selah's love language is Words of Encouragement (and maybe gifts), which means that hard words really tear her down. I'm working on choosing my words more carefully when speaking with her. Selah loves to give encouragement to others, to write them notes and give gifts. She is quick to remember if someone is sick or sad and want to do something nice for them.
- Kiera is steady and sweet. She loves to serve and help. She loves to dance. She rarely whines and is quick to love on you. Kiera has the endurance to walk long distances and she dances beautifully. She is quieter and more shy than the other two, but she has friends here, too. Once you are her friend, you will always be her friend. She has a game she plays with one of the guys on the team where every morning he will say, "Good morning, Selah" and Selah says, "Good Morning, Adam", then he says, "Good Morning, Mason" and Mason says, "Good Morning, Adam", then he says, "Good Morning, Kiera" and Kiera just smiles. She has yet to say good morning to him. Although at any other time of the day, she loves Adam and plays with him all the time. It is so great to see her humor already.
