I've recently been to Cambodia for almost 2 weeks, with stops along the way in Tokyo, Hong
Kong, and Bangkok. SE Asia isn't quite like anywhere I've ever been before. Leaving an affluent "Christian" nation for an impoverished, Buddhist country makes for some differences. The people are poor, but friendly and loving. They are without the stuff that we think makes us happy, but they are happy. The kids don't have gameboys but they smile almost constantly.One lasting impression is the unbelievable volume of mopeds in the country. They use them because they are cheap to buy and operate and you can go thru traffic quicker with them. There were 1,448 at one time (I know because I counted 859 on one hand and 589 on the other!) :-)
Another thing I noticed there is how much they rely on luck. We stayed at the Lucky Star hotel, drank Lucky brand water, shopped at the Lucky supermarket, and even had a Luckyburger. Lucky was everywhere I went!
One day I got to ride an Asian elephant (smaller ears than their African cousins), and when I stood beside her she decided to sniff me or something. I'm not sure what she was doing, but it half-way freaked me out! Ever stared straight down 2 elephant nostrils???All in all it was a good and very productive trip! Oh, by the way, I got 2 custom tailored, cashmere/silk blend suits for $75 each in Bangkok!!!
Back on the homefront, all is well. Kim's preschool teaching continues to go very well and this may be the best year ever. Also, she has begun a ladies Bible class at church and the first one was well attended. Go Kimmy, go Kimmy, go Kimmy...
Molly continues to be the top accelerated reader in the entire school. She has also taken up needlepoint and drinking hot tea. She jokes that she's like an old lady! She has also started doing something that cracks me up. Whenever she sees a pitiable or pitiful person, or someone who has goofed up, she says, "poor guy" and then snickers. It isn't in a mean way, just kinda cute.
The boys are both playing basketball. This past Saturday was their first game. In the pictures below, Kyle is 2nd from left on the red team and Blake is bottom left on the blue team. Kyle seems to really know what he's doing and is pretty good. Blake's inability to have a clue hasn't kept him from having a ball!
Kyle and I recently finished putting together the model airplane he got for Christmas. It was a challenge for us but we did it. Now he wants to do another. I can't believe he'll be 10 next week!
Before I left for Cambodia, Blake and I built a birdhouse. Man, does he love tools! He enjoyed it so much that he proudly exclaimed, "Dad, when I grow up I want to be a birdhouse builder!" I have since caught him trying to take it apart so that we could build it again!
That's all for now. Take care and God bless!
