Festival dress

Here is a picture of Maggie and me in matching outfits we had made in time for some festivals this fall. As soon as Maggie saw her outfit, it was as if she knew it was dress-up material. She loved it.

Maggie and the spider

Maggie's friend also had a HUGE spider pinata at his party, much to the delight of all the kids present. Here Maggie is with the spider.

Maggie the "bug"

One of Maggie's best friends just had his third birthday party at a local park. His very creative mother put together a "bug" theme, including making all the kids a set of "bug antennae" to wear! This is a picture of Maggie seriously enjoying her antennae.

Flower girls

These two little precious flower girls, after taking their place at the front of the church, sat quietly and perfectly still for the entire ceremony. We have yet to meet any American children who could accomplish this, including our own (whose parents could barely do it). These girls were very sweet and cute!

The McCords and the happy couple

This is a picture of us with Say Say and her new husband.

Karen costume

Our sweet house helper, Say Say, got married last weekend. She invited us to her wedding, and even gave Chad and Maggie Karen outfits to wear to her wedding out in the village. You may have mistaken this pair for another couple of villagers, but it is our very own Chad and Maggie. Maggie had a great time, as always, out in the village.

Cooking mohinga

At the latest festival we went to, the big emphasis seemed to be the free food. At least this is what our friends kept telling us about...and they were right. People were opening up their homes and giving out free food left and right! These men were on the street in front of their homes cooking up these HUGE pots of mohinga to share with visitors. Our family was welcomed inside to have some!

Bhama festival

Some of our friends took us to a festival near our home a week or so ago. It was so crowded with people, and everyone seemed to be in such good spirits. We saw very little religious activity, just a lot of people getting together and sharing free food with each other. I got a picture of this little booth because it seemed to be one of the most popular at the festival judging by all the people crowding in around it...they were giving away a type of Indian flatbread that we really enjoy, too.

Maggie "helps"

Okay, so many of you are aware of our crazy move to a new house right before we left to have our new baby! Actually, things worked out great for us. We found a great new house, with air conditioners that actually work pretty much all of the time (as long as we are getting power). By the way, just let us know if you would like to read our "Ode to an Air Conditioner." Anyway, this is a picture of Maggie trying to "help" Daddy move the dresser in our room. Of course, she was torn between helping Daddy and watching her favorite Pooh video. Maybe you had to be there...but it was a pretty funny sight. :)

just for fun

Okay, this picture is a "just for fun" shot of our baby! Some local friends gave Maggie this doll for her birthday, and she loves it...it is about the same size as she is. On this particular afternoon, she had dragged it into the living room with her to watch one of her shows with her. It was so cute I just had to get a picture!

Saris

This is a picture of Alysia and Maggie in the saris our friends dressed us up in. (Of course, the sari would look a little different on a person who is not eight months pregnant.) Maggie loved dressing up in her little sari, and was very quiet and still as the ladies tucked in the little folds.

Precious in His sight

These little girls were all dressed up for the big festival this week. They looked so pretty in their pink that I just had to get a picture of them!

temple

This is a picture of a Hindu temple in our area. There has been a big Hindu festival here this week, so the Hindu temples have been major gathering places. Many Hindus travel from temple to temple all around the area this week...for hours and hours at a time. They make offerings like those left in front of the temple attendant pictured here.

“carousel”

Maggie got to go to a funfair fundraiser organized by foreign ladies. They had a carousel; she loved it so much she had a good time just WATCHING the carousel go around and waiting for her turn.

“carousel”

Maggie got to go to a funfair fundraiser organized by foreign ladies. They had a carousel; she loved it so much she had a good time just WATCHING the carousel go around and waiting for her turn.

"dinner"

This is a picture of a dinner we ate with a Hindu family. They were so gracious to us and served us so much food. In this picture, you can see Maggie POUNDING “her” banana leaf, showing our hostesses where to put her food.

“the family”

This is a picture of our family from early this summer at an ice cream parlor in Chiang Mai.

"Fourth of July Girl"

This is a picture of Maggie right before our Fourth of July party. She found the chocolate chips I set out for ice cream toppings, and started shoving them in.

Bangkok

This is a picture of our family this summer in Bangkok at the Hard Rock Cafe...really great American food! The staff kept bringing Maggie presents...including the blue bunny puppet in front of her.

His strength made perfect

We really love this picture. This picture was made at our gardener, Saw Etamu's wedding (Saw Etamu is standing next to Chad). Take a second and compare us to the people surrounding us. We really laughed when we first saw this picture...this is a great look at what we look like in the middle of the people here...at least a head taller than most people we meet. We certainly stand out...not just because of our height, but because of a little pale-skinned, red-haired girl who is always with us, our language differences, and a number of things about which we are still learning! As we first looked at this picture, we thought, "What a beautiful picture of His strength made perfect in our weakness!" The One we serve is able to cross ANY barrier to glorify His name. Where we are weak, He is made strong! We are so priveleged to witness His miracles. We believe it is truly a miracle that He is able to use us, who are so different from the people we want to befriend. But pr--se Him! We see Him work this miracle anytime someone grasps a foreign concept, or is willing to befriend us, or welcomes us into their culture. We are truly priveleged to stand by and see His mighty works like these all the time. May He be glorified all the more in our weaknesses, and we will continue to boast in our weakness!