more Christmas photos for fun

Merry Christmas!

Joy to the World! The Lord has Come!
We have really enjoyed celebrating Christ's birth this year, although we are away from family and cool weather (I wore a scarf just for the fun of it at our Christmas dinner out. It was probably in the 90s!). We're opening gifts together as a family Christmas morning. It will be the first Christmas where Emma actually can interact and open her gifts! I baked my Mom's recipe of Christmas sugar cookies and some chocolate chip cookies for when our Muslim and Christian neighbors come to visit. I hope they enjoy the little tastes of America. We're praying you and your family are truly enjoying this season. We are so blessed to be able to receive the ultimate gift of love from God: Jesus. Happy Holidays! Love, the Bs.

Our 6th Anniversary!

Todd and I had a great time reminiscing on our 6th anniversary about how we've celebrated our past anniversaries. We realized that we have now spent more of our married life in SE Asia than in the States. It was a crazy thought for us!

We have felt incredibly blessed in our marriage relationship and felt like this past year was particularly all about learning to be parents together. Having Emma has brought us closer together and has given us experience in having to make important decisions for her well-being like how to get her to sleep and eat. :) Learning how to raise Emma together has been a true joy, though it's had its challenges. We know it's only the beginning.

We spent an evening out and went to dinner at a hotel in the city. We also watched our wedding video. Normally we write in a journal (a letter to each other about the previous year) every year. We're a little late in the game so we'll be doing that this week. As a person who loves traditions, it was a great day. Simple yet memorable. We praise God for giving us the gift of each other. It's truly Him that has kept us thriving together.

Katie's 28th!

T arranged a fun outing with friends for my 28th birthday, dinner on a riverboat. We ate some delicious local fish as we cruised in the traditional wooden boat at around sunset. It was beautiful. Photos are a little fuzzy since we were losing light when we took them. But you can get the general picture of what it was like. Emma wasn't quite sure of the boat when it started moving. She had to be in Mommy or Daddy's arms most of the time. After we got off the boat, she immediately said, "wwwwwwwalk!!" :) For anyone who wants to come and visit us, this would be a "must do." ;)

Our latest fun activity find in town

 

 

Pier at the River

 

 

 

Local Parade 3

Local Parade 2

We felt like part of the parade too! Lots of people in the parade would come up to US to get photos! (the whole white skin thing...but mainly it was because of the white baby ;) )

Local Parade

our street after an afternoon shower

Golfing in a Swamp

For part of Todd's birthday, the boys took him to the local golf course, not knowing exactly what it would be like. Wouldn't you know since we do live on the equator, it was a little, shall we say, swampy. Oh, and the streams do make for a good bath!


Good luck finding that ball!!

Rain, rain, DON'T go away!

The first night we moved into our house in River City, it poured!! We discovered that the quality of our water (and almost everyone's in the city) is very dirty, not even good for bathing much of the time. So T started doing a very simple version of rainwater capture technology: he just caught the rainwater in a bucket. :) We had enough water for at least a week from that rainstorm. The bucket was filling up every few minutes! We learned very quickly why the locals rely on rainwater for their everyday needs. But many still use the polluted river water or don't know how to store the water well in order to keep it germ free. We are excited to start learning how to meet this simple but critical need. The learning began in our own home.

Our Favorite Spot

So this is where life in the tropics is so much fun! We like to have dinner at this great spot on the beach a half an hour away from our home. You can see the sunset, eat some amazing fresh fish with veggies and fruit drinks, and enjoy digging your feet in the sand. We've never found a place like this in the States, that's for sure!

We recently enjoyed this little spot in celebration of Kylie and Emily's birthday (Kylie-29, Emily-1). Since we're moving to a different island, I'm not sure when we'll get to come here again anytime soon. We enjoyed every minute of it! Emma did too :)

Working in the Jungle

We spent last week learning how to install a clean water tank. We traveled into a fairly remote village in a beautiful tropical forest.


The family we visited lives happily in two small wooden shack-like houses, one for sleeping and one for cooking. The wife of the family cooked us a full meal with snacks and tea included. The local people's sense of hospitality is far greater than in western cultures. They were a delight to visit.



We had to hike a little while to get to this house. As we were leaving to go back to our car, it began to rain on Emma and me. A local person drove by us on our way up the mountain and saw we were getting drenched. He stopped and pulled off a large leaf from a bush on the side of the road and gave it to us to use as an umbrella! It worked just as good if not better than a regular umbrella. Emma loved the rain and loved looking at the leaf even more!! She cooed and chuckled all the way back to the car. It's a memory I'm putting in the books!

Easter

India

What is the coolest part of the year in India still made for sweaty afternoons for us as we toured some parts of the capitol and the Taj Mahal. It's a colorful diverse country with great spicy food and amazing ancient structures. What an experience! Unfortunately E won't remember it but we have the proof!



If you like those, then check out more of our photos from India here! Be sure to click on 'slideshow' for an enlarged view.

We know we’re back in SE Asia when:

1. A wave of humidity hits us as we step out of the airport.
2. Todd’s sneezing and coughing has started up again due to mold and dust.
3. We buy a new electrical appliance without checking it first and it goes up in flames as soon as we plug it in.
4. It takes a while to write and post this blog entry.
5. We get to enjoy delicious tropical fruit. (the photo is of T's favorite fruit, Mangosteen)
   
6. We get to have conversations with friends that last for hours.

Tearful Goodbyes and Thankfulness

The heavy sadness comes in waves, usually when we know it’s the last time we’re going to see a friend or family member for a while. It’s overwhelming if we think about it too much. But we are learning to make each moment count and enjoy the quality time we get, when we get it. We have thoroughly enjoyed our time in the States. A huge thanks to those who provided us a comfortable home. We could not have asked for a better place in each of the 3 places we stayed. It truly helped us rest well. Also thank you to everyone who gave a gift, a hug, a kiss, or a prayer to little Emma. We are so blessed to have family like you loving on her, even those who haven’t met her yet. We will miss you all very much and look forward to the next time we get to see each other face-to-face. Until then, we’ll keep you updated.

Much love,
Todd, Katie, and Emma

Friends Weekend

We had a lovely time in Granbury just eating, chillin', and playing with little Sammy and Emma.
Todd and I have been looking forward to spending time with our TCU friends for a long time. We missed those who couldn't make it but it was a blast to finally have face-to-face time after a few years of being overseas.

Living in the States after 2 1/2 Years

Many friends have asked us how it's been for us being back in the States after living overseas for a while. So I thought I would just write a few things down to give you an idea of the HUGE differences in our two worlds, SE Asia and America.

In America we enjoy...

having privacy in our home.
eating good Mexican food and buying things like organic cereal and choc chip cookies.
being encouraged by our friends and family members.
getting to worship together with friends and family.
the efficiency and great service at restaurants and stores.
getting to wear a sweatshirt or jacket and experiencing the changing seasons.

In SE Asia we enjoy...

the community of people we see every day.
long talks and drinking lots of coffee and tea with neighbors and friends.
the importance of relationship and community.
eating great tropical fruit.
eating healthy food like rice and vegetables every day.
motorbike rides through rice fields, along the coast, and up steep mountains.

In America, we have a hard time with...

materialism.
busyness and the hustle and bustle of life.
freezing unpredictable weather.
having to always schedule time to hang out with friends.
too many choices (resturants, cereals, clothes, games, etc).
superficial conversations.


In SE Asia, we have a hard time with...

pollution.
being away from friends and family.
being the minority white people in a sea of brown people.
hoping that we understand what our friends are saying to us.
hoping that our friends understand what we're saying to them.
slow internet connection.
lots of misquitos.
HOT, HOT, HOT weather!