Be Prepared to Ooooooh and Aaaaaaah!

Bathroom Before:
Who knew that removing old, gross, stained lynolium, ripping out a urine-smelling vanity, replacing some soft floorboards, fixing major holes in the walls, adding fresh paint and buying new accessories could be so fulfilling! That's what we've been doing the past two weeks to the old bathroom pictured above.

First, Carson helped Daddy with the plumbing (you can't really see Brian's face in there...but trust me, he was pulling some nasty faces as he tried not to think about the smells being harbored in those cupboards!)











After lugging out the old vanity and pulling up the toilet, we had some very, very, VERY good friends spend a couple of days down on their hands and knees, helping us rip out the old lynolium, replace rotted floorboards, and lay tile. (Thanks, Becks! - I wish I had pictures of you!)















After the tile was laid, I spent the next couple of days working on the 5 major holes in the drywall, and painting the old moldings.









And, after a couple weeks of hard work, we have a beautiful, new bathroom!

I think I can, I think I can, I think I can....

Kenz and I went on a bike ride around the neighborhood the other day, and as we trudged our way up a slight incline I overheard McKenzie whispering to herself, "I think I can, I think I can, I think I can..." as she used all her little muscles to pull herself up the hill. It was very cute, and after a few seconds of chanting, she said, "HEY MOM! When I say 'I think I can', my muscles all come out and make me go faster!!!"

Real life will be starting soon (like, tomorrow) as Brian starts his year of Internal Medicine Residency. (Seriously, WHO decided that a SATURDAY was the best day to start?! This does not bode well for the rest of the year, I fear!) From what I understand, this year will require much patience, understanding, endurance, and love from me...but I feel prepared, and whenever my muscles of patience start to get tired, I'll just start chanting, "I think I can, I think I can, I think I can..." until they all 'come out' again and push me along faster.

Brian has been going to orientation this week, so I've had a little introduction to what life was like before he was my constant helper - and I've been pleased to remember that I really can keep the house clean, the kids fed and relatively happy, and my e-mail checked all my myself. :) I really do love being a stay-at-home mom...so, to this nasty intern year of which we've heard so many horror stories about: BRING IT ON!

France - Post 1

~
How do you capture a moment?

Is it possible to remember every detail of a day...of an hour...of a moment? Why is it true that time must erode all memories? True, there are some memories I am glad to have been dulled by time...but there are others - so many others - that I never want to fade. Isn't this why, in fact, I reach for my camera so often? But there are those things that a camera can never capture...the things I really want to remember. The taste of a freshly baked baguette; the sweet voice of a little girl as she told me, in French, about the elephant she colored; the smell of a homemade dinner as it filled the narrow alleyways in the city of Langeais - proving to me that people really, actually live in such an indescribably beautiful, beautiful place; the sheer size of the Alps; the heartache and uncontrollable tears some nights when I could think of nothing but how much I missed my kids, and the freedom that came with their absence; the excitement I felt from Brian when the language started to click again; the sound as the most beautiful water I've ever seen crashed as waves into the rocks; the lightheartedness and giddiness Brian and I shared together; the fear as we drove down narrow, winding roads at the posted speed limit that felt way too fast; ... I won't bore you with so many others - but these are the things I want to remember most about our vacation to Europe. And these are the things that are impossible to share...they must instead be experienced.

Here is a brief slideshow of 16 of the most beautiful pictures we have...

I drink heavily from this moment,
And sadly know
That almost every drop
Will be lost.

So,

I will cherish the drops that remain,
And fondly remember
That there is so much more
That was lost.
~

Some pictures are just SO ugly, you have to share...

So, while we were in Thailand, my mom captured this picture of Amber. After seeing it, I caught a case of the giggles so badly that my stomach hurt the next day. I tried to justify my laughing to her: "There are four categories of pictures," I said, "Pretty pictures, normal pictures, ugly pictures, and pictures so hideous that you have to laugh, and strongly hope that you don't actually ever look like that!"

Well, she was a little less than amused...so, Amber, I want you to know that after I saw this picture of myself (taken by Brian in France when we were caught in a mighty wind and rain storm), I had to laugh - because I hope this, too, falls in that final category. :) Just think of it as something else we have in common - we can pull some nasty faces!

PS - to all of you who keep asking me to post pictures of France, I promise I will! I'm still in the process of sifting through them all.......

Thailand - Finally, Part 5

So, I took a couple of weeks off of blogging to do some crazy things like buy a house, celebrate Brian's graduation, and fly to Europe. But, I'll sum up the rest of our Thailand adventure in one last post before moving on to the other major things I've just listed. :) (Whew! What a busy month!)

Chaing Mai










After visiting Laos, we took the next weekend and flew up to Chaing Mai (in northern Thailand). There we rented this cool 'transportation vehicle' called a Rote-Dang...which is basically a truck with a closed in cab, benches along the sides, long side windows, and an open back. The kids loved it because, once again, they didn't have to wear seatbelts. In fact, their favorite place to ride was in the back of the truck, with their feet dangling out, so they could wave to all the people behind them. You can kind of see that in the last picture above.










We hiked up a million stairs to visit this beautiful wat (a buddhist temple). McKenzie was sure proud of herself because she walked up the whole thing by herself.

We visited a silk farm and learned about how they make silk from the silk worm (you can see the silk flowers pinned onto Kenz's and my shirt). Have you ever learned how they make silk? Amazing!











We pounded some wood bark to help make some of these beautiful fans...

We watched an elephant draw... Yep. We watched this elephant draw this entire picture...and now you can see her writing her name! Suda. I guess it takes an elephant about 2 months to learn how to draw...but, evidently, not all elephants can learn. Some have the talent, and others just don't. They had three elephants up there at the same time, all drawing the same picture, and Suda's was, by far, the best. One was trying hard, but sloppy, and the other one didn't seem to care too much about the whole idea of drawing! Suda was the youngest of the three at only 4 years old. Kenz was excited, "Hey! I'M four!" I asked her why she couldn't draw an elephant. She didn't get it.
The rest of the elephant show captivated Carson. Especially the part when they turned on some loud music and let the elephants dance around. One elephant swung his trunk around and around as he bobbed to the music and Carson couldn't stop pointing and laughing! This was such a great animal show because you could tell that the elephant keepers really loved those elephants...and they were very well taken care of.

We rode down a river on a raft - this, I think, was the highlight of McKenzie's whole vacation. The people who were guiding our raft along ended up getting in a water fight, and with a little coaxing, McKenzie jumped off the raft to walk in the shallow river. She was really, really cute.









Although, we had a slight bit of trouble when she got cold in the back of the Rote-Dang. Good thing my mom is full of great ideas!


Next, we went to visit the monkeys - and McKenzie actually kissed one...on the lips. I just tried to close my eyes and turn off my germ-a-phobe tendencies.

The Waterfalls























After we made it back to Bangkok, we took a little trip out to a beautiful 'national' park (I'm not sure what it's actually called in Thailand...). We hiked up to some waterfalls, jumped in (some of us with our clothes on!) and had a fantastic time!

The Grand Palace
















My dad took us to the Grand Palace. Carson's favorite things were the water lilies... hey, they had pretty purple flowers with bees in them...what more could a kid want? While we were walking around the grounds, my dad said, "You know, this is cool." I looked at him and he continued, "30 years ago as a missionary I never thought I'd be able to bring my kids back to see this..." he looked down at McKenzie and Carson and added, "...my grandkids..."

Well - dad - I can't say thanks enough for actively sharing this part of your life with us. 5 posts, and I have only touched on what I saw, what I heard, what I felt, and what I learned. I miss you, mom and Amber terribly, but your examples have strengthened my testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and I owe you all the thanks in the world for that. I love you, guys... thanks for an unforgettable vacation!

Thailand - Part 4

Songkran - What an AWESOME holiday!

We were lucky enough to be visiting over the Thai New Year - Songkran. Their calendar is counted from Buddha's birth...as ours is from Christ's birth. Though they've accepted and used the same calendar as we do for many years, their New Year in April is still one of the most celebrated holidays in the country. How fun to see the new year of 2551 be born into Thailand!

There really is no way to describe Songkran with words...you seriously just have to see it. The most obvious celebration of this holiday is throwing water. They dump water on you to 'shower you with blessings'. Basically, it's a three-day, country-wide water fight (also celebrated in Laos, Burma and Cambodia...I think). We were gently introduced to the holiday after church in Laos, when the members of the branch sat 8 chairs in a semi-circle for our family and the senior missionary couples. After we were all seated, member after member after member after member came around the circle with a cup full of rose-water.

We were instructed to hold our hands out in a bowl shape as each member poured water into our hands and voiced a blessing to us. Some blessings ran exceptionally long as water overflowed the 'bowl' and seeped through each gap between our fingers. We then were told to take our full hands and dump the water on our heads. Definitely not something I was planning on doing when I got dressed that morning! We couldn't stop laughing the whole time, and the members loved it! We were further surprised when they came along the back of us and started dumping cups full of water down our shirts.... :) This went on for a good 20 minutes, and boy were we soaked by the end...my skirt and hair were literally dripping when I stood up!









My dad missed out on the 20 minutes of blessings, however the members were quick to greet him with cups full of water when he came out of his interviews. He lucked out, however, because he stood the whole time...his pants never got wet (and, he could understand what they were saying in their blessings!).

We drove back to Thailand that afternoon, and it was SO MUCH FUN to watch the celebrations from the safety of our enclosed van. :) Group after group of people were lined up along the highways with barrels of water, squirt guns and hoses, ready to douse any and everybody. We saw countless trucks loaded down with people out to get soaked. Friend soaking friend, stranger soaking stranger. Music and dancing and dripping and drinking were everywhere - EVERYWHERE!


It was rather hard to get good pictures as we traveled along the highway...so these are a little blurry...but notice the three pick-up trucks in a row in the first picture, loaded down with people and water. This was typical. The second picture cracked me up - how many people are in that truck? And their HATS! Notice in the third picture how the group of people has moved out into the highway...we're going 50 mph here, and they're waltzing out in front of the traffic signaling for people to slow down so they can soak them with water! The craziest part about it, is that people DO IT! The trucks slow down and veer to their side with their water guns and buckets of water ready to douse the people on the ground.

Seriously, why don't we celebrate this holiday?!

Thailand - Part 3

For our only Sunday in Laos, we attended the small LDS branch in Vientiane. Possibly one of the best Sundays I have ever had. I didn't understand much, but the spirit touched my heart more strongly than it has in a long time.

As Laos is communist, missionaries are not allowed to proselytize. In fact, the only missionaries there are two senior couples who can only provide much needed service; however, they don't speak the language, so their communication is severely limited.

I don't know specifics, but I do know that the church is still very new in Laos. The people of the branch have learned so much, but they still have so much more to learn - they are firm in their testimonies of the gospel and they are required to heavily practice their faith that, no matter what the answers to all of their many questions are, those answers will be true. I sadly admit that I'm not sure I would have such faith. I pray that someday soon, these people can have their questions answered by full-time, Laotian-speaking missionaries, who can take their small branch by the hand and help them achieve their full potential...which is great indeed.

During Sacrament meeting, I could visibly see the love that the people of this branch have for my mom. I loved seeing their smiles widen as she got up to speak! I then watched them scoot to the edge of their seats and lean forward when my dad stood up to speak. They hung on every word - starved for the knowledge and teachings that he shared with them. My dad spoke in Thai, not in their native tongue of Laotian; but the two languages are similar, much like Spanish and Portuguese. I found it touching to see the concentration in their faces as they put forth the extra effort to understand all he was saying. Even the children of the branch were quiet in reverence, sensing the importance of the meeting from the examples of their parents.

Relief Society was after sacrament meeting, and I watched the 10 sisters open up their Doctrine and Covenants to read. There was no lesson manual, there was no teacher, just sisters sitting together, reading the word of God. They would read a little, discuss a little, question a little... One sister spoke very broken English, and every once in a while, she would translate a question from the group to my mother. "If you haven't gone to the temple, can you still live with God?" A heartfelt, concerning question from these sisters who don't have much of a chance of raising the needed money to get to the nearest temple in Hong Kong. Not even the branch president has been to the temple. They asked my mom to give the closing prayer and afterwards each sister stood up front and, with the help of the sister who spoke broken English, bore her testimony to us. What a touching experience. One sister said to my mother, "You are like an angel sent from God to teach us." Another sister expressed her joy that Heavenly Father had chosen her to be baptized. No sister, save one, had been a member of the church for more than 10 years... but again, their faith was amazingly strong. My emotions got the best of me, and I sat with tears in my eyes and a smile on my face that, though large for me, seemed to pale in comparison to theirs.

I really do believe that God is no respecter of persons. These women added a new layer to my testimony that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ are with us, and that they guide us and love us...all of us. Such humble circumstances in Laos - such joyful people.








After church the young women and relief society sisters crammed together in the kitchen to prepare lunch for the branch, while the kids played outside.











When lunch was prepared, the children came in to help 'set the table'...i.e. put plates of food down on colorful mats that had been spread out on the chapel floor.









We ate, talked, and laughed while the food was passed around and around until everyone had had enough. Then, these two cute little girls came out carrying an empty tub and cleared all the dishes by throwing them, one by one, into their tub. I thought this was so cute...especially since that little girl in the pink dress held onto those four cookies the whole time!










Random pictures of the day-

More later!