.... and a few more pictures from Thailand

     I feel like every day just zips by and I hardly have time to do ANYTHING extra (like blogging).  But there are a bunch of things I want to blog about, so hopefully I can catch up.  I wanted to post these last pictures from our time in Thailand in November.  After the conference, we took a week of family vacation (Leif's mom was with us).  We made some special memories! 

    
     The first time I ever came to Russia, it was on a summer team with Campus Crusade for Christ.  Kim Meeker (pictured above) was on that team.  We became fast friends and ended up living together in Kyzyl (another Siberian city) for a school year after college.  She is so special to me, and she now lives in Bangkok with her husband and darling little son!  They made the several hour trip to come and visit us where we were staying (Dolphin Bay) for a weekend.  It was so nice to meet her family and to have sweet times talking together.  I cherished every moment!!

     Everyone in Thailand was so nice to our kids, and people were always giving them presents and fruits.  Here Ike was with a banana someone gave him.  There was one lady that gave Ike several cookies before we ate dinner one evening.  Boy, was he a happy guy!!  I just loved eating meals right on the beach.  We found a little stand that had papaya salad for about one dollar and chicken kabobs for about 30 cents.  And it was right on the beach next to these great tiled tables and benches.  As soon as we found this place, we ate there every day for lunch!

One day we took a boat to Monkey Island.  And boy!- was it aptly named!!  Our guide had brought a big bunch of bananas for it.  When we pulled in, Leif was holding the bunch, and the monkeys started leaping up into the boat and onto him.  In this picture, he's holding Anneka with one arm and the bananas with the other hands.  It was fascinating and funny and creepy all at the same time!

     I was the only one without a hat, and this monkey jumped onto my head and was picking through my hair.  I didn't want to make any sudden moves it case he was a biting monkey.  Anneka WANTED a monkey on her head.  So we kept trying to get him to move along her way!

     Here, Irene got a turn with a monkey on her head.  Ella liked watching all of the monkey excitement but was very happy to not touch them (or have them touch her!)

And Anneka got her wish!  A monkey on her head!

She started to feel uneasy when the monkey started picking and wouldn't get off.  And then the monkey behind her started pushing her... and was actually moving her along the rocks.  That was when I got protective and said it was time to go.  We had Anneka stand up, and the monkey stayed on her head.  But we were able to shoo it away and get safely on the boat.

     Then we enjoyed a lovely ride around another island, enjoying the sunshine and the water!

 It was so special that Inka took a week of vacation in the same place as us!

     The place where we stayed had free kayaks for us to use.  There were no life jackets, but the water was really shallow until far out.  So all of us adults could easily stand up and save kids if we tipped (which, thankfully we didn't).  We had fun taking turns and rowing along the shore.

     During the conference, everyone went on an elephant ride one afternoon.  Leif had Anneka and Ike with him.

     It was really fun for the kids!

     Ella was with me, as well as a girl from another family at the conference.  Ella didn't say a single word the entire time.  But I definitely think she enjoyed it.  At one point our elephant got mad and stood up on it's hind legs and howled (or whatever it is that elephants do).  It was a little crazy to be rocked back like that!  But we fed him some bananas and all was well.

     Leif had an opportunity to go fishing one morning with a missionary from western Russia and his son.  They had a great time and caught several fish!

     A nice lady where we were staying cooked them up for us for dinner, and they were really good!



     We were in Thailand on Thanksgiving day and had a special time thanking God throughout the day for his many blessings and eating a special meal (a combination of American and Thai food) on the beach.  It was a Thanksgiving to never forget!

Our friend, Ken, took this family picture of us on the beach.

     Every day we enjoyed playing and splashing and swimming in the warm water.  We laughed and had a wonderful time!  It was such a special way to have family vacation time, and also a lovely way to shorten our long winter just a bit!