Celebrate good times…C’MON!

That famous 80′s tune comes to mind when I think of this past month’s flurry of events. We celebrated good times…actually, GREAT TIMES, for both Christmas and New Years.

CHRISTMAS

For our family, we had a very special treat because my sister Joy, who has been a missionary in Japan for the almost 15 years, came to spend the holidays with us. It was a great time for Garrett to see his Auntie Joy. We all had a great time of catching up, laughing and just chilaxing with each other. Loved every minute of it!

Auntie Joy and Garrett at the Chiang Mai Zoo

ZOE children’s homes made a special time to recognize and celebrate Jesus’ birth. And thanks to some special donations, all the kids were able to participate in a gift exchange with each other – each child received 100 baht (about $3.50) to buy a Christmas present for another child. Snacks, candy, toys and clothes were in the mix. But the most touching part was that despite the little bit that they received, several of the kids went up to missionaries and staff who were sitting around and started giving them part of their gifts to them. One of our missionaries was described as a lump of tears on the floor as they laid their gifts at her feet. I just fall in love with our amazing ZOE family when I hear stories like that. There is truly a specialness there. Later that night, we joined the ZOE family at a yummy Thai BBQ buffet restaurant….all 150 of us! What a fun time!

Doesn't that look yummy? There are hot coals underneath the pot, broth is on the sides to cook your veggies and a hot dome to grill your meats. The juices from the meat end up flavoring the broth.

Our staff enjoying their meal...they are the sweetest people in the whole wide world!

NEW YEARS

Now unlike Christmas, New Years is one of the biggest holidays in Thailand. We joined everyone at ZOE for a potluck dinner on New Years Eve – and wow! We were amazed at the spread!!! Of course, we have some pretty amazing cooks at ZOE, but that night, I learned that one of our bible school students had formerly owned a restaurant. He cooked up some Tom Yum Gung soup (hot, sour, spicy shrimp soup), chicken cashew and stir fried noodles…yummmm. We also feasted on fresh fish, hot dogs, pork balls, chicken wings, spicy sausages, spaghetti, potatoes, stir fried vegetables, spicy seafood noodle salad, soups, and fresh fruit. But I tell you – our ZOE family can chow down the food!!!! Even with big full bellies, they were still scraping down some of the food containers!!

Ready to eat!

Under the roof of our new dining facility...before the feasting begins!

The kids also got the chance to play on the new planted grass – they haven’t been able to play on grass for awhile now since we needed it give it some time to take root. So this was the first time in months that they were able to go wild – it was really fun to listen to the squeals of joy and watch the twirling, rolling and flipping going on. We ended the night with a short but amazing firework display. The next day, the ZOE family spent time with bringing in the New Year with a talent show and worship to our Lord Jesus Christ. We just want to tell YOU that we are praying for you and hope that that this New Year will be full of great things to come to everyone!!! God bless each and every one of you!!!