Closing up 2015

Written New Year’s Eve, but not posted until now because of technical difficulties
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
And since I haven’t blogged since October, here’s a bit of catch up.
I did go visit the States with my baby, Rennie, in late October, coming  back in early November. It was a lovely time. Yes, I dreadfully missed my man and children. However, we didn’t say, “Never again!” We said, “we’ll wait awhile before we do that again. “I was determined not to do too much or pack my time with appointments and just spend some time with my family then I was up North to see Dru’s family for a couple days. All happy times that flew by quickly.
My sister, Amy, made the last minute decision to come with me back to Thailand for about five weeks. Sadly, we weren’t able to “show her a good time” so to speak like we would have liked to. We moved (again) over this time and so there was a lot of packing and cleaning that she got in for instead. I did manage to take her to the market and we went up the falls and to the malls with her as well. But, well, mostly she worked like the maid. I hope she’ll come back again at a time that isn’t so busy for us.

I realized that the stomach flu I was fighting as I was trying to pack to come back to Thailand was a bit odd. It dawned on me about 12 hours before boarding my plane that perhaps I was pregnant. Such is the case, so all the drama of the last several months has been even more complicated as I struggle with a foggy brain and morning sickness. Seriously, I don’t know which is worse. Thankfully, I think I am coming out of that.
                                                         

Here would be the time to say that Bob and Yai were baptized several weeks after I returned from the States. Praise the Lord! We’re looking forward to working with them in church planting here in the future.
      
Christmas parties came and went this year, very happily. I have to learn not to stress about hosting and things being “just as they are” with having just moved and all. I do better as soon as the first guests arrive and I can stop pretending that I’m actually going to manage getting things perfect before people get here.


The Sunday before Christmas we had a Christmas party/church meeting, with our Thai people. Yai’s sister and her daughter showed so we got to share the Christmas story with them.  And then we ate…and ate…and ate…Yai’s story of her friend who came from some European country where it was not perceivable to eat meals unless food is served in proper courses seemed especially unfortunate as we feasted over papaya salad, squid (or is it octopus, or maybe cuttle fish?) cookies, candy, popcorn, noodles, sticky rice and chicken, oranges and everything else—all in one happy array over the dinning room table.

Christmas Day evening was also a lovely time with our “farang” friends crowded into our tiny new home, some for supper and others came later to feast on Christmas goodies, hot chocolate, and coffee. Mae Wahn came too, and it was nice to have her and thankfully, these days when our house is full of farangs, most of us know enough Thai to include her in the fun and conversation. The only pictures that I’m aware of for sure that got taken were a few taken by our French Mennonite guest, a co-teacher of Dru’s—but they were only a few. If anybody has pictures of that evening I’d love to have them. Other guests were Lavan and Beth and their little girl, Lanus and Aggie and family, Amy, Kimberly, Leon, and Chad and Jenny Graber’s family. Happy times.

Since that evening our family hash mostly been crashing. Playing. And crashing some more. We discovered a “new” mountain on our side of town. We can get there without going all across town through much traffic. This is good. We found a cave. This was very scary and terrifying for the pregnant mother who is scared of heights. We had to ascend many steps to get to the mouth of the cave, then descend many steep and uneven steps into the heart of the mountain. Jube was totally thrilled. Havilah and I held hands and assured each other that we were scared many times until we were finally out. Once all the steps were descended, it wasn’t so bad, except for the dread of climbing them again. Once down there, there was a small monkey there who begged for food. He was the nicest thing about the cave. Otherwise it was rather like an overgrown unfinished basement, what with all those steps and all. But we made it, Havilah and I, we did!

Then that evening I took Jube skating. He did a good job. I was a bit tipsy after not having been on skates since before I was married. And all that were available to rent were hockey skates. Dru, Havilah, and Rennie, occupied themselves elsewhere in the mall until we were finished. I felt bad at first that Havilah wasn’t able to go, but in the end it was better—I don’t think she’d have lasted long and training one child while feeling a bit uncertain myself was as much as I could handle. She seemed to have a nice time with her Daddy, too.
Here’s hoping you all had a Merry Christmas and are anticipating a Happy New Year. God bless!