What meal would you choose?

Quick entry:  Tonight after John came home from the village Mike, John and I were sitting at the table chatting and John posed a question:

“If you were here for 5 years and you could only have 1 meal from home – what would be the one meal???”….and the results were….:

Mike: Sonic extra long cheese coney, onion rings, and a route 44 ocean water!!!  Don’t forget the mustard and onions please…wait I wanna take that back.  2 liter of Dr. Pepper!!!  

John: 5 for $5 Arby’s melt with cheddar, large curly frie and a JUMBO Coke…on second thought…I think I’ll change that to Boneless Buffalo wings from Applebees with a basket of fries and a coke.  

Steph: Taco Bueno’s Chilada Platter, JUMBO Dr PEPPER!!!, with lots of chips and salsa please!  And no…I don’t want to change my mind!!!

So all of you who are reading out there….eat some Sonic, Applebees and Taco Bueno for us please!  

Chinese New Year...Market...Sparks in the Car...Elephant...

This morning we were jolted out of our sleep by a frightening noise. It sounded like machine guns going off next door!!! At the end of the sound was a HUGE BOOM BOOM BOOM! Josiah was asleep with us and I grabbed his ears and held him close telling him that everything was ok…while baby Jude started crying in his crib. After a few minutes of this deafening noise it finally stopped and it occurred to me that it was nothing but firecrackers going off (at least 5,000 count!) in celebration of the Chinese New Year at 6:40 in the morning NEXT DOOR!!!

I have to admit I was upset!! My poor boys were terrified…I jumped up and headed to the door (to do what…? I didn’t know) but by the time I got to the door I had gotten a hold of myself and I returned to bed. All I could think was “How dare they! Don’t they know people are sleeping!!! I can’t believe they really think that that does anything but annoy their neighbors…God help me!!!” From then on throughout the day we have heard spontaneous outbursts of firecrackers from random places. We have a couple more days of this heading our way. I remember this from last year but we were in a different house and we didn’t have as many neighbors that celebrated the Chinese New Year.

Although the reason is very sketchy…they say that they pop the fire crackers to scare away evil spirits during this time. I’m going to ask my neighbors why they pop them when I have the opportunity to find out what the thinking behind it really is. I thank God we don’t have to pop fire crackers to scare away evil spirits!

Anyway, I have some great pics from the market last night! I taught the kids about Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. I brought Josiah and Jude with me this time – the kids adore them. They can’t keep their hands off of them. Josiah does well with it and Jude just doesn’t care…but toward the end of the night Josiah had just had enough of all the pinching, staring, and attention and he started crying saying “There’s too many people mommy…they won’t stop touching me…I told them in Thai to ‘stop please’ but they won’t mommy!” So I just picked him up and held him until it was time to go.

When it was time to go two boys followed us out to the car and wanted to get into the car with us while we waited for Pii Thak. So they got in the car and we turned a tape that we have of “Bullfrogs and Butterflies” and they were asking Josiah to sing. They were having a good time and then I looked back and one of the little boys was trying to open the cockroach motel that was sitting in our floor board!!!!….and the other was sitting on the center console in our car which has a short in it somehow and we’ve had 3 small fires because of it. Whenever anything is up against it sparks start flying and smoke follows….

So I see the little boy sitting on it and I start touching his back to tell him to get up just in case…and about then sparks start flying. I couldn’t think of how to tell him to get up in Thai so I was saying to my friend “tell him to get up quick…tell him to get up…tell him…” The message just wasn’t getting through to him…and before we knew it sparks were flying and smoke filled the car…he got up finally…really confused…ehhehee..

It was quite funny actually – we rolled down the windows and Pii Thak strolled up about then. J After all that we needed a break so we headed to a little outside shop and had a 15 baht (.35 cents) Milo Ban (which is basically a shake made from ovaltine). While we were there an elephant showed up – we got some good pictures of Josiah feeding the elephant with Pii Thak.

Today is our day off during the week. Saturday is Family day for the whole team - so we just spend time together all day Saturday…so I snapped some cute pictures of Josiah being a goofy boy at lunch time…hope you enjoy! I will write again soon with more from John’s trip to Chiang Rai. I need John to finish it up and he just took Josiah to play outside.

Hope you enjoy the pictures! I’ll be writing again soon – and thank you for reading!
Steph

Jude's elvis impersonation....hehehe...
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Jude chilling on the bed today...
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How do you eat your oreo????
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I caught another smile on camera!! Ug...my heart just melts!
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Heinz ketchup!!! Thank God they have Heinz ketchup because all the other Thai brands DO NOT taste like our ketchup...hehehe..
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Katherine, Pii Thak, Josiah and I at the Milo Ban shop...
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Josiah being silly at the table eating "Khaygeeaow"...
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Josiah with an elephant that walked up at the Milo Ban shop...
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My brave boy... :)
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How it is normally...I had to put the camera in a hole to get this picture...there were so many kids gathered around...
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Jude receiving some TLC...
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Katherine chilling with baby Jude!
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Pii Thak translating for me...that's King Nebuchadnezzar...yeah I colored it...hehehe..


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Teaching about Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego...

Josiah making his exit from the smell...
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Giving Josiah a break from it all...or trying to at least...
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I just think this is the funniest thing. One of those boys didn't smell so good...I mean it was BAD! Don't know what it was but it was BAAADDDD!! They all sat down to take a picture with Josiah and he just couldn't take the smell...he was saying "Momma...something stinks...what's that smell..ugg.. ugg...momma...yuck..."
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Pii Thak and I teaching the kids how to play "simon says"....or in Thai "Simon boak waa"
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This girl is a handful but such a delight! She loves Jude!
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Josiah trying to play along...but the whole Thai and english thing was throwing him off a little...
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Pii Thak and I singing "Wanni ben wan" which is "This is the day...that the Lord has made"
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Jude in his cutie pie Homerun Hero outfit - thank you Steve, Annie and Braden!
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Josiah was asking to take pictures with Baby Jude today!!! Only problem was Jude was not in the mood...he was ready for food. It's a cute picture... They're just adorable...ug.. :)
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New Pics of Baby Jude...

Hello again!

As requested...many new pics of baby Jude...I'm working on getting some more pics of Josiah in action to post. :) I didn't have time to finish up the next post about John's trip today but it will be up very soon. John went out to a village with Clinton today (11-4) out behind the biggest mosque in Hat Yai. He said that there weren't any men there...only women dressed in full muslim dress...the only thing showing were their eyes. I honestly can not imagine how that would feel - to go day in and day out completely covered like that. Wow...

Today was a very tiring day...Fans in the household are one of the most valued appliances in the home in Thailand because without them you can't function...well, I can't function. It's just too hot!!!! I let Josiah play in the water and Asia came over to play too and while they were occupied I steadily gave my fans some MUCH NEEDED TLC (tender, loving, care). I never knew it could be so much work to clean fans (4 in all)...taking them apart...getting the crud that builds up on the cover...and I just cleaned them a while back and they were already disgusting. I was exhausted after that....reading and spending time with God...preparing to teach Chase...homeschool...keeping Josiah entertained...feeding baby Jude...making/cleaning up lunch....making a trip to the airport....making/cleaning up dinner....studying Thai a little... and then getting the boys ready for bed...whew!!! Ok...that was a unneeded rabbittrail...moving on...

I will be updating...hopefully tomorrow with some more about John's Chiang Rai trip and hopefully about how things went today. I want to thank you for all of your comments - every one really makes my day...it's such a joy to hear back from people who are reading!!! And Annie - thank you soo much for your sweet e-mail and comments!!! And if one more person tells me Jude looks like me - I might just believe it!!! hahaha... :) :) :)

Alrighty...enjoy the pics. Thanks for reading!
Steph

A smile that could melt your heart....awe...
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Jude
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Jude
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Jude's serious face caught in a mug shot...
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Jude
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Jude
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Jude learning Thai...
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Jude Andrew Blake...
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Jude Andrew Blake...
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John reading Josiah a bed time story...
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Jude sound alseep after eating. Yes! He is a FAT little baby...I only feed him breastmilk I swear!! He's absolutly adorable. For all those family members reading...don't worry I'm going to put up more pics for you...I'm just waiting to buy some more batteries for the camera.
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Jude - 9 weeks...Just about to fuss at me because he was hungry...Yes...I know it's not Christmas anymore and yes I know we'll never see snow in Thailand...but I just can't put that little snowman bib away...wishful thinking I suppose. Plus...I've got a limited supply of bibs...so I use what I've got...in season or out...I have a bright pink one that says "I love mommy" (completely in appropriate for boys) that I use at night... :) hehehe...poor guy...
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John
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Katherine is great!!! We love her so much!
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After riding out in the hot Thailand sun on the dusty roads Katherine decided it was time for a dip to cool off...Doesn't that look fun!!!
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John, Clinton, Katherine and Micheal all going out looking for villages in the area here in Hat Yai...
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WOW - John is smiling! Can you believe it! John is a very happy and smiling kind of person but in this batch of pictures it was hard to find one of him smiling. When I asked him why and showed him the pictures he said "I look normal..." I said "You look upset" he said "It's just because I'm half squinting in most of these pictures I wasn't upset at all..." hehehe...anyway, this is 4000 meters up into the mountains and what a beautiful sunset!!!
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John turning around from visiting the house behind him.
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There were about 50-60 people there this night...
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Preparing to show the Jesus film - the guy in the middle with the cool head light is Ken's friend and helper. His name is Sonnie.
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John snapped a picture of this little guy after he ran from him after hitting him on the back of the leggs. He had done this playfully many times...
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Some kids hanging out while looking at the tracks...
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Bringing in the electricity....
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Aren't they cute!!!
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John canvassing as they call it...going to each home to tell that they would be showing the Jesus film that evening...
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A young boy checking out the picture of Jesus on the truck...
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Clinton talking to a young boy...sometimes it was very hard for John and Clinton to communicate with the children because they knew so little Thai...
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