"Give up
the bitterness, the anger, the sadness

for what isn't,
that you wish you had.

And embrace the gift of what you do have.

For therein

is really what you want more of:

Joy."

~Elizabeth Elliot

All the days of the afflicted are bad,
But a cheerful heart has a continual feast.
Proverbs 15:15

It is making a difference in my day.

From (Holy Experience)

The Woes of Digital Photography

I have been trying to capture a picture of Sam's new smile. He just pushed 4 new teeth through and has the cutest crooked grin. With digital cameras, I always seem to fail in getting the exact expression I want, because my babies faces change between the focus and the click!

"Oops!"


"This one?"

"Maybe, tomorrow, Mom."

I have been collecting snake stories for awhile now. Not intentionally. I just keep hearing them. I would have blogged about these, too, but I am well aware of how much time I devote to animals on this blog, so I have refrained. I could have told you the one about the 10 foot python in my father-in-law's yard that he clubbed to death (he thought) only to find him missing the next morning and then spotted by 2 others later. I could have told you how my aunt had to call the zoo to get another large snake out of her tree. Or how about the cobra my neighbor found in his yard, or the viper in my other neighbor's yard. These are all recent. In the not too far past, my father-in-law had to deal with a king cobra at his ranch. No worries, though, that is a good 2 hour drive from here.

I now have another story to add to my collection. Yesterday, on the day Pun stayed home because he was sick (Thank you, Lord!) we had our own visitor. I looked outside, and there he was! Chills went up my spine! Of course, I alerted my whole family. I really wanted Pun to come immediately. He came several minutes later.


The kids and I enjoyed all the drama of it. Pun finally caught him under the wheel of the car. Before it was all over, the poor thing lost his tail. Pun called security to help. He must of crawled up into the car because he was being spotted on all sides and never appeared again.


No worries, though. He was just a common (non-venomous) rat snake.

Helen and Daniel decided to plan a snake trap. Here is what Helen came up with, with Daniel's suggestions at the bottom.




Pun was proud...

Lazy Days

**** Dear Reader: This blog contains and inordinate amount of pictures. Really, I tried to edit them; I could have added so many more. So here is our vacation in pictures!

Last week, we went back to a resort (of sorts) which we had visited once before and fell in love with. I meant to blog about it at the time, but, well, you know me. So when Pun had a day off for a national holiday, we took 2 more and a weekend and spent 5 days there. Ahhh... so relaxing. And to top it off, our very good friends came along for the first 2 days.
I am not sure what to call this kind of resort. It is very simple, yet charming, somewhat like camping, but luxurious, quiet, but personal and inviting. You really just have to experience it to understand.

Each room is decorated in a different theme. Here is our room:


And here is one of the bathrooms. Actually it is more of an outhouse. A really nice one.
Several of the bathrooms are rooms with open ceilings with the shower hiding behind a tree.

The first morning we were there, our kids played outside for hours with their friends that came along with us. We sat to the side visiting and enjoying watching all the creativity in their play.

One thing we love about this place is the animals. Last time we were there they had a horse, baby chicks, rabbits, a bull, and a dog. This time they didn't have the rabbits or chicks, but they had guinea pigs, or as we know them--skinny pigs.

Of course we spent time admiring insects and lizards, and listening to geckos. If you have never heard one in real life, it is really a bizarre noise they make. Almost sounds unreal.

Here is a cute little "patter-killer" we watched for awhile:



Apparently, and I didn't know this before our trip, some caterpillars can cause nasty stings if handled. Others can give you quite a rash if you touch them. On the last day, Daniel got a hold of one and half his face broke out in hives.

So what else did we do?

Well, be lazy of course! After our friends left, we spent an entire day parked by the kitchen/dining area (which was so beautifully decorated) just visiting with other guests and getting to know the owners better. When guests arrive, they are served a beautiful blue tea drink. P'Nok, the owner, took a special interest in our kids and taught them how to make it. She showed them how she steeped the leaves to make the tea. Then they helped her put ice in glasses and pour some for Pun. Then they poured the lemon juice into it which turns the blue tea into an amazing purple color. So delicious!




P'Doi, husband of P'Nok, found out I like iced coffee. He spoiled me! He kept making me iced caramel coffees. Yummy! I made Pun pose for a picture with my coffee. He thought it was too strong!


Here I am after I finally got Sam to take a nap in the hammock. Doesn't it just look blissful?


Sam--vacationing at 8 months. I could just kiss those cheeks off!


We went to a nearby national park where we saw many things like waterfalls...


monkeys watching the traffic,


and this sign...I made Pun stop the car on a busy mountain street to take this picture, so sorry you can't see it well. If you can't read it, it says "Beware Cobra Crossing". I kind of wanted to see the real thing, but I had to settle for the sign.


Someone from our resort who knew the park rangers took us to their station and introduced us. The rangers showed us their bull like animal they keep as a pet (can't remember the name)


and then invited us to go up into the restricted land to look for more animals like tigers, bears, these bull like animals, elephants and deer. We were escorted there by the ranger with an M-16 in hand. They say they nearly always see animals at dusk (we went at dusk as well) but we weren't so lucky. Maybe it was the 6 children that scared them away.


On one of our last days we decided to go take a look at a little shop down the road. We had heard that the lady their had every species of orchid in Thailand. She also collected and sold pottery. I could have hung out at her place for hours. She was a collector! And she had an eye for beauty as well. She and her architect husband had built a little home/business in the mountains and it was stunning. Unfortunately for us, it was not the right season for the orchids (the picture from my last post was one of the only flowers blooming while we were there), but everything was lush and green. The more we enjoyed looking at their collections of pottery, the more they showed us. Eventually they took us into their home for a tour. We saw pottery from all over the world, seashells with natural colors that I was sure had been painted on, and Thai antiques that even my husband was unfamiliar with. Everywhere we looked there was something unusual with an interesting story about it. I could have been looking at the pages of a National Geographic magazine. Of course, by this time my flash card was full and I was searching for pictures delete so I could take more. Here are a few shots of the pottery pieces.






So now, if you are still with me this far, we are home, and back into our routines. Pun just finished another weekend away. I think he will be home now for awhile. Our house is still under construction, but they say it should be done soon. We will be spending August (hopefully) hanging curtains, organizing the last unpacked boxes, and pulling out pictures and decorations for the walls. Maybe we will even get the rest of the painting done. I will be finishing up preparations for Helen to begin school Sept 1. I am not at all excited. Wink. Talk to you later.

Coming soon...

...vacation pictures.