Lauren is on her way!

As I write this, Lauren should be landing in Singapore.  We had a teary good-bye at the airport this afternoon as we sent her off for a week-long retreat at a secluded island resort in Indonesia.  She will be meeting several high-schoolers whose parents serve in Nazarene missions on this side of the world.  They will be looking at their strengths, looking towards life after high school, and looking to God to speak to them in new ways.  We anticipate that this week will be life changing for her!

But even though this trip has been much anticipated, the process has not been easy.  This is partly because Lauren is our first child - she's the first one to venture off on her own.  And then there's little thing called "recent airplane crashes". Even though air travel is still one of the safest forms of transportation (MUCH safer than road travel here!), it still takes an act of faith to let go and to trust God with my girl.  Because I know that trusting Him doesn't mean that nothing bad will happen to her, but rather it means that I have to come to terms with the fact that He will be with her in whatever she has to go through.

Megann wasn't in the mood for an airport good-bye

To make matters worse, sometimes I worry that we've made a really bad decision to raise our kids overseas.  What if we've really messed them up?  What if they never feel like they belong anywhere... ever?  What life goes on for everyone back home, and they get forgotten?  What if they can't make it on their own in the world?  These are all things that run through my sub-conscious mind (I don't actually let my conscious mind chew on this for very long).

And yet, through all of this, there are these little glimpses of hope - that God sees us, that He knows us, and that He will provide everything we need.  A few weeks ago, Lauren and I got sidetracked by looking through some pictures from before we moved overseas, as she was preparing a fundraising page for her trip expenses.  Our last three years in Idaho were spent on the campus of NNU in the freshman boys' dorm, and one night several girls from the neighboring dorm put on a Princess Party for Lauren and Brenna.  All of the girls dressed up and they did "princessy" activites all night.  We had a fun time reminiscing about several of the girls who had made Lauren feel so special that night.

Princess Party Flashback - 2006?

Fast forward to just before Christmas... some pictures were posted on Facebook of a staff Christmas party of one of the churches in Idaho.  Around the table were several people who had touched Lauren's life.  One was one of the girls who had been at the Princess Party several years earlier that Lauren had especially remembered.  Another was Lauren's third grade teacher - her last teacher in America.  And yet another, was the couple who have organized the retreat that Lauren will be attending this week.  Wow!  Needless to say, I was in tears.  Such a sweet reminder that God hasn't forgotten about my girls!

So thankful for these sweet reminders!

Then, just last week, we heard from Ryan's sister that a friend of theirs was also traveling to the retreat, and would be bringing a few little gifts for the girls with him.  And we received a message from a cousin saying that another couple who were going to be flying over for the retreat were youth workers from his church.  When we shared Lauren's fundraising page on Facebook, donations came in from family and friends all over the world - including another one of those girls who had been at the Princess Party.  Lauren was able to raise more than enough money to pay for her portion of the trip, and was even able to use the excess to help defray the costs for some of the other students.  We feel honored and humbled, and so very grateful!

*** As I wrap up this post, Lauren is safely in Singapore.  Please continue to keep all of us, but especially her, in your prayers this week.

Wednesday Playgroup

Ready to play with friends!

 I'm treasuring these last few months of being a stay-at-home mom with Megann.  In August, she will begin preschool at Logos, and I will be working full-time as the school nurse.  We've been trying school out two mornings a week, and so far the most difficult thing has been getting Megann to want to go home.  Next year we will all be a the same school, and we'll have a child in each level - preschool, elementary, middle school, and high school.  I'm so thankful that I don't have to drop kids at four different schools!

But, one of the things that Megann and I will really miss is our Wednesday morning playgroup.  It is such a sweet time of being with little friends and mommy-friends.  And it has been a good incentive to get out of the house for something more than a trip to the grocery store.  Most of the time we host playgroup in our homes, but one week this winter we decided to try out a park.  Unfortunately, the weather here is so hot that you can usually only stand to be at a park until the sun comes up or after it goes down, but this day we were able to enjoy it until around 9:30am (at which point we bailed and took the kids to a little playland in the KFC)

Last little bit of shade

As you can see from the picture, we tried to find the last little bits of shade on the playground as the sun got higher in the sky.  And the kids also attracted a small audience, but they're pretty used to it.  We shared some snacks, but when the shade was gone and the audience started asking for money we decided our time there was done.

But don't feel too bad for us right now when it comes to the heat. We have been enjoying the coolest weather in Cambodia in the past 20 years - nighttime lows below 70!

Logos International School

Not everyone knows what we do here in Cambodia, so I've been trying to use our blog to show you different aspects of our daily life.  Ryan, Lauren, Brenna, and Addie spend their days at Logos International School, where Ryan teaches elementary music, middle school band, and high school choir.  It's a big job!

 

The entrance to the school compound.

View from inside the gate.

Standing on the turf - a little hot, but better than mud!

The view from the playground.

The swimming pool!

Ryan at work with the 4th graders.

After school dance rehearsal - recognize the long hair? (it's Lauren)

Ryan's Salon Concert

Last Wednesday, Ryan performed in a salon (small) concert downtown with the mother of one of his students.  The concert was sponsored by a Korean bank that is new to Cambodia, and most of the people in attendance were associated with the bank or, as in our case, family/friends of the performers.

Ryan played the piano and the trumpet, and Addie and I enjoyed a night on the town.  Afterwards we were treated to dinner at a local Italian restaurant.  It was fun to do something very out of the ordinary in our own city!

All dressed up and ready to go!

A picture of the performers and their spouses, I think.

Logos Jog-a-thon

Every year, Logos School has a Jog-a-thon fundraiser.  This year, the students raised over $9000 dollars to help renovate the gymnasium.  The gym currently floods when it rains, and has very limited seating on the sidelines, so the improvements will be great.  Plus, our gym is used by many different groups during the week, so it won't just be something good for Logos, it will be for the whole community!  Thank you to all who made donations!

Kids in the gym before the race

Addie - sporting the Jogathon t-shirt

Brenna at the finish

Lauren and friends

Ryan and Megann - nearly the first ones to finish!

Megann with the big girls

Logos Teachers Retreat

Can you imagine it?  Beautiful sunshine, sandy beaches, refreshing pool, good food, air-conditioned hotel room, great friends.  Too bad I spent the first half of it in a bad mood.  I don't know what my deal was.  Maybe it was because Ryan was sick, and I couldn't help but remember June of 2012 (the last time we were at this hotel) when Ryan was sick with dengue fever.  Or maybe it was because we forgot to load the suitcase that had all of Megann and Addie's clothes in it into the car before we left.  Or maybe it was because I was so incredibly exhausted from having three Thanksgivings the weekend before we left.  It's hard to know.

Aren't they cute?!  That's pretty much what they looked like all weekend!

But the speaker at the retreat spoke about Sabbath, and our physical, mental, and spiritual need for rest.  It was sooo good.  So, as Advent season begins, this family is going to be taking things slow.  A lot of really good things are not going to make it on the calendar, and that's okay.  We've had an unbelievable year, in so many ways.  We need time to think, time to reflect, time to enjoy being together.  

It was pretty sunny!

Fun with friends

Going on a Walk

The other morning we decided to go for a little walk.  It was before 7am, which is already pretty warm, but the cloud cover made it more bearable.  This first picture is the view from our front door.  As you can see, I had a sweet little walking partner sitting out under the mango tree, ready to go. 

Our new home is at the end of a quiet road, which is wonderful! 

At the end of the quiet road is a busy road, which goes to Logos School.  It's always a challenge to pull out into traffic, because if you wait for a safe opportunity, chances are that 1-2 cars have already pulled out from behind you - directly into traffic.  It is common for motorcycles and vehicles to drive the wrong way into oncoming traffic, until they are able to pull into the correct lane!  I've found that when I drive I often think, "Am I far enough behind that truck that I could stop if those people fell off?"

Well, enough of the traffic - this is supposed to be a nice walk, right?  So, Megann and I turned around back down the quiet road to our house.  You can see our neighborhood in the distance.  The ladies on the motorcycles are on their way home from the market with fresh produce for the day.

And this is just a random gate on our street.  I have quite an affection for this color of blue that is often found on metal gates, railings, and shutters of the stilt houses in the countryside.

And back to "Home, Sweet Home" - we live in the left hand side of this duplex.  It is 3 stories high with the living area and kitchen on the main floor, master and little girls' room on the 2nd floor, and the office/TV room/guest room and older girls' bedroom on the top (that's really only 4 bedrooms altogether). 

Want to hear more from us?

Oh, Friends - You're still reading our blog?!  I have to say I'm a little bit shocked.  It has been forever since I posted anything, and yet I keep coming back to it too - then I feel guilty about how much time has passed since I last wrote.  Needless to say, I'm trying to think of what to write.  What do you want to hear about?  What pictures do you want to see?

I'm going to try to see Cambodia today through a new lens.  I'm going to try to see it they way you might see it, instead of the ordinary way that I often see it.  I'll be back soon!

My Day

I had a rough day today, and I'm kind of nervous about blogging about it because it's only 1 o'clock in the afternoon. But today was a doozy that will go down in the history books.

It started off okay (except that one of the girls wet the bed, and we were a little bit late to school). I walk the girls to school every morning, and when I get home I am drenched in sweat. So, I decided to do some last minute cleaning (Ryan's parents come tonight). When I finished with that I put Megann down for a nap, took a quick/cold shower, and told our helper that I was going to the grocery store.

When I got to the store I tried to get money from the ATM with Ryan's card (mine doesn't work because the new card which arrives tonight with Ryan's parents is already activated). Unfortunately, I tried getting out cash with my pin, which obviously didn't work with his card. After a few unsuccessful attempts it locked me out of the account. The only other card in my wallet was Ryan's credit card, which I knew I couldn't use in the store because they always check the signatures (I've tried before). So, I called Ryan (on the verge of tears) to see if there was anything he could do to help. He had some time before his next class (about 45 minutes), so he hopped on the moto, stopped by the house to get his ATM card for our local account (which had about $25 dollars in it), then stopped at the ATM to get me some cash for paying my tuk-tuk driver and the water delivery guys that come to the house with drinking water every Friday. During this time I was busily trying to pick out the groceries I needed for the weekend.

The shopping experience was quite frustrating because several of the items I wanted weren't in stock (this happens a lot). A few minutes later my phone rang - it was Ryan. When I answered the phone I could tell that something was wrong. There were the normal traffic sounds, but there were also voices in the background. Ryan said, "Umm. I have a flat tire." Honestly, I was relieved that he hadn't been in an accident, but my nerves were on edge and I could feel my heart starting to race. After trying to figure out what to do next, Ryan called my tuk-tuk driver and had him come meet him at the repair shop. I stayed in the store trying to hold back the tears. As Ryan and Mop were sorting out the moto, I ran into some friends in the store... and then the tears started rolling. As I tried to spill the story of my day (the past hour of it, actually) they listened with empathy. They knew how rough days like mine felt. They had been there before, and they understood. Ryan called again to say that he was on his way, and that the water guys were at the house waiting for me (of course, why wouldn't they be?!). We visited for a while as I pulled myself together, and had a good laugh when Ryan walked in the door. I had forgotten that he was dressed like a rapper for Spirit Week at school! He paid for the groceries and then hurried back to teach his class. I crawled into the tuk-tuk, asked my driver to take me home, and then cried the entire way back. I was so thankful for Ryan and for friends, so homesick for a "normal" life (because you never have bad days, right?), and so grateful that all of this happened today and not on Tuesday (because Ryan had gone to school that day dressed like a nerd!).

Our House

Here are some pictures of the inside of our house. We live on the 3rd and 4th level of a 5 story traditional row house. These types of houses are usually found in the city, and they are connected together. Thus, our 5 story house kind of stands out here in the country! Our front door is actually on the back of the house and it is up about 30 steep steps. A few weeks ago we found a baby gate in a local baby store - it has been a life saver (literally).

This is a view of our kitchen from around the front door. Our dining area is just to the right of this. You can also barely see a door way behind the rattan cabinet - that is where our washing machine is.

This is the hallway just beyond our kitchen/dining area. Our bedroom is on the right, Megann's bedroom is on the left, and one of our SIX bathrooms is straight ahead. If you turn left at the bathroom you will pass the stairs to the girls' rooms and then you'll end up in the living room.

This is the living room. The door you see leads to a small balcony that is on the front of our house (see below). We have a matching sofa, but we can't get it around the curves in the hallway, so it's upstairs. This room is large and has several windows, so if there is any breeze outside it comes through this room nicely (good for air flow, but bad for dust).

A front-ish view of our house. You can't see the bottom level, so our flat starts at the 2nd bank of windows. You can also see the balcony off our living room (the living room is 2 stories tall). We also have a beautiful covered roof. Our laundry dries up there, and we would eventually like to put some kind of table and chairs to put there for those nights when it's too hot to eat inside.

Random

Here a few random pictures that I thought you would enjoy...

This is what happens when you're out on the moto (motorcycle) and it starts to rain!

Bath-time with hairstyling and a concert - a nightly tradition for Addie and Meg.

Sweet Megann

Our Anniversary

A few weeks ago we celebrated our 13th anniversary! It has become our tradition on Sunday mornings to go out for coffee, just the two of us. We ventured downtown to a great little place for an iced coffee (it's just too hot for the warm stuff), and enjoyed just being together.

We were given some money for our anniversary, so we decided to spend it on a little rooftop garden. One thing that I really missed in Ooty was gardening, but we were blessed with beautiful gardens both at our house/school and next door at the Botanical Gardens. Here are some pictures of the place where we bought the pots, and another place down the road where we bought the plants.

The pot shop - they're imported from Vietnam. I think I paid $3-10 per pot! The tallest pot won't have a plant in it because it holds the umbrellas by the front door.

Nursery

The finished product!

Catchin' Up

Well, we've been in Cambodia for 2 months! In some ways it seems like 2 days and in other ways it seems like 2 years! Sometimes when I'm getting overwhelmed it's good to remember that we're still new around here. Couples who have 2 month old babies aren't parenting experts and professionals with only 2 months of experience aren't usually regarded as experts in their field, so I'm trying to be a little easier on myself when it comes to adjusting to this new life.

I'm really behind on blogging, so I have a lot of pictures and updates to post. I'll get going on it right now, since Megann is sleeping and I probably won't have the mental energy to get on the blog in the near future (did I mention that I started my Masters?).

Here's one picture for now. This is the packaging for the local rehydration powder (kind of like Gatorade). Ryan bought a big box of it because he needed to break $20 and thought it would be good to have at the house. I think the writing is hilarious - I just wish they would have included a picture at the top of some heavy sweating people!

This is the way we go to school...

This is how the girls come and go to school each day. It's called a tuk-tuk (sounds like took) and it's pulled by a moto (motorcycle) driven by our friend Wibol (pronounced Vee-bol). Clear?!

Our House

I don't have any pictures of the inside of our house, except for a couple of shots taken just after our crate from India exploded in our kitchen, that I really want to (okay, so the crate didn't actually explode, but from the mess you would've thought it had). But I do have some pictures of the view from our house. I'll work on getting more shots - until then, just enjoy these!

Looking west from our rooftop - the road you can see is 1966, heading towards Hanoi

Looking west from our front door (which is actually on the back of the house). The white balcony on the right is the kitchen balcony.

The view straight out of the kitchen door (looking south). The field behind our house is flooded from the monsoon rains, but our property is surrounded by a high concrete wall that keeps the water from flooding us (or at least our landlords - our house is on the 2nd and 3rd story, so we don't worry too much about floods).

Staying Cool by Any Means Possible

Cambodia is hot. Now, most people here will say that it's not that hot, or that we should just wait until the hot season gets here. But to us, Cambodia is hot. So, we've had to get a little creative in dealing with the temperature and the humidity. This is what we've tried so far...

Facing one of the many fans in the house (singing is optional, but also very fun)

Swimming at Logos School (the pool is amazing!)

Eating crushed ice with new friends (at a great little restaurant downtown called The Blue Pumpkin)

Having your sister squirt lime juice into your mouth (while relaxing at an air-conditioned coffee shop)

And if all else fails - taking off your diaper and pointing your bottom straight at the fan during afternoon naptime!