the cole tree

2012-01-12T08:23:00.002+07:00

Headband and barrette from our market trip yesterday... eva and I went to buy veggies and came back w/ hair stuff for eva! Lots of fun!

2012-01-11T19:51:00.004+07:00

I stuck my head outside this morning to make sure the kids were okay and found them in a wheelbarrow full of water. haha! Kids crack me up. It's cold here! Early morning temps have been in the low 60s lately, which leaves Nathan and I scrounging for fleece and sleeping in wool socks. I mean really, what's not to love in life when you're 2 and 4 years old?

the day after Christmas

2012-01-03T17:12:00.001+07:00

Of all the weddings I've been to, here or in the states, this one was the largest and probably the fanciest too! The kids ate and ate... I think they were still eating when we left late that night! The wedding had several western aspects to it as the bridegroom spent several years studying in the states, so it was a fun combination of cultures for us. The best part was that the wedding was up in the capital, so we got to attend our first wedding with Jeff and Laura there too! Lots of fun!

random

2012-01-03T16:18:00.002+07:00

The kids are excited for Christmas sugar cookies... though hard to tell from this picture :)

Playing in the sand pile with one of the neighborhood girls

Zach loves hanging outside.. he uses the johnny jump up to kick off from the edge of this thatched shelter, flying out into the air and then swinging back again!

Hike and picnic by the mountains!

2012-01-03T14:01:00.007+07:00

neighbor friends

2012-01-01T17:23:00.003+07:00

Cole Christmas traditions!

2011-12-31T18:42:00.002+07:00

This year for Christmas, we did something new with the kids. Actually, we didn't mean for it to coincide with Christmas, but since it did, and since we liked it, we're thinking we'll make this our first Cole Christmas tradition! It's our "giving away our best stuff" time when the kids get the opportunity to give away their favorite toys to kids who don't have. This picture was their start, which they added to as the day went on. The key here wasn't to give away junk but to give away their best, which in reality, hurt me way more than it hurt them. :) In the end, it was a great process of moving towards some our goals for the kids... exchanging indoor toys for outdoor play, becoming more like our neighbors, and giving the kids a way to love in a sacrificial way. Their smiles below are way better than any of the smiles they gave as they opened their own presents... now to figure out a way to include Nathan and I in on the fun!

sumo

2011-12-31T14:54:00.004+07:00

Zach has officially reached the ONE YEAR mark!! To celebrate, he began taking his first steps... and now he's up to 4 before he hits the floor. Happy 1 year, Zach!

carpeted floors and climbing babies should go together :)

2011-12-20T19:20:00.004+07:00

She's FOUR!

2011-12-20T18:36:00.006+07:00

Happy Birthday EVA!!!!
You are a delight and words can't express our love for you!
We love so much about you... one thing we've been noticing lately is your soft heart. Yesterday was one of many examples.
When you heard about all the kids in the world who live without much of anything... without toys, beds, moms and dads, today you decided to give your toys away so the kids could have something. I thought you might just choose a few, but you and Elijah filled a big tub. In fact, your toy chest was looking pretty empty afterwards. Later in the afternoon, on your own, I saw you take a few more of your dolls and add them to the two already in the tub. Instead of giving one and keeping many, you gave all and just kept one. God will bless you for that, and His blessing is worth more than the greatest treasure in the world. You are an amazing four year old girl, and we are super proud of you. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, sweet girl!

cutie pie- 11 mo

2011-11-21T21:10:00.001+07:00

after playing for hours outside in the big sand pile

2011-11-18T19:31:00.001+07:00

hours and hours of fun

2011-11-18T19:24:00.000+07:00

why we love our bathrooms here

2011-11-17T19:39:00.002+07:00

OSHA Requirements - check!

2011-11-17T19:22:00.001+07:00

travels

2011-11-17T18:50:00.005+07:00

~2,000 mile drive from Indy to Portland
~30 hrs flying from Portland to Bangkok
~13 hour drive from Bangkok to our border town
Eva and Elijah are the best travelers ever...Zach's coming along... maybe one more year before he's there. See pics below from our travels-

morning smile :)

2011-10-10T20:09:00.007+07:00

Found Eva performing a Bible verse this morning... totally on her own, along with her hat. :) sorry for the blurred picture!

Children obey your parents in the Lord

for this right
the first commandment
may be well with you
and be long on the earth

hiking w/ the kids... the leaves are falling!

2011-10-03T21:31:00.002+07:00

pics from today

2011-10-01T08:01:00.002+07:00

Zach looking outside the front door and wishing he was out there with Elijah!

Eva's new favorite thing to do- sing into her microphone! Here she is serenading us while waiting for her dinner.

9 months already? Can it be?

2011-09-30T08:43:00.004+07:00

Look at this cutie! He's reached the mobile stage that comes just before walking on his own... transferring from one thing to the next, walking along and holding on. I'm so proud of him and just a little sad too that we'll be saying goodbye to the crawling stage soon. Don't you just want to hug him? :)

He's got 4 teeth now too, and one of these days, I'm going to start a baby book for him and get all his "first ever moments" recorded and all the hilarious things he'll be saying one day. For that matter, maybe I'll finally get one going for Elijah too. :) Or maybe I'll get rid of Eva's to make all things fair... would it be ok if Eva has one but neither of the boys do?

One thing I have figured out though, and that is that I'd rather savor today and not get every little thing recorded than constantly stressing over all the details of a project and missing out on these days when they're little. And these days won't be here for long!

2011-08-09T13:38:00.001+07:00

2011-08-09T13:31:00.001+07:00

first wildflower necklace with daddy!

2011-07-21T13:28:00.002+07:00

tractor fun with our friend Aaron!

2011-07-21T01:13:00.002+07:00

loving the great outdoors!

2011-07-20T13:10:00.004+07:00

Pulling himself to standing all over the place!

2011-07-20T12:59:00.002+07:00

the boys enjoying the carpeted floors

2011-07-11T00:14:00.001+07:00

cold weather, love the fireplace!

2011-07-11T00:11:00.001+07:00

library books w/ dad

2011-07-10T05:47:00.002+07:00

the trip across the ocean

2011-07-09T09:58:00.007+07:00

Great start! At the border crossing in Laos, getting ready to get on the ferry. We're paying these guys to carry our bags down the bank to the river for us... 50 steps down to the river and not so easy w/ kids and bags.

On the passenger ferry, crossing the river to Thailand

Looking back at Laos and all the other passenger boats

A restaurant along the river... looking a little rickety from this angle

The Mighty Mekong... Thailand on the left, Laos on the right

Stepping across three boats to get to shore

We're in Thailand! Here's the tuk-tuk to take us to the airport!

The kids LOVE to travel

The little town across the border now has flights to Bangkok! Woo hoo! The kids can hardly contain their excitement to get on the plane!

The snacks on the flight were great... Antie Anne's cookies!

Unfortunately, the dinner on the flight was awful... Jan and Eva are down the rest of the time with food poisoning... fevers, vomiting, diarrhea. Here's Eva resting in Bangkok.

And here's Jan at the Bangkok airport, puking on the sidewalk, less than excited about the coming flights...

We made it to Taipei! From here on out, Jan goes through airports in a wheel chair. Jan and Eva are showing no signs of recovery.

Waiting to get on the L O N G flight to LA. Which of these doesn't belong? :)

Eva sleeping

Taipei to LA
12 hrs
Elijah ok, Zach hanging by a thread, Eva constant diarrhea, Jan halfway to heaven

Back in Oregon!

2011-07-09T09:30:00.003+07:00

pics from zach's hospitalization

2011-06-15T16:33:00.006+07:00

After five seizures in 26 hrs, Zach's workup all came back normal... brain CT, blood work, EEG etc. He was given seizure medication to take for the next couple years to prevent any future occurrences. There was no sign of fever or infection, and Zach's diagnosis was given as "Idiopathic Seizures", cause unknown. Thank you for all your prayers! God is good all the time, and all the time God is good!

In the hospital, for some reason, after Zach got his IV, they gave us a wheel chair. Maybe they felt the parents needed it?? We probably did.

Zach hated his IV and there wasn't much slack, so we had to keep him calm. That was no easy task and eventually the IV stopped working due to all Zach's pulling and moving. He usually sucks his right fist too, but with his hand all bandaged over his IV, he kept trying but no success. Poor guy, he screamed a lot.

Going in for his Brain CT

The next morning. Zach was still very unhappy about his IV.

Our hospital beds. We actually had a great nights sleep in between the times we were up. Thank you for your prayers!

Mom and Dad's visit!

2011-06-14T13:13:00.008+07:00

An early morning bike ride... the mountains were beautiful!

Green green rice paddies

This house uses one of our water filters in their upstairs room

forging the river

Mom and dad, we love you!!

Village kids, most without shoes

Laundry out to dry

The kids always gets tons of attention!

daddy and kids

2011-05-21T14:31:00.002+07:00

bring on the rain!

2011-05-19T10:13:00.005+07:00

all smiles!

2011-05-16T22:26:00.003+07:00

these guys crack me up!!

2011-05-16T22:26:00.002+07:00

Really, is there anything more fun than playing in the mud?

crawl, zach, crawl!

2011-05-14T09:09:00.002+07:00

And he's off!! Zach is army crawling! He's not yet doing the real deal crawl, but it won't be long as he's already pushing up onto his hands and knees. What this means? MORE mopping!!!!

fabulous foods

2011-05-11T12:44:00.008+07:00

Yummy Lao Bamboo Soup!!
This is a very common Lao food, which Nathan and I used to eat frequently, but in recent years with kids, not so much. It's one of those foods that can either be very delicious or very awful, depending on a variety of factors. Thankfully, it's usually eaten w/ sticky rice, which is very helpful in case the soup happens to be the very awful variety. :)

We've been trying to get more traditional Lao foods into our diet lately, so we gave this one a try the other day. We made it at home and didn't add any of the fermented fish paste, which kept the soup a pretty green color instead of turning it a scary brown color. The kids surprised us... we thought this one would be a challenge for them, but they absolutely loved it! Elijah was eating so fast, the soup was running down his belly! ha!

Eva was actually drinking up the last bits from her bowl! This just goes to show me that I probably put the blame on the kids for a number of things I don't do. I keep telling myself that we'll eat more traditional Lao foods once the kids are a bit older, when most likely they'll do just fine, and it's just me who needs to get back into it!! ha! Well, I've been challenged. I'll be posting some more shots of delicious Lao food as we begin eating them again!

First Day Of School - Ever!

2011-05-05T19:04:00.002+07:00

Eva in front of the school bus

Getting on the bus

Back home from her two hours of Lao language pre-school.

he's got wheels!

2011-04-27T16:10:00.005+07:00

Zach's got a new walker!!

Which he LOVES!

He sits in it for hours, though he hasn't started cruising yet.

Help, mom! where did my arms go?

Happy Easter!!!

2011-04-25T13:51:00.011+07:00

Easter morning!
I see we forgot Elijah's shirt here... haha!

Elijah's not too sure about posing for pics

The kids are starting to get the hang of hunting for eggs

Under the avacado tree

Where next, dad?

Racing to find the next one

Thanks, May, for the Easter baskets and egg hunt!!! Lots of fun!!

2011-04-20T16:45:00.004+07:00

chaos in the house!!!

then... and now

2011-04-18T19:43:00.001+07:00

2006

2011

4.5 Years Since Engagement.

2011-04-18T16:46:00.003+07:00

The above picture was taken the weekend we were engaged four and a half years ago.
The below picture was taken last week at the same spot. We are with Zachary our third child!

The Kid Chip

2011-04-11T18:33:00.008+07:00

People routinely tell us, "wow, your kids are so well behaved". We answer, "but of course". We've known the secret for a couple of years now. Now we are going public.

The Kid Chip
(a microchip developed just for kids)

The Kid Chip uses the latest bioelectrode technology to transmit bio-sensors to the brain. The core of the bioelectrode is a microchip commercially called the 'Kid Chip'. The Kid Chip inserts into a small bio-pack which is embedded just below the skin in a highly nerve sensitive area of the body, usually the face, and for aesthetic reasons typically in the upper nasal cavity. The bio-pack contains bio-chemical which when slowly released allows the bio-pack to naturally 'grow' sensory nodes into the existing nervous system through it's phage like interface.

The Phage Like Bio-Pack

Once the bio-pack is firmly embedded and connected with the child's nervous system, the chip can be accessed via a simple USB cord which connects to the computer.

The USB Bio-Pack connection point (the upper nasal cavity)

Our daughter Eva connected to the computer (this is so awesome!)

The software is slightly expensive, but packages are available for families with multiple children. Subsequent children still receive good discounts even if not covered in the original package.

The coolest part of the system are the programs available. Our favorite is 'Clean The Table' but 'Sleep', 'Eat Everything On Your Plate', and 'Say, I'm Sorry' are also great! Other programs like 'Potty Trained', 'Don't lie', and 'Be Quiet' are also promising.

The Kid Chip program 'Clean The Table'

'Clean The Table' at work! (this program is our favorite)

The program 'Share' was a good idea, but when they started sharing everything (including used TP) we realized that this one needed some help! The good news is that each software update comes with additional features and bug fixes.

The software is Apple based so it is fairly immune to viruses, but it doesn't work with Adobe programs.

All said, we highly recommend the Kid Chip for families who are interested in getting the most out of their children in every circumstance.

lots of smiles

2011-04-11T10:25:00.002+07:00

playing with dad

2011-03-29T20:07:00.002+07:00

The Best Kids In The World!

2011-03-25T19:18:00.000+07:00

better yet, hang it from a tree! ha!

2011-03-24T20:48:00.001+07:00

Johnny Jump Up

2011-03-24T13:33:00.003+07:00

Zach's first three months of life have proven him to be a very fussy baby, but stick him in this little seat a friend of ours gave us, and he bounces away happy as can be!! (at least for a while!)

An extra bonus is that when we hang it in the front door, he can watch the outside world as much as he likes... and so far, walking with him outside or having him takes naps outside has been our main way of keeping him happy. LOVING the johnny jump up!

and one more!

2011-03-20T20:27:00.001+07:00

zach cont...

2011-03-20T19:56:00.001+07:00

3 months TODAY!!

2011-03-20T19:27:00.001+07:00

elijah and zachariah

2011-03-20T19:07:00.001+07:00

one of our favorite things to do...

2011-03-20T18:29:00.002+07:00

kids playing

2011-03-18T19:01:00.002+07:00

book time

2011-03-18T18:23:00.002+07:00

big man

2011-02-24T20:12:00.001+07:00

proof!

2011-02-24T09:54:00.004+07:00

Yesterday my house helper took a couple pictures of Zach and I, which made me very happy because now there will be documentation in our photo album that Mom really was there after all. :)

zachariah

2011-02-24T09:15:00.002+07:00

Zach is already 7 months old and growing like a weed! He weighed in at 15 lbs the other day, which is four more lbs than Elijah was at his age! He's also doing a fabulous job at night. My goal when each of the kids were babies was to get them to go down for the night in the 7 o clock or 8 o clock hour. Sleeping through the night is much less of a priority for me as I've found that if they go down early, I have evening time without kids and am much more capable of getting up in the night. Zach is a champ and goes down every night in the 7 oclock hour. YEE HAW!!! What a guy!

I attribute Zach's quickly sorting out night and day to my niece Anna! She is such a cutie. When Zach was just a few days old, she spent the afternoon with him... talking to him, hugging him, loving him, and generally keeping him awake for a very long time. When evening came, he slept super hard, and since that day has seemed to spend lots of awake time during the day and lots of sleep time at night. Thank you, Anna! You are such a helper. :)

When I prop Zach up with a bobby pillow, he likes to push over the pillow and rest as seen in the picture. haha!
p.s. Please ignore the pretty pink pillows. Baby girls aren't associated with pink over here and blue is not associated with baby boys. So the hospital gave us pink, and I tried not to care. :)

outside fun

2011-02-23T15:25:00.001+07:00

food woes

2011-02-23T13:19:00.003+07:00

Our internet has been too slow to post pictures the last couple weeks, so these pictures are from this last month sometime.
My poor kids... their parents are so hard on them. We make them eat whatever we're eating for a meal, and to make things even worse, we make them eat the whole thing. And to top it all off, they're not allowed to make comments about what they're eating unless it's to say something good. I know we're strange and harsh and weird, it's just that the food battle is a battle I'm not able to fight the next "who knows how many" number of years. I'm too weak. I'm too impatient. I'll lose my temper too many times. I imagine how awesome it would be for the battles to be over by the time they're two or three. I imagine how awesome it would be to have them sit down wherever we happen to be and eat what's given them without comments on how much they don't like the food or how much they have to eat or can they get down from the table yet (or in Laos, up from the floor)?

I know it's a hard expectation, but we started early with Eva (who also happens to have been born a great eater), and now she eats everything we give her, and we hear no comments unless it's a "delicious" in Lao! But Elijah? This little guy is another story. He has never been a good eater, and we didn't start quite as early with him, so it's a bit more of a battle. He knows he has to eat the whole plate, but it's that L A S T bite that gets him. I know, how harsh can I be? I even make him swallow that last bite.

So here he is sitting at the table... sitting and sitting... mom won't let him get down. How hard can it be to swallow ONE little bite, little guy? He was the cutest thing. No tears, no yelling... just lots of smiles and waves as I walked by. I don't want to say how long I let him sit here, but I will. I will confess. It was somewhere around TWO LONG HOURS, with my checking on him every 10 minutes or so, holding his hand and talking to him. He was so cute. Still lots of smiles. But no obedience and no swallowing. And then I heard a crash. The little guy had fallen asleep!! What was I thinking?? I kept him sitting there over his naptime?? Oh the guilt!! I scooped him up, and after he figured out what had happened, he swallowed that last bite right down. yee haw! And gave me lots of hugs and went right to sleep in his bed.

And when he woke up from his nap, was he ever one obedient, happy little guy!! Success!!! Please, don't judge. I know I'm strict. I know it seems heartless. And yes, I would have done things differently had I thought through making him sit in his chair over nap time. But now he knows that he has no choice but to eat the food, and now we have two good little eaters! Now that I've confessed my deeds, I feel much better. Thanks to all the listening ears. :)

Elijah lovin to dig in the dirt, just like his momma!

2011-02-22T20:53:00.001+07:00

I can't handle how fast she's growing up!!!

2011-02-04T08:20:00.000+07:00

2011-02-01T19:50:00.003+07:00

Hungry, hungry, hungry...

Elijah LOVES Zach, but not too sure about holding him

Elijah says "pray!" hoping to get the show on the road and eat dinner. haha!

2011-01-29T09:44:00.004+07:00

Elijah has really enjoyed reading this week... he's super cute because he's completely absorbed, turning every page, and looking at every picture. :)

For daddy...

2011-01-27T17:25:00.003+07:00

Hi DADDY!!!!

I love YOU!!!

I MISS You!!!

Nathan/Daddy, WE LOVE YOU!!

2011-01-26T17:57:00.001+07:00

everyone except mom

2011-01-23T21:54:00.003+07:00

Eva and Elijah ran to get Zach's socks for me on this morning...

Elijah loves his younger brother!

In the kitchen with mom. I think Elijah's chin is injured here from falling off of the pictured stools and biting through his lower lip :(

3 wks and happy as can be

Loving being held

being goofy in the kitchen!

2011-01-17T13:08:00.001+07:00

Elijah/Eva

2011-01-14T14:21:00.003+07:00

Elijah-
At first not very happy about Zachariah's arrival, but he's quickly growing to love him. On our drive home to Laos, Elijah spent lots of time reaching over his car seat to hold baby Zach's hand. Elijah is back in his own bed again after spending our time in Thailand sleeping in a port-a-crib. So far, he's doing a great job of obeying and is staying in his bed. His eating habits have changed dramatically in the last couple months too, and he's now constantly asking for seconds and thirds at meals. I love his good appetite!

Eva-
Eva loved Zachariah right from the start. She loves to bring her dolls out and copy everything I'm doing with baby Zach. Her best friend is still Elijah though, and those two spend hours playing together every day, mostly outside. Eva loves to sing. On our trip to Chiang Mai (16 hrs), she spent about a third of the time singing, and I do not exagerate! Another chunk she spent counting everything she saw in Lao. Eva loves to travel and is almost always a happy camper in the car. This morning, she cut her own hair for the first time while I wasn't around. Now she has bangs. When I told her it would take a long time to grow back, she told me to go to the market, buy some hair, and put it back on her head. haha.

2011-01-08T21:48:00.001+07:00

One...

Two

2011-01-08T21:42:00.001+07:00

Take 1

Take 2

Take 3

Take 4

sleep, sleep. sleep

2011-01-01T22:06:00.001+07:00

Hai Yah!

2010-12-31T23:35:00.001+07:00

Dec 30

2010-12-30T22:19:00.002+07:00

Zach nap

"Having a picnic"

2010-12-29T23:22:00.003+07:00

Cute as can be!

Watching elmo

Eva burying dad under piles of stuff

baby Zach

2010-12-29T23:15:00.000+07:00

Eva, Elijah, Zachariah

2010-12-29T23:13:00.000+07:00

Welcome, Zachariah!! We love you!

2010-12-28T15:46:00.004+07:00

Eva, along with cousins Anna and Abby, seeing Zachariah the first time!

So far, Eva thinks he's the best thing ever

Steven Zachariah Cole- (goes by his middle name, just like his dad and brother)
Born December 26, 8:03pm
8lbs

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

2010-12-25T22:44:00.001+07:00

Dad up with kiddos early Christmas morning!

Botanical gardens

2010-12-22T22:52:00.004+07:00

The 1 day each year we wear fleece PJ's

2010-12-17T14:34:00.001+07:00

Zoo Ology

2010-12-12T18:22:00.004+07:00

The Deer Section - Muchkins Enthralled

No Nap, No Problem

Family Photo - The Avian Section

Notice the Monsters Head is as big as Nathan's Upper Body!

Who Knew Giraffes like bananas?

Chiang Mai Thailand

2010-12-08T10:38:00.003+07:00

Very first time ever for all kinds of things...
Elijah watches a lawn mower from the balcony. He told me in Lao that he was scared.

We brought the bike with us, so Nathan's been getting all around town with the kids and their new lady bug helmets! Pink for Eva and red for Elijah... good and safe as they are actually strong motorbike helmets.

Christmas in the tropics!

2010-12-06T14:27:00.001+07:00

random picture catch up

2010-12-03T22:59:00.007+07:00

Elijah loves his big boy bed! Isn't it cute? We had it made just down the street.

Last night in his port-a-crib... growing up way too fast.

Birthday party for two friends- Tirzah and Leana!

Happy 2nd Birthday, Tirzah!

They have entered the world of make believe... pretending to take the boat ferry from laos to thailand.

THANK YOU AUNT KRISTA!!!!!!!

2010-11-23T16:34:00.003+07:00

I LOVE books!!! And Elijah will love the books you sent too as soon as he's feeling better!
THANK YOU!
You are awesome!
Love, Eva

Super Bike

2010-11-06T22:01:00.002+07:00

We welded an extension rack together and fastened it to the existing bike rack. We get a lot of stares when going around town!

Riding the bike is one of the kids' favorite things to do.

making banana and pumpkin bread!

2010-11-02T22:44:00.000+07:00

Oct 30 2010 - The Bicycle Trip

2010-10-30T19:17:00.009+07:00

Eva & Elijah all ready for their Saturday bicycle trip

Eva claimed Dad's bike

Elijah has a solid hand on Mom's bike

Dad & Elijah slogging through the river

Good Times

Mom & Eva after a 'close call' with the buffaloes

Eva the 'big sister' vs Elijah the 'warrior'

Elijah adding sand to the river

Dad helping Eva walk across the river

the paparazzi can't get me now!

Eva and a new friend

Mom & Elijah

The mud girls: just came back from fishing in a 'pond'

The mud girls washing their catch

Mom with all the kids

A tractor duo going home

These fields stretch from Tha Khek to the mountains

The villagers are busy harvesting their rice this time of year

hanging sheaves on a pole

Eva singing "Jesus loves me!"

2010-10-27T10:52:00.003+07:00

the latest

2010-10-18T18:32:00.001+07:00

Elijah loves lego! He built this tower himself.

Reading the Bible with dad in the morning. Eva is wearing a bib b/c she is so messy eating tootsie roll pops. These are treats for dry night time diapers!

Elijah wasn't eating his dinner, so we weren't letting him get down until he swallowed the last bite in his mouth. Eva felt bad for him, so she carried a chair over to Elijah, sat down, and held his hand because she wanted to help him. It worked! She made him laugh, and he swallowed it right down!

playing with chalk

2010-10-07T15:42:00.001+07:00

some recent pics

2010-09-22T13:18:00.003+07:00

more raisins! snacks after naps are the best.

they LOVE playing in the mud

and running around like crazy kids

and anything that involves playing outside

more and more they play together, and they're awesome at entertaining themselves!

see my big boy hair cut?

scared of the big red flower

eva takes such good care of her dolls!

16 months!

2010-08-14T14:08:00.004+07:00

VACATION!!!!!!!

2010-07-28T19:32:00.008+07:00

VACATION!!! THAILAND! YAHOO!
For a very long time, we were counting down the days until our much needed, much anticipated Thailand vacation with some of our friends here in Laos. But as the day got closer, I wasn't improving at all, and we began to wonder if I would be able to make it. In the end, we decided to go, and though I would never make that 18hr there and 18hr back drive again while so sick, I'm glad we went. Eva and Elijah desperately needed to get out of the house and were going stir crazy with nowhere to go and not having me around at all the last couple months, and Nathan was way overdue to step away from work. And according to Nathan and based on the fun the kids had every day, it was worth it.

I don't want to say much about the drive, except to say that I laid down the whole way, puked more times than I care to remember, and required IVs both on arrival at our destination and arrival back in Laos. It's an experience that I am blocking out of my memory, other than to say that Nathan got us all there, kept the kids happy, did all the driving, stopped whenever I needed for however long I needed, kept us fed, and couldn't have done a better job of taking care of me. He's amazing. The kids were happy campers on the drive, and Eva kept saying that the beach is coming, the beach is coming the whole way there, though she'd never been before. She was so excited.

I wasn't able to make it out of my room while we were there but had some awesome afternoons with my friends, who kept me company, kept me smiling and laughing, and filled up my friend tank. They were awesome in so many ways, one of which was to take pictures of what was happening outside to keep me involved and able to picture the fun the kids were having. I am so thankful! So here are a bunch of the pictures we got...

Sand castles! Eva seems to be missing her swimming top here in this picture... I've noticed that the kids aren't exactly "put together" these days, but still, look at how much fun she's having :)

Hanging out on the beach

Nathan, Eva, Elijah

Apparently Elijah wasn't too into the salty water; but this one day, he kept running down into the surf, falling on his face in the water, then doing it over and over again.

As long as Eva felt secure with her double flotation help, she was very happy

Fun in the sand...lots and lots of shells

Eva got a short ride in the kayak with dad... don't worry, the water was actually very shallow here

We took our house helper along, partly because we couldn't have made it without her help and partly as a thank you for her long, long hours every day for the last few months, taking on total childcare duty while I have been completely absent from the kids lives. Very fun as she had never seen the ocean before.

Hanging out in the hammock

Getting ready to swim

The guys kayaked out to a distant island one morning

We spent the month waiting for Eva to be born in Chiang Mai with our friends, who were waiting for their little boy to come too. Eva and Ezra were born just a couple weeks apart, and we hadn't seen each other since their births... good memories.

All the kids represented in our 3 families... not one of these kids was here when we all arrived in Laos!

Blowing bubbles

Riding in the kayaks with their dads

Eva thought the kayak was the best thing ever

Nathan likes building sand castles and dolphins in the sand; Eva likes building cakes and beds. :)

Walking down the beach with our house helper

There's only one reason for Jan's long absence...

2010-06-21T14:55:00.008+07:00

... ah yes, Jan must be pregnant. Welcome 3rd and final pregnancy. You arrived w/ a vengeance.

We are so excited for little baby Cole to arrive (due date 1/1/11), and will be thrilled too when this pregnancy is over. The last 6 wks have landed me flat on my back, forced bed rest, no up time at all. Nausea/vomiting is extreme, with a total of 4 IVs so far. I'm taking my usual Zofran, but unlike my pregnancy with Elijah, it's not doing all that much for me this time around.

Elena (my youngest sister) was here helping out over the weekend, and she made my day by taking a few pictures of the kids for me and bringing them in for me to see! Yay! They are having a hard time without mom around, but our house helper has been such a God-send and has taken on their complete care during the day. She is wonderful, and the kids just love her. Below are a few pictures from Elena's camera.

1. Eva 2 1/2 years, loves playing with her umbrella

2. Elijah 14 months, fascinated with the camera

3. Playing outside with our house helper

it's looking like it's going to be curly!

2010-05-09T13:10:00.001+07:00