While we were away, my new nephew was born! Jacob Reed Smith was born on Oct. 30. He and his mom are healthy and home now. We are so excited to have a new nephew and look forward to meeting him in May! He joins his big brother William, who I know is thrilled to have a brother!

Kelly and I returned from our get away on Thursday evening. We had a wonderful relaxing time in Phuket. Our hotel was near the beach (a short walk away) and had several very nice swimming pools. There ended up being several friends there but we kept most of our time for just the two of us. Larry and Diane were there so we did spend one evening playing cards with them. It was great to be with them and catch up on their family and latest news. We are very grateful to ERin and Carolyn for keeping our kiddo's during this time. They said it is much easier to keep them now (than when they were younger!)--much less work! Kel surprised me with business class tickets (we used frequent flier miles) and what a treat that was!

We returned to CM to cooler weather and rain. It has rained almost solid for the last 24 hours. We did not use A/c last night but slept with the windows open. I can't believe how cool it is, but it is November!

Kel is getting ready to leave for the states in a little over a week. He will be there for almost 3 weeks. I'm trying to get some Christmas shopping done so he can take gifts back with him.

I have TWO small groups to lead this week. Monday morning I will lead a book discussion for a group of mothers. It is a parenting book. Thursday evening, I will lead a parent support group for the special needs department. Pray for me as I prepare to lead these two events. I, also return back to my normal school schedule after a few weeks break. Please pray for me to have wisdom and knowledge in working with my students and know how to encourage and motivate them. I can't believe it is November already!

Malia, Noah and I are in Singapore. We catch an early morning flight tomorrow to get the kdis back in time for school. They will be about an hour late. Dr. appts went good today. Noah has made a tremendous improvement. He gave us more exercises to do but we don't really have to bring him back to the Dr. Malia is doing ok. I still really like her Dr. here although I don't know if we will get approval to come back to Singapore again. I like the way he interacts with her. He is much more agressive than any of the Thai dr.'s we have seen. As far as getting her to talk to him and her talking back.

Had fun shopping this afternoon with my friend, Anne. Went to IKEA. Didn't buy alot but Bought Kel a couple of Christmas presents. He never accesses this blog so I think I can tell you what I bought. ONe is a computer lap board. The other is a battery operated phone charger in case you forget to charge your phone. I think both of these will be big hits for him and I'm excited to have found something for him.

Tomorrow, my ladies group meets and we will discuss doing some cooking together....where we each make 5 of one meal and then share them with each other. I saw a book based on the concept at Borders although I didn't know it was in a book. I didn't buy the book but I looked at it to get some ideas about how to make this work. If the ladies think we need the book I will order it for Kel to bring back.

Monday, Kel and I head off for our get away. I can't wait! I found a couple of good travel friendly outfits at some outlets here. I also bought Malia a couple ofthings. Well, that is enough my time on this rented computer is almost up.

Please go to this website and see our new vehicle. We haven't actually gotten it yet but it has been ordered and we will be getting it at the end of the month. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_Avanza If that doesn't pick it up do a search on Avanza. It has three seats....much smaller than this 12 passenger van we are driving now. Kel thinks we are crazy to let the van go. I like the idea of parking and negotiating this better and since I mainly drive it, he is going with my choice. I hope we don't regret it in the future. We will get it the end of the month. I'm excited.

The kids and I are back and Kel makes it back later tonight. We stayed at one of the oldest hotels in Bangkok, it just happens to be right by our office on Soi 2. I have never even really noticed it before. Anyway, it had the FIRST real hotel swimming pool ever built back in the 1950's. It had some very fun aspects about the hotel pool--like several ledges and roofs that you could dive off into the pool. The hotel was OLD...quaint and had that musty cat litter smell...except for when they covered it up with air freshner. There were cats everywhere but not in our room and since it was just regular floors and walls, we did fine with that. The toliet stayed stopped up about half way through the days but it would manage to clear out sometime--that was the grossest part. The rest was fine...clean beds, clean sheets each morning and we spent little time there.

As we were walking down the soi the first morning (small street) Savannah said, "I've been thinking about writing a book titled, LOST IN BANGKOK," which made me smile.....Sometimes it seems like we are lost there, although we're usually not lost...just trying to figure out how we are going to get to the next place. (6 of us barely fit in a taxi and traffic is horrible!) Savannah later said this was her best vacation ever! :> She liked the pool and she liked the fact that we decided to spend a little extra money and go see a movie with the big recliner type hairs and blankets. She thought that was a very special treat! We saw several good movies...I can't remember the one in the special theatre or the name of it...it was about a young boy who is a Ceasear..

My favorite was StarDust...don't know if you've seen it but I thought it was a clean, fun, fairy tale. Both boys were bothered by the ugly witches in it, though. The kids and Kel also saw "UnderDog." I shopped while they watched it. Didn't get to really shop like I had hoped. Since we had dr. appt's scheduled in at various times, I just wasn't allowed the shopping time I wanted. I would still love to buy an outfit for the girls that they could wear in public....they chose one outfit...with those gaucho type things and they look ok but they can't wear them everyday (although I think Malia did and Sav. wore the bottoms daily)--oh well, that's what the Europeans do when they are on vacation! The kids and I went to the IMAX theatre and saw "Dinosaur" I thought it was enjoyable if you can get past all the evolution stuff.

Malia's muscle weakness is some of the side effects from last yr and her other illness. A friend asked me how it was and I told her it was like taking a teenager to the dr. The dr would say, "what seems to be the problem?" She would not answer. Then he would say, "does your legs hurt?" She would say no. It was like pulling eye teeth to get the answers. Later she would say, "my legs don't hurt, it's my knees... he wasn't asking the right questions." I finally said, "I am not speaking, if you want to tell him what is wrong, then you can tell him, i will say nothing. And I will not bring you again..." She started talking a little more. I, also checked on that intermittant leg pain and it is a tendon. I have shoots of pain periodically that have been mistaken for leg cramps. I know it is the tendon because after he pushed around on it, I was limping for the rest of the evening. Thankfully, it only gives me trouble when I have the shooting pain episodes....they don't last long and most of the rest of the time it doesn't hurt. I, also, had my mamaogram and ultrasound which I detest greatly. I know they are very thorough here an I don't think I could go elsewhere since they are so familiar with my br--sts but I have so many cysts and it takes such a long time I HATE it. I have started doing some reading about HRT and am going to research the topic to see if it is time to get off the hormones to get the cysts to go away. If any of you have any info on that, send it my way.

Well, that is enough for now. We are home and all glad to be here. Kel will join us tonight--yesterday and today he has been in a meeting. I will say it IS stressful trying to corral all 4 children, attitudes and transportation in BKK!

Blessings!

Sorry it's been a whle since I wrote anything. We are fine here. Just finished up swim meets. I'm glad the 4 days a week of swimming is over for a while. Here are quick updates for each child:

-Malia: did great in the swim meet...one several medals...just not sure which ones because I wasn't there and she hasn't got them yet. She went to her first school dance on Sat. She was Princess Lea from Star WArs it was a masquarade dance. Most of my pics turned out blurry but I may go ahead and try to post one anyway. She is enjoying school and friends this yr.

-Sav: Still is my melancholy child who values quality time. Just spend time with her nightly snuggling before bed and it fills her love tank! Her teacher this year is not as structured as last year and a little more up and down. This causes Savvy (as her friends call her) a little more anxiety, although she is still doing good in school. She also desires to move to world club neighborhood near the school because most of her friends live there. Pray for a friend for her in the neighborhood. That would help.

Noah- They had him swimming the butterfly this yr much to his disdain. I think in his age group he was one of the only ones who could do it. He only has two more full days before break and is excited to be getting a break. He is having a very good school year although he still struggles with handwriting--everything else is much better!

Sage-He and his brother were able to swim on one of the relay teams together. They came in 2nd in that race. Sage came in 3rd in almost every race he swam.. Remember he has only been swimming for about 2 1/2 years so we think he's doing great. He's excited about starting soccer in a few weeks. School wise he is making progress with lots of assistance. I think he's doing okay. Please pray for him.

Well, I slice 3/4 of the tip of my finger the other day and since I have 5 stitches on that tip it is very hard to type. I'm going to stop now. God Bless!

We made it through the week!
News for us....Savannah decided to play the trombone instead of the Oboe. We purchased her trombone and it arrived yesterday. Everyone was excited to see it and find out about how it works. Kelly is thrilled about having a brass instrument in the house. BTW, we found out that our friend, Brooke plays the oboe!
I purchased a couple of new shirts yesterday. Spent more money on them than I should. I hope to take one and have it copied. Didn't feel like I had any stylish...clothes. The new fad is kind of the "hippy tops" or that is what I call them. I love to wear leggings and don't have any but I will have one of these tops copied,lengthened and then have leggings to go along with it. Hopefully, I can get this made beforeI go to V. Wish I could be there to get some sale items!

Not much else new. Long day today... I start seeing students today. Three of the kidsstay forswim team. There are so many students swimming the younger ones have to alternate days (Noah, Sage). Sage and I will stay for Michael's volleyball game and then the girls willshower andwe'lltake Michael outforhis birthday.
I'm havingsome problems with my spacekey.

Busy week this week!

Tuesday night: dorm sitting
Wed. night: House church grown ups meet for dinner
Thursday (house guest arrives) and we go to surprise bday party for a friend
Friday: going away party for friends here
Sat: meeting at school for parents of middle schoolers involved in sports/ house church
Sun: house guest leaves, dessert party at dorm for students to meet dorm committee
Mon: bday party for Brooke
Tues:
Wed: Michael Het's bday on Thursday so we will probably take him out this night

And this is just the extra stuff. I also start my Daniel bible study on Friday. STart our Home church ladies time Wed. morning. Have our first special needs staff meeting on Wed. at noon. Work at school on Tues/Thursday. I think that is all the regular stuff. You know as well as I do, that other things always come up!

Oh, and the kids start swim team this week!

First day of school was a success. Sage is already asking about 4th grade. Sometimes, I have difficulty understanding what is going on in his brain. :>

Yesterday morning we were talking about the importance of using words...instead of fists and he said, "I respond better to fists than words." What is he thinking? There are sometimes huge gaps in his ability to explain his thoughts. He is the sweetest, kindest, pleaser child... He wants to do right--does it most of the time...is popular at school...is funny... but he still cannot articulate his thoughts in a systematic manner. AND, he has a poor short term memory. Now is that true or does he just have so many things to remember? It is hard to know. I cannot give him multi step instructions and expect him to follow through. We have some new materials at Grace about how to distinguish Learning needs issues and ESL issues. I'm thinking we will have a better understanding of what his needs actually are at the end of this year.

Noah...has a complete melt down because he has to write 3 sentences to go with his math homework. He is obviously tired from the day. I observed him in action today. I watched as he chose to be by himself on the playground. I saw him choose to reach out and talk to another younger child who is in our house church and sometimes lonely. I saw Noah separate himself again. And then I saw him in action. In PE, he was a leader...directing and telling everyone what to do. I guess it helps that he is shoulder and head above all the rest of them, doesn't it?

Pr for Malia...there is a girl in her core class. Please continue to pr for a good friend for her. She seemed encouraged after today. I saw her by herself in a group of people. I thought, "oh, dear, God, I can't do this again...." I realize it's not all about me....

Sav was greatly in tune to the interactions between friends---friends separated from the summer...interactions between teachers and students---new teachers---she observed some insecurity (from the teacher) and she was concerned. She has such a gentle sensitive heart. PR that heart can be channeled for good and not for melancholy meanderings that spiral downhill. She had a good day.

I am feeling insecure and out of balance. I have dealt with insecurity the last few months. Not sure what that is all about. Need to spend more time in the word and on my knees!

The other night we were driving home from a movie and saw and elephant coming towards us down the street. I told Kelly, "just in case we begin to forget we live in Thailand." Can't say I've ever been in America and coming home from the movie saw an elephant on it's way home. We saw the new Bourne movie. We liked it. We rented the other two to watch first so we could remember. I think it helped us enjoy this one.

I have agreed to take on the responsibility of dorm committee chairman. I was pretty much doing the job anyway. So, now, at least I officially have the teeth. Not that I really wanted it. Please pray for me. I feel underqualified for this. I also feel like I don't have alot of time to give to it. The main thing we are doing right now is lining up dorm sitters for the two dorms for the nights off this semester.

Tomorrow is the first day of school. I think we are all ready--physically--but mentally? I'm not sure any of us are ready.

Kelly and Malia had a good trip to Singapore. They enjoyed the musical and had good dr. appt's. M was also able to spend time with her friend.

Please pr with me about the dorms. We have career dorm parents who have been stateside who moved from the dorm in Dalat. And then we have a Masters Couple dorm parents who are finished up their term and 2nd yr in the dorm. The career couple have invested alot in the dorm and have lots of fun decor. The Masters couple has nothing. They inherited nothing and are only here temporarily. The career couple has collected over years many of these things. Pr esp. that the two couples will not compare themselves. Pr that the children will have good relationships with both couples and respect them. Pr for wise decisions from the dorm parents and the dorm committee.

I need to start an exercise program. I guess you can pr that I will have the motivation and will to do so!

Immigration went surprisingly fast the other day. We were in and out of there in less than thirty min. Then we headed out of town for the retreat. It was a good time to reconnect with Grace staff and be reminded of how blessed we are to be able to live here and have our children attend the school.

One of the main reasons I wanted to attend was because I was hoping it would give Malia a good opportunity to connect with girls her age. I have prayed off and on all summer that this will be a new year at school for her and she will thrive instead of agonizingly strive as she did last year. Well, I was immediately disappointed as I saw her rush ahead to catch up with the 4 girls her age that didn't wait for her. Then, after our session I found her up in our room by herself--not feeling included. I did'nt say much...just watched and kept silently praying. She immediately said she didn't want to go to play putt putt with the group and that when her dad returned from playing golf she was ready to head on home. Thankfully during free time, she ended up going bike riding with her sister and some of Savannah's friends. Then, they asked her to join them for dinner. Then, she wanted to go play putt-putt. I don't know what is ahead for her this year. In some ways she seems more mature than the others her age. And then in other ways she seems less mature. In the ways that really matter--she seems more mature. I am grateful for that. I pray that she will have the stamina to continue to reach out to folks and that God will bring her some friends this semester at school. She is seeing one of her friends she was with alot this summer tomorrow night when she and her dad are in Singapore. I think Kelly is going to take them out to dinner and let them sit at a table by themselves.

Pray for Noah. He is not looking forward to school starting. He tried very hard to smile at his new teacher and not act horribly disappointed about it starting back but he is not thrilled with it. I love his teacher. I think he will, too. She is a retired teacher from Arkansas who has the sweetest southern, grandmotherly disposition. I pray he will have a good year.

You can also pray that his dad has the birds and bees talk with him. I've been telling K Noah is ready but K hasn't really seen the signs until lately. It seems in almost every famiy devo, lately, Noah is asking..."how could they do that?" "how did that happen?" And it usually has to do with birds and bees type issues. And he is not satisfied with just a blow off answer. Inquiring minds want to know! :> Pray that the right time in the next few days will present itself. I dread him going to school and asking those same questions!

The best laid plans...

We are on our way to immigration today...hoping to be there at 8:30 but Kel has something he must take care of be4 we go. So, we are waiting on him. Malia, Noah and I need new re-entry permits put into our passport because we are leaving the country before the end of the yr and we might as well do it all at one time. So, we must go and wait.... Sometimes we wait for hours. We are taking good books! :>

We hope to leave today for the Grace Staff retreat around 11. It's just an overnight event. Kel and Malia will not spend the night since they are heading to Singapore early in the morning so they will sleep at home tonight. (the retreat is about an hour away)They return on Sunday morning.

My school schedule has not all been worked out yet but it's looking like I will have mainly boys this year. That will be different from last yr when I only had ONE boy student. I'm looking forward to the new year and getting back into a more structured day. I feel torn at this time of year as I see all the needs and feel like I can only meet some of them with my part time schedule. But, the reality is that we have another job to do, also and my time is limited. Our special needs staff has grown this year to 12 or 13 people so we have doubled since last year! I am amazed how that happens.

Well, since we really need to be out the door, I will close.

I said almost finished....

You will notice the dark window above the couch. We have a wall hanging we would like to put there but we need to have something made to hang it over the window. It doesn't fill up the whole window but I think it will be sufficient to draw your eye to the wall hanging and not the window. I will also eventually want to get new curtains for the "Gold room" but it may be next year before I do that, since the peach curtains are just fine. You will notice some fabric hanging on one of the pictures and I would like to recover the chairs in that fabric but it won't be until I'm ready to change the curtains.

Did you see the Chinese panels in the dining area? Can you see the detail on them? That is the wall that I wanted to stencil but I couldn't get it to look exactly like I wanted it to on the poster board so I haven't done it yet. The stencil would go behind the plant and we would remove the plant. It would like to get a corner waterfall type thing for the corner in the dining area but I have no idea if I could find anything like that here. I haven't been able to, yet.

I may end up putting rod iron candle holders on each side of the mirror OR I've thought about doing black and white family photo's. I'm not sure yet.

The Almost Finished Homemakeover 2

The Almost Finished Home Makeover

Sunday morning

It's Sunday morning here.... I think I am finally able to download some of the pictures of the house. It is my goal to be better about showing pictures on this blog!

I'm sorry it's been a few weeks since I've updated. Shortly, after returning home from the meeting, I was sick. That cut my week--my one week before I had to be at school for meetings--very short with lots to do in those few remaining days. Then, this past week, I spent at school learning the phonics program in a five day seminar. This coming week, we will have some meetings at school and then school starts next week.

We are in the midst of getting ready for school...updating uniforms, buying underwear, getting haircuts, and shoes....all those last minute things you do before school starts. We now need to order new pants and skirts for Malia and get the boys shorts altered....they are being passed down and we will be ready to go. We will need to do this on Monday to make sure that Malia has something to wear on the first day of school :>! She has truly grown in the last few months and can wear none of the old clothes. Hopefully, this will be her last growing year! :> Around this time, is when I stopped growing. She still is not taller than me, but it is getting very close. I keep telling her she's not going to surpass me. She keeps telling me she is!

This week, Kel and Malia are headed back to Singapore on Friday for a medical trip. Some of her test results from the previous trip showed that she had some positive titers for Lyme disease (which if I understand correctly shows that she has had Lyme disease in the past) and they are going to do some follow up blood tests on that as well as see another Dr. from follow up from our trip. For a special treat, he is taking her to see The King and I musical! We bought her a new dress to wear. At first she said she was only wearing jeans--the age, I guess--but it didn't take her long to get into the shopping mood and we found a dress in record time!

The others and I are going on a staff retreat with the school start on Thursday and Friday. Pray that we can have a productive fun filled week before the kids start their first week, next week!

They received their class lists and teacher names yesterday and they are all very excited about this new year.

I will try to download some of the pics on my camera now!

What a week!

The week is over! It was a success. I am so grateful to the volunteers who came to serve us. They were an exceptional group and were true servants!

The week began with a big bang when Savannah fainted on the first day of the meeting up on stage helping to lead worship. It happened to be my bday...and I found myself saying, "Happy Birthday!" :> Thankfully, there was a dr. available who did a great exam and found all to be well. He said it is actually not abnormal for adolescents to faint...we are guessing she may have been dehydrated. She was fine the rest of the week.

I had a great birthday! My friends gave me a party...we had homemade hamburgers and it was a great party. I am so grateful for all the gifts and fun that I had. Yes, it was the first bday in 44 years that I have not talked to my mom and dad---and I hope to make up for that soon! I am grateful that I have been able to go this long with talking to them every birthday. Next year I will be in the states so we should be able to continue to tradition!

It was such a treat to be around zack! He and Kelly are so much alike and it's just fun to have him around. I wish he could have stayed longer and brought the rest of his family!

We have been breaking in the new game! According to Noah we are not breaking it in nearly enough since we have not been able to finish a game. Maybe we can remedy that tomorrow. WE are taking vacation time this next week as we take a breath and get ready for the school year. The next week I have to be at school for a training.

The volunteers are riding elephants right now. This is our last day to get ready for things to start tomorrow. We are not able to access the rooms until later in the day so please pr-y we will get things together and ready before tomorrow. It is easy to feel stressed with all the last minute details as well as keeping the family together! So, continue to pr-y for us. The group leaders luggage did not arrive but it is supposed to be at the airport now. Pr-y that it will be there. Much of the stuff is in those suitcases!

One of our close friends here works in media for the main office in RVA. They are doing something new by having a blog and media up while they are shooting. Thought you might be interested. You can access it here: www.iwcstories.com Our friend is the videographer.

Blessings!

They are coming...

More volunteers started arriving today. I picked up two separate groups. One couple from Mississippi spent the last couple of days in Bangkok and were overwhelmed with the sights and sounds. They were relieved to be with here in Chiangmai and make contact. My friend, Andrea, from Knoxville arrived today. I have known Andrea for years. We met her in 2001 on stateside assignment when we visited her church. I will never forget when I asked her to come out and visit us and her reply..."Oh, that's not my role...my role is to pray..." Wouldn't you know, God was smiling when she made that statement because now she GOES two to three times or more a year! She goes to Vietnam every year and God has used her to push back some of those layers of darkness so they can hear. It is a treat to have Andrea here with us this week.

Pray for me! Pray that I will serve and love these volunteers while they are here. Pray that they will be able to pull together even though they are from different churches. Pray that God will use them in the lives of our children to help them grow closer to the Lord!

Thanks!

Zack arrived

Zack made it! And you would never believe where he and Kelly are right now! Well, those of you who are family and know them would! They decided to go to a movie and see Die Hard! Zack is running on adrenaline. It is 9:35 pm here.

Well, we had Christmas first...or that is what it seemed! Marshmallows, graham crackers, Chocolate chips, apple jelly, velveeta, rotel, peanut butter, spices, Dr. Pepper, muffin mixes, poptarts---and MORE! Wow! Sage was thrilled with the two shorts outfits and Noah with his new jean shorts. Sage was also thrilled with his bible! I have my Daniel bible study book and Passport 2 Purity that I hope to use with Malia, soon...AND my Good Housekeeping magazine! I didn't really have them bring anything special for the girls but Zettie recommended a Hannah Montana DvD that they are THRILLED with. Thank you Zettie!

We are glad that Zack is here to experience a little bit of our life. Makes us miss Bob and Zona ever so much more, since they were also supposed to be here at this time.

Blessings!

Safe in the Arms of Jesus

These are the latest couple of updates about Angela:

This is the secondary principal at Grace's daughter. Her husband is also the band and choir director. Angela was young...around age 25. She was here last year and since she was a nurse, she worked in the nurses office at school. Please pray for the Fishers as they grieve this major loss.

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Safe in the Arms of Jesus
At 1:00 PM on Friday, July 6th, Angela went home to be with her Lord. In keeping with her generous spirit, Angela had arranged to be an organ donor.

Angela's memorial service will be at First Baptist Church in Wheaton, IL on Wednesday, July 11, at 10:00 AM. There will be a viewing on Tuesday afternoon at First Baptist. More details will be available later.

Thanks to all of you who prayed, wrote emails, and called. We have been overwhelmed by the outpouring of love for Angela and the rest of our family.


Entry for July 06, 2007
Friday AM

Angela's condition continues to deteriorate. We arrived at the hospital shortly after 8:00 this morning and her night nurse was still here. She told us that Angela had a rough night. Her blood pressure had dropped and they had to give her some medication to bring it back up. Her body temperature also had dropped so she has a "bear hug" which is a special blanket that hugs her body to warm her.

Angela seems to be slipping further away. Her pupils are fixed and dilated, her gag reflex is gone, her bowels are not functioning and she has no response to painful stimuli.

We were asked about organ donation - we know that Angela would want to do that. Apparently later today a team will be here from "Gift of Hope" to assess her organs.

This is the hardest thing we have ever gone through but we continue to cling to the Lord for strength to walk this path. We remain fully confident that God is able to do a miracle and raise her to full health. However, at this point, it seems that it is in God's plan to take her home.

Please continue to pray for a miracle for Angela and for our family in general. We are holding up as well as can be expected, but this is very hard. Angela does not have any kind of life insurance. As such, the financial pressure on our family is quite significant.

We are continually overwhelmed by the outpouring of love and support that has been showered on us by all of you. Thank you for all of your kind words.
We are not able to respond to each of you personally, but please be assured that we are reading each message and are touched by your care and support.