Lil' Katie Comin Home today!

Today is a wonderful day! I just found out that Lil' Katie is coming home today!!!! Pascale and Kevin are soooo excited!!! And so am I!!!! Yippeeeeee!!!!!

Let the Little Children Come....

Here are some of my favorite pictures. These little kiddos have captured my heart and I just might take some home with me!

TAK Hilltribe Village Adventure

I had the wonderful opportunity to visit a hilltribe village this past weekend. Our school has a partnership with a village mission center in Tak, in the Northwestern part of Thailand, near the Burmese border. Forty-five teachers and staff travelled a long distance by double decker bus to this rural area. It was one of the most amazing experiences of my life. These little children were so well behaved and cheerful. We stayed at a center where the children stay so they can go to school. They see their parents every once in a while. We had a very busy weekend playing with the children, planting seeds in their garden, and generally pouring out love. We didn't even speak the same language as all of my hard work of learning Thai did not pay off because they speak a tribal language called Karin. But it was a wonderful experience and the joy on the children's faces when they opened their gifts we brought from our children at the school really brought me to tears. The children took us on a tour of the village and we got to meet some of the people and they welcomed us into their homes. The people in this village did not have much, and most of them are self-sustaining through gardening and growing rice. We went to one family's home that had one room made of bamboo, risen on stilts and under the house was the barn for the pigs and whatever else they own. After the tour, we came back to the center and did some recreational activities with the kids. After dinner, the children dressed up for us and performed on Saturday night. It was so much fun. The next day we had a tearful goodbye as they all waved to us. I know I will go back.

Phew.....where do I begin?!?!?!

To my Dear Friends and Family,

I am so sorry to keep you waiting as I up-date my blog. I have had some computer problems this last month, as it seems that I have maxed out my iphoto with all of my pictures....anyway, The month of November brought many exciting things, and the first two weeks in December have been truly amazing. I am so blessed to have celebrated Wyatt's One Year Old birthday in November, and happened to call while he was opening his presents. I was so worried that I would be heart broken over not being there, but as I called and was able to hear him playing with the hand carved wooden frog I sent him, I felt joyful to experience his birthday with him, even at a distance. I CAN NOT wait to come home and scoop him up and play with him!!!! Erik told me the other day that he is almost 3 feet tall, and I can hardly even imagine that! Also in November, I experienced my first trip to the hospital. The hospital is also where the doctor's clinics are, and I had been having stomach issues for quite some time, but it wasn't until I had a high fever that I decided I might need to get it checked out. So I was nervous, as the last time I went to the "doctor" in a developing country I had a boil lanced without any anesthetic and it was the worst pain in my life...but I was pleasantly surprised at the hospital. It was very clean and nice, and I was in and out of there in 30 minutes. The doctor listened to my stomach and told me that my stomach was bubbling. I had a stomach and intestinal infection. He put me on antibiotics that lasted 3 days, and they made me more sick than my original condition. I got a little better after that, but I still have some stomach issues from time to time....as my friend JT calls it, I've got "Bombay Belly" or rather "Bangkok Belly"....guess it just comes with the territory!

Camping in Thailand

I went camping with my friends to the largest national park in Thailand, Kaeng Krachan National Park (for more info go to: http://www.dnp.go.th/parkreserve/asp/style1/default.asp?npid=113&lg=2) . Let me just say, I had a BLAST!!!! But compared to camping in the Northwest, it is definitely Thai style. We stopped along the way to buy kanom, or snacks, and we had a wonderful trip up. I went with my friends Ja, Joei, Ju and Pat. I even bought a brand new tent for the occasion as well as a self-inflatable air mattress that has come in handy many times over so far. It was a wonderful experience, and I would definitely do it again. We drove into the camp and even convinced the guards to the National Park that we were Thai....enough Thai that we didn't have to pay the farang (foreigner) price to get into the National Park, we were able to pay the Thai price. That is always exciting!!!! Once we arrived at our camp site I had to laugh....in typical Thai community style, there was a field and people just plopped their tents down wherever they wanted, some just a couple of feet away from each other. We had a wonderful day relaxing and I brought the fixin's for s'mores because my Thai friends hadn't had s'mores American style before....we roasted our marshmellows over candle light, as bon fires are prohibited. But those were the best s'mores I've had in a long time! We watched the full moon and the stars and I counted about 10 meteors falling in the sky that night. The next morning I decided to go up the mountain in a Song Tao, or a truck that has benches along the wheel wells to sit on. We went 4 wheelin' in this Song Tao, and it was very fun. I saw many wonderful birds and even saw some monkeys. There were huge plants as well. I don't remember the name of them, but I called them elephant ear plants. When I got to the top of the mountain, it was such a majestic sight, but it made me miss home. As beautiful as these mountains are, I do have to admit that nothing really compares to the Cacades on a cool, crisp day. We got to see the "Sea of Fog" and took a tour of the King's Cabin, according to the Song Tao driver, the King stayed in this cabin. I didn't believe him at first, but Ja told me that the King was a very down to earth man and had probably really stayed there. I found that pretty interesting. Overall, it was a fantastic trip! I really had a great time and I hope to go back sometime soon!