Friends From All Over

Almost five years ago Roger and I went off to Virginia for a few months of training before moving overseas. While we were in Virginia we lived in a dorm, stayed up late playing cards and made some great friends. At the end of our training time we all said good-bye with plans to meet up later on the other side of the world.

Well, five years later several of us ended up in Bangkok and decided to get together to catch up and eat pizza. And let all of our kids run wild.

Five years ago none of us had children. Now there are five little ones that were born in three different countries. What a difference a few years makes.

(All of the little girls were going crazy with all of our cars and trucks. Asher and Jack seemed to be very unimpressed with everything and everyone).

Boys at the Park

A few weeks ago Roger, Asher and Num took a little trip out of the city. As is the norm with these kinds of things, we had no idea what they were doing or where they were going. In fact, it wasn't until they returned home and Roger did some research that he found out where they had gone.


Asher was super excited because he got to go somewhere with Num in the Num car car (not to be confused with the Spiderman car Num gave him for his birthday that is also referred to as Num car car). Num has a white Honda and Asher can pick it out in a crowded parking lot.


They drove out of the city and went to a big park with a big Buddha statue. Evidently this is near the area where Num used to live when he was younger. He took Roger and Asher there to show them where he used to hang out.


Since this was more out of the city, Roger and Asher stuck out a bit more than usual. From what I hear Asher used this to his advantage when he saw something he wanted to play with. He would take Num, go up to a stranger, Num would tell him to wai and then the person would give him anything he wanted. I think Asher pretty much has this whole white-boy-in-Asia role figured out.


Asher has also figured out how to show us his belly and be silly.

The boys had a great time at the park and when that adventure was done Num took them to eat some pig. Roger brought home the leftovers and we got some BBQ sauce and had quite the feast the next night. I think they finally made it back home around 9:30 pm. Asher stayed awake the whole ride home so he didn't miss a second of his time in the Num car car.

Exploring with Asher

Last Saturday morning our friends Num and Apple showed up at our house and announced that we were going out for the day. They have a car and this, of course, made Asher very excited about the trip. We didn't really know where we were going or how long we would be gone, so we grabbed our stuff and jumped into their car.


After driving for a long time and realizing we were still in Bangkok we ended up at a giant Chinese temple. We all took off our shoes and went exploring.


Asher found Lion Statues everywhere. There are a few near our house and he gets so excited when we drive by them. He was beyond thrilled to get to see so many of them in person.


Asher smiling in front of a garden.


Asher had fun playing with Num and Apple all day.

After exploring the temple for a while we loaded back up and went to a Vietnamese restaurant for lunch. We have now added Vietnamese food to the ever growing list of things that Asher loves to eat.

Roger and I sort of thought we were heading home at this point. After all it was nap time and we pretty much plan our entire lives around Asher being at home around 1 pm each day. We were far from done.

Our next stop was Ko Kret, an island full of pottery villages just outside of the city. We got to ride a boat, which Asher loved, and there was lots of food to eat, which Asher also loved. We didn't take many pictures, but just picture a 2 year old boy eating lots of strange things. Roger and I were just happy to watch Num and Apple tote Asher around and feed him strange Thai snacks.


Asher just kept on going, even without a nap, and never once got tired of exploring the island and talking about the boats.


After all that we headed back home and put a very sleepy Asher to bed early.

Celebrating Asher's Birthday

We had so much fun celebrating Asher's birthday this year. We decided to go ahead and just celebrate the day before since it was a Sunday, so we started off the day with a little party with his church friends.


We took some Dunkin' Donuts and let Asher share them with all of his friends. He had so much fun going around to everybody and giving them a doughnut hole. They all sang Happy Birthday to him (just a random fact: there is no Thai birthday song, they just sing in English) and he clapped really big when they finished.


Since we had a few doughnut holes left over we found one of our friends (who just happens to be named Friend) and shared some doughnuts with her family. Asher was pretty much over the whole birthday thing by this point, he just wanted to go home and take a nap.


Sunday night we invited several of Asher's Aunts and Uncles over for pizza and cupcakes. He had fun playing and running around with a house full of people.


Asher loved eating his pizza off of his Lightning McQueen plate.


We lit some candles (somebody, Roger, accidentally bought trick candles) and Asher tried for a long time to blow them out. He actually managed to blow them out 2 or 3 times. Finally we had to put them in a bowl of water.



Then it was time for the cupcakes.


Asher was really not into getting his hands dirty, so he just stuck his face right into the icing. I don't think he ever made it past the icing.


Asher got some pretty great presents from everyone, but his favorite was the little tricycle that Roger and I got him. I guess I should have not rolled that out first. He pretty much just sat on it and refused to move. I opened his presents and he just sat on the bike looking confused.


It was even more fun to celebrate Asher's birthday this year since he sort of had an idea that something big was going on. I still don't think he quite got it, but he still loved all of the singing, the cupcakes and the presents.

Asher at The Little Gym

Every week Asher and I spend a morning at The Little Gym. It's a mommy and me gym class that we take with his friend Prim. Of course Prim (and most of the other kiddos) come with their nannies, but Asher gets to hang out with his mom.

Here's some highlights from this week's class.


Asher's favorite thing about The Little Gym...Bubble Time!


My self-absorbed almost two year old loves that there is a whole wall of mirrors so that he can watch himself.


Asher's second favorite thing about The Little Gym...Balls! Sometimes they want the kids to kick the balls instead of throw them. You know, like soccer. Although Asher hates cheese he is American enough to know that balls are for throwing. Leave the kicking to the other kids.


Check out Asher on the high bar, his current favorite piece of gym equipment. He has recently learned to climb onto a high mat and then sort of jump/fall and grab the bar. He swings until he can't hold it any longer and then loves falling onto the mat.


Asher rockin' the balance beam.

And now for the grandmother's...another Asher video.

Church Time

We love our church here in Bangkok and finally after being there for a few months I think the other people are starting to love us. Or at least they love Asher. I promise you that every single person there knows his name, but for the life of them can't remember who I am. They just call me Asher's mom. Hey, at least I can understand that much Thai. They also get really confused as to exactly who I am married to. Any time they see a white guy at church they assume he is my husband. Occasionally that's awkward, but I think they are slowly learning.


Anyway, this week I decided to take a few pictures of Asher and the other nursery kids as they went about their busy Sunday morning routine of eating and playing (and fighting).


This is the main group of kids that are at church every week. The boy at the bottom of the slide is named Blessing. After he strikes the nursery we are usually left dazed, confused, crying and think that yes, we were just Blessed. The two little girls are very calm, I don't know how they survive in there. The baby's name is Mini, she's sweet and she lets me hold her. Asher loves her, too.



Sunday mornings have become one of my favorite times during the week. Although I rarely have any idea what is really going on, I love to sit back in the nursery with the other moms and watch the kids play, laugh when they do something funny and sympathize when they get upset.

This week we started a new cell group at church for mom's with little kids. We had five moms in our group this week and are praying that as we continue that we can grow and encourage all of the moms at church.

Old Friends in a New Place

During college Roger and I had some great friends named En and Nung. They are from Bangkok, but at the time they were both studying at the University of Louisville. We would spend almost every Friday night with them eating Thai food, singing Thai karaoke and hanging out. They even spent Thanksgiving at our house after we got married.

En and Nung finished their studies at U of L and moved back to Bangkok. They are now married and working here in the city. They were super excited to find out that we were now living and studying in their city. Unfortunately we are all much too busy to hang out every Friday night, but we have been able to see them a few times recently.

Last weekend we went with them to eat with En's parents. We had some wonderful seafood and enjoyed getting to know their family and getting to practice speaking Thai. Asher was, of course, the center of attention. He started the evening off right by wai-ing En's parents. They thought he was so polite and so Thai. He did great sitting through a long Thai dinner and eating practically anything they offered him. Everyone was very impressed (we were too).

The restaurant was on the river so after dinner we went outside so Asher could see the boats and so that we could take a few pictures.


Asher and Mama watching the boats go by. Asher thought the Chao Phraya River was his own personal swimming pool and he kept asking to jump in.


Asher and En. They are big buddies, Asher insisted on sitting in her lap in the car while he told her all about the different vehicles he saw on the road.


En took a nice family picture for us while we watched the sun set.

Prayer for our Friends

This past week some of our friends came into Bangkok and two of their kids came to our house to play.

Here's Asher, he's super excited to have another little guy at his house to play.


Meet Nolan, he's a year older than Asher and full of energy. He also thinks I'm a bit of a super hero because I took him on a skytrain ride.


This is Grace, she is a wonderful big sister and was probably bored out of her mind in our house full of cars.


Asher and Nolan had a blast chasing each other around in circles and playing cars.

And since they are little boys they seemed to always want to play with one car. We solved that problem (sort of) by switching the car between them every ten minutes.

I think this was during Asher's turn to play with the car. Nolan was just watching and waiting. Asher decided he better hold on tight and sit next to Daddy.


Unfortunately the reason for all of this play time was that their little brother Micah was visiting a doctor and having some tests done. We found out last night that Micah has a large tumor on his spine. His family will be leaving Bangkok quickly and heading to the States for him to go to the doctor. Please pray for Micah and his family during this time. They have a lot of traveling and a lot of uncertainty in their future.

One Year Later

Ten thousand miles and twelve months ago these three kiddos met for the first time.

Now, a year later and on this side of the planet they met back up for some more fun.

Asher in Virginia - Week 7

Another post full of pictures, just what the Mimi and Granny ordered.

Sunday night was Cultural Worship night just like always. This week was Korean worship and we were asked to wear our Sunday best. Since we are attending a House Church these days we don't get to dress Asher up too often (my Momma friend Brittney wrote about the same thing on her blog recently). We took full advantage of the dress up occasion and had Asher dressed to impress. This was also the first night he walked in his new shoes, we thought they would slow him down, but he was still walking like a champ.

Monday night was free sandwich at Chic-fil-a night. All we had to do was wear a team shirt and we could get a free sandwich. Roger was wearing a Louisville Cardinals shirt, I was wearing an Indonesia soccer shirt and Asher borrowed a Notre Dame football shirt. Just in case you were wondering, Asher did get a free sandwich and he did eat most of the chicken.

Tuesday night at bedtime Asher escaped while we were trying to get his pajamas on him and spent a few minutes walking around without his clothes (or diaper) on.

Wednesday night Roger and I went out for a date night and Asher spent some time with the Powell boys. He had a lot of fun playing with them and listening to Jackson play guitar. We heard that Jackson even wrote a song about Asher.

Thursday night Asher and I went out to the football/soccer/frisbee field to watch Roger play Ultimate frisbee. We went after Asher had a bath and was in his pajamas.

Friday was a little chilly and Asher's jacket was dirty so I had him wear his button down shirt to keep him warm. His teachers at school told him he looked like a rock star (we definitely agree).

Saturday afternoon we were walking through campus when we ran into Asher's girlfriend, Eden. We decided it was the perfect time to get some pictures of the little lovebirds. Aren't they cute together?

Asher in Virginia - Week 4

Sunday morning Asher needed a bath after his day at the beach, luckily he woke up early and we had plenty of time to play in the tub and take some pictures of Asher and his bear towel.

Monday afternoon Asher played practiced pulling up and standing. Playing guitar with Daddy is motivation for his to do almost anything.

I went to a consignment shop Tuesday afternoon and got Asher a great new toy, a walker he can push around the Quad. He loves it and he spent most of Tuesday afternoon/evening showing off how well he can walk.

On this rainy Wednesday afternoon we had to get out the rain cover for Asher's stroller. He stayed nice and dry while Roger and I got pretty wet getting to and from dinner. He loved pushing his feet up against the plastic.

Asher skipped the first part of school on Thursday and stayed home to play with me. We read lots of books and spent a long time walking around the Quad. He is super fast with his walker and loves to go running across the room.

Friday found Asher still playing with his walker, he never lets go of it, even when he falls.

Saturday night we went to visit the Johnson's at their new home in RVA. While the parents enjoyed talking and eating pizza the kids enjoyed playing with toys and wrestling. Asher saw the two girls wrestling on the floor and crawled right over and joined in the fun.

We are now at the half-way mark of our time in Virginia, I can't believe how fast these past 4 weeks have gone by. Asher is changing so much everyday!