See if you can spot the redhead

In the back of this picture there is a little red-headed girl! When we go to the market, Maggie always attracts a lot of attention. People here are so kind to Maggie. We often leave the market with many "presents" people have given Maggie...ranging from a fan she has grabbed for, to a little orange, to even a tube of lipstick. So many people at the market have such soft hearts and are so delighted when anything Maggie is playing with makes her happy. When someone wants to hold her, Maggie holds out those chubby little arms and off she goes. Shop ladies whisk her into their shops, and many times a contest begins over who can make Maggie smile. In this picture, a crowd is gathered around Maggie while she is visiting inside a snack shop at the market. Maggie has a great time, and it warms Momma's heart to see people who are so sweet to her baby.

Our house

This is our house! We were so blessed to find it, and we were led to it so quickly! The window on the left is Maggie's room, and on the right is the window to our bedroom. These bedrooms are in kind of an upstairs...actually, our house is called "one and a half storey" here because of the small downstairs. From the great room, which is a living room and dining room, there are about eight stairs up to the area where the bedrooms are. Underneath the two bedrooms, the small window you see is the window to a little room Chad is using as an office. Right next to that is the garage, which we use mainly for washing and hanging out laundry to dry. We were also excited to find a house that has a small yard (it does not show in this picture). Any little patch of green is wonderful for Maggie's disposition! She has already spent some time in the yard digging and pulling up leaves to inspect.
We are located close to a main road, which is great for catching taxis. Our location is supposedly very good, which means that our power should be reliable. We have had several outages. You can thank Dad for us for our landlord...she has been very good to us, coming to help us promptly when needed. We even had a crew here just today working to fix a wall in the garage. Maggie enjoyed watching them work!

Curious about Christmas

This is a picture of our curious little Maggie digging around under our Christmas tree. The tree has been a real source of fascination for her. She really wants to play with the ornaments, or objects we are using as ornaments, even though she knows she isn't supposed to do that. The rattan balls you see on the tree are called chin lon balls...chin lon is a popular game men play here in our country. The men hike up their longyis by tying them up like a diaper, and then gather in circles to kick the balls around. The game is very similar to hackey sack. It is very common to see young men with their longyis tied up playing chin lon almost anywhere you go in this city. Chin lon balls come in all shapes and sizes.
Among the chin lon balls are other ornaments that take the form of ancient symbols of the hope we hold. We have been fortunate enough to use the symbols to share the hope we have with at least one Buddhist visitor to our home. You can remember our country this season by asking the Father that, like our children, many more during this time will be curious about Christmas!

At the Market

This is a shot of Chad and Maggie at a nearby market. We visit this market fairly regularly because it is so close to our home. The market is partly outdoors, as you may have pictured it, with flowers, vegetables, plastic wares, pharmacies, and a variety of other goods for sale. A large part of this market, however, is inside a two-story concrete building. Upstairs is mostly longyi fabric and seamstress shops, and downstairs is where the real prize is found...meat! In these shops, which are basically booths, there are chicken, fish, and all sorts of animal parts available. Here, Chad and Maggie are pictured next to a lovely display of chicken feet.

Family photo

Well, here we are! (Sorry Chad is not looking at the camera.:))Thank you so much for thinking of us. Please continue to remember our visas and our travel across the big pond...which is only a couple of weeks away now! Please also remember Maggie in our time of transition and travel back across the country! Of course, keep our friends in SE Aisa on your hearts and in your thoughts. We are so thankful for you...thank you again for remembering us!

Men of quad 3

This is a picture of Chad with some of the other guys who live with us in our quad. The quads are basically little buildings comprised of four apartments connected by a great room. We spend a lot of time with the people in our quad and do a lot of small group activities together. The men in this picture have each been so sweet and tender towards Maggie. They all have a special place in our hearts not only because of the great guys that they are, but because of the love they have poured out on Maggie. They truly treat her like they are all her uncles! They were so sweet to come celebrate her birthday with us. We have loved getting to know them!

Can I have some of that?

On Saturday, we celebrated Maggie's first birthday at Chick-fil-A. Even though we were sad to be far away from our family, we were surrounded with folks we have grown to LOVE here at orientation. Lots of friends here who love Maggie came to celebrate with her, and she had a great time. Here she is anticipating digging into her cake at her party.

Little Maggie growing up

Maggie has grown and changed so much since we have been here at orientation. She has a lot more hair...much to my delight, we can now put hairbows in it! She also loves to push a stroller around our quad, and she crawls very quickly. She has started standing by herself for short periods of time, and last week she took as many as five steps at once on her own. Of course, she only tries walking if there is something she really wants in front of her. Here she is standing by herself by the lake out here one afternoon.

Longyis

These shots are of us in the traditional dress of our region. These "skirts" are actually huge tubes of fabric that can be folded over and tucked (or tied for males, as Chad has done) to be worn in our hot climate. Chad and I both actually found them very comfortable and cool...a must for a tropical climate. We have also been told that they are VERY convenient for squatty potty users. The lady in the picture with me, Kim, will be serving in the country next door to us...the longyis belong to her and her family. They have been to the region before and have been so sweet to share insights with us!

We're so glad you came!

Hello, friends and family! What a blessing you are to us...thank you so much for visiting, and demonstrating your interest in our story. We anticipate your joining us on task as you remember us and think about us. Please come back to our blog, and we will keep you updated!