Terry and Dave's blog

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Saturday, April 23, 2011

Our New Worship Leader

Moses is gone; Rachel, Sarah, Samuel have moved out; Peter is in Bible College; John, Steve, Naomi are working and Mark is at Music Camp; all who would lead our worship, who is going to lead Worship now? David has now stepped up to the job! How neat is that! David has been learning guitar, Alan base and Victor drums, so we will continue to have a band in our home. All the kids have learned from one another and from hearing. They are all so clever! So, the other night was David's first time leading worship and he did a fantastic job. He did 3 songs and by the end of them his fingers were killing him.









As you can tell, our family seems to be shrinking. It isn't really, but with 3 kids off working and 1 in Bible College is makes few at home for our meetings. We do have 13 still at home and the others come home whenever they can make it.




All In a Days Work

When the kids are on holiday for 2 1/2 months it is a very busy time for me. So much to do and just one set of hands to do it. The kids are growing up so fast and they are such an incredible help to me it definitely lightens the load. They really have grown over the past year.... the home has a real peace over it! Praise God!

We have really been sticking to a schedule for learning English. The kids are already tops in their class in speech so we are working on writing and reading.


















The older kids are getting very good at pronouncing words phonetically, which will be very beneficial to them. They love to learn too, first thing out of their mouths in the morning is 'who are you teaching first Mom?' I usually teach the six older kids individually as a couple of them were just following the ones that understood, not under their own understanding. With the younger kids I am working on the alphabet and on reading. They can pick out many words on their own and are very excited to point them out. They are taught English in the school system but usually by a Thai teacher that can't even speak English themselves. My grammar isn't always the best but the books they send home in English are terrible.... I can't believe that they aren't written properly. The kids bring them home now and say the teacher would like mom to read the book and correct the mistakes.... too funny. (oh, if they only knew the difficulties I had in school.... lol)

Something new for me this year; I am working/over seeing the English Nursery in our ministry for 5 weeks. Becky and Matt were making a trip to Canada for some rest and rejuvenating and they have helped me out so many times that it was my turn to return the favour. The kids at the nursery are so precious. I also brought a couple of ours so that there would not be difficulties in the home when I was away. I only go for 1 1/2 hours in the morning and in the afternoon. Between Mark and David taking turns caring for the younger kids we were able to pull it off. This past week and next week, Mark is away at Music Camp so David is looking after things for me. They are such awesome young men.


















On the left, Victor was helping out, by washing the floor when the kids were having their snacks. On the right, he was hiding from the Thai teacher so she wouldn't give him any more chores to do - ah, he is good at hiding. :) I only have one week left, which I am looking forward to. I definitely draw my strength from the Lord!

What Happened to ????


Peter, our preacher son! Peter has just finished his second year at Bible College. He is doing so well, has matured in so many ways. His dream is to finish 4years to become a Pastor and to go to Canada and preach at churches there. Our family is looking forward to him being back at home for the summer months. He is hoping to find a job in order to pay for any expenses he needs during the next year of schooling. We are very proud of him!



Look at our twins, on their 1st birthday. These two beautiful girls are Sarah's (one of our oldest girls) and Fan's. (ฟาง and ฝ้าย) Fang and Fai are the girls names. They have been living down south, 18 hours drive, in Hat Yai but we are excited as they are moving back to Sriracha next month.


Naomi and Mom.... Okay, she is way cuter! Naomi and Steve both have just one year of secondary school left. Naomi is the top of her class in all subjects. This past year they awarded her with 1500 baht ($50) for being the top student. She works hard. Naomi has been working at 7/11 for the summer trying to save money for university. It would take her many, many years of work before she could afford university but we are believing for a way.


Steve has also been working at 7/11, but a different store then Naomi. 7/11's are just about on every corner in Thailand. Steve is studying computer programming in school and is hoping they will help to place him in a job when the year is done. They only place the top students and Steve works extremely hard for the marks he receives. If he doesn't get placed he is interested in going on to a higher education too but is unsure what he would take. He might even be interested in going to Bible College....... please pray for wisdom for him.

John has now worked for 1 year, after finishing grade 9. They informed us that they would pass him in grade 9 but he is not able to continue to study. John has no idea what he wants to do with his life. He is not scholastic but he is incredible with his hands. He can fix, invent, and grow any thing. He is working at Family Mart, which usually consists of sleeping as they are across from 7/11 and they have very few customers compared to 7/11. He really is just putting in time, but he is fantastic at saving money. He is only 16, so is very young and has time for decision making. Please pray for him too, for direction and wisdom.

It was Songkran this past week. The water festival, so our family dressed in our bright flowered shirts incase we got wet on the way to and from church. It really was 5 days of silliness. (it usually is the time when most people die from accidents in Thailand) We did have fun and spent one afternoon with all the other crazy people. Steve is the only one in the picture who isn't wearing the flower shirt and John, who is taking the picture; they were heading to work.

Home Sweet Home

A few pictures to show you some of our house. On the left is the girls rooms, with more beds to the right of the picture. And half
of the boys room, with 5 more beds at the end of the room where I am standing.






To the left is our laundry room - it looks like this all during rainy season - the clothes hanging inside. On the right, we were blessed with these chairs at Christmas. (I need to cut the feet though as they all rock badly)
Oh, a story about the drapes on the windows. I made those just over 4 years ago. Two weeks ago, I put them in the wash. I can only wash one at a time as they are so big, totally lined. When I opened the washing machine, I was horrified - the lining was in shreds! At first I thought that something must of happened to that one curtain - nope, the next one came out the same. The sun is so intense here, it has totally disintegrated the material. I have cut off the lining and rehung the drapes. Sure doesn't keep out the sun very well. :(


Pictures of our yard. We were also blessed with a fantastic swing/playground. The kids are on it most of the time, when the sun is around the other side of the house - in the evenings.


Friday, April 22, 2011

Holiday March 2011

Yeah..... Dad is home and we are on holidays. We packed up the truck and all the kids and headed north. I had spent many hours online looking for places to stay that were reasonable for 15 people... not an easy task. We decided this will likely be that last holiday as mom & dad's treat as soon dad will not be working. We also asked the kids that were working, to book time and join us.



We were heading to Chiang Mai.... the road was straight and long with many different sizes and shapes of cargo being hauled.








Our first stop, for a couple of nights, was not booked but we were really blessed with 2 awesome rooms. They were huge rooms and they offered us a fantastic deal. Most people are so awesome when they see us arriving with that many children. Dad and the kids are enjoying a show..... or they may have been watching the devastation in Japan. This was our view out the window, there are temples everywhere.









We stayed at a nice place in Chiang Mai and because there were so many of us, they offered to take us on a river cruise for free. So cool. There were many people fishing along the shores of the river and also many put together shacks.












Check out the sink drain on the right






Left: Esther and Matthew
Right: Isaac, Alan & David










Left: Ruth & Naomi

Right: Jessica & Victor


and Mark.

Missing are John, Steve, Hannah & Dad.

Kindergarten Celebration 2011

So........ I was invited to hang out with our youngest, Matthew, at school for a 'Walk Rally'. No one could explain to mom what it was so away we went. Ruth came with Mom and Matthew so she could help mom in translation. Okay, there was no walking! There were many games, I think 14 all total that mom and Matthew played together against the other kindergarten children and their parents. What a riot - at first they all just stared at the white lady but then they realized I was just as silly as they are...lol Here are just a couple of pics of the fun we had, I will add that it was 32c and the sun was strong!

The kids got to sit in the cars and the parents had to push them - it was a timed race. We did good! And look who the smiley one is - he is just so sweet. Go Matthew!





We were both looking up to see just what we had to do..... okay, walking on a tight rope between two trees. A few kids would not even attempt it, but as we have said before, our kids are monkeys.



Then there was the walk / hula hoop, they had big ones for the adults and little ones for the lil kids. Ruth even got to show her talent. Matthew did not do well so we don't have a picture of him. :)











Mom stood back to take pictures while the others played a game of passing the hoola hoop around in a circle while not letting go of each others hands. It was also a timed relay.






In Thailand, graduating from Kindergarten is a huge celebration. (grade 12 is not even celebrated) Doesn't Matthew look so sweet in his gown? He now will be starting Grade 1 and is very excited about it - "I get to be with the big kids now!!"



Thursday, April 21, 2011

January 2011


In the new year I was able to join our Canadian kids; Jennifer & Jason and our two granddaughters. Our son-in-law Orlund was not available for the picture. (wish he was as he is the photographer in the family and this pic isn't the best) Joy and Olivia are growing up so fast.



During the picture taking our youngest, Olivia, had a seizure and was taken to Kamloops hospital by ambulance. She ended up staying in the hospital for a week on intervenes as she had a urinary infection.

This was Jenner & the girls, sleeping at the hospital........
everything is just too
giggly! They are all so cute.






Then Jay dropped in to say goodbye to us all as he headed back to work north of Edmonton.
We did manage to get down to Cranbrook to see my dad and family. However, we had to spend 9+ hours in the Rogers because of snow avalanches. We got to visit and conquer the world, which we usually do from opposite sides of the world, so it was an enjoyable time.

















A couple of precious girls........ I sure miss them!