frog pool

thanks grammy jo :).

to you....

off to see the manatee...

last weekend we headed out to blue spring with some friends to catch a glimpse of the manatee...

"Cold river temperatures and cool nights have kept the manatees in the spring run for several weeks through December and January. Temperatures in the spring run remain a constant 72 degrees; creating a warm water refuge for the West Indian Manatee. The best time to view manatees is early in the morning on a cold winter day. As we get into March and April, warmer temperatures will slowly allow the river temperatures to rise and the manatee will no longer need the warm water of the spring to survive. " (from the blue spring website)

we did see some, but they alluded the camera.... click here for pics of the West Indian Manatee (that someone with a fancy camera took).

best wedding pic ever

just my opinion, but aren't these two so gorgeous & happy?

a sweet friend from Jesus film, Danika, got married after the new year to Greg, a great guy...

warms my heart :).

to see more pics, go to:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/danikagoes/sets/72157603725172869/

what happens when you don't screen your babysitters....

actually, we are extremely thankful for our babysitters....
despite this photo that showed up in mike's inbox after some of our sweet neighbors took Hudson for a while so we could get some packing done... thanks Carters!

2 months

...mom's a bit late, but i'm 2 months old now!see how big i am getting? up to 11 lbs 14 oz at my 2 month check up :) (i was born at 7lb10oz, but went down to 6lb13oz by the 2nd day, so i've gained a lot since then!)
my first 2 girlfriends, juliet & olivia... with their dad, paul

my first pair of shades

my room... see the sweet blanket grandma made me?

here's where i sleep

the shower

some lovely friends (pictured left) threw me a lovely shower before hudson's arrival...








lovely food...















lovely gifts...






lovely Mommee (french grandmother title) came into town.

Dirk

meet "Dirk" (giver of the football jersey mentioned in the previous entry)... we had the delight of forming an acquaintance with him when he came to Orlando to work on a recording project with us a few years ago. he acted as our brilliant director and general entertainment during his time here. the gracious fellow he is, Dirk also hosted Carly & me at his home in Winchester during our last-minute-can't-believe-we're-actually-doing-this-trip-to-UK last New Year's. He was our tour guide (as you can see) for the day introducing us to Stonehenge in all its glory, as well as to random Jane Austen historical sites we HAD to visit. But that's not all... he & his lovely wife had us into their home, feeding us a delightful vegetarian meal and giving us a much-needed place to rest for the night. if you'd like to join the Dirk fan club, of which we are unofficially a part, you'll also need to know that he's a rock star drummer. check out his band at http://www.riotousbrothers.co.uk/index.htm.

Dirk's quote of the day:
"Weight on? Caryn looks EXACTLY THE SAME as at New Year's but with a soccer ball up her smock!"
gotta love him.

which reminds me, i am tardy in sharing any photos of my trip with Carly... i'll start with the other famous people we met during our travels...

Jane Austen:
"A woman, especially, if she have the misfortune of knowing anything, should conceal it as well as she can."





Ann Taylor
(yes that's actually her name, though we don't honestly know if she is any relation to the brilliant retailer):
"Where are you going? ...I can take you there myself!"
(her response to our request for directions to the bus that would bring us to our B&B in the Cotswolds... gotta love the English)

Unknown Scotsman
(though we are quite sure he is famous -- doesn't he look important?):
"[unintelligible conversation in a thick accent]"

may 7

mike got back safely over the weekend with all kinds of neat stories about his time down south... look forward to sharing about those soon!

can't believe i am going to be back in the states in like 11 days!!?? even more incredible when i think these next 11 days will include a trip to bangkok to meet carly, a trip down phuket & back then sightseeing & shopping in chiang mai with her, packing the rest of my stuff & most of the house, 2 goodbye parties, the long flight home, & who knows what else...
guess you can pray for energy.

i get into orlando May 18...
mike gets into Fort Lauderdale on May 27th (we'll stay with my parents for a bit down there).

looking forward to seeing all of you US residents soon!

last night with small group girls

i'm going to miss these ladies....

thursdays we get together with these gals & their husbands (except koshara who is a LOVELY single gal) to eat, laugh, and talk about the important (and not so important :) things in life.

left to right... evie, michelle, lonna, & koshara (missed you jen, elissa, marisa, & nancy!)

had one last chic night together...

great conversation & fabulous food, as always! lonna made her out-of-this-world homemade bread, evie brought tasty meats & cheeses, michelle fruit & a super salad, koshara chocolate cake, & i tried a new french onion soup recipe on them.

they are as fun as they look!

saying goodbye

we've been doing a lot of it lately... it's so strange to visit with friends & realize that it's the last time you'll see them -- if not forever, for a very long time.


here I am with some girlfriends & their babies... i met Khun M through our work here in Chiang Mai -- she worked in the office we used to share. Christy & I met through mutual friends... Mike & her husband used to work together in Orlando. Both are busy with babies these days, as you can see!


here we are with the Rutledges & their growing & extended family... you can read about their story & ministry here.

my 30th

for those of you who couldn't be with us...

we went to dinner with our friends, david & christy... then came back to our place for christy's french chocolate cake! the perfect cake, i'm convinced... 1 tablespoon of flour and unmentionable amounts of chocolate & butter...




i'm experimenting with the video feature on blogger... you have to press the little play button (the carrot thingy above ">")... let me know how it works for you!

quick fixes

thought i'd pass on some domestic wisdom i've learned lately...

when __________ .... just _________________.
1. one of the holes in your vinyl shower curtain rips.... apply generous amounts of hot glue to the torn section. it's clear (unlike duct tape) and seems to be working. i'll give you an update on durability after we actually take showers.
2. you turn all your husband's favorite t-shirts various shades of pink.... wash again with non-colorfast clothes that are a more "acceptable" shade for a guy. i threw them in a hot-water wash with a dark navy thai outfit... voila! sky blue beats pepto pink anyday, & looks great on my hubby!
3. you have a Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day.... rest a bit, & wait for a dear friend to show up with chocolates. thanks Catherine!

feel free to share any of your own tips.

ireland

O Ireland isn't it grand you look--Like a bride in her rich adornin? And with all the pent-up love of my heart I bid you the top o' the mornin!
John Locke
"The Exile's Return"

if you haven't heard, after our last recording trip, i abandoned my husband for 10 days and went to ireland... a good friend had been planning to go there on her sabbatical and was without a travel partner at the last minute, so i obliged her...
the really miraculous thing was that we were both able to get free plane tickets through our frequent flier programs within a couple months of the trip and even arrived in dublin within an hour of each other!
we drove our way around the south to glendalough, avoca (for all you ballykissangel fans), wexford, kilkenny, waterford, cork, killarney, the dingle peninsula, galway, clifden/connemara, & all the beautiful roads in between surrounded by goats, sheep, cattle (sometimes on the roads, as well) and fences made of stone.... we saw tons of buildings, abbeys, castles, rocks, ruins, shorelines, churches, graveyards, & gardens... all considerably older than the country of our birth.
the place was gorgeous and the people were just beautiful... they were always friendly & welcoming... a few times we were approached by strangers on the street who thought we looked lost & did not want to mug us, but actually wanted to help us...
if you'd like to see oodles of great pictures of ireland, debbie, and me, go to debbie's ireland photos on snapfish... you'll need to get a login if you don't have one, but it's easy... let me know if the link doesn't work.

the 4th

we had a great time celebrating our country's birthday last week...

there is a US consulate in chiang mai, so we joined many other americans, as well as thai guests, in an evening of "american style hotdogs", sodas we'd been missing from the states (like sunkist & dr. pepper), make your own patriotic necklaces, and a "rousing sing-along" followed by fireworks to end things right.... all very fun, but we have no evidence of this fun since cameras & cell phones were "discouraged" at the consulate....

afterwards, we invited friends & neighbors back to our place for dessert, games, & patriotic movies...

it's amazing how patriotic you get when you leave the country... caryn decided to decorate the party cups and wrote a line from all 8 stanzas of "my country 'tis of Thee" on each one. yes... there are 8 stanzas! go here if you don't believe it: http://www.montney.com/flag/hymns.htm

a family from texas came... they brought a really cool cake, & we didn't try to explain to them that texas is only a part of the US, and not the entire country...


hope yours was great, too... feel free to leave a comment & tell us what YOU did!

blue vivaldi

meet the puppy formerly known as "blue" & "our favorite".

you met annette, his new owner, on a previous post... well, she came by today with "vivaldi" (his new name -- we mentioned she's a flautist, i believe), happy to report that he is doing quite well in obedience classes. the teacher even suggested that she enter him into new dog shows they are starting for mixed breeds.
we couldn't be prouder.

the last puppy

...went to our friends Bet(pictured),Ben, and their son, Andrew.
His name is "puppy".

We thought Ginger had been feeling a bit lonely, so yesterday we took her down to see Rita who has 2 of the pups. Caryn enjoyed it, because she met Rita's housemates -- 2 girls around her age from the States who are teaching English here. The puppies almost immediately reverted to their puppyhood and started chasing Ginger around, trying to nurse. A good time was had by all, though Ginger was ready to go by the time we left.

very thai 3... songkran

here it is...
a national waterfight in action...
and we were right in the middle of it...

photo taken from the (dry) cab of our pickup by my aunt rosanna
pictured: caryn's cousin alyssa in foreground with goggles...caryn in the hat... our friend catherine squinting from a good dousing

chaos in the streets

fun chaos

my uncle Chris, encouraging the chaos

chaos in the backs of trucks

in on the chaos with friends

for background on songkran... click here & read the article in orange

the great puppy giveaway

last family pic... at the vet getting their vaccinations.










"tiger girl" is going to a man we met at the vet.










our friend, catherine, from the uk is taking this little girl she named "cebu", after an island she recently visited.










annette, the american flautist, is taking "blue".










"o", kassem, and namtan (friends from work) are taking these cuties.










rita is taking "tipper" & her brother, "red"... we're excited because she lives in our neighborhood!











we have one more little boy at home after today... he goes to our friend, ben, & her family....

we're a little sad.. no more puppies to trip us & bite us & eat our shoes & stink up our yard.... seriously though, it was a lot of fun & we got more than a little attached!