Terry and Dave's blog

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Sunday, December 16, 2007

Stories and Pictures

It is very hard not to send all the pictures and tell you all the stories but I don't have that much time and nor do you. Hope you enjoy these ones and you can see how much fun we are having.










The four younger girls thought they would join Auntie Terry in bed. Uncle Dave with the four younger children came by tuk/tuk to meet up with Auntie Terry after her last day of teaching. I had the truck as I had taken all the older kids to school before teaching. That was the first trip in a tuk/tuk for Matthew, Isaac & Esther and they were all very excited.

Samuel is still busy cutting hair for most of the boys..... whatever it takes!

Naomi and Samuel practicing their songs. They play and sing regularly at the Thai Church.
Victor looks like he is up to something....with Isaac and Alan.





On my last day of teaching I wanted to get a picture with the students. In this picture are also the music students, which I did not teach.





Then along comes Christmas.............where has the time gone? Samuel and Moses started decorating with the lights, then all the younger kids pitched in, putting on the ornaments and then what excitement putting on the tinsel. Our tree looked just like tinsel for the first couple of days, but since then the fans have blown much of that off.....It is a very pretty tree!!. The excitement in the little ones eyes as they were decorating was just priceless, wish we could of captured it on camera.



Then we were blessed with a visit from Dorothy and Andrea from England. They didn't have much time but were able to join us for dinner one night. The little kids were all over Dorothy, doing her hair...........they love the white hair and it is so soft too!! It was great having them.







We are so proud of our two older girls. Here, Sarah, is posing in her new 'Lotus' outfit for work. Lotus is one of the major grocery stores that we shop at and they have opened a new express store(like 7/11) just down the street from our home. Sarah was so fortunate to get a job there when it had just opened. She is so special, how could they not hire her?! Rachel also has got a job. She started working at a hospital right across the street from the kids high school. There she is working in the office, typing, filing, etc. The pay is very good too. So, both our girls are working extremely hard, usually at least 3 hours after school everyday in hopes that they will have enough to cover the costs of university and college next year.


And then there were two birthdays in November..................

Matthew turned 3 years old and Uncle Dave, ummm, well, ummm, I am not sure?!!!!



Here Mary was showing Hannah how to play the keyboard. Mary herself is just learning, but they both were having fun.





Karate OR Ninja OR Spiderman Or whatever they might call it, they are having fun.
Left: John in the back with David...... Center: David ..............Right: Victor


Caleb and Alan are one of the dish teams and what a great job they are doing.

John made this flower/candle combo for a celebration they have in Thailand. It is called Loy Krathang, it is on the full moon in November to celebrate the end of rainy season and these floatations are put in the waterways or sea as a sacrifice to the goddess of water. It is very pretty out on the water with the lite candles.


On the left Isaac is reading to Matthew, in English. :) Ruth, Jessica and Esther always enjoy being read to.




............................................ALL S-M-I-L-E-S! ...............................


..................................Uncle Dave............................... Esther..............



......................................................Jessica.........................................


...........Isaac .......................................................Ruth .......................


The kids love to climb all over us........we are so spoiled. Just seeing their big happy smiles and bright eyes are so rewarding.


Christmas came a few days early......"Auntie" Evelyn from Bible Truth Church in Kamloops, our home church, arrived for a five day visit. What a blessing it was to have her come and join our family. The kids loved her, specially when the presents came out - oh, to be kids again. It was so great for Dave and I to have that support from our own church. We look forward to having more come....................hint.......


Our well went dry, during the dry season, so Uncle Dave and the three older boys, Samuel, Peter, and Moses had some work to do. Uncle Dave is the maintenance man for the Lighthouse building. So the boys dug a ditch from the water tanks on the ground to the city water line at the street. While the tanks on the roof were empty, it was a good time for cleaning as they were filthy. Uncle Dave didn't think he would get out, if he got in, so Peter was lowered into the tanks and he scrubbed the insides.
As you can see, they were very black. They came very clean with a lot of muscle work. Our kids are not afraid of work, they just need guidance, and what teenager doesn't?!




Friday nights are movie nights for the younger kids when the older kids are off at Thai Youth. They love cartoons and could watch the same one over and over again.





Samuel has been a great help, helping the new kids with their homework in Thai. It has been extra work for them, but they all seem to be adjusting very well.


Okay, Dave caught me in one of my daily chores when the majority of the kids have left for school. On the weekends, it is the kids chore. It is actually much easier when we only have four in the house.









Alan, 8 years old, and Victor, 9 years old are just having a good laugh. They are both such softies and both love the hugs and special attention - well, they all do!!





We are continuing to study the story of Jesus with all the kids. The older ones are translating for the younger, new kids. It has been fun and they are beginning to really understand how much Jesus loves them. It is really good for the older kids too as some of them hadn't heard it in English before. We have a fantastic praise and worship too, before our study.


I have been working with five of the older kids on how to pray and here Samuel is just asking me the translation as it is easier for them to understand if they can put it in Thai to understand the meanings. They are all doing very well.







Moses always has this look about him................it wasn't me, it was______ :) It is all in fun and he is willing to share with us whatever we are asking him about.



Caleb with his first place trophy for a sport he plays at his school. It is very similar to Bocce. He did win a sum of money which he asked me to deposit into his bank account. The following Sunday, after the Thai Church service, he came running up to me and asked if he could have some of his money back. I asked "What for?" He replied, "the first 10% isn't mine, it is God's." Wow, how awesome is that?! These kids have such loving, giving hearts!! It really makes it all worth it!





Saturday, December 01, 2007

Busy, busy!!


Thank you all for your support in prayers and financially. We are extremely busy at the moment - Dave taught for 2 weeks and now I am teaching for 2 weeks at the Bible College. This has made things very challenging, we are out of our comfort zones, but we are moving forward! (even with the sicknesses we have been fighting) We did just want to drop you a quick note so that you are aware that we have not dropped off the face of the earth - all 22 of us. :) With teaching, plus the English and Bible Studies at home and just everyday chores and life we are constantly on the move. I have one week left of teaching and then I will get our Blog up to date........... until then, we are all doing great.

I thought I should just quickly fill you in about the children in their Christian walk as many have asked in letters. The six oldest (new children) have all accepted Jesus to their understanding. (we have been teaching them the life of Jesus, in Thai and English, one of our older kids translates for us) The Thai Church Pastor and his wife come over for a cel group once a week and with them (and us) the 6 kids all knelt down and repeated, in Thai, the salvation prayer. They are so cute, during worship, they really are worshipping the Lord. One of the kids already has some Christian foundations along with some of his extended family, we will learn more about his family as he begins to speak more English and Thai(they speak a dialect). All the other 13 kids(the older ones) already have accepted Jesus as their personal Savior and all but Victor and Jessica have been water baptised. We do have Bible study with the kids everynight except when they have youth. On tuesdays we have the Thai Pastor over and we have also been having Sawang and LeeAnne(our nephew & wife) on wednesday nights for Thai Bible study. We are planning on making some changes to our week as it is extremely busy.
Our prayers go out to you all and we will be back in a week or so to update you with pictures and stories on the kids. They are all loving us as their mom and dad, what a rewarding spot we are in and we just really love on each and everyone of them. They are such a blessing in our lives!