Reunited

Kayleigh and Zeb talked a lot about their friends in East Asia while we were gone. The ones they talked about the most were their friends Bright and Zion. I am pretty sure at least three times a week if not every day Zeb would say "I need Bright and Zion" when he was sad. Kayleigh has a different reason for missing her friend Bright. She says that they are going to get married when they grow up and she is serious about it too! They hold hands all the time when we go places with them. Could this be her first love?? At age 4 almost 5! My mind can't even go there. For now we just laugh and enjoy the funny things they say about each other.

Friends

In our second and third year of living here there was a family that lived here with us. The Montague's had 4 girls and were such a blessing to us. They were here when Kayleigh was just a baby and gave John and I a ton of parenting advice. We had to say goodbye as they returned to the states. They decided to return and spend three weeks here this summer. We were so glad to have them come and visit. Kayleigh and Zeb especially loved the two younger girls who showered them with tons of attention. Below is a picture of Mary Van, Kayleigh, Ruthie, and Zeb saying goodbye. Mary Van and Ruthie had made some special things for Kayleigh and Zeb and they loved it. Here is to great friends!

Best Friends

Back in December Kayleigh had her first official sleepover with a friend. It was her friend Julianna's birthday and her present from us was for her to spend the night. The girls had the best time playing together. They actually went to sleep pretty fast but I think it was because they were so exhausted. They don't see each other very often. Once a week at the most and that is usually just for a few minutes at Church. Usually one of them cries when they part ways because they don't want to say goodbye. The next day after Julianna spent the night we headed to church and the girls happened to have matching dresses. They loved it! If you ask Kayleigh who her best friend is she will very quickly say "Julianna".

Sunday Icecream

Today we tried out the new TCBY after church with all of our friends.
It was a disappointment to Alisa but I thought it was not bad. The
atmosphere was really cool and it had an outside option for seating.
Thank you God for blessing us with another western option!

Kayleigh and Zeb have been....

Kayleigh and Zeb have been busy having lots of fun this month doing things like.....

Building a fort with their Dad.

Hanging out with their friends.

Getting swaddled in a blanket by their dad.

Building another fort out of pillows all by themselves.

Banging some pots and pans!

Playing in a new kids play area with flying balloons!

Afternoon Play Time

There are those moments in the day where I look over to see my kids playing together without someone getting hurt or mad. This happened to be one of those moments. I am so glad that Kayleigh has a brother to share life with. As I watch Zeb react to her every move I am so glad that he has a sister that makes him laugh. I know there are going to be plenty fights and moments of learning to share but I hope one day they will be really close friends. Below Kayleigh is trying to read a book to Zeb. Unfortunately, Zeb interprets it as "keep the book away from me" game. He happens to be smiling in this picture but he got really mad after a while because she wouldn't let him have the book.

Below is Kayleigh's version of the "peek a boo" game. She throws a blanket over Zeb's head and laughs until he figures out how to get it off.

Thailand Trip Day 4 part 1

On the fourth day of our trip we went to the zoo with our friends Bright and Zion. They absolutely loved to see all of the animals up close. We even were able to feed giraffes and an elephant their food. Kayleigh was really scared but still enjoyed watching them be fed from our hands. The zoo is built on the side of a mountain so the entire complex has many hills and valleys. The zoo recommends that we ride the trolley system to each part of the zoo where you can get off, look at animals and wait for the next trolley a few minutes away. The zoo also had a very nice aquarium that the kids also loved. 

Kayleigh, Zion, Kayla, and Bright on the trolley.

Kayleigh looking at the Ostriches first hand.

Daddy and Kayleigh sitting in the trolley together.

Near the Koala exhibit.

Kayleigh, Zion, and Bright hanging out waiting for the next trolley.

Fun Day with Friends

After the cookout we spent the night with our friends Andy and EA. We don't get to hang out with them often so we take every opportunity we can to get some quality time with them. We started off our day with Kayleigh and Emma Grace having Bible Time. As you can see Emma Grace prefers to lie down during her lesson.



Then we took a morning walk around the small little town they live in. Kayleigh was still in her pajamas because it was cool outside. We were asked if they were twins?! Do they look like twins to you?

Later that morning Kayleigh had some play time with her friend Julianna. They thought it was fun to throw rocks in the water.

As you can see there weren't that many rocks to pick up and throw. You know there are slim pickins when you try to get rocks out of the side walk!

After the rock throwing they thought it would be fun to slap the light pole for a while. I'm not sure why they thought this was fun but hey whatever it takes to entertain them.

Airport Games

As we were waiting for one of our flights today, Kayleigh found some friends that she made during our time in Thailand and wanted to play hide-and-go-seek with them. So after running around the gate area, not too sure of the rules, she finally started to get the fact that you do not want to be found. So, she hid with one of the older girls and decided she liked the game. After she was found, they told her she was "it". Then she proceeded to go and hide with the rest of them until the older girl helped her be "it".




Kayleigh learning how to cover her eyes and count at the same time (Hopefully without peeking)


This is Kayleigh covering her eyes and counting (She likes to give herself a good chance of finding the other kids hiding)

Breakfast Club at the Juniper Tree

This was a great picture of our normal routine for breakfast at the Juniper Tree each morning. All the kids and their parents sat at one table while enjoying the blessings of good bread and incredible pineapple and guava. Breakfast was at 8 so everyone had been up and about for sometime before eating. This was a fun time of enjoying our friends at a meal.

Airport Museum

Today we had a great time at the airport museum here in Chiang Mai with our friends Julianna, Lydia, Wendy Jane, and Vera. As you know, Kayleigh loves planes and this is one of her favorite pastimes, to watch planes taking off and landing.


This is Kayleigh telling me that there was a big 747 taking off on the runway behind me.


This is the 747 that took off.

Final Night Banquet

This was the last night of the conference that we attended in Chiang Mai. We had a banquet to celebrate our time together and encouraging one another in the years ahead of us. Alisa looks as beautiful as ever, and I look the same. We had a great time celebrating with friends that we will probably not see again for a long time. We had a great time and learned a ton.

Pals

Julianna and Kayleigh are pretty much best buds. Whenever they get the chance they like to hang out and play. Chase is a favorite game of theirs with added screaming. We were in the hotel lobby one evening waiting to go out and they decided to play in the middle of the downstairs lobby area. A friend of our took these pictures for us and sent them to me. Enjoy!

Night Out

Since things are starting to slow down here as summer approaches, Alisa and I were able to spend the night out by ourselves (sort of...) at a nice hotel here in town. Some of our friends, Danielle and Josh, watched Kayleigh last night as we stayed the night away form home. IT was very relaxing and very well needed for Alisa and me. We were able to sit down and do some planning and evaluating of our marriage's current reality. It was a blessed time for us and we really appreciated Danielle and Josh for their sacrifice of watching Kayleigh for a night so Alisa and I could be together. We did take Zeb with us as he cannot be without Alisa for more than 3 hours or so. Another friend of ours, EA, came into the city to watch Zeb for a few hours so we could go to dinner just the two of us! It was awesome. We are truly thankful for all of the wonderful friends he have here in the city who want to support us and encourage us!

Kayleigh's 2nd Birthday

On Sunday we had Kayleigh's 2nd Birthday Party. All of her friends and team mates were able to come. Kayleigh had a blast and was exhausted after the day was done. Above are all of her friends that came to her birthday party. Kayleigh's Grammy made hats for all of her friends and as you can see we never successfully got a picture of them all wearing it. Some wanted to play with their hat while the others wanted to eat it!


I think this is a perfect example of one of Kayleigh's amazing facial expressions. She has just opened a princess dress with pink high heels from her Uncle Henry and Alana. As you can see she thought they were pretty great!

I had mentioned to a friend that I wanted to find Kayleigh a small broom for her to play with since she takes our helpers broom out of her hands all the time and tries to sweep the house. She even tries to sweep other things like the couch sometimes. Our friend Erin Ashley got her this broom, dustpan, and apron. The dust pan has her name on it. Ever since her party she has been sweeping every morning. This afternoon she decided to make a mess on the floor so that she would have something to sweep up. Clever! I think she looks like a little house wife in this picture.

Kayleigh and her friend Julianna were having a little fun before the party began. As you can see they were having a little trouble with their sunglasses!