Golf and Ning's Wedding

May 12th was a beautiful day! The week before the wedding day, it rained everyday from about 3 pm until 6 pm. BUT, we serve a great God and there was NO rain at all on the wedding day! I was one of three "friends of the bride"! This is my 10th wedding but first wedding where we did not have to wear the same dress. Although I had to wear a dress, like all the rest, that I will most likely never wear again! :) Ning and I had to go shopping for it at a special place to find a dress because I am so tall.

In Thai weddings there is no kiss....SO SAD!! But don't worry, they did not forget the bouquet toss for "all you single ladies out there". And of course I was pulled out there but luckily I did not catch the thing! :)

It was a day filled with love and joy and in that sense it felt like all the other weddings I have been in! As I stood up there, not understanding anything the pastor was saying, I was thinking of all my friends whose weddings I have been in! I was praying that God would renew each couples love and joy! (Marci D and Marci G, don't worry, I was thinking about you guys too! And our time will come!)

Yeah for LOVE!!!

Ket's Birthday!

Oh so much fun to celebrate people! I love birthday's because it is time when we can spoil people and bless them in so many ways! Ket is one of my closest friends here and she turned thirty on Cinco de Mayo. I told her about the holiday in America and she said that she wanted me to make tacos for her birthday. I found tortillas, beans, and salsa and we had a "Mexican" birthday party! It was so much fun because people here have never had tacos...oh man are they missing out! When my mom came, she introduced my friends to tacos and so they were so excited to have them again! I asked Ket if she wanted a cake or cookies and she told me she wanted my chocolate chip cookies! So tacos and chocolate chip cookies it was! We all had so much fun!

Eng Jet Camp and Tai Church Camp

Tai Church has a camp every year and this year we combined Eng Jet camp with it. It was such a great time! We went to Chonburi, a province in Thailand about 1 and a half hours from Bangkok. In this province there is a zoo and so we stayed at the zoo. We took a night safari to see the animals at night and on the last day we took a tour of the zoo in the day! The camp was for two nights and three days. There was 8 hours of English over the days. I had 18 students at camp. Some Tai Church members and most my students from Eng Jet classes. We studied about daily life and about conversation. We joined Tai Church camp for games and meals. It was a great chance to build relationships with my students and share with them daily life! They got to meet my friends from Tai Church and at the end of camp 2 of my students believed in Jesus! Praise the Lord! So far, every Eng Jet class offered there has been at least one person who has believed in Jesus! It is so great!!

Songkran!!

Here are some photos of the most famous holiday in Thailand. It is the Thai New Year. It is a celebration that takes place every year on April 13-15 and it is all about water!! The tradition is to "sprinkle" water on people to bless them. In the past the younger generation pours water into the hands of the older generation to bless them. Since then it has turned into a three - five day water fight! Oh my goodness is it crazy! I was wet for 2 days straight. Walking down the street everyone is carry water guns and is spraying everyone. People drive around in the back of their trucks with trash cans filled with water and buckets to pour on the people on the sidewalk. I tried to capture the excitement on camera but because of the nature of the holiday I was afraid to take my camera outside! I took a few photos and you can check them out but you should look the holiday up online to see some professional photos! It was so much fun!!

Ubon

After Laos we went to Ubon, Ket's home town. We rode motorcycles and we eat and eat and eat! Ubon is in the north eastern part of Thailand. Ket and Noi are from this town! We visited both families and had an amazing time together! In the picture you see of the spoon. On it are some flying ants. Thai people LOVE to eat this. I politely said, "NO WAY am I eating that!" I watched as they all ate it and loved it! I saw many things that north eastern people eat. Oh man it was crazy!! Ubon is a place to relax and it is so beautiful! One afternoon we went to the river and eat dinner in huts on the river. It was so much fun! There are some amazing places in Thailand, Ubon is one of them for me! I hope to return again soon!

Traveling in Loas

Some of my close friends and I traveled to Laos for two days. I took a bus from Lampang with my friend Noi to Nongkai and it was about 14 hours...OH so long! But it was fun! We listened to Pastor Mike on my iPod!
While in Laos, we went bowling in the heat of the afternoon and we ate dinner on the river that separates Thailand and Laos. It was a great time! We traveled around the capital of Loas. It is a border town to Thailand. Check out more pics!

Easter in Lampang

I spent Easter in the northern part of Thailand. In a city called Lampang. It is about 2 hours south of Chiang Mai. I taught English at Tai Church, Lampang for 3 days. It was a great time. I had 12 students and we spent time learning about the story of Easter and every day activities. It was a great time. My friend Noi is the pastor at this church and the church is made up of mostly high school students. It was great to take a tour of Lampang on the famous horse driven carriages.
There are two funny things about Easter in Thailand. One, they do not die their but rather paint or color their easter eggs and two, they hide real hard-boiled eggs. They are very excited when they find real eggs. It is so fun to learn about how things are done in other places! Check out more pics!