Busy, Busy!!!

OUR FAMILY

in Thailand

(left to right) Peter, Caleb, John, Mark, Mary, Moses, Jessica, Sarah, Terry, Victor, Dave, Naomi, Samuel, Steve, and Rachel. All dressed up pretty/handsome for a family picture.

The light was so bright Dave couldn't stop blinking - of course I was a big help!! Here are the five older, good looking boys; Peter, Moses, Samuel, Caleb, and Steve. (Moses hadn't got his new clothes as yet)

Dave preaching at the Thai Sriracha Victory Church, with Teddy as interpreter.

Auntie Terry & Jessica and Uncle Dave & Mary at the church.

Steve, Caleb & Naomi before church and on the left; Samuel, Moses, Peter, Victor & John.

Relaxing at Grandpa Alan's Home Steve, Caleb and Jessica. Mark - what a beautiful smile, eh?!

We had a bus load from the Chaengwattana Community Church from Bangkok come and Bless us one afternoon. Including us, there were 55 of us in our new home. (no, we aren't moved in yet)

They had games and prizes all organized to play with us for the afternoon.

Here is a group picture of most of the kids and one of our two; Jessica and Rachel.

They ordered pizza's and DQ ice cream and brought fruit punch. We used plastic plates, cups and our fingers. Oh, they also brought home made(by most of the leaders of the group) brownies and cookies. As you can see, we still didn't have the kitchen sink hooked up so we were improvising where we could. (notice the two gals behind me, well, they are at the sink and they had just finished dumping punch down the sink and it ran all over the floor.....well, guess how fast ants can travel.........yikes, they were EVERYWHERE!! and NOW!!)

We had just moved the furniture from the old home into the boys room at the new home - piled everything on the bunk bed bases.

Moses and Peter were cleaning up the front room/dining room for all the guests we had coming. Wow, you should of seen the SPIDER that came along. Yes, it was wearing work boots and could he ever run in them....YIKES!!!!!!!! Dave chased, and I mean chased him with a broom - he was fast..(there was no getting him in a little kleenex - and those big beady eyes......whew!!!

Here is a couple of pictures of brother Al, working on the electrical, and sister Ter, working on painting in the Lighthouse - just a couple of the many jobs that have to be done before renters can move in. It is going great though, now we just have the fifth floor to finish. It sure is looking smart.

Some more shots of the workers on the outside. On the left, Nittaya(from El 1), Sarah and Mark are busy filling buckets with sand to be hauled to the roof for the concrete workers. On the right, we have Caleb, Moses, Peter, Mark and Steve moving dirt for our walkway to our front door of the home.

Here are the concrete workers on the roof - Peter, Samuel, and Moses were usually on concrete duty. Peter is the one working the wheelbarrow. They were awesome workers, but they are now happily back at school. Funny how school looks so good sometimes.

Our New, Extended Family

The following pictures are of who we have been hanging out with lately and the different things we have been busy with. These have all been taken in the last three months. They are not in any particular order. Dave and I have also been involved in each and everyone of these activities, but someone has to be taking the pictures. We are really enjoying the kids. They are on their last week of summer holidays and then they are back to school full time - it will be a great break for us. (Well, we will still be working at the Lighthouse, but it will be different than trying to keep 13 kids busy.)

Okay, I just read our last blog and I hadn't explained that we are now in charge and caring for the El Shaddai 2 Children. The previous parents have moved on to other areas so we have taken over. There has been a great learning curve for both us and the kids, but through it all we are growing stronger, closer, and are a great loving family. The biggest challenge is with the language difference but we are all trying to be patient with one another and trying to explain things the best we can. Luckily, a few of the older kids are very strong in English. They do use the language difference to their advantage sometimes - if they don't want to understand something we are telling them to do. We are learning more and more Thai though so we will make it through. These kids are so precious, kind, loveable and really need to be shown that they are loved. They need a lot of building up their self esteem, not all of them, but some of them have had a rough time. It is so awesome just to see how much they have grown and become so happy since they have been with us.(it isn't because of us, it is because they are loved) Jessica no longer has those deep, deep, dark, sad eyes - they now sparkle with love and excitement, as so do others. So..........here are our kids!!!

I will write the kids names from left to right as they appear in the pictures.

Kids eating fruit; Moses, Peter, Naomi(in front), Mark, John(in front), Rachel, Caleb(back), and Steve

Having ice cream; Jessica, Mary and Rachel





John having ice cream. Steve, Naomi, Victor, me, Mark, Peter and Mary at the dining room table.

Peter wearing a Kamloops shirt and Samuel on guitar with friend

Dave, Terry, Peter, Moses, Naomi, Steve and Caleb. Five of our children were baptised in the ocean in February.

Caleb and Naomi watching a football(soccer) game.

Sarah and Mary watching the game too. Oh, and Rachel.

Cel Group from the Thai Church with our kids in Grandpa Alan's home. Jessica and Auntie Terry at Thai Church.

Terry, Rachel, Samuel, Sarah, and Moses at a birthday party. Sarah, Naomi, and Mary sitting on the back of our ol' truck.

Naomi, Rachel, Moses, Peter, Caleb, John, Jessica, Mary, Sarah, and Steve all taking a break from cleaning out the old rental home.

At Daniel and Abbi's wedding reception; Terry, Jessica, Dave, Naomi, Rachel(back), Mary, Sarah, Daniel & Abbi(back), Victor, cousin, John, Moses, Samuel, Steve, Caleb,and Mark. AND at the park - Jessica, John, Victor, and Mark.

Praise and Worship at the Thai Church Mary, Moses, Samuel, Chris and Teddy(friends), Peter, and Naomi

A break from the long trip south for our Bible Camp adventure; Steve, Samuel and Peter Mark, Victor, Jessica, and John

At the Bible Camp;

Victor and John on the walkway and Steve, Rachel, Sarah, Naomi, and Mary posing for a picture. (the other 3 guys in the back are friends)

Samuel and Jessica enjoying some music and Auntie Terry, Jessica and Rachel watching the Pastor's perform.

Practicing for worship; Rachel, Tuksa(El 1), Sarah, Naomi, and Peter. And playing silly games in the field.

Uncle Dave and Jessica heading for a drink and then sharing one.

Caleb alone and Peter and Moses( holding the cross) playing dress up with newspaper.

John is on the right in the newspaper. El2 just finished a skit; Rachel, Samuel, Caleb, Steve, Mary, Peter, Naomi, Moses, and Sarah.

Peter and Victor doing dishes at home. Moses and Steve playing guitar.

Working at the new home, the Lighthouse, trying to get it ready to move in. Mark on the right and John on the left.

Sarah works at the Lighthouse office for the summer school break. Doctor Alan and Terry(me-not his wife) at the Bible Colleges Graduation.

Watching the water parade; Moses, Samuel, Peter, Caleb, and Steve. Students, staff, missionaries and our family working at the Lighthouse.

Jessica and Victor playing on the swing set in the backyard of the new home. Our first meal in the new kitchen - cooked by Sarah and Mary.